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Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation

Am I right in saying the Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation has had a bit of a moment since it’s release? Some may say blogging is dead, but I 100% wanted to try this foundation because of all the hype online.

Now I will say I have seen some not so great things said about it. But sure balance is key in this industry and not everything can work for everyone (generally). We’re all different, looking for different things and different results. It’s one thing I love about this beauty world.

I picked up the Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation when ASOS were having a 20% off everything sale. I had gone in to buy it a couple of times in Brown Thomas, but they never have my shade. It’s also important to note too, Nars counters never give out samples, which I think is a load of baloney! But sure didn’t I buy it anyways 🙂

So what do Nars say about this foundation? They say it has:

‘Liquid texture.
Luminous finish.
Fade resistant for up to 16 hours.
Available in 33 shades’.

I colour matched myself to the shade ‘Mont Blanc’. And it’s a pretty perfect match.

My thoughts on the Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation are kind of contradictory if I’m being completely honest. I love the packaging, it’s very sleek. I love the formula. In my humble opinion it’s has really good coverage, but not oh shit, I’ve just put plaster all over my face, good coverage. Although you can definitely build it up.

I wouldn’t call it ‘luminous’, although it’s not flat on the skin. There’s definitely a bit of a satin sheen to it. It blends like an absolute dream. And when I first apply it, I could probably say it’s one of my favourite foundations ever. The term ‘weightless’, I can 100% get on board with though! However, there is a ginormous but! Saying it’s a fade resistant for 16 hours foundation in my very humble opinion is just plain madness. I did google other opinions on it because obviously I would have more oilier skin, and people with combination and even drier skin types were of the same opinion. It just doesn’t last. On me, it starts to break down after probably the second hour. Considering I use two primers, powder and setting spray, its just not cool! Where I’m more combo, it lasts a little better. But still, at the end of a day wearing the Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation, I look super greasy.

Here it is in action in video form:

I want to love this foundation with all of my heart. Dramatic much Gemma? I love the finish, the application and the coverage. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t last the test of time for me, even with all the makeup accoutrements 🙁 In all honesty I probably went for the wrong Nars Foundation. I should have went for the All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation. Lesson learned!

Have you tried it yet? I would love to know your thoughts on it.

xxx

September 14, 2018/by Gem

Makeup

Mac Eyeshadow Collection

I have been slowly re-adding to my Mac eyeshadow collection ever since they brought the price of the single pans down to €7. For a long while I had just stopped buying them and even gave a host of them away. As other brands came onto the market like Makeup Geek or even now Penneys that do great single pans, buying exclusively Mac just wasn’t necessary.

As the price is a bit more affordable and Mac is a more readily available for us too with Brown Thomas, Arnotts and even ASOS selling it now. Although, ASOS don’t sell just the pans. I’ve been using it as an excuse to buy up some of the colours I’ve always wanted to try buy just never got around to over my makeup loving years. And some old favourites. I’m not really buying basics as in transition shades or anything, just shades that take my fancy, although that may change. Never say never 🙂

My Mac eyeshadow collection is way smaller than it used to be, but I thought this might be helpful, just in case, like me, there’s certain shades you want to try. I can update it as I pick up more, and be sure to leave me suggestions in the comments below of other cool single pans to pick up.

I feel like I’m starting again with my collection and it feels good, I won’t lie.

Nine pans are all that adorn my new pro palette at the minute, but they’re very nice pans, and I’m happy with them all 🙂

From left to right we have:

Naked Lunch, a frosted pale, nearly the same colour as my skin tone kinda shade.

All That Glitters is another pale frost with a bit more of a peach tone.

Satin Taupe is exactly what it say on the tin.

Woodwinked is a warm brown metallic shade.

Amber Lights is a warm copper with a frosty finish.

Coppering is a warm copper with a frost finish.

Vex is completely new to me, I’ve never owned it before. It’s a pale frost with like a pewter shift to it and I just thought it looked interesting.

