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Budget Beauty Brilliant Buys

I am always on the lookout for brilliant budget beauty buys. (yes I love that all of the words begin with b, not gonna lie :)) Rather than do monthly faves, I think I might do posts like this so often for budget and non budget beauty. Let me know what you think?

First up in my budget beauty list is:

My very beloved Rimmel Lasting Finish Nude Foundation.

I won’t bore you with the details. I waffle about this foundation all the time and have a full review here. This stuff just does it for me. I love the finish, the longevity, it wears really well on my oily skin and the coverage. It will set you back €9.99 in Boots so at a smidgen under a tenner, not a bad price point at all.

Next up on budget friendly rambles are these Catrice Liquid Metal Eyeshadows.

I think Catrice have nine colours to choose from in the Liquid Metal range. I have three of them and they get alot of use from me.

090 Nougat it right

070 Gold leaf me

100 What do you see?

These little pots are really pigmented, go on without any fuss and when dampened pack even more punch. I love shadows like this because you can create a really cool eye look without any effort. Not sure of the exact price on the Liquid Metal Shadows but I know they cost less than 4 euro a piece.

Another Catrice fave in my budget beauty stash is their Liquid Camouflage concealer.

I go into more detail and demo this here. It’s such a fab purse friendly full coverage concealer that works well under the eyes and around the face. A must have in your makeup drawer in my opinion, and with it being €3.99, I don’t feel guilty saying that 🙂

These Penneys lashes need no introduction, they have taken on a life of their own in the beauty world it seems.

They are so handy to have around when you are looking to add a little something more to a look. They would be described as individual lashes, unlike other individual lashes they have three clusters on one band, which for me takes way less faffing about.

You can add just one of these to your outer lashes and be good to go. And the best part it? They cost €1.50! You wouldn’t even get a coffee for that nowadays (in Dublin at least) and you get glue included for that price too. Score!

The Maybelline Lash Sensational Waterproof mascara is a rediscovery for me.

I got it a while back and loved it, even gave it a full review here. Then, I started having a thing with the Catrice Glam & Doll mascara (full review here) and I forgot about it for a while. I pulled it out the other week more to see if it was time to bin it or not and gave it one last whirl. I swear it’s an even better mascara now after drying out in the drawer for a couple of months! Might buy another one and just leave it in the dark for a while 🙂 I picked this up in Boots for €11.99. Not the cheapest mascara in the world, but still a decent price I reckon, and they’re always doing offers on it.

I have been loving this Essence No Makeup Look Nail Polish in Powdery Nude so much of late.

If you just be couldn’t be bothered doing your nails, but want them to look decent, this is such a great little find. I put a base coat on, add two layers of this and I’m done.

It dries really quickly and has a cool powdery finish to it so adding a top coat would take away from that. And it lasts really well on the nails. I can get around four days out of it before it starts to move, that’s not bad at all. I picked this up in Penneys and it cost me less than €3.

I have an oldie but a goodie next. The Sleek Face Form Contouring And Blush Palette.

I brought this to Oslo with me and it’s made me fall in love with it all over again. This is the light version of the palette and you get a contour shade, a highlighter and a blush, all for €9.99.

Not a bad deal whatsoever. Sleek is such a great brand! The shades double up as eyeshadows as well which is great for travelling.

This Flormar Bronzing Powder is huge and this is one of the reasons what I love it. It will last you a life time.

It’s also a really nice soft bronzer though. It has a really faint glitter running through it, but it doesn’t translate too much when on the skin.

The fact it’s so big means you can use a huge brush to apply it so it’s quick, easy and great for bronzing up the body too. A firm budget beauty fave in my collection. You can actually buy Flormar online here from Simplyfoxy. It will set you back €9.99.

My last favourite of the minute is Botanics Soothing Eye Makeup Remover.

I am a waterproof mascara junkie, and this does a fab job of removing every scrap of it without irritating or dragging my eyes. It’s an oil in water solution, so you just have to give it a good shake before you use it to ensure the liquid is fully mixed. I apply it with a couple of cotton rounds, leave them on each eye for a couple of seconds and then wipe. It even remove Inglot Gel liner and doesn’t leave you with panda eyes the next morning. That’s impressive! At full price this will set you back €5.99 from Boots, it’s always on special though so just keep a look out. I am a huge fan of the Botanics range, they do some brilliant skincare and haircare products, that are really reasonably priced.

