Thursday 26 September 2013

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Soft And Gentle Review And Swatches

After not being able to walk away from MAC's Skinfinishes a few weeks ago without picking up Adored, (see it here) I've become obsessed with Mineralize skinfinishes, really, I am OBSESSED!
I know this is the MSF the whole blogging world raves about, and Ive looked at swatches loads of times and thought yeah it's pretty but I dont need it. That was when my thoughts were rational, now they've gone the other way and after purchasing Adored, I knew I just had to have Soft and gentle too, I needed it!

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish In Soft And Gentle


In the pan, soft and gentle looks a bit meh, it just looks like a shimmery brown shade, not unlike a bronzer, when you get into the product and swirl your finger or brush over the pan a magical thing happens!
You get the most perfect champagne shade, amazing for higlighting the cheekbones or for an all over glow. 
My favourite use is for highlighting though as i'm so pale I think using this all over my face looking odd, I think it'd be beautiful all over the face this way on tanned skin.



L-R: Heavy Swatch, Blended


Though all my rational thinking went completely out of the window on this one, i'm so happy to own this skinfinish and it really is as beautiful as people say it is. It's steep price wise at €29.50 (in Ireland) but with the tiny amount you need each time you apply it will last forever so if youre trying to justify the price, use that as an excuse! ;)
What's your favourite MSF? I'm now so in love with the two I own that I want more! I've gone bananas over these babies! 
Also if you've not seen my giveaway yet and would like to enter you can do so here.



Monday 23 September 2013

Affordable Neutral Palette Picks




I am without doubt, a neutral shadow lover. I own more neutral shadows than anything else, I cant get enough of them.
I have a good mix of higher end palettes along with high street palettes. (or what some would call drugstore) 
I use and love them all, I love some more than I love others. Surprisingly some of the cheaper options are favoured over the more expensive options. 
That's why i'm writing this post.
 There are so many neutral palettes being released, and the ones we're drawn towards are the pretty expensive higher end ones like Urban Decay's Naked Palettes, which are great, I own all of the Naked palettes, I adore them, but there are some pretty great cheaper highstreet/drugstore alternatives that are pretty great too.


Firstly, I wasn't sure if I was going to include them because people include them in the higher end side of things but Inglot has some awesome shadows. 


Inglot Freedom System Shadows L-R: 152,153,154
L-R:152, 153, 154,

Their freedom system is great you can buy an palette from them and pick out your eyeshadows from a huge selection of shades. 
If you're to buy the empty palette from them, it can get a bit more expensive, but if you own a z-palette or any magnetized palette already you dont have to buy the palette from them, meaning you can just pick up the eyeshadow pans alone and they're pretty cheap this way, I picked up 3 shadows a while back and I cant remember exactly but it came in at just over €15 for the 3 of them, which isn't terrible if you want a few great quality shadows that you can pick yourself without breaking the bank. 
These 3 Inglot shadows are some of the best shadows I own pigment and texture wise and I don't know why I don't use them, but writing this post and having to do swatches for them has made me realise how amazing they are again and now I have every intention of filling up the rest of my Z-palette with Inglot shadows, oops!

I've choosen 3 other good picks from cheaper brands, 2 palettes and one trio. 
The first palette is Sleek's Au Naturel Palette.



i've done a post on this in the past here, so I wont go into too much detail but for swatches you should look at that post. 
The Au Naturel palette is really versatile, great quality and you get 12 really nice shades in there from browns, to some more greener and purple shades, all for under €10. So if you want a full palette but don't want to splash out on the higher end palettes this could be the way to go.

Next is another palette, Catrice's Absolute Nude Palette, which has 6 shadows for between €5 and €6. 




I've actually found myself picking this up a lot lately, the shades themselves are lovely, though the shadows are a little drier than the Sleek palette for example they're still easy to work with and you can get a few different looks out of it, ranging from very natural to smokey.
 There's less of a variety of colours in here though and it pretty much is shades of brown, so if you want a little more than just brown shades to play with i'd still go for the sleek palette for those few different shades. 
This however isnt something that should be ignored because of the price point as it's a really lovely little palette, which is included in a giveaway im doing, which you can enter here if you'd like to.

My last pick is a trio from 17. It's the In The Nude Trio.





It has the basics for a neutral eye with a light lid/highlight shade, a midtone and a deeper shade, so again you have what you need for a really basic look or you could do a light smokey eye with this. 
I actually fell in love with this trio after seeing Sineadycady from The Make Up Chair using it a lot in her videos. 
The colours are nice and easy to work with and it's nice to have all you need for one eye look in something smaller than a palette sometimes. 17's trios are around the €7 mark and there are a few more to choose from, including one similar to this but just more shimmery.

