Gem and Jo Talk: Back To School

We don't know about you, but we always loved this time of year. The excitement of seeing school friends, the gathering of countless, often useless, stationary items and of course (being the nerds we are) the thought of finally going back to learning new things.

But sometimes the thought of going to school or college can scare people. It can be a lot of pressure. Sometimes there can be pressure to look better than last year, or that you had the most amazing summer in an expensive resort somewhere exotic. In reality, those things, although hard to ignore, are not the most important things. Going to school or college is about learning, setting yourself up for life, making friends and having fun.

 With that said, here's some top tips for making sure you achieve all you can and have fun doing it! 

1. Try to surround yourself with people who encourage you to be your best, sometimes you can get stuck with a crowd who like to mess about and not do their work. If you are sticking with those friend, try your best to do your work. School and college are important and can define your life. 

2. Knuckle down from the get-go. If you're in an important year, like those gearing up for the leaving cert here in Ireland, make sure to realise that the start of the year is just as important as the end. A good start can really help to up grades and provide a foundation for future study! 

3. That said, don't spend all your time focused on school or college, everyone needs a break. Try to have at least one day work free: no homework, no study and no thoughts of school. Try going out with friends, taking a family trip to the cinema or even going for a nice long walk. 

4. Speaking of walks, exercise is really important when you're studying or just generally in a classroom all day. We're not telling you to go get a gym membership and become an Olympic weightlifter, but a walk outside in the fresh air can really do wonders for the brain! 

We hope these tips help you to be your best and that you have a great start to a new school year! 

Good luck you guys...

If you have some Back To School tips be sure to leave them in the comments, in the wise words of Tesco, 'Every little helps!' 

Until next time,

Gem and Jo's Summer Haul

Who doesn't love a bit of shopping? We decided to show you guys some of our summer purchases in our latest video.

Be sure to keep an eye on our instagram @gemandjotaketheworld for up close pictures and loads of fun stuff. 

What have you purchased lately? We'd love to know. 

Until next time,

Gem and Jo Take on Hair Swag

Do not be fooled by the title of this post, we do not have actual hair swag, also we don't know whether that's a good or bad thing.

We do, however, have this item which Claire's Accessories decided to call Hair Swag. Yes, that is the truth. Someone tell Claire's to sort out their product names.

This is the hair swag. It looks like 3 fancy hair clips stuck together in a line. And that is exactly what it is. 

Claire's have a couple of different versions of the hair swag, but Gem picked this one up to use during her auntie's wedding a couple of weeks ago! It has really pretty little flowers and diamond bits too, which means all together its a very cute little hair piece!

Here's how we would style this in our hair:

For Jo, we just kinda stuck it into the side of her hair with the built in clasps and that was about it. Jo swept her hair over her shoulder and curled the ends for a really pretty, classy look. 

Gem used this at the back of her head, as you can see in the pictures. The front parts of her hair are slightly twisted back from her face and held in place by clips under the hair swag. 

For a little volume and what not, Gem backcombed the top of her hair before gathering the front bits and clipping them back! 

Have you ever tried one of these? How would you style it? 

Until next time,

Gem and Jo Review Makeup Revolution

Following up from our last Makeup Revolution post, which you can check out here, we decided to get some more of their fabulous products!

We picked up one of their very popular 32 Piece eyeshadow palettes and a gorgeous 8 shade cheek and bronzer palette, and boy are they pretty! It's killing Gem to even consider using them (she's a little strange and likes to keep makeup brand new...weirdo...)

Makeup Revolution Ultra Eyeshadow in Affirmation: €11.27 (£8.00)

The packaging of these products is so sleek and clean, and as a plus, it's really sturdy so travelling with these shouldn't be a problemo! 

There are a couple of the 32 piece palettes to choose from and as lovers of both shimmers and mattes we went with Affirmation. It has a collection of pinky-nude colours that will be perfect for just about any occasion and the shimmers will be excellent for when we need a little glam! 

Also, this palette comes with a completely matte black eyeshadow that is gonna work wonders as an eyeliner when we don't want the hassle of liquid liner. 

Honestly, how pretty are the shades in this palette?? It pretty much has a colour for every occasion and for that we salute you Makeup Revolution! 

