What's In My Makeup Bag #3

 Hola! Getting ready this morning I was digging through my make up bag and was thinking there's a lot of stuff in here I'm not using, this isn't practical - I need to sort this out! 

So I reorganised the contents of my make up bag and decided I'd show you what products I'm currently using the most because I haven't done it in a while! It's always interesting while I'm doing these posts to look back on my last one and see what products have made their way in - or out of my make up bag.

Base Products

This may be the only part of my make up bag that never changes! I've been finding that my beloved Bourjois healthy mix serum is a tad too yellow for me lately for some reason, so I have started to use my other favourite foundation Revlon Colourstay more, I'd be using this over the healthy mix serum at the moment anyway on account of my skin being awful. Then I have my 2 trusty concealers - Collection's Lasting Perfection and Maybelline's The Eraser.

Blushes, bronzers and powders

This hasn't changed too much either - Benefit's Rockateur is still my blush of choice, I usually pair this with MAC's MSF in Adored used with a light hand as a highlighter and I get a really lovely glowy effect that makes me look really fresh and awake. I contour everyday now, which is unusual for me! But I use Dainty Doll's Money Talks Blusher as a contour and it's just perfect for the job when you have Casper's complexion! My powder of choice these days is Maybelline's Super stay 24 hour powder. I just really like the coverage this gives without looking cakey and it doesn't cling to dry patches or break down when your skin is oily - my ideal powder!

Eyeshadow

The only eye shadows I have been using are from MUA's Undress Me Too palette that i received in a swap from Georgie, you can see the swap here if you'd like! I absolutely adore this palette and have actually mostly been using the darker shades which again, like contouring is somewhat of a big change for me make up wise!

Mascaras, Eyeliner, brows, etc

I have been using 2 mascaras. Seventeen's superlash and my favourite Lancome's Hypnose Doll Eyes. My Doll eyes has nearly run out and I'm trying to scrape every last bit out of the tube and I'm also trying to get to grips with the Super lash - I'm still not sure that i like it. My brow products haven't changed, I'm still using MAC's Fling brow pencil and a clear brow gel the one in the photo is Catrice's, which I really like as the brush has a traditional mascara wand like side to it and the other side has more of a comb type of thing going on. The eyeliners I've been sporting lately are Stila's Smudgestick in Damsel and Rimmel's Scandal eyes in nude. And lastly -  I couldn't be without my Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion!

So that's everything I've been using. Not a ton of stuff compared to the amount that was in the bag before I re organised it! It's going to be much easier to not have to root through piles of stuff that I'm not even using! 

What's in your make up bag at the moment?

What's In My Make Up Bag #2

It's been a while since I wrote a "What's in my make up bag?" post - so I thought I'd get myself to the laptop and knock up a quick post for you all on what I'm currently using everyday.

If you want to see what was in my first Make up bag post you can do that here.

 From looking at that last post, the contents of my day to day make up bag have changed completely since my last post, except for one item I believe.

Make up bag contents - alot more in here than I originally thought!



Face/Base Products

Left - Right: Real Techniques Complexion Sponge, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in fair for blemishes and redness (HATE that the writing on the tube rubs off!) Maybelline The Eraser Concealer in Light for under eye area, Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation in 51 Vanille clair.

L-R: Benefit Rockateur blush, which I reviewed here. Sleek blush in Antiqued, MAC Soft and Gentle - click here for swatches, MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural in Light, for days where my skin is good, Maybelline Superstay 24hr powder in Ivory for when I need more coverage and when my skin is extra oily which is pretty much all the time now - stupid winter!

Eye shadow

Sleek Vintage Romance Palette

Lately I've been using Benefit's Rockateur on my lids, a light sweep of it looks so pretty don't over do it though or you can look like you've been punched in the face! 

I always like to have a palette in my make up bag though, and at the moment it's Sleek's Vintage Romance Palette - so pretty and has shades perfect for Christmas! So it's in here so that I'll use it more over the festive season!

Eyeliner/Brows/Mascara/Lips

L-R: Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes Mascara, this mascara is now holy grail status for me guys! No7 High Shine gloss in Smile, great for looking pulled together quickly! Catrice brow gel, Rimmel Scandaleyes pencil in Nude for my waterline, I'm looking tired lately and this really brightens my eyes up. Stila smudgestick in Damsel, again holy grail peeps, seriously amazing! MAC fling brow pencil, really into filling in my brows lately and this is so easy to use it's fool proof! Lastly, there's my trusty Urban Decay Primer Potion.