So there you have it, if you're looking for some good neutral shadows but are unsure of spending a lot of money, why not try these out first, you never know you may end up loving one of these more than one of the more expensive palettes. 

Do you know anymore cheaper alternatives for neutral palettes? Leave a comment and let us know! 




Sunday 22 September 2013

Liebster Award #2




On Friday I was nominated for a Liebster award by Jesse from Fancy Thee
Its the second time I've been nominated for this, and though I've posted about this before, each nomination comes with a new set of questions to be answered and it's always fun to do any kind of tag post, especially on a Sunday morning when there's not much else to do!
So thank you for the nomination Jesse, it's very much appreciated!

The idea of the liebster award is that you nominate some blogs that you like, usually around 10 of them that have under 200 followers and give them the award along with 10 questions to answer.
So here are my answers to the questions that Jesse asked me 

1. What's the best movie you've watched in 2013?

Favourite movie ever is Back To The Future.
 I have loads that I've loved this year but the one that stands out to me is The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. 
Really great movie. 

2. Who's your favorite Youtuber/Blogger?


Tough one! I have so many that I love. Narrowing it down, on YouTube my favourite is probably Emilynoel83 from Beauty Broadcast, she seems so sweet and shes so passionate about her channel she's just awesome! Her blog is pretty great too, but overall favourite blogger is Audrey from Sunday Girl, her blog is one of the ones I read every post from religiously. If I had to choose one overall favourite (YouTuber and Blogger) it'd have to be Estee (essiebutton) shes just so cool, love her!

3. If you could go on a date with any book or movie character, who would it be?


I'm going to cheat and pick a book and a movie character! Book wise, it'd be Edward Cullen because who doesn't want someone to be as into them as he is to Bella? 
And movie wise it'd be Gerry from P.S. I love you, I know that's a book too guys but the reason I'm specifically saying from the movie is because Gerard Butler is my dream man, seriously that man makes me weak at the knees!

4. What/Who is your guilty pleasure?


Easy. Make up is my guilty pleasure. I have more than enough of it, but I always want more. That and Kinder Pingui bars! Oh and how much I love computer games (ps3, xbox) people always say I don't seem like the type who would be into games, at the minute GTA has taken over my life!

5. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?


Mind reading! I'd love to get to hear what people were thinking! Also so if anyone's having a go at you and say "what so you can read my mind now?" I could go yeah actually I can!

6. Name one song that you always skip but never delete? (we all know we have that)


I have an ipod full of songs I skip. Most skipped is probably that bloody Miley Cyrus song that got on there by accident because me and my boyfriend were sharing an iTunes, I cant stand her so that's definitely be the most skipped!

7. If you had one chance to ask your future self a question, what would it be?


Did you get here in a DeLorean going at 88 miles an hour? 

8. If you could eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be?


Kinder Pingui bars and chicken casserole!

9. If you could trade lives with any person for one day, who would it be?

Honestly, my boyfriend. 
I think I know him pretty well but I think I'd understand him more if I had his life for a day, or if it had to be someone I didn't know it'd be whoever Gerard Butler's lady is! (Does he have a girlfriend/wife? I actually don't know!)
10. What did you have for breakfast today?

I was really bad today and didn't actually have breakfast.


So here are my 10 questions for you!

1. Who are your favourite YouTubers/Bloggers?
2. What is the one beauty product you own that you can not live with out?
3. What is your favourite song right now?
4. If you could pick any celebrity to spend a day with who would it be?
5. If you were an animal what animal would you be?
6. Favourite Disney movie?
7. What was the first concert you went to?
8. If you could have any famous person's wardrobe, who's would it be?
9. What was your most embarrassing moment?
10. What is a random fact about you that no body may know?

Because I have done this before I'm not going to nominate a specific 10 people, I'm going to nominate whoever is reading this to do this on your own blog (If you do make sure you leave a link to your post!) or even answer the questions in the comments below.

You can also enter my giveaway here if you'd like! :)



Friday 20 September 2013

FOTD #2 : 5 Product Face

Recently I've been quite overwhelmed by the amount of make up I own. While I don't have a massive collection compared to other beauty bloggers, I really have a lot more than I even need. 
So I was looking at the products I own and thought of the idea for this post, which is if all my make up was taken away from me right now and I was only allowed to keep five essential items what would they be? 
So I've dug through my stash, picked out five stand out products for me and have decided to do a FOTD with them. 