There you have it, a run through of some of my budget beauty favourites of the moment. What’s your favourite purse friendly product? I’d love to know 🙂

xxx

February 8, 2016/1 Comment/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup

H&M Makeup Haul Part 2

This is round two of my H&M Makeup Haul. The is the face products round 🙂 If you want to see the eye products I picked up, just click on the link here and you can see them up close and swatched. Again, I’ll link the UK H&M website here for all price listings as I bought these in Norway and was probably ripped off 🙂 Everything is pretty reasonable price wise .

First up in my H&M makeup haul part two is the Cover-Up Concealer.

Now, I wanted this in Ivory, but I couldn’t find one on the stand to save my life, so I got Vanilla, that’s a tad dark for my skin, but sure I’ll make it work. This would be an all over skin concealer, however I think I will chance it as an under eye one and see how it works.

It has a thin consistency and seems to blend really well into the skin. On first swatch it hasn’t a huge amount of coverage, but it definitely seems like it could be build-able.

I just blended it really softly here

Next up is their Immaculate Compact Foundation.

I chose this over one of their setting powders because I tend to like a bit of coverage with my face powders.

This is in the shade Ivory and I adore the packaging.

It comes with a mirror, the powder and than a sponge underneath.

The powder is really finely milled. There is a bit of a weird scent to it but nothing to crazy. After swatching it, the shade Ivory which I believe is the lightest shade they do may be slightly to dark for my natural (MacNC20) skin tone.

This is a bit annoying considering there are paler people than me out there.

I also got their Solar Flair Bronzing Powder. I had actually seen Lily Pebbles talk fondly of this so I knew it was something I wanted to try.

Again, I love the sleek packaging and it comes with a good sized mirror.

I got the shade ‘Sheer Tan’. I think this was the lightest bronzing shade they do. I really like that they do different colours. That is not a regular thing within a beauty brand.

I can detect a really really subtle sheen to the powder when swatched and like the powder foundation it is a really finely milled powder. I think I’m really going to like this 🙂

The last thing I have to show is one of the H&M Pure Radiance Powder Blushers.

Again, I’ll address the packaging, it’s super pretty and these have a gold bottom which I really love.

I chose the shade ‘Sunrise Pink’. I thought this was the most wearable shade for me.

It’s a dusky pink with a fleck of gold sparkle running through it. When you apply it though, the shimmer doesn’t seem to translate too much.

Personally, I’m happy about this, but if you’re looking for the sparkle you might not be.

Overall, on first impressions, I am really pleased with my H&M makeup purchases. The packaging, the products themselves and the price points are really great. I look forward to actually applying these to my mug now and seeing how they fare 🙂

Thanks for reading.

xxx

January 27, 2016/by Gem

Makeup, Product Comparison

Bourjois Bronzing Primer V Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel

The bit of sunshine in Ireland is making me slightly obsessed with bronzer and bronzing at the minute, I haven’t really shut up about them in the last while so apologies if you’re not a fan 🙂

I’ve owned both the Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel and the Bourjois Bronzing Primer for a long time now and they always tend to get pulled out more around this time of year. What are they you might ask? They are bronzing bases, that you can use to warm up your face under foundation, or just on their own if you are lucky and have lovely skin.

I personally use them as you would a cream bronzer. I to use them after I have applied my foundation and hit the parts of my face I would normally contour. I use them on their own if I am just going for a more subtle look or I apply powder on top for more definition, really depends on the day or the situation.

They are both two very different price points. Do they do the same thing?

The Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel.

The Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel is a cream product with a dense formula, that in my opinion is best applied with a dense synthetic brush.

As you would expect from Chanel, it is really pigmented and easy to blend into the skin.You can build it up quite quickly. It does have a slightly orange undertone so a light hand and alot of buffing is needed if you are lighter skinned like myself. It has a lovely light florally scent that is familiar to Chanel.

Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel Swatched

The Bourjois Bronzing Primer.

The Bourjois Bronzing Primer has a whipped, creamy formula. It is mousse like to the touch.

It applies much more liberally that the Soleil Tan De Chanel as it is more of a wet consistency. I prefer to apply this with a small synthetic duo fibre brush as you can control your application that way. This is a pigmented product, so apply a little at a time, but it does blend out quite sheer. You need to build it up if you want a more intense bronzing effect. It smells like coconut and chocolate, nice if you like a sweet holiday scent.

