bargain Archives - Irish Beauty Blog Beautynook

Bargain Buying, Makeup, Makeup Tutorial, Youtube Video

Gold Glitter Eyeshadow Tutorial | Budget Beauty

I’m a going through a bit of a budget beauty phase at the minute. Here is another one to throw into the mix. I created this really simple, but I think effective, gold glitter eyeshadow look using all Penneys/Primark products.

Now I did cheat ever so slightly, just because I didn’t have everything I needed, like eyeshadow primer for example from Penneys. But all the products after that are Penneys own brand, PS Beauty, or products that are readily available in store. I’m talking like I used a bucket of products, I didn’t. You’ll see in the video 🙂 I have reviews already of the powder eyeshadows from Penneys here and the glitter and cream shadows here and here. That’s all the main bases covered I think in this gold glitter eyeshadow look.

There is chat about my eyebrows too in this video, which I’ve recently gotten micro bladed. I have put all my brow updated into highlights on my Instagram, just so I can refer to it if there’s any questions. I go through the process and the pricing and all that good stuff over there.

The gold glitter eyeshadow look itself I think is reasonably easy and I didn’t go in too heavy. I wanted it to be wearable, but still a bit sparkly.

The star of the show is the €1 Penneys eyeshadow called Gold Digger.

I’ve also come to the realisation in the past few weeks, that doing your eyeshadow before your base is brilliant. You can clean up any fall out and correct your work and you base won’t have glitter eyeshadow in it 🙂

I am super happy with how this turned out, the spot under my eye is really annoying, but I have to get over that 🙂

I kept the skin super simple, and added a matte pinky nude lip and a good splodge of highlighter to finish things off. Let me know what you think. Do you rate any of the Penneys makeup?

xxx

May 3, 2019/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Fashion, Fragrance, Hair, Haul, Makeup, Skincare

Black Friday Deals / Cyber Monday 2018

It’s that time of the year again. Time for black Friday deals, and Cyber Monday to boot. I’m more of a Cyber Monday gal myself. I don’t tend to bother with the crowds 🙂

As a disclaimer, I will just say. You are under no obligation to buy any black Friday deals. I am doing this just because as a blogger I get sent a lot of the codes, so it’s easy enough to put them in one place. And also to be completely transparent, some of the links I will share are affiliate links. You pay no more using an affiliate link. All it means is that if you click on my link and choose to buy something, I make a minuscule commission.

Anyway, let’s get onto the black Friday deals. I’ll insert the ones I have already and then update this post as often as I can with more codes/links and cyber Monday deals too.

I’ll update as I source more or things change. Happy and safe shopping 🙂 And if this was helpful, please do share. Thanks.

Gemma

xxx

November 21, 2018/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup

J.Cat Xtreme Access Pocket Pocket Eyeshadow

The J.Cat Xtreme Access Pocket Pocket Eyeshadow made it into my latest monthly favourites, along with some other lovely products. I didn’t properly swatch it in that though. I’ve been getting so much use of out of this little palette and gravitating towards it a lot. So, I thought it deserved some extra swatching attention 🙂

This is a brand I knew feck all about in all honesty. I had a voucher to spend on the new Irish beauty website, Beaut Essential and they stock it. I wanted to get a couple of things from brands I had not tried before. The J.Cat Xtreme Access Pocket Pocket Eyeshadow Palettes are a mouthful and a half to say. But, they’ll only set you back €9.95, which I thought was pretty good!

There’s three colour ways to choose from on Beaut Essential. I went with the one called Walk Of Stardom.

It’s a fairly small palette, it fits in my hand, but it holds 12 fairly decent sized eyeshadows. There is 6 mattes and 6 shimmers. All more on the warm spectrum, although there is a couple of more plum/cranberry shades that in my opinion could shift things more neutral or cool.