I picked fairly basic items, I really thought if I was only allowed to use these 5 for the rest of my life, I'd be fairly happy. 
I choose Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, just because it's my favourite foundation EVER! My shade is the lightest shade 51.
 Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer because this stuff is seriously good, it's good for blemishes and also for the under eye area so that's both of those covered with one product. Again, my shade is the lightest, which is Fair.
My favourite mascara is Lancome's Hypnose Doll Eyes, I choose this because it's amazing, but also because even if I don't wear eyeshadow I always have to have mascara on or I feel odd. 
For my cheeks I choose Benefit's Rockateur, review here, I was torn between this and Sleek's Rose gold which you can see here. I ultimately choose Rockateur because not only is it a really beautiful blush, but it also doubles up as a really nice eye shadow, so it covers two bases with one product. If I had have chosen an eye shadow however, I would have choose Urban Decay's Sin, it's pretty much my go to eye shadow I use it on it's own a ton and also it's usually a base for a lot of eye looks that I do, such a pretty pinkish/rose gold shadow.
Obviously from this post it's very clear I'm all about the rose gold shades in everything!
For lips I chose No 7 High Shine Lip Gloss in Smile, just because on a day to day basis I keep my make up very natural and this is a perfect my lips but better kind of shade, it lasts well and isn't sticky.

Really Basic FOTD using the above products

So combined all these products just make a really basic look, probably as basic as you can get really, but if all my make up was taken away I'd prefer to look as natural as possible at all times and have all of my necessary base products to use rather than having more choice with eyes or lips.

So if you had to pick just 5 make up items to use for the rest of your life what would they be and why?

If you havent entered my giveaway yet you can check it out here, it's an international giveaway too so it's worth a look! :)


Monday 16 September 2013

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish In Adored Review And Swatches

 Whenever I visit a MAC store, for some reason I always seem to skip the section with all the skinfinishes, blushers and powders and head straight to the lipsticks and eyeshadows. The other day though I was walking by said section with all the Mineralized Skinfinishes and something grabbed my eye.
MAC's MSF in Adored is a peachy/coral shade with golden shimmer running throughout and it just grabbed my attention and I had to have it.



MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Adored


 It's absolutley beautiful. When you swirl your brush over the powder you get a light peachy pink shade that works as a nice blush shade and also as a great highlighter if you use a lighter hand. It can come off pretty frosty if you use too much so use carefully!


Left: Heavy Swatch, Right: Blended

Adored is limited edition as part of the Tropical Taboo collection along with a few other MSF's, but to me this one is the stand out of the ones available in the collection.

Have you picked up any of the other MSF's from this collection yet? If you have let me know what you think or even link to a post of if you have one as I can't make my mind up if I want the others!




Friday 13 September 2013

Tried and Tested: Too Faced Boudoir Eyes Palette Review And Swatches


Too Faced Boudoir Eyes  Eyeshadow Palette

I've had Too Faced's Boudoir Eyes Palette in my collection for a few months now, so I've had time to play around with it. I used it the other evening when I was getting ready to go and see Paramore at the O2, (Bloody amazing btw!) and thought that it was about time that I put up a post about the palette, because it really is a little gem that deserves more credit than it gets.

I believe the Boudoir Eyes palette was part of this year's spring collection, along with some other really beautiful items but the palette was really the only thing that stood out to me in the collection. 
There's a nice mix of neutral shades and some darker smokier purples and a really great grey shade in here that make it a really versatile palette. 
There are also a few great How to cards included that help you to create some really nice eye looks if you're stuck for ideas. 

Overview of shadows

Top Row Swatches L-R: In the buff, Fuzzy handcuffs, Voulez-vous

Second Row Swatches L-R: Satin Sheets (barely visible), Sugar walls, Garter belt

Bottom Row Swatches L-R: Birthday suit, Lap dance, French tickler

All the shadows are housed inside a sturdy tin container that's well able to take a few knocks if travelling, also it doesn't take up much room if you need to put it in a handbag for on the go.
The quality of the shadows is excellent, really soft but not too soft, blendable really well pigmented eye shadows, wear time is pretty great too and even better with a primer. 
It's a great little palette that takes neutral lovers like myself a little bit away from just browns without taking you too far from your comfort zone.