Brushes

I have really only been using these 4 brushes lately, mainly because using the Real Techniques sponge has drastically cut down the amount of brushes I have to use daily. So L-R: Sigma F30 for powder, Sigma F40 for blush, Real Techniques setting brush for highlighting, Sigma E25 for eyeshadow application and blending - best eye brush in the world, really recommend it!

So I really am using a lot more products than I thought I was using, and I really do use everything every day - bar the palette! 

I was thinking of making these posts a more regular feature, let me know what you think! 

What's in your make up bag right now?

FOTD #1 : Simple Date Look

The boyfriend and myself are going to the cinema later, and even though i'll be sat in the dark I still want to make an effort as he is being brave enough to take me out of the house! 

So here's a quick FOTD, which probably wont be my FOTD when this is eventually posted. Today is Sunday, so this may not be up for a few days yet as I have a few posts waiting in drafts ready to go. 

Anyway I waffled on a bit there!

Simple FOTD

Face:

1. Revlon Photoready Perfecting Primer

2. Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation in Ivory

3. Mac Mineralise Skinfinish Natural in Light

4. Mac In Extra Dimention Blush In At Dusk

5. Sleek Contour Palette In Light

Closer Look At Eyes


Eyes:

1. Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden
2. Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold
3. Urban Decay Naked Palette, Sin all over lid, Toasted in crease, Virgin in inner corner, a mix of Toasted and Darkhorse on lower lashline.
4. L'oreal Perfect Slim liner on upper lashline
5. Maybelline Mega Plush Mascara
6. Eyeko Powder pink pencil liner in waterline

Lips:

Mac Lipstick in Angel

A very quick and easy look that makes you look put together without over doing it, perfect for when you want to look like you have made an effort without actually making an effort!

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

I mentioned in my Summer Essentials post that I had recently bought Urban Decay's latest edition to their Naked line, the Naked Basics Palette.

I may be a little late to the party with this one as it's been out for ages now and every beauty blog under the sun has a review on this palette. I wasn't going to do one for that reason when I got it, but I've ended up falling in love with it and feel the need to give it a post of it's own!

L-R: Venus, Foxy, Walk of Shame, Naked 2, Faint, Crave

Swatches L-R: Venus, Foxy and Walk of Shame

Swatches L-R: Naked 2, Faint and Crave

So just in case you have been living under a rock and actually haven't heard about it, Naked Basics is a six pan eyeshadow palette that features all matte shades, with the exception of the first shade Venus, which is a slightly pearlecent shade, great for highlighting.

The other five shades in the palette are all thoroughly matte shades. I thought that as they are all matte that would mean chalky, badly pigmented shadows - I was completely wrong and very blown away by the buttery texture and great colour pay off of each shadow. 

naturally the darker shades are more pigmented but the lighter shades are nice too, personally I don't think there's a dud shade in the palette.

It's a nice sized palette too, not even a fraction of the size of the original Naked or the Naked 2 palette, so great for travel.

Comparison of palette sizes

Naked Basics really is a little beaut of a palette and has become the palette I automatically reach for daily. It's great to have a range of completely matte shades that still pack a punch pigmentation wise. I love my Naked and Naked 2 palettes, but this is what I would consider to be the best out of the three palettes in terms of the "Naked Look" that they're supposed to give. 
So definitely a must have palette for Neutral lovers like myself, do you own the Naked Basics palette, what are your thoughts on it? 

Where Have I Been? And My Summer Essentials

To say that I have had a busy few months since I posted last is an understatement! I actually didn't even realise I last posted in April, I thought it had only been a few weeks since I posted I've just been so flat out! 

Basically I've been so busy because my boyfriend and I have moved in together! We spent a few weeks looking at places online, and didn't like the look of any of them, but we eventually saw an apartment we liked the look of, arranged a viewing and we liked it so much when we went to view it that we decided that though its the only place we looked at we didn't want to look at anymore and we wanted this one, and I'm glad to say that I am now sat in that apartment typing this post :-)

As well as all the excitement of moving, we have actually been having somewhat of a summer here in Ireland for the past few weeks, the weather has been so hot here that I feel sorry for those who have booked holidays abroad, as they're seriously missing out on a miracle here weather wise! 

So with the temperature rising, my make up choices have swayed even more so to the natural side of things (I am a neutrals kind of girl) I have swapped heavy duty foundations and lipstick for BB cream and lip gloss, and in doing so I've discovered a few products that I don't think I'll be able to live without.

