Gem and Jo Are Moving

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Exciting things are coming....

Gem and Jo React To: Supernatural

You guys know the drill at this stage... we watch a show we haven't seen and film our reaction for your entertainment! It's great fun. 

This time we watched an episode of Supernatural, apparently season 5 episode 5 was the best so that's the one we went with. It's a very strange, gory and funny mixture. 

And Paris Hilton was in it...weird.

Click below to watch the video!

How awkward was it that we thought the main lads were in a relationship?...If you don't watch Supernatural apparently they are brothers. Totes awky momo...

Thanks for watching, don't forget to thumbs up and subscribe!

Until next time,

Gem and Jo Take On Maynooth University

The Irish summer has well and truly started! And despite the fact that the rain has set in again, we are still feeling super summery. This past weekend we had the nicest day out and thankfully the sun played the game and stayed high in the sky all day! It actually got up to about 18 degrees. Shocking stuff.

We are very fortunate here in Ireland to have such gorgeous green places to explore, every town has something whether it's a park or the grounds of an estate that you can freely wander to your hearts content. So that's what we did, we live nearby Maynooth University, which has the prettiest campus in all of the land (we're a little biased though). Not only is the entire campus covered in trees and flowers, but it also has some secret gardens and even an apple orchard! We intended to bring along a little picnic, however after picking up some coffees we got distracted by the sheer beauty of the place and decided to chill on the grass for a couple of hours, it was wonderful!

Brace yourself, there are quite a few pictures....

This is the apple orchard hidden at the back of the university! It's all in bloom at the moment and it is just the prettiest place! 

This is the oldest native tree in Ireland and it's about 700-800 years old! Cool right?

The campus looks just like Hogwarts and we love that! 

Have you been to Maynooth University? Got any suggestions on where to go next?

Until next time,

Gem and Jo Review Maybelline's Master Contour Duo Stick

Are you looking for the quickest contour and highlight of your life? Do you find the amount of time you spend blending everything out absolutely ridiculous? Well stop that. Stop it.
We have found the quickest and easiest contour and highlight and it's all in one little tiny product. It looks like the most unassuming product ever but we are in love with this baby! Prepare to have you mind blown (unless you've already seen this, and if you have then your mind is already blown and how are you reading this? Aliens!)

This is Maybelline's Master Contour V-Shape Duo Stick. It's basically cheekbones in a chubby little crayon and we are not complaining! It's packaging may not be the most appealing but Maybelline haven't been known to wow their customers with amazing packaging. Their Brow Drama packaging could put you to sleep but the products inside are brilliant!

The crayon has two sides to it, hence the name 'duo stick'. One side is a really nice grey toned contour shade and the other is a really brightening highlight tone that is the perfect shade for us pasty Irish girls. We picked up shade 01 Light and it's just right, the fact that the contour shade is grey toned is perfect. In case you didn't know it's a little more believable when a contour shade is slightly grey, that way it mimics a real life shadow on your face and not just a bronze tan. Here's a little swatch for you guys on Gem's arm so you can see how brightening the highlight shade is, even on a pale white ginger.

This duo stick is literally the easiest thing to use in the world. First we run the contour shade into the hollows of our cheeks, over our foreheads and just under our chins. We used a contour brush from Primark to blend it out and let us tell you, there is hardly any elbow grease required to blend this out. We then run the highlight shade over the tops of our cheekbones between our eyebrows and up a small bit towards our hairline and then a little on our chin. Then just blend that shade out using a foundation or buffing brush and your good to go. 

We also think the v-shape to this product might work well on the eyes, using the contour shade on the crease and the highlight shade on the lid. We haven't tested this theory out yet but we will let you know when we do! 

Have you tried this product? What are your thoughts?

Until next time,

Gem and Jo Take on Fitness: Fashion

If you've missed the first post in this series explaining everything you can click on the image below, also if you like any of the products seen, just click their image. If the product is no longer available, we've linked a similar one instead.

This week we're talking about the fashion side of fitness. Now we all know how expensive workout clothing can be, from the sports bras to the footwear, it can add up and cost a fortune. Fortunately for our bank accounts, there are plenty of budget brands that have cropped up with the rise of fitness in the last few years.

