beautybay Archives - Irish Beauty Blog Beautynook

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow

The Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadows are a tongue twister first of all. I swear I keep having to check the name on the box to make sure I am writing it correctly!

Second of all, the Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadows are something I have been really excited about launching here for a long time. There are so many releases in the makeup world that if you are immersed in it, you can tend to take them for granted a little.

After seeing a lot of the big American YouTubers playing with these though, I was in awe of just how pretty they were!

I own two of the Stila Magnificent Metals cream shadows now. I thought that was enough to give you a somewhat rounded view on them as they aren’t cheap 🙂 The Magnificent Metals started out in the Stila family as as actual eyeshadow that you activate with a solution to get a foiled effect.

The next generation of these are what we have here. They are basically a shimmery cream eyeshadow laced with glitter. There are eight shades in the collection for sale right now to us. I know there are more coming though. The two shades I own I’ll admit are quite similar, but I wanted to get colours I would actually wear.

The first one I bought is probably the most wanted shade, ‘Kitten Karma’.

‘Kitten’ is Stila’s most sold eyeshadow shade, so it made sense to make it into a Magnificent Metal cream shadow too. I would deem this as a taupe golden shade with golden sparkle.

My most recent purchase from the range was ‘Rose Gold Retro’.

As the name would suggest, this is rose gold cream eyeshadow laced with golden glitter.

For me (and I only own two of them) there is definitely formula differences. From reading reviews online, this isn’t old news either. Out of the two I own, ‘Kitten Karma’ applies better and the glitter within the cream eyeshadow adheres to the eyelid more. There is definitely more sparkle within it too ‘Rose Gold Retro’ tends to have more fall out of glitter after the shadow sets, although the cream shadow itself is thicker and more pigmented. They do both set on the lids and are smooth to the touch on application. There’s no grit and they wear really well. I find them easy too apply and spread out on the lid aswell. I tend to take the product from the wand onto my finger and pat them onto the lid. That seems to be the best way they work for me.

Overall, the Stila Magnificent Metal Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadows are really pretty. It’s an easier way to add a pop of glitter to a look without having to work with loose pigments or glitter. There is inconsistencies in the formulas though and some colours are definitely better then others.

‘Kitten Karma’ seems to be hardest shade to come by. I got it directly from the Stila UK website here. ‘Rose Gold Retro’, I bought online here from Beauty Bay, which worked out cheaper as they do free shipping.

What are your thoughts on them? Have you picked up any?

xxx

April 3, 2017/4 Comments/by Gem

Makeup

Milani Baked Blush Luminoso

Milani was one of those American brands that was always out of reach for us Irish makeup addicts. Not any more. It’s getting easier and easier for us to get our greedy mitts on what makeup we want from all over the world. This is both a good and a bad thing, depending on how you look at it 🙂

The Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso is spoken about so fondly in the beauty world. Everyone who owns it seems to love it. Hence why I needed it in my life.

It comes in gold plastic packaging with the 3.5 grams of product on the top and then a mirror and little brush underneath.

The brush is ok. I probably won’t get much use out of it. It isn’t the worst though.

The blush itself is really nice. It is soft to the touch and applies lovely and smoothly to the skin. It’s a peach blush swirled and baked within a more iridescent golden peach colour.

The finish reminds me of Nars Orgasm blush if Orgasm was more peach and less pink. I can see why it is so popular. It is just a really universal shade that would work for most skin colours. It gives a really pretty peachy sheen to the skin.

As it is pigmented, I use a less dense blush brush to apply it to the apples of my cheeks. Too much of this product on my pale would make me look a bit clown like.

It lifts my complexion and makes my skin look a bit more alive. I do love a bit of blush 😉

You can see here one cheek has the Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso applied and one doesn’t.

Overall I am so glad to have this in my makeup stash. It’s one of those colours that goes with any type of makeup look. I have been picking it up non stop since I bought it.