Maybelline Dream Pure BB cream

I hadn't fallen for the hype of BB creams, my skin has always been pretty bad and I thought there's no way that they'd cover up blemishes etc, but my skin has calmed down a ton lately and a few weeks back they had an offer on in boots cant remember exactly what the offer was but I ended up being able to grab Maybelline's Dream Pure BB cream for a fiver instead of nearly €12. I didn't expect much from this, but I fell in love with it. It gives a decent amount of coverage while still looking natural and looking and feeling like you have nothing on your skin. I even walked into the sitting room a few times after putting make up on and the boyfriend actually complimented me on my skin saying it looked really clear and I looked really nice, which is a huge deal as Noel doesn't ever notice anything that I put on my face! 

MAC In Extra Dimension Blush At Dusk

I went to Mac a while back and picked up a few things, this blush being one of them. Its a dusky pink shade that has the slightest hint of golden shimmer to it. I was worried it was going to make me look like a disco ball when applied, but I was pleasantly surprised. The shimmer doesn't seem to transfer at all and you're just left with a lovely soft and natural peachy pink flush to your cheeks. It's also nice built up for a more dramatic look.

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

Ive only had the Naked Basics Palette for a week or so, so I wont go in to too much detail as I want to do a separate post on it but - I 'effing adore the thing! A lot more than I actually thought I would in fact.

The Body Shop Strawberry Body Mist

Again, this is another one that got me compliments from the boyfriend! I was in the body shop messing around with some stuff, this being one of them but decided I wasn't going to get anything, went out of the shop to meet himself who didn't even say hello he said "did you spray something new on yourself? I really like it" so I turned on my heels and went and bought it! 

It's the perfect summer scent, and I'm so annoyed I hadn't found it sooner because I love it so much. It really does smell like strawberries too!

Soap and Glory Heel Genius Amazing Foot Cream

My feet are so neglected! I wanted to show them some TLC, so i picked this up from boots. Ive never tried any soap and glory stuff before and have always been curious about it. I'm so glad I got this, it's made my feet super soft and sandal ready, so if you have trouble with dry skin on your feet, get this put a good layer on your feet and pop some socks over it and it'll leave your feet super smooth!

Nuxe Reve De Miel Lip Balm

I seriously cant praise this enough! Its a thick, heavenly smelling heavy duty lip balm that leaves lips feeling so hydrated and soft. I also love using it as a base under lipsticks to help them glide on and to stop them drying out my lips. Its tricky to get hold of some chemists have it but if you cant find one that stocks Nuxe products, you can get it from Cloud 10 Beauty here.

So these are my recent discoveries that are now firm favourites, I can see myself using all of these products all year round but the majority of them are perfect for summer use, especially with this crazy heatwave we've been having.

So, what are your summer essentials? Leave a comment telling me below!

What's In My Make Up Bag?

Well hello there! It's been such a long time since I've posted and I'm feeling in a much better place than I was in my last post.  So I have decided that it's time for me to begin posting again!
Lately I've been enjoying reading What's In My Make Up Bag posts, I also like seeing updated ones so I can see what other products that beauty bloggers switch out and what ones they can't live without. So I might make this a regular post every month or two, so if any of you are interested in me doing that let me know in the comments section.

I've been keeping my make up pretty simple lately, so there's not really a ton of products in here right now, there may be too many in here considering how little make up I've been wearing. I've been keeping it really simple with just foundation, blusher, mascara and a really subtle natural lip colour. 

From Left to Right: Revlon Photoready Perfecting Primer, Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation in 100 Ivory, Revlon Photoready 3D Volume Mascara, Revlon Colorstay Normal/Dryskin Formula in 110 Ivory, Benefit High Beam, Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey, Sigma Brow Gel Duo, Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette, MAC Mineralize Skinfish Natural in Light, Dainty Doll Blushers in My Girl and Money Talks, Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden.

My make up bag itself is actually an iPad case that I saw in Tesco and thought it was perfect for make up, as its big enough to hold tons of products, including palettes and brushes and I also throw my skin care in if I'm going anywhere over night. Not bad for €4!

It feels good to have a post up again! I have a few posts drafted and ready to go so be expecting to see a lot more from me in the next while. Also if you'd like a closer look at anything in this post let me know in the comments and I'd be more than happy to do that for you.

So, what's in your make up bag? I'd love to know!

EOTD: Amped Up Everyday Neutrals

Hello! Hope you're all well : )

This is just a quick EOTD post. I was going to to a FOTD but I have psoriasis on my hands and face and my face is pretty bad with it at the moment so the rest of my make up isn't sitting right, so here's a quick EOTD :)

Sorry that the photos aren't overly clear guys, the weather is crappy today and there isn't a lot of light to play with!

I used Urban Decay's Naked 2 Palette, I got this for Christmas and have been enjoying it so far, I think I actually like it more than the original Naked palette!