Visually, the J.Cat Xtreme Access Pocket Pocket Eyeshadow in Walk Of Stardom is so up my alley, but in all honesty I wasn’t expecting much for a tenner. It has proved me wrong no end. The colour pay off on these shadows, both matte and shimmers is really bloody good.

They all, for the most part, apply and blend really well. Something to note, the gold shade (swatched fifth, is more of a gold shimmer topper, rather than an actual eyeshadow shade.) And the second matte plum shade isn’t great. I don’t gravitate towards it too much, so it doesn’t affect me overall.

I’ve been reaching for this palette so much on the daily and love that you can create a full eye look with just it on it’s own. There’s transition shades, lid shades and even a highlight shade.

Overall, I am a big fan of the J.Cat Xtreme Access Pocket Pocket Eyeshadow in Walk Of Stardom and now I need the other two colour ways on offer to compare 🙂

Have you tried anything from J.Cat? Any recommendations? Let me know.

xxx

*PR SAMPLE**

November 19, 2018/by Gem

Fashion, Youtube Video

What’s In My New Handbag?

I am going back to old school YouTube roots a bit. Totally for a bit of fun and totally to show you my new bargain of a handbag from River Island.

I had been eyeing up this bag for a minute. They had posted a pic of it on Instagram and it looked so up my street.

I am crossbody bag kinda gal. I am an absolute brat when it comes to carrying things. Think of a five year old bringing their toys with them and then halfway through the journey deciding they don’t want to hold them anymore. That is me in a nutshell 🙂 I was previously using this backpack from Zara. It didn’t last very long though and I find I was just filling it with crap. I have a couple of Rebecca Minkoff cross-bodies and have been using them day to day, but I really needed something of decent quality that I could bash around a bit.

This bag is suede and leather and it originally retailed for €75/£55. If you buy from the likes of ASOS or River Island online, always buy in pounds. The conversion is so much better. I was holding off until it came into the shops, but kept checking up on it online. Does anyone else do that with things they really like? 🙂

I randomly checked on it one day and it was on sale for £25!! So I thought screw seeing it in real life first. With shipping, it cost me €31!! I thought that was a really bloody good deal for a leather bag. It’s still on sale on the River Island website here. (Update: It has just become out of stock, but they have loads of fab bags still on sale here) . Remember to buy in pounds 🙂

Overall, I am super happy with the bag. The quality is really decent and there’s no big RI logos anywhere on the outside of it. I am not a huge fan of that. It’s a little bigger than I thought it was, but for a day time bag, I am completely ok with that. The thick strap I love, although it isn’t as long as I would like and it isn’t adjustable. I definitely wouldn’t be able to wear this crossbody over a big coat. Not ideal, but I’ll probably just wear it inside my jacket as it gets colder, or on one shoulder.

In the video I give you a quick run through of what’s in my handbag. For fun, and just so you can see what it can actually hold. There is only one big compartment within it. It has a little zip enclosure for your purse/phone. And then a couple of little pockets. If you like your stuff compartmentalised within your bag, this isn’t for you 🙂

I know loads of you bought it. (Thanks loads for using my affiliate link). I’d love to know what you think and if you’re happy with your purchasing decision like me:)

xxx

October 19, 2018/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup

Affordable Makeup Spring Favourites

I’ve harped on about some of these products online too much now. I thought I needed to do a dedicated post showing you them a bit more in depth. So here are my current affordable makeup Spring faves 🙂

I apologise in advance if you’re sick of me talking about the PS Bronze Shade & Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette. I did a whole post here dedicated to this Penneys Collection. I believe it’s in stores pretty much as we speak.

I didn’t swatch the palette though and I really think it deserves it now. I have honestly reached for this so much since I was given it. And not because I felt I had to if that makes sense? Being a beauty blogger, I do have to make a point to try products again and again. For €6, you get nine warm eyeshadow shades. They’re a mixture of mattes and shimmers and all compliment each other. Are they the softest, most pigmented shadows I’ve ever used? No, but for the price point they are pretty bloody awesome!

