Beauty bag end of month review: November

I can’t get enough of Oxfam Galway Charity shop and here’s why

By Neasa Gorrell

When I first came to Galway, secondhand shopping was just on the brink of becoming destigmatised and normalised. In a world where many people are very materialistic and shop only for branded items, it was refreshing to see the sustainable fashion movement become popular.

Since then, being a woke and environmentally aware young person, like many of the students in the NUI Galway community, I have limited my shopping from unethical companies and fast-fashion brands. To be quite honest, shopping from fast-fashion companies has become increasingly unfashionable as we hear more and more about just how unethical they are.

That is where the Galway charity shops come in, they are plentiful with stylish and on-trend clothing, and an ethical way of purchasing fast-fashion pieces as you are supporting a charity and not the brand directly, as well as saving the items from landfill. Other ways of purchasing cute clothing ethically include online resources like Etsy stores, Ebay, DoneDeal and Depop, and don’t forget Facebook Marketplace and Swap-shops.

My absolute favourite for the coolest on-trend and vintage fashion pieces has to be the Oxfam Galway shop on Abbeygate Street Lower. Their window displays are always very fashionable, showcasing selectively designed outfits that always pull me in. The staff are always very friendly and helpful, and the store offers a 20% student discount, which is amazing!

The clothes are organised in coloured order in spacious rails. The women’s clothing is on one-side of the shop and men’s is on the other so that it is easy to find things. They have a sale section and an outerwear section for rain jackets and winter coats. They also have sale baskets beside the till with hats, scarves, and other unique pieces.

The back of the store has a selection of new jewellery and offers for buying a few pieces at a time. They have sunglasses and loads of other accessories including handbags and headscarves. They also offer a wide range of secondhand books and DVDs.

I cannot stress this enough – the Oxfam Galway store offers so many cool and stylish pieces of clothing. So much of my current wardrobe is owing to this store alone and I get so many compliments for how unique my wardrobe is, and it truly feels good to look good when you know you’re supporting a charity and the environment by shopping second-hand.

So, if you are like me, and really interested in becoming more sustainable, and just being a better person in general, ethically – shopping from charity shops is a great place to start because doing good feels really good. Besides, we as young people need to do all we can to make Ireland a better place for all, environmentally and socially. We need to support the ecology of this special little island but also, and just as importantly, support the people of this Island.

We are the future, and the choices we make today will impact how we live in years to come – so let’s all be that cool generation that said no to fast fashion, no to damaging industries, yes to the people, yes to the environment – and done so looking real good in statement fashion pieces.

Beauty bag end of month review: November

By Anastasia Burton

November is already over. Can you believe it? This month has been slow for me in terms of pan hitting and make-up usage. The reason for that is very simple, midterms! I was a shell of my former self with the stress of midterms taking over my entire existence, but it’s okay! They’re done now so I can play around with my palettes. I’ve got some big news in relation to my make-up collection; and that is that I’ve received my Jeffree Star Hallowe’en mystery boxes. Now I know that JC is a controversial influencer, but his make-up products were always praised for their quality and before this I have never owned anything from JC cosmetics before. Perhaps later in the year we will talk more about the products.

For those who are new to this column, beauty bag reviews are my mini article series where I share with you the products I use and how close I am to using them up as well as whether I will be repurchasing or not. I find this motivates me to do more for my project pan and I thoroughly enjoy it. Each month I do about two of these. One where I introduce you guys to what I begin the month with and another where I talk about how the month went in terms of usage and whether I am enjoying the products.

Essence Fresh & Fit awake primers- Getting rid of This primer is horrible. It comes on shiny and made me break out really badly. I was trying to recover the damage from this product for about a week and a half. I think there is some sort of ingredient in here that clogs pores and causes irritation in certain skin types. Anastasia Beverly Hills- Subculture palette- hit another pan! I have made great progress with this palette which makes me happy! I started using some of the shades as eyeliner as I feel like it is very flattering due to the hyper pigmentation of the shades. So far, I have hit pan on shades: “Cube”, “Dawn”, “Adorn”, “New wave” and “Electric”. There are 14 shades in this palette and I feel like I have made great progress. I believe I will hit pan on the shades: “Edge” and “Mercury” next. I will do my best to use more of the shades I have yet to hit pan on, luckily they are all green and browns which I am currently in love with. SoSu complete contour palette- Hit pan! This has been my go-to cream and powder contour palette for some time now, and I have already used up one shade completely, and finally hit pan on shade three which is the powder shade. I believe I am very close to hitting pan on shade two, the contour cream shade and shade six the contour powder shade. I cannot use shade four as it is too light for me. Illamasqua precision ink eyeliner- Currently using Although I’m not a huge fan of how messy this eyeliner is, I have learned to be more precise and gentler with it. I do not go crazy with my wing and keep it to a minimal curve. I believe I will have

it used up by February 2021. Balm Beach long wearing blush- Currently using Love this blush! I feel like I will hit pan in the next couple of months as I do not use a huge amount of blush.

Topshop highlight- mother of pearl- Currently using The usage on this highlighter is quite good and I am proud of myself for it. However, the highlight has fallen out of its packaging and is very messy. I am close to hitting pan, but I think I will only stick to this highlighter for another month before binning it.

Essence #insta perfect foundation-

Currently using

Great foundation! I’m glad I started using it instead of the flormar foundation. I am currently taking a break from foundation to give my skin a break, but I think I will have it used up by February 2021.

Essence Lash princess mascara- Currently using I have almost used up this mascara, I believe that by the end of December I would have used it all up!

Freedom professional London eyebrow pomade- Currently using I’ve made great progress this month with the premade, but I don’t expect to finish it until possibly February of next year. Revolution Skincare London- Tropical Quench essence spray- Currently using

I hate the smell of coconut and sadly this product is heavily coconut fragranced. I have gotten about a fifth of it used through and love how it makes my face feel hydrated and keeps my make-up on.

Simple micellar cleaning water- 400ml- USED I finally got through my micellar water and must say that I prefer my Garnier one instead. I found Simple great for my sensitive skin, but it was not as affecting at removing my make-up and was not as gentle on my skin as I would have hoped.