You can get the Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso and other colours online from Beauty Bay here. They are priced at €9.80.

Do you have it?

xxx

December 26, 2016/by Gem

Makeup, Youtube Video

Milani Conceal & Perfect Foundation

When I went shopping on Beauty Bay, I bought my first ever Milani products. I spoke about the one of them here, and now I am going to give my first impressions and a demo of the Milani Conceal & Perfect Foundation.

I do disclaim it in the video, but the shade I have, 01 Creamy Vanilla is definitely not the right colour match for me which is a bit annoying, as it’s the lightest shade. I did throw on some tan in hopes that it doesn’t look too odd on my skin.

The Milani Conceal & Perfect Foundation claims to be:

Medium to full coverage.
Lightweight, oil-free formula.
Long wearing, water resistant and sweat proof.

That is a hefty amount of claims! I thought my oily skin would give a good indication if any of this rings true.

I mention this in the video too, but I really like the packaging. It’s a 30ml glass bottle and it has a pump too which is always appreciated.

Not really a pro or a con because it depends on what you like personally, but it smells nicely. Kind of clean but does dissipate when the product is applied.

The texture is thick and it gives a good medium coverage to the skin.

Milani Conceal & Perfect Foundation review

You can see more in the video here, but I wore the foundation for about seven hours and then checked back in. I actually really liked how it performed. Here is my skin before, after and then seven hours later.

I would say I have a particularly oily t zone, so the shine doesn’t bother me majorly after seven hours wear. Overall, my first impressions are good. I like the finish, the coverage and how it wears. If they did a lighter colour, I would definitely stock up on another bottle!

You can find the Milani Conceal & Perfect Foundation on Beauty Bay here. It costs €13.50.

xxx

December 23, 2016/by Gem

Fashion, Makeup, Youtube Video

Black Friday Haul

Let’s be real who doesn’t have a Black Friday haul to talk about? 🙂

I didn’t go to crazy and to be fair did pick up some pressies (for other people) along the way. That didn’t stop me from having a little splurge myself though. So, this is what I picked up in my version Black Friday haul. There’s not a whole lot, but enough to warrant a waffle :).

I did some Christmas clothes damage on Asos, Office and Littlewoods. Just some comfy casual clothes to wear on Christmas day. I have what I can link, linked on their names.

Then I also picked some stuff up from Colourpop. They had free shipping and are so affordable I couldn’t resist. I picked up a brush from Zoeva too. Just the one, although I would buy all of their brushes if I could, not gonna lie! I bought two Milani products from Beautybay aswell. They had a good chunk off of their Milani stock.

I have swatches of the new Urban Decay Full Spectrum Palette that I bought from Siopaella, so I will link that here if you want to see it up close.

I also used ‘Midnight Blaze’ from the palette on my eyes in the video.

I am pretty brutal at shopping the sales generally. But it’s handy if the stuff is online and there’s a code rather then specific markdowns. I did all of my shopping in my pj’s, happy days 🙂

As always you can watch the video above by clicking or you can head on over to my Youtube channel here and watch it directly.

Did you Black Friday Haul yourself? Go on tell me what bargains you got and make me jealous. I missed out on loads because I’m just too damn lazy to research and source them. I might try to be a little more organised next year!

xxx

December 9, 2016/1 Comment/by Gem

Makeup

Makeup Geek Favourites

I definitely need more Makeup Geek products in my life! But, I am really happy with everything I have bought so far. The quality in my humble opinion is really great, as is the price point. Although, shipping from America is a pain for us Irish. Beauty Bay now stock the brand (albeit a bit more expensively). But sure look, I won’t get into that now 🙂

I thought I would do a post of my most used eye products from the Makeup Geek brand. I love everything I have but these are five (yep for some reason five is my go to number for things like this :)) that I reach for a lot :).

I managed to whittle it down to two eyeshadow pigments and 3 single eyeshadows.

The first pigment is ‘Enchanted’.