Continuing on from the palette, another affordable makeup Spring fave from Penneys, are their cream eyeshadow pots. And a disclaimer, I am only calling them makeup Spring faves because it’s Spring now. These are fine all year round ha.

I picked up two of these while I was in Edinburgh a while back from the PS Nudes Collection.

A matte and a metallic one just to try. I went to the launch of this collection and they were one of the things I was most intrigued about. Also at €2.50 each I thought they were worth the financial risk 🙂

I did however take the bloody stickers off them absentmindedly and they had the names on them, so I don’t know what they’re called. But they’re creamy and pigmented so I’ll forgive them not putting the names on the containers.

I’ve another two from the Bronze Collection too.

They’re super easy to work with and pack a real punch as a cream eyeshadow base. They’re a little slippy in texture so I don’t know how well they would fare on their own, without powder on top. I find the pots a bit of a pain. Fingers do not fit very comfortably inside them, but a synthetic brush works grand. That’s what I used to swatch them above.

The eyeshadow base I have been using for last couple of months is the Zoeva Matte Eyeshadow Fix.

Don’t let the word matte deter you. It has more of a velvet finish in my humble opinion.

I just think it’s a damn good eyeshadow primer. I have super oily lids so I’m generally a decent judge of what’s good and what isn’t in this department. A little goes a long way, it doesn’t interfere with whatever you put on top and it helps fill in fine lines too. €8.95 is a decent price for it.

The Madison M5 brush has been another firm favourite of mine over the past few weeks.

This comes as part of a 12 piece brush set available here for €39.95.It’s a super soft synthetic brush. I have been loving it for setting under my eyes. I’m enjoying quite a few of the brushes from the set, this one in-particular stands out though as I reach for it pretty much everyday.

My last affordable makeup Spring fave is a new in lippie from Essence.

This kind of shade is a no brainer for me really. I am a mauve lipstick whore. It’s called 10 Rosey Glitz.

When I’m not reaching for a matte finish day to day this is a great sheer, you don’t really have to think about applying it colour. It’s super flattering and feels really nice on the lips. I also think it retails for about 3 quid. Bargain!

And there you have my affordable makeup Spring faves 🙂

xxx

PR SAMPLES INCLUDED

March 26, 2018/by Gem

Fashion, Lifestyle

Non Beauty Favourites

I did my beauty favourites for 2017 in video form here not too long ago, if you fancy a beauty hit. There was non beauty related bits and bobs that I wanted to give a shout out to though aswell. So here I am writing a blogpost all about them 🙂

I actually scrolled through my Instagram feed for inspiration for this. I adore the beauty world, but I do have other interests too. I’m not always comfortable talking fashion for all to see. I’m not particularly comfortable within myself. But I love fashion too. Now I don’t mean keeping up with all trends or buying all the latest designer releases, (maybe one day). I mean just putting outfits together, making myself feel a bit better when I look in the mirror. My lovely friend Lorraine of the awesome blog (John It’s Only Makeup) gave me a bit of a boost and told me I should start doing ootd’s (Outfit Of The Day’s) on Instagram. I’ve done a few over the past couple of months.

These boots are definitely on my non beauty favourite list. Now I will say these are not the best quality over the knee boot out there and won’t last the test of time. But, they fit over my larger calves, have a bit of a heel, are comfortable to walk and stand in and they were a bloody bargain!

I actually picked them up my mistake. Sinéad from The Beautiful Truth was chatting about a similar pair she got from New Look, so I went on to have a look and thought these were them. They aren’t, but they were on sale for €29.99 here, originally €59.99. From a quality point of view, they aren’t worth the original price. But on sale, they are!

Another shoe favourite is from a different spectrum. I picked these up simply because they are sparkly.