Almost every high street store has their own workout range, including the handy ole Primark and H&M. This means you don't need to spend all of your wages on one leg of a pair of yoga pants. In fact with these new budget brands you can get completely kitted out (gym bag and shoes included) for an unbelievable price. The only problem that comes with these cheaper brands, we all know they just aren't the same quality. Especially the footwear and having the right shoes is really important. But we'll talk about that in a later post.

Looking good makes you feel good and that is just a fact of life. In fact, it's a fact that we love. We think it's important to get up and get yourself dressed in something you like in order to feel motivated to get fit, or to just enjoy whatever workout you're going to do.
Think of it like this: you've just gone out and found some really cute new running leggings and cannot wait to put them on when you go home.
Will you
 A: get home. put them on and sit on the couch, eating chicken wings while binge watching Kardashians?
or will you
B: get home, put them on, grab headphones and go for a run in them. Preferably while it's bright out so everyone can see you pretty new leggings.
That's motivation right there. We're not saying you need to go out and buy new leggings before every run, that just silly. But if you buy a pair that you really like, or if you already have a pair you really like, the chances of you wearing them and exercising is pretty high. Fashion, especially with us girls, is really important. And if you get compliments on those leggings, that's just a plus, right?

There are plenty of ways to motivate yourself with your clothing. You don't need the brightest, most high fashion sportswear, sometimes all that's needed is one thing that makes you feel good while you wear it. Be that a t-shirt that fits like a dream or some pants that make every exercise comfortable. So, to try help you find that one thing that motivates you, check out some of our favourite brands that we wear while we workout.

Primark (Penney's)

One thing to be careful with when buying from Primark is that your bum isn't showing through the bottoms. That would be a little embarrassing. You'll need to try on a couple of sizes to make sure they fit right without showing the ole bum bum. 

All of these Primark products are under £10 each. What a bargain. And that sports bra, love it!

H&M

H&M is probably Gem's favourite place to buy sportswear at the moment. The leggings are incredibly soft and comfortable, especially the yoga ones and their sports bras come in a range of different supports, which is important for when you're preforming high impact activities such as running. Gotta keep them girls protected! H&M is more pricey than Primark but the quality and longevity of the clothing is much better. They have a good range of colours and the prices rarely go over €40. 

New Look

New Looks sportswear is along the same lines as H&M, cheap and cheerful. They have quite the range of colours, shapes and sizes. Makes it kinda hard to choose something to be honest, it's just all so pretty! Again the prices are similar to H&M, hardly anything is over €40, in fact the sports bra shown above is only €15 and the top is only €13. And wait for it... the shoes are on sale for just €12! 

Aeropostale

Personally, we've never bought anything from Aeropostale's sports range, but after looking at their stuff for this post we are getting off our bootay's and getting over there. How cute is this stuff? Plus their leggins claim to give you "#bestbootyever". How could we resist testing that out? 

The new trend this season is to have details on the back of your workout clothing and Aeropostale have jumped right on that bandwagon. 

This range is slightly more expensive than the others, however we're still talking under €40 for the majority of their products. 

Ladies (and fellas) get up, go to your wardrobe and find something you enjoy wearing while working out and get going. You don't need to go for a 10 mile run, some simple yoga on this lovely day would be perfect too. And by simple we mean simple. No need to go doing headstands, we're all for perfecting the easy ones first. 

Be sure to keep an eye out for some more cute sports ranges and let us know! We're always looking for new places to shop from. 

Until next time,

*All images are from their respective websites and there is no copyright intended.

Gem and Jo Review L'Oréal True Match La Touche Magique

Well the names of products just keep getting longer...Honestly why do companies feel the need to have about 6 names on things, keep it simple folks.

This concealer is magical, which is great because the word magique is in the name, it would be a little awkward if it was crap. But we are here to tell you it is most definitely not crap, in fact whatever the opposite of crap is, that is what this concealer is.

The full name of the concealer is L'Oréal Paris True Match La Touche Magique: Anti-Fatigue Illuminating Concealer. That is a mouth full. However it does exactly what it says on the tin, it illuminates wonderfully and there is definitely an element of anti-fatigue to it. Now when it comes to highlighting and concealing the under-eye area, Gem finds it quite hard to find a concealer that is bright enough. We all know how pale Gem is, so finding a light enough foundation is hard, nevermind finding a concealer that's lighter than that foundation. But in swoops L'Oréal to the rescue, this concealer is plenty bright enough to satisfy Gem's needs and works just as well for Jo.