Makeup Revolution Ultra Blush palette in Hot Spice: €8.41 (£6.00)

We kinda wish this palette said "Blush" on the actual palette's packaging, we think it's really cute! But alas, the packaging is kinda plain, a little boring but that is not to say the inside is not super exciting!! 

This cheek and bronzer palette is the epitome of pretty! The shades are a really summery peach tone and the highlighter is to die for! Plus there's a blush/highlighter combo shade for when you want the ultimate glowy-look! 

There are some shimmery shades, which we were a little iffy about at first but we will learn to love them because they are beautiful on the skin! Plus there's also matte shades that will compliment our super oily faces perfectly! 

This palette is the perfect palette for summer, and the darker shades will take you right into Autumn/Winter meaning it's a general all rounder. At £6.00 for 8 blushes you can't go wrong with this absolute beaut! 

We will definitely be looking up some more products from Makeup Revolution, they are playing a blinder right now and we are excited to see what they do in future! 

What do you think of Makeup Revolution? 

Until next time,

Gem and Jo's Travel Tips

Summer for us means travelling. Whether that is hitting the road or hitting the sky, summer is the time when like to get out there and see the world. So with that in mind we decided to share some of our travel tips.

1. If you're jetting off to somewhere that has a different climate to the one that you've come from, wear a convertible outfit. This is an outfit that can be altered slightly to suit loads of different weather. Our favourite is a cute dress that when worn with tights would suit our colder Irish weather, but when worn with sandals is perfect for hot sunny weather. Tights and sandals are super light and don't take up much room in your carry on bag.

2. If bringing checked luggage,don't pack too much into your carry on bag. You don't need seven books, four outfits and three pairs of shoes for a two hour flight. Bring what you need and any valuables, and leave it at that. Airports can get very busy and you don't want to be breaking your back lugging around a massive bag.

3. If you're stuck for space in your bag, buy toiletries in the place your're heading. You can pretty much buy shampoo, conditioner and shower gel anywhere. Unless you're super picky about your toiletries there is no need for these things to take up weight and room in your bag .

4. If you're heading somewhere sunny bring sensitive cleanser and moisturiser with you. The sun, sea water, and chlorine can wreak havoc on your skin and make even the most robust skin sensitive.

5. Check out if your hotel or apartment complex offers pool towel hire. A lot of places offer pool towel hire for a small deposit and this saves you the bother of bringing a huge beach towel.

6. If you're travelling by plane make sure to stay hydrated. That means drinking lots of water and bringing a nice moisturiser with you. The plane air can make you really dehydrated and you don't want to be arriving at your holiday destination looking and feeling like a raisin.

What are your travel tips? 

Until next time,

Gem and Jo's One Year Blogiversary

We cannot believe it has been a whole year since we started Gem and Jo Take The World, and it has been an incredible year! We've gone new places, seen new things, tried things we wouldn't have ever tried without blogging and we are so thankful for everyone who has followed us, commented on a video or post, or even just liked a picture of ours on Instagram. Honestly. Thank you.

To celebrate this blogging anniversary, we've put together a list of our most popular posts and videos.

Gem and Jo Take On No.7 Beautifully Matte Foundation:  

We tried this foundation and loved it, so we shared it with you guys and you seemed to love it too! This one is our most popular post yet and we love that you guys love it! 

Gem and Jo's First Glossy Box:

This was one of our favourite posts to write, probably because the pictures came out so pretty for this one. Even though we only ever got this one Glossy Box, we still loved this post and you guys seemed to as well! 

Gem and Jo's On-The-Go Makeup Bags:

We honestly don't know why this is one of our most popular posts, we literally threw it together last minute and chucked it up on the blog so that we didn't leave you guys hanging. And now it's one of our most popular posts. Weird. 

Gem and Jo React To: Game of Thrones, The Red Wedding:

We loved filming this one! And boy was it popular on our youtube! It's our most popular video by a mile! Thank you so much for that, we love knowing people take the time to watch us makes fools of ourselves on the internet! 

Gem and Jo's Primark and ASOS Haul:

We doesn't love a good haul! We really love filming these videos, mainly because we get to talk about new stuff we've gotten and you guys seem to like it too! 

Bonus Round:

Take a look at our very first blog post here.  

Thank you for each and every view, comment, and like you've given us! We love it when we know people enjoy what we do! 

Until next time,

Gem and Jo's First Impressions - Makeup Revolution

How pretty are these beauties?! We are seriously in love! 