I got a lot questions about these on social media. They’re from Penneys and they were €7 just before Christmas. I’ve literally worn them everyday since I picked them up and they’re lasting well. They have a rubber sole too which is handy if you need to pop out the bins or something like that. Looking at them makes me smile 🙂

Next up is another Penneys buy. I only picked this sweatshirt up for €10 a few weeks ago, so it’s probably still there.

I’ve been just using it for loungewear ( I have it on as I type). It’s so comfy, washes really well and sure it makes you a fully fledged unicorn trainer.

I have been a bit obsessed with buying costume jewellery on eBay. Specifically earrings.

They take an age to come and there is definitely hits and misses. But when something comes that you actually like and it only cost a couple of euro, you feel pretty damn smug. I always use PayPal and order from reputable sellers. I also never spend a alot.

Another jewellery fave has been this Casio watch John kindly bought me for Christmas.

I did choose it myself from Asos. I like a more masculine watch.

I also thought the rusty rose gold colouring was a little different to what I’ve had before, so I was just drawn to it. A watch to me is more an accessory than a necessity. And I think this fits my style quite nicely.

My last favourite is wine. Now if you know me, you’ll know this is a very new scenario.

For a long time, I was a vodka and diet 7up kinda gal. It’s all I drank. Since John has gotten really into the Irish craft beer scene though, I’ve become a little bit more adventurous. I’ve realised I actually like the taste of gin. It has become my tipple of choice. I’ve also acquired a taste for Prosecco. And now I am dipping my toe into wine. Just a little bit and only white or Rosé. My palette isn’t distinguished enough for red. But I find myself trying to do a little research and think more about it and I’m quite enjoying it.

And that’s it! There’s some of my non beauty related favourites of the minute. Let me know what you think.

Gemma

xxx

January 15, 2018/4 Comments/by Gem

Posts

I’m a going through a bit of a budget beauty phase at the minute. Here is another one to throw into the mix. I created this really simple, but I think effective, gold glitter eyeshadow look using all Penneys/Primark products.

I kept the skin super simple, and added a matte pinky nude lip and a good splodge of highlighter to finish things off. Let me know what you think. Do you rate any of the Penneys makeup?

xxx

I’ll update as I source more or things change. Happy and safe shopping 🙂 And if this was helpful, please do share. Thanks.

Gemma

xxx

Overall, I am a big fan of the J.Cat Xtreme Access Pocket Pocket Eyeshadow in Walk Of Stardom and now I need the other two colour ways on offer to compare 🙂

Have you tried anything from J.Cat? Any recommendations? Let me know.

xxx

***********PR SAMPLE************

I am going back to old school YouTube roots a bit. Totally for a bit of fun and totally to show you my new bargain of a handbag from River Island.

I know loads of you bought it. (Thanks loads for using my affiliate link). I’d love to know what you think and if you’re happy with your purchasing decision like me:)

xxx

I apologise in advance if you’re sick of me talking about the PS Bronze Shade & Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette. I did a whole post here dedicated to this Penneys Collection. I believe it’s in stores pretty much as we speak.

Continuing on from the palette, another affordable makeup Spring fave from Penneys, are their cream eyeshadow pots. And a disclaimer, I am only calling them makeup Spring faves because it’s Spring now. These are fine all year round ha.

I’ve another two from the Bronze Collection too.

The eyeshadow base I have been using for last couple of months is the Zoeva Matte Eyeshadow Fix.

My last affordable makeup Spring fave is a new in lippie from Essence.

And there you have my affordable makeup Spring faves 🙂

xxx

*******PR SAMPLES INCLUDED*******

I have been a bit obsessed with buying costume jewellery on eBay. Specifically earrings.

Another jewellery fave has been this Casio watch John kindly bought me for Christmas.

My last favourite is wine. Now if you know me, you’ll know this is a very new scenario.

And that’s it! There’s some of my non beauty related favourites of the minute. Let me know what you think.

Gemma

xxx

*PR SAMPLE**

PR SAMPLES INCLUDED