The consistency of the concealer is lovely too, great coverage and hardly any creasing. Which is important when it comes to under-eye concealing. So an all round good one? Eh, maybe not...

The one thing about this product is the packaging, twisty-dispenser products are just not our favourite. Anyone else feel like it has hardly any product inside? You just twist for hours and nothing appears. Especially when you first purchase it, it seems like you've twisted for generations and then finally it pops out all over your hand and you waste tons of it.... that's the stuff makeup nightmares are made of. However, that is our only negative comment about this product, it seems to be a genuinely good concealer.

Out of 10? a strong 7.5
Would we recommend it? Yes, especially to the gingers and other pale people out there!

Have you tried this concealer? Let us know in the comments!

Until next time,

Gem and Jo Take on Fitness

It's something that a lot of people really dislike the sound of. However, as people who recently started, we are here to share with you a couple of ways to make exercise sound more appealing.

If you just scoffed and murmured "yeah, right" to yourself, stay with us for just a moment. We know a ton of bloggers share their fitness and lifestyle tips, and we're no different. But, and there is always a but, we think that we have a slightly different attitude towards fitness.

We've decided to make this a bit of a segment on our blog, mostly because there is just so much to talk about and if we made it one big post people would be 700 years old by the time they finish. So instead we are going to discuss, topic by topic, how we've started bringing some exercise into our lives without dramatically changing everything we do. Sound too good to be true? Stick with us and you'll see what we mean.

To kickstart this little segment, we want to start by saying we are in no way disputing what any other blogger has to say about fitness, lifestyle or anything else to be frank. As a blogger you know that the nature of the business is that everyone has a different opinion. It's the reason the blogging world is so successful. So, feel free to share your opinion with us, but please don't lecture or create a space for negativity within these posts. We want to create a place for people who don't want to change their entire lives just to become a little healthier, for them to be able to freely share their thoughts and progress. And for that to happen, positivity and motivation is a must!

Like everyone else on planet Earth, we've been told time and time again that exercise and a healthy diet are seriously important if you want to live a long life. Recently, we feel that the 'super fit' lifestyle is being shoved at us from every direction. There are so many videos, channels and instagram accounts dedicated to girls and guys showing off how fit they are. Fair play to them and their dedication to total body fitness and to their ability to create a community through which they can earn a living. However, not everyone has the ability to become that fit, or to do 70 reps of squat jumps (Gem can do around 10 and then feels like she'll puke up that pizza she had for lunch). Some people have limitations, and that can be obesity, an injury/ disability or the fact that they just don't know where to start. We're here to tell you that you don't need to let them limitations...limit you, for lack of a better term.

All you need is some determination and a pair of runners ('trainers' for y'all Americans). What we want you to do is get out and go for a walk. Start simple. Now we're not talking about a stroll around the park. You need to get your heart pumping, get some sweat breaking. If you feel you can jog, do it for a few minutes then slow back down. Walk for a little bit more and then try again. Wanna know the important part? The part that will get you back walking/ jogging the next day and the day after that?

Let yourself feel pride in that fact that what you just did was an achievement! No matter how far you went, how long you ran. You feel that pride and revel in it! You did good, you made a start and you should be super proud!

If you feel like you're just not ready to go for a walk or jog, start smaller. When you walk up the stairs, lift your knees a little more. Google how to do a squat properly and use it in everyday life. When you take washing out of the machine, squat down and back up again. When you get dinner from the kitchen cupboard, squat down. Feeling brave? Set yourself a targets and stick them to the fridge. Use this one if you're stuck for inspriation:

• Open the fridge: 5 squats
• Stairs: 3 squats at the top and bottom
• Waiting on washing machine: 3 squats followed by 3 lunges, 

These are some easy ways to introduce exercise into your daily life without it taking over completely. Another thing we've done? We've started with exercise, and yet we've made hardly any change to our diets. We feel that if you try to change everything at once, it's a lot harder to succeed. So maybe a diet change will come to us eventually. For now, we're happy eating some chocolate and doing some exercise.

And please remember that we are not professionals in this area, just some girlies looking to motivate. You should always consult a health care professional before you make any major lifestyle changes, especially if you suffer with health problems. 

Make sure to keep an eye out for our next post in this little segment, we'll be talking about the fashion that motivates us to keep on trucking. 

Until next time,