So I used Suspect as an all over lid colour, then I mixed Snake bite with a very small amount of Pistol my crease and outer corner to deepen it up a little. Then I used Bootycall on my tear duct area as a highlight, and lined my lower lash line with a mixture of Snakebite and Pistol again.

I then applied a line of NYC's Liquid Liner on my upper lash line and then applied Eyelure's Katy Perry line of fake lashes in Sweetie Pie, which are a lovely natural looking lash that still gives a bit of impact. I then blended my own lashes with the fake ones using Benefit's They're Real! Mascara. 

This is pretty much the kind of eye look I do everyday, but my boyfriend is coming home from hospital today (But this will be scheduled to post tomorrow) after being in for two weeks over Christmas and new year, so I wanted to look nice without looking too overdone because we're only in the house, so the Katy Perry lashes did a good job of giving the look a little something extra without going overboard.

I think that sometimes the best eye looks when you want to look your best are the simplest ones, do you agree? 

Review: Urban Decay Vice Palette

Urban Decay Vice Palette

Just take a moment to look at the beauty of the Vice Palette, doesn't it just take your breath away? :)

I mentioned that my wonderful boyfriend got me the Vice palette Christmas Present Haul post here. He gave me this a few weeks before Christmas, so I've had it for the guts of a month now and have had so much fun playing with it and I'm head over heels in love with it!

The Vice Palette is UD's newest limited edition palette, with 20 brand new never before seen eyeshadow shades. When I say never seen before i mean that there are a few similar UD shadows available that resemble a few of the ones in the palette, but you're not going to have these exact ones in other UD palettes that you may have.

The packaging on the palette is beautiful. The shadows are contained in a Nars(esque) rubber feeling box, with a jewled UD icon on the front. There is also a button that when pushed, makes the lid slowly open to reveal your 20 eye shadows, a dual ended brush and a massive mirror. I really like the packaging on this, it looks expensive and unlike UD's other big ass palettes, its not made from cardboard so it's pretty travel friendly and not overly huge at all. The only thing is that the outside of the palette is hard to clean as it attracts finger prints, but that's a minor detail.

A closer look at the shadows

Swatches 

Top Row Swatches 

Desperation is a deep grey/brown with a satin finish.

Muse Chocolate brown with fine golden shimmer.

Jagged Medium browned olive shade with glitter.

Blitz Bright yellowed gold shade, with a metallic finish.

Penny Lane Shimmery peach shade that leans orange, quite a metallic finish.

Second Row Swatches

Junkie Bright blue/green with gold glitter. 

Chaos Bright matte blue, though sometimes I can see some very slight shimmer.

Occupy Silver/grey with a slight blue hue. Metallic finish.

Unhinged Bright metallic turquoise. 

Black Market Matte black.

Third Row Swatches

Provocateur A pink leaning towards lilac shade, with silver shimmer. Glittery finish.

Rapture Purple with a grey undertone, satin finish shadow.

Vice Deep, metallic purple.

Noise Bright loud pink, some shimmer to it, metallic/glitter finish.

Armor Taupe shade with silver tones. Metallic finish.

Bottom Row Swatches

Nevermind Cool toned medium brown, satin finish.

Echo Beach Light brown that leans slightly towards olive green, satin finish.

Anonymous Pale creamy flesh toned peach, matte finish.

Freebird Pink with peach leanings, frosty/metallic finish.

Laced Browned pink shade, matte finish.

The texture of most of these shadows is really buttery, bar the few very glittery ones but even they are easy to work with. Pigmentation is great on all except Chaos and Jagged, but you can build them up quite easily. Wear time is superb on their own, and even better with a primer. These don't go anywhere on me when I have a primer on and are still mostly intact at the end of the day.

This is by far one of UD's best palette releases of the last few years, in my opinion. It has everything from basic neutral shades to some fun bright ones, along with a nice amount of deeper shades. There really is something for everyone in this palette, great if you're only starting out and want to build up your shadow collection, and also great if like me you re a huge UD fan and already have most of their shades. The dual ended shading/blending brush that you get with the palette is pretty decent too.

The Vice Palette is limited edition, so I'm not sure how long it will still be around for as it has been out a good while now, I know there are still some in Debenhams as they still have it up on their website. 

Are any of you as in love with the Vice palette as I am? :)

Christmas Present Haul

Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! 