Bourjois Bronzing Primer Swatched

These products compare pretty closely. In the pan they look different, obviously the packaging is a bit more swish and fancy on the Chanel offering. They both have the same amount of product in the tub. They both bronze your face and do it nicely. They are both a matte finish. The Soleil Tan De Chanel does pack more of a punch in the pigment stakes and you don’t need as much of it as you do the Bourjois one, and it sets quicker on the skin, it’s also €38.50 though! The bronzing primer from Bourjois is not as elegant but it is a hell of alot cheaper at €12.99!!

I love having the Chanel one, it was a treat from the bf and owning anything Chanel makes me feel ladylike. I think when I run out of both and decide I still want a cream bronzer I would be more inclined to pick up the Bourjois Bronzing Primer, it just makes better mathematical sense (you won’t hear me say that very often).

Do you have either of them? What’s you take on it? I would love to know?

xxx

May 1, 2015/by Gem

Monthly Favourites

March Favourites 2014

Spring is finally here, we can all breath a sigh of relief and look forward to longer days with hopefully some sunshine woohoo ! So another month is gone which means it’s monthly favourites time in blog world. My March favourites are all beauty related this month, not on purpose I promise 🙂 So lets delve into the products I have been enjoying continuously through the month of March.

First up is not a very glamorous choice, but I honestly have not being able to get enough of it since getting it:

This is organic coconut oil, say what?! My good oul mammy was doing her usual ramble around the supermarket and she stumbled across this in the food aisle. You can use it for cooking or on your hair, I like to use it on my temperamental skin and I’m officially addicted. This big 500ml pot was about 6 or 7 quid and will last you a lifetime. When you open it the oil itself is solidified:

But when you scoop it out with your hand it instantly starts to melt into oil, that you can slather on and let it work it’s magic. It’s not something that dries instantly it does take a while to soak in but I think it’s worth it for how soft your skin feels after using it. When I have a bath I take a scoop and throw it in now aswell. Much better alternative to baby oil and it’s all natural baby 🙂

I use the coconut oil every second day. On the days I don’t moisture up with that I am using this:

The Cocoa Brown Gentle Bronze. I am a pale Irish girl, I do not get a tan I get freckles, it’s depressing, this stuff helps keep the pale at bay though without me looking too weirdly bronzed on a normal day to day basis. It is basically a moisturiser with a hint of tan in it. The cream itself is brown, which I love because alot of the alternative brands are just white in colour and you can miss spots when applying, which does not look great when the tan develops.

It also has the well known Cocoa Brown cocoa smell which we all love, you do not end up smelling like biscuits in the morning which is brilliant. Overall a winner for me. In fairness, Marissa has yet to steer us wrong 🙂

Next up is some makeup loveliness:

This is the neutral Mac pre filled palette. Mac have released two fully filled palettes and I had to scoop up this cool toned one, the other one is more warm toned so is more suited to those with a darker complexion. I have used this practically everyday since I got it. I have always found it hard to justify buying their eyeshadows from a price point of view. I have a few stocked away in a z palette, and another quad but other than that I don’t own many (don’t worry I make up for it in with other brands 😛 ). So when these came out and were 75 euro, this was cheap in Mac world so we had to buy some. I really like this palette, I know its yet another neutral one but I don’t care, you can never have enough of them if your a makeup fiend 🙂 The colours are pigmented, easy to blend, and there’s a great selection for everyday use right up to a dark smoky eye for night time with matte and shimmery shades a-plenty. I think Brun and Black Tied are the only ones I’ve ever heard of before that are in the palette, the rest of the names aren’t familiar to me. Overall it’s a winner for though 🙂

So onto my next favourite of the month:

This is the Maybelline Lasting Drama Black Shock Gel Eye liner. That’s a bit of a mouthful! This stuff is something I stumbled across rummaging in Boots for new stuff to try out. It’s a gel liner in pen form:

You twist the bottom of the pen and the product comes through the diagonal rubber tip. I’ve never had anything like this before. My favourite black gel eye liner is still No77 from Inglot that I rave about here. I use this in my waterline and top lash line and I know it won’t budge. However, I really fail in the skills of mastering the feline flick, especially with a brush. This eyeliner has helped me alot (I am still no master). It comes out of the nib in a nice thin line and I love that the nib is diagonal as it helps with drawing the flick. You can just place the nib on the corner of your eye and press down and it draws it for you.