Club is one of my favourite Mac eyeshadows. It has a duo chrome finish and looks different with how you apply it. It shifts brown and green.

Lastly we have Cranberry. It’s a warm frosted cranberry shade.

Here’s some of them in action on my eyeballs really simply.

And that’s it for now! I’ll be sure to update the list as I shop 🙂

xxx

July 29, 2018/by Gem

Makeup, Makeup Tutorial, Youtube Video

Everyday Summer Makeup Tutorial

This is my honest everyday Summer Makeup look! I tried to keep it as real as possible and just edited out my ‘ums’ and any long winded techniques. My brows take forever 🙂

It’s nothing fancy or ground breaking, but this is generally what I do on a daily basis if I’m wearing makeup. The eye look might change a bit if I’m feeling fancier or lazier. The lip colour might change if I’m feeling a bold or bright lip, but the base tends to not really. I’ve found what works for my skin in the heat, so I don’t want to jinx it too much if I’m going out and about. If I know I’m staying close to home, then I can experiment and trial new products 🙂

It all depends on what you feel most comfortable with. For me, brows and a bit of eyeshadow definition is a must. Eyeliner is not necessary so it’s not something I do day to day. Once I have a wash of colour on my lids I am happy enough. The main components of my everyday Summer makeup look, I’ve spoken about a lot before. I think this is an important aspect of this video though. You know I like these products and above all, you know I trust them.

I won’t get into everything, but some of the main products I used are in my June Favourites here. I have a review the Urban Decay Primer here, and of both the foundations I used here and here. Mac Springsheen blush has been a favourite for literally years and the highlighter from Pixi is a new, but very loved favourite.

And that is my ‘errand running’ everyday Summer makeup. If you watched the video, you’ll get the joke 🙂

Thanks for tuning it. Tell me, what are some of your Summer makeup essentials?

xxx

PR SAMPLES INCLUDED*

July 11, 2018/1 Comment/by Gem

Makeup

Urban Decay All Nighter Concealer

My lovely friend Sue aka @itscherrysue (she LOVES to be called that out in the non digital world FYI 🙂 ), very kindly gave me the Urban Decay All Nighter Concealer. How much of a sound dude is she?

We were having a cheeky pint after an event and she pulled it out her back and exclaimed, ‘Gem, this is too light for me, you should try it’. The most romantic words I ever did hear. Sometimes having blue skin comes in handy!

So what is the Urban Decay All Nighter Concealer? Well I am so glad you asked. This is a followup to their All Nighter Foundation, which I actually wasn’t a fan of. It didn’t work great for my skin. I found it just slipped around.

There is 14 shades in the concealer range and Urban Decay say it’s 73% more pigmented than their Naked Skin Foundation. What a peculiar statistic!

I have the shade Neutral Fair (thanks to Sue). It’s definitely a shade or two lighter than my skin tone. This concealer is famously known to oxidise though. UD actually recommend you to opt for the lighter shade if you’re in between colours, so that’s definitely something to note.

For me, this is a thick, full coverage concealer. I find it does a really good job at covering darkness and pigmentation, including redness and blemishes. I do for the most part only use it under my eyes. It sets super quickly, so you have to work particularly fast with it to make sure it blends into the skin. But if you do, it applies really nicely. On me, once it’s blended and set with powder, it doesn’t crease or get caught in any fine lines. I don’t generally have major problems with that happening though. I think if you have particularly dry skin around your eyes, this might be a miss.

If you’re using a more full coverage base, I would be careful with applying this as you could go ‘cakey’ really is as it is quite thick in consistency.

I’ve heard talk of the Urban Decay All Nighter Foundation being compared to the infamous Tarte Shape Tape. As I own both, I will offer my humble opinion.

I think I prefer the packaging from UD, it’s more sleek and I prefer a smaller doe foot applicator. Shape Tape comes with a huge one and I can sometimes find it cumbersome and a bit messy as it can retain a lot of product. They come in at a similar price if buying directly. ST is a bit of a pain in the arse to get in Europe though with taxes. QVC do sell it but with a decent mark up and a more limited shade range. You get 3.5 grams of product from UD, whereas ST has 10 mls! For me, Shape Tape wins over All Nighter just because it has a thinner consistency and blends easier but still has the coverage and the staying power.