Wednesday 11 September 2013

NOTW #3: Barry M Lychee With Catrice Kitch Me If You Can

L-R: Barry M Lychee, Catrice Kitch Me If You Can

I found myself in Boots Monday morning, wanting to buy something nice for myself but nothing that would break the bank either, so I spotted Barry M's Lychee Gelly Hi shine polish, which my Boots has never carried before and I've wanted it so badly so I wasted no time making it mine, also helps that I bought it with my reward points too so technically I didn't buy it at all! Sweet! 
Lychee is a nude, creamy off white shade. It's almost like someone took a white and mixed a bit of beige in there too but its so pretty and a really flattering shade and its now my new favourite polish. It's nice to have a nude shade that's different from the usual light pink shades.
Also I was a bit naughty and saw this Catrice glittery varnish in another local chemist it was so pretty I had to have it, the shade is Kitch Me If You Can and was only €2.99. It looks more purple in the photo but its actually more of a rose gold type glitter in a clear base, so pretty.



Naturally enough I had to try these two out when I got home and couldn't decide which to try first so I just tried them together!
I used Lychee on each nail, I used two coats. This applied really weird with the first coat, it was streaky but a weird kind of streaky, it actually looked like the peel of an orange with all these little dimples appearing in it, but after a second coat it looked perfectly fine and is really opaque.
I then applied Kitch Me If You Can to my ring fingers only, for an accent nail. I was going to pack this on originally but I ended up liking the way it looked with the Lychee showing through.
I really like the combination of these two polishes together, also both are lasting pretty well. I painted them three days ago now and there's no signs of chipping yet.
What's on your nails this week?






Monday 9 September 2013

Benefit Rockateur Review And Swatches


Like a lot of other bloggers I'm sure, I have been dying to get my mitts on Benefit's latest addition to their boxed powders. I've been scouring every Benefit counter I know of every time I've been in Dublin lately and I eventually spotted it!
Rockateur is a rose gold blush, which in my opinion actually leans a little more orangey brown than rose gold, but none the less it's still a cracker!

Benefit Rockateur Boxed Powder

Wear time is great it lasts a good eight to ten hours before it starts to fade and even then theres some still there when I go to take my make up off.
 As with their other boxed powders there's a brush included, the brushes aren't the worst they're usable if you need it but I don't bother with it as it can be a little fussy so I just use my usual blush brush. (Sigma F40, see it here, if you'd like to!)
As you'd expect from Benefit, Rockateur is a great quality blush and works as it should. I hate the price though, €34 seems so steep for this, especially when there's actually less in here than in their other boxed powders, I think it'll last me a long time though as I have so many blushers to get through and its so nice I would re-purchase if I had the money floating about.
Have you tried Rockateur yet? Is it your favourite boxed powder from Benefit yet?


Friday 6 September 2013

New Posting Schedule And My Week In Pictures

I know I have never been the most regular of bloggers, but that is about to change! 
As of today, I'll be posting more regularly and have set myself specific days to post on. 
Those days will be Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and maybe if I feel like it there will be a few extra posts thrown in!
 But for now I think 3 times a week is a good start to get me back into the swing of things! It also means I'll have more time to put together better posts and take better photos etc, so I'm hoping that being more organised about posting on my blog will make it better and make me post more frequently and in turn make my blog more successful. 
I've always been a person who needs to plan things ahead and I sure as hell don't know why I haven't applied that to posting on my blog.  Blogging is something I really enjoy doing, and I want to make a real go of it, and I always have so many ideas floating around my head for posts and I never do anything about them and I want that to change! 
So from here on out you'll be seeing more of me and I hope to be seeing more of you! :)


So moving on from that, I had a pretty busy and exciting week! I never usually post anything about my private life on my blog, but I want people reading to get to know me a little better, I always like to know a little about the person behind a blog, instead of just seeing countless beauty posts so I'm taking the same approach. 


L-R, From top to bottom: Lego DeLorean that I made, A pretty leaf I found, Awesome fountain at Dundrum Shopping Center and Mojitos with one of my girls

L-R, from Top To Bottom: The O2, waiting for Paramore to come on stage, Seriously Amazing Pulled Pork Sandwich at the Bison Bar in Dublin. Bottom Corner: Me and The Fella at Paramore taking selfies!
L-R, Top to Bottom: Christmas Sweets display in my local Tesco, WTF!? It's only September Tesco!, Oops! I've been shopping again! Awesome Despicable Me Minion Phone cover I have my eye on - because who doesn't love Minions?


So that's my week summed up in photos, let me know if this is a kind of post you'd like to see more often, I always take a ton of photos and never do anything with them so this seems like a good way to go!

So what did you do this week? 

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