I have been really looking forward to doing this post as i pretty much got everything that I wanted for Christmas this year, cant believe how lucky I was. I was well and truly spoilt. I wont be going into too much detail with swatches etc, because I want to do individual posts for a few of the things also I'm not posting photos of everything I got, just a few of my main presents and theres a couple of pretty exciting ones! :)


Urban Decay Vice Palette

Ahhh! Behold the amazingness that is The Vice Palette! This is one of the two palettes that my boyfriend got me, he went a little crazy this year and bought me pretty much everything I mentioned I wanted which is insane but so sweet too. Anyway I had been dying to get my hands on this and it really hasn't disappointed me, 20 brand new UD shades, I'm in love!
He gave me this palette a few weeks ago, so I've had time to play around with it, and seeing as its limited edition, I'll post a full review on it in the next few days in case they become hard to find and anyone needs help making up their mind about it.

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

This is the other palette that Noel got me. I have the original Naked palette too, and I was torn for ages weather or not I wanted or even needed this one too. I have to say that I'm actually really liking this more than I thought I would, and that the cooler toned shadows of Naked 2 suit me better than the warmer toned Naked palette. Haven't played with this enough yet to be one hundred percent on it, but so far so good!

Daisy Eau So Fresh By Marc Jacobs

Daisy Eau So Fresh is my all time favourite perfume ever! I ran out of it in September just before my sister's wedding and I've been lost without it. So I was so happy and surprised when my boyfriend gave me this big ass 125ml bottle! I didn't even know they came bigger than 100mls! This will probably last me until next Christmas now, and I wear this everyday its such a strong scent that one or two sprays is all you need so this will last me ages.

Wasn't going to put this one in, but I thought why not? lol My boyfriend's sister got me a Charlie Pink perfume set. While I'm not sure if I like the scent or not, it came with a Revlon nail enamel in Sweet Tart, which is the same colour as one of my favourite Revlon Lip Butters, so I thought that was cool and deserved a mention.

That's my main presents I got, I got a good few bath sets, some DVDs, a McFly greatest hits CD which I can't stop listening to - reminds me of being 14 and being in love with McFly! lol! I also got money off my dad too that will probably most likely be spent on more make up very soon! 

I haven't managed to get out to any of the sales yet, but I am hoping to. Would love to hear what you all got for Christmas and anything you bought in the sales too, so do leave a comment below, with a link to your post or even just a list of what you got! :)

Review: Urban Decay Smoked Palette

Uh-ohs! I've completely fallen behind on blogging again, it's been a pretty stressful few weeks since I last posted and my life has taken over all of my time, but now things seem to be calming down long enough for me to get a few posts in. Hurrah! : )

A while back I bought Urban Decay's Smoked Palette. I really liked the look of the Smoked palette as I haven't really got any darker eyeshadow shades in my collection. Also, as you may have noticed i'm a sucker for UD's products especially their shadows. 

The Smoked Palette contains 10 eyeshadows: 

Kinky is a pale beige that has a matte finish. This shadow can be a little powdery but is still easy to work with. 

 Freestyle a matte peach shade. Has okay pigmentation, is also a little powdery. 

 Mushroom is a grey/taupe with a shimmer finish. This one comes off more grey on the lids, blends really well and has great colour payoff. 

 Back Door a deep, matte dark brown. Blends beautifully, dosent seem powdery like the other mattes in the palette.

 Black Out matte black. A really good true black shadow.Great pigmentation and no powdery feel.

 Barlust is a shimmery medium brown, has a butter like texture.

 Rockstar is a deep smokey shimmery purple. This is the colour that made me want to buy the palette and it didnt dissapoint. Really soft texture, blends beautifully, fantastic pigmentation. 

Evidence a navy blue shade with a shimmery almost metallic look to it. This shadow seemed a little less soft than the other shades somehow, but still had decent payoff.

  Loaded is a blackend emerald green. Easy to work with buttery soft texture.

 Asphalt is a grey shade with shimmer of another colour that I cant really place. This one like evidence seemed a little less soft than the other shadows, but still decent pigmentation here too.

You also get a full sized 24/7 glide one pencil in Perversion, which is the blackest black liner I have ever seen, even darker than UD's other black liner Zero, it's really incredible! 

Swatches L-R: Kinky,Freestyle,Mushroom,Backdoor,Blackout,Barlust,Rockstar,Evidence,Loaded and Asphalt

I like this palette, though I dont use it religiously every day, its great to have some great deep, dark shades for a little more ooomph every now and then. My favourite shades in the palette are Mushroom, Barlust, Rockstar and Loaded. Least favourite would be Evidence, but only because i'm not a fan of blue shadow. If you love smokey eyes id say this palette is a must for you, but for neutural lovers like myself you may not love this, even though it is a nice little palette.

Urban Decay's Smoked Palette is €40 at the UD counter in Debenhams, which is pretty much the usual price for an Urban Decay palette. 

Hope you're all keeping well, and I will be posting again very soon! : )

Toodles!

X o X