Saying that though, I really do like the Urban Decay All Nighter Concealer. It does a really great job. You can find it online from Debenhams here.

Have you tried it?

xxx

March 5, 2018/2 Comments/by Gem

Monthly Favourites, Youtube Video

February Favourites 2018

This is a bit of an all over the place February Favourites!

The cabin fever has gotten to me and the tangents are mighty. Hope you don’t mind a bit of rambling 🙂

As I write this, the snow is still coming down strong and after three days indoors, I miss civilisation. Ok, I am being totes dramatic and I hope everyone who stumbles across this post in real time is safe and warm. Oh and has enough bread and milk to keep you going. 🙂

In my cabin fevered state, I managed to add in a favourite that I spoke about already in my January favourites. I could have edited it out, but then I thought, I loved it enough to talk about it twice, so I must really like it!

It’s all beauty related chatter for February favourites 2018. I did try to see if I had anything else to add into the pot, but I want it to be genuine. Beauty is the thing I am consistently trying, hence the monthly turn around.

As always I’ll list and link everything below, just in case anything takes your fancy and you want a closer look.

Estée Lauder Double Wear Nude Foundation.

Maybelline Super Stay Full Coverage Foundation.

Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer.

Urban Decay All Nighter Concealer.

Huda Beauty Smokey Obsessions Eyeshadow Palette.

Kérastase Balancing Shampoo.

And I think that’s it. It felt like so much more when I was talking to camera about them ha! I really hope everyone had a lovely February. March is off to a bit of a miserable snowy start, so surely it has to be all up from here?

Oh here is my Edinburgh haul in case you want to check it out!

As always thanks for clicking, I really appreciate it. Let me know if there was anything you were loving through the month of February.

xxx

*******PR SAMPLES INCLUDED IN THIS POST*******

March 2, 2018/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup

All Day Glow For Under A Tenner!

Surely you know Gemma that good glow can come for way less than a tenner? Yes, yes I do, but I want to talk about all day glow. Highlight that sticks around blinding everyone all damn day long 🙂

I know for me, all day glow means layering product. I won’t get it by just applying liquid or cream highlighter. And I won’t get it from just powder. Applying them together though, gives me a way better chance of keeping hold of it from day to night.

This is the time of year where we all tend to have a lot more on. It’s also the time of year where your hard earned money is going on lovely things for the good people in your life. So I’m here to show you that you don’t have to sacrifice your party shine as a result. I have two products here that you can layer up, or just wear on their own to jazz up a makeup look.

First up we have the PS Custom Glow Liquid Highlighter.

This is in the shade Pearl Blossom. On it’s own it gives a pretty muted pink shine to the skin. I will say the packaging isn’t the best. The pipette doesn’t tend to work, so I just take the product from the build up on the applicator.

These come in three colours I believe and set you back €5 for 9mls of product.

To allow us to ‘glow all day’, I would tend to add a powder highlighter over the drops. To lock the shine in place and even make it more glowy. You can always top up powder too if you need to retouch your makeup. Liquid isn’t so easy. If you want a similar shade for a similar price point, this is the Mink Pink Highlighter again from Penneys.

This is actually a really pretty powder highlighter in it’s own right. Again, I believe these come in three colour ways too. You get 7.7 grams of product for €3.50. So together, for both products, you are paying €8.50.

Sandwiched together products tend to have a better chance of standing the test of time in my humble oily skinned opinion 🙂

I know I’ve been bigging up Penneys/Primark beauty of late. That’s simply because they’re upping their game and I’ve been enjoying alot of it. My last couple of posts on their makeup brushes and single eyeshadow pans are here and here too.

Have you tried either of my glow all day suggestions?

Let me know 🙂

xxx

November 15, 2017/by Gem

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