This is just the most beautiful shimmery pinky purple colour. What a description I know! But it looks more pink or more purple depending on the light and if you use a base underneath it. I feel like this shade brings out the green in my hazel eyes which I really like. It packs a punch but isn’t too in your face or dramatic.

The second pigment is ‘Insomnia’.

This for me is like Mac ‘Club’ eyeshadow taken to the next level. This does actually come in eyeshadow form in the Manny Palette from Makeup Geek. It is the coolest green brown duo chrome pigment. You can just use this on your eyes and be good to go. Depending on how you blend it or what base you use, Insomnia looks either more green or more brown with an iridescent shine to it. It’s probably one of my all time favourite eye products…ever!

My three eyeshadow favourites came from my neutral Makeup Geek eyeshadow stash! I went with:

‘Peach Smoothie’ which is a matte light peach colour.

I think of this as like my eyeshadow eraser. I use it before I blend any colour in to the crease so they have something to blend into. I also use it after to diffuse the colour and make it more gradient.

‘Cocoa Bear’ is a warm rich matte, medium brown shade.

I use this shadow for everything. All over the lid, in the crease if I want to add some warmth. But, I particularly like adding some blown out under the lash line to add a bit of interest to a simple (or, not so simple look).

My last choice is the foiled eyeshadow ‘In The Spotlight’.

When I don’t know what I want to do with my eye makeup but I know I want to make an effort, this is my go to shade.

Foiled shadows are like a mixture between a cream and a powder and they have a metallic finish. ‘In The Spotlight’ is a shiny peachy coral-ly shade. Another great description Gemma 🙂 This is just the prettiest all over the lid shade, or it works great as an inner corner highlight. Depending on how much shine you want you can use this with a wet or a dry brush. Or you can be super lazy and just use your finger to pat it on. It works great like that too.

So there you have it. My five most used Makeup Geek eye products. Honestly, I love them 🙂

What’s your favourite? I need an excuse to go shopping 🙂

xxx

October 26, 2016/by Gem

Skincare

Mario Badescu Drying Lotion

If you watch American beauty Youtubers like me, the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion will be familiar to you.

Or,if you’re a Kylie Jenner fan, you’ll have seen her rocking her Mario Badescu Drying Lotion over on her Snapchat. The skincare brand is pretty well known over in the States. They have been established since 1967 and do a whole host of products.

The Drying Lotion is formulated to dry out surface spots on the skin. It contains Calamine as the fifth listed ingredient. We, of course would use calamine lotion in the treatment of chicken pox. It also contains Glycerin and Salicylic Acid, but they are lower down on the list. Good to note that it is cruelty and paraben free too 🙂

As you can see the Marion Badescu Drying Lotion comes in a 29ml glass bottle. The solution is split. You have the liquid and then there’s a pink sediment (which I presume is calamine) on the bottom.

To use, you dip a cotton bud straight down into it. This coats the swab with the mixture. You don’t shake or mix it up. Then, you just dab the solution on any blemishes you might have. It dries down and you leave it overnight.

It will take a while to get through the solution you use very little, but I presume, as it depletes it will be harder and harder to get to the product on the bottom. It may end up a little messy. You can already see mines a bit worse for wear!

It has quite a strong medicated scent and be warned if you use it on broken skin it will sting the bejesus out of you! I do find it does what it says on the tin though. I have been using this a lot over the last couple of months. I am prone to breakouts so I have had plenty to practice on. The solution does dry out active spots. It is not a miracle cure, nor does it claim to be. But, it will make your spots a little less, well spot like and sore 🙂 I like it too because it dries down so it doesn’t end up all over your pillowcase and it’s targeted so you’re not adding ingredients that dry out your skin all over your face where you might not need it.

Overall, the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion gets a thumbs up from me! I got mine from Beautybay for €16.30 online here.

Have you tried it?

xxx

September 30, 2016/by Gem

Posts