This helps me because I don’t add too much product, and it sweeps across the eye in one swift movement, helpful again because I don’t have to go back in and fix it too much, which I am prone to do and that’s where it can all go wrong 🙂 It doesn’t transfer onto the eyelid once dry and lasts all day. Overall a great product and you can buy it in Boots!

Another Boots/pharmacy product. My foundation of the month has definitely been the Rimmel Stay Matte:

This is a mousse/liquid foundation. I use the shade 100 Ivory and it’s a pretty good match for day to day for me. It is a matte finish foundation as the name would suggest and is medium to full coverage.

Buffed into the hand, you can see if evens out my skin colour.

Not more I can say about it. It’s cheap, has good coverage, good colour range and lasts well throughout the day. Thanks Anita for recommending it to me 🙂

I have more face stuff from Boots next, I must have spent the whole month there!

This was a really random purchase. I ran out of my Image skin cleanser and just needed something to keep me going until I got more. I was in Boots and this was on sale for, I think 4 euro. It is the Botanics cleansing foam wash. I am a Clarisonic addict, I use it everyday. My clarisonic is an ugly yellow because I got it on Amazon before you could get them in Ireland so couldn’t pick a pretty colour 🙁 It still does the job though.

It works best with a foaming cleanser so just threw this in my basket as back up. I am so glad I did, it’s soap free and really foams up. It gets rid of all my makeup including mascara and works really well with the Clarisonic. And is has a nice fresh subtle smell. Overall a great (and cheap) cleanser. I will finish the bottle for sure before purchasing another one.

My last favourite of March is ANOTHER face product that can be purchased in Boots! Well Boots in Liffey Valley shopping centre anyways:

This is the Sleek blush trio in Pink Lemonade.

Pink Mint Macaroon Icing Sugar

We love Sleek makeup here at Chatterbox. And I love this blush trio. They are so pigmented and easy to blend. Usually I don’t buy cream blush much because my oily skin drinks it up and it disappears very quickly from my cheeks. However from having this palette I’ve been using the Macaroon shade under the other two and it helps them last all day! I use my fingers to apply it lightly on my cheekbones and then I tend to mix the other shades Icing Sugar and Pink mint together on a blush brush for a nice pink glow. By all means they can be used alone though, that’s just how I like to wear them :). I will be buying more of these trios for sure in the future.

So there you go, my fab faves for the month of March.

Hope you enjoyed having a nose.

Happy Spring 🙂

Gemma

xxx

April 4, 2014/1 Comment/by Gem

Makeup Haul

So pay day was last week, so I thought I would treat myself to some things I had my eye on whilst poor. Here’s my makeup haul 🙂

So for everything pictured I headed into Boots to get. I got the oily gals version of the Bourjois Happy Light primer, the Happy Light Base Serum Matite, and their cream bronzing primer. I also picked up their Universal Illuminating powder to give it a go aswell, as it’s been compared to the Hourglass powders by some and is a quarter of the price and Bourjois was on 3 for 3 happy days. I got a Barry M eye Kohl in No 28 I really like their liners and they’re cheap too. Oh and some E45 moisturiser cos ya gots to keep your skin in check!

And I couldn’t walk by the Sleek stand without having a nosey. So got their new eye shadow palette in Garden of Eden, some amazing green and brown shades in this, roll on Paddy’s day 🙂 I also got a Matte Me Lip Cream in No 431 Fandango Purple and since Sleek is on 3 for two at the minute like Bourjois I was able to grab a Blush By 3 Palette in No 369 Pink Lemonade too.

I also bought the Ben Nye Cameo Powder online and am loving it!

My cheeky Zara purchase came on this miserable Monday too to make me feel a bit better:

This is a little bag perfect for a night out from Zara’s new Spring range for 2014. It’s navy “leather” with square studs and has a flap over to close.Is it really bad that I bought this bag to match my Louboutins, that are still in the box and I’m afraid to wear? Maybe having this might entice me to get them out of the box and bring them for a test drive…

So quick little makeup haul for you of my weekend purchases, don’t judge 🙂

Thanks for reading.

Gemma

xxx

March 3, 2014/by Gem