So Jo was recently in sunny Fuerteventura (leaving Gem lonely and sad in the land of rain) and while she was there she found a little shop that had a Makeup Revolution stand! How lucky is that? Considering you have to buy Makeup Revolution online in Ireland, we certainly didn't expect to find it on an island off the coast of Africa! 

Jo picked up 2 of these beauts, one is a pinky toned palette called Iconic 3. Anyone else getting a little hint of naked 3 in there? We certainly are, in fact we would go as far as saying its a dupe for that particular Urban Decay product. It's also pretty similar to the W7 In The Buff palette (you can see our post on that here). 

The pink tones of this palette surprisingly compliment the Irish skin tone, and not many can do that! Plus the shimmery shadows are gonna be perfect for this summer, everyone loves sparkles in the sunshine, right? 

The second palette Jo picked up is called Essential Shimmers and it is honestly the perfect palette to use when you've got that gorgeous summer glow! A little tan and some of these shimmery shades and you will look like a summer goddess* 

(*Terms and Conditions Apply)

Unlike the first palette, this one has all shimmery shades rather than a mixture of matte and shimmer, but we do not mind because every single shade included is beyond perfection! To say we're excited to use this one is an understatement! 

What's your go-to summer palette? 

Until next time,

Gem and Jo's Pretty Pictures

We are seriously addicted to taking pictures, but who isn't these days? We just love to whip out our phones or cameras and capture all those little moments! Here are a few of our favourite pictures we've taken recently!

Until next time,

Gem and Jo's Post Exam De-Stress

Everyone is always going on about how to stay calm and collected before and during exams but a lot of people forget to take care of themselves after the tests are over. As exam veterans ourselves, we've dealt with them for a long time now, we have a few things we like to do once our exams are over and we can finally chill.

The most important thing is to watch your health.

Have you ever noticed that as soon as your exams are over you come down with a cold? We call that the 'post-exam sickness'. All the stress and pressure you've put on yourself during the exams finally comes to a head and you make yourself physically ill. Make sure you're keeping your immune system in tip-top shape by taking vitamins, eating healthy and making sure you get in some sort of exercise (a simple walk or a game of footie with friends).

Make a list of things you would like to do over the summer.

Having goals stops you from looking back in September and saying "jeez we actually did nothing all summer". Making plans to see friends and go places means you won't have the regret of staying in bed all summer long.

Pick up a book.

This is one of the things we were most excited about when we finished our exams. The opportunity to read a book that hadn't been assigned by school or college was honestly the best feeling. Whether it's a new cookbook or a novel, pick it up and start reading. (Somewhere in  Between is by an amazing Irish Author!)

Pamper yourself.

In the days after your exam you need to pamper yourself, take a luxurious bath or even go as far as booking you and your bestie into a spa for the day. Either way you will feel the benefits of that pampering straight away.

Clean your bedroom.
We don't know about you but during our exams our bedrooms became bombsites. We just didn't have the time to clean between trying to feed ourselves and cramming as much information as possible. Now that the exams are over, take the time to spring clean your bedroom. The less clutter and mess, the less stressed you'll feel. Maybe even take the time to re-arrange your room and give yourself a clean start and a fresh feel.

What do you do to de-stress after exams? 

Until next time,

Gem and Jo Take on Pinterest

How didn't we know about this earlier? We had always heard people going on about "I pinned it to my wedding inspiration board" and we just never quite understood what they were talking about. Until now!

We joined Pinterest a while ago, but we hadn't got anything on there because we couldn't quite figure it out. Plus we had a ton of university stuff going on so we didn't have the time to really sit down and understand the ins and outs of the website. Now that we are exam free for the foreseeable future, we finally decided to fully understand the amazingness that is Pinterest.

We made a couple of boards, the usual stuff like Beauty, Shoe Lust and we even made one about the places we've travelled to! Granted the majority of those are in Ireland, but it's a pretty place so that's allowed.

If you want to follow us on Pinterest to keep up with all the stuff we're loving, the places we've been and want to go to and of course all the pretty shoes and dresses we find during our extensive online shopping sessions, our user name is @gemandjo. Or because we're super techy like that, you can click on the Pinterest Image in this post to go straight to our page!


Let us know if you have Pinterest and we'll follow back! You can never see too many wedding inspiration boards!

Until next time,