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It’s about that time again dudes. Another month, another faves video. This time I’m looking back over my May Favourites for 2018.

May Favourites

May has been a trying month for me personally I won’t lie, but shite talking about makeup and beauty products definitely helps with all the personal stuff 🙂

May Favourites

My May favourites for 2018 and beauty heavy, there’s no fashion or random loves in sight. Also the lip I am wearing is one of the new L’Oréal Color Riche Shine lipsticks in 466. I am loving the formula of these.

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My messed up hair is something I can’t even apologise for. It was a good idea at the time. I swear one of these days I’ll take a course on styling hair or something. I am absolutely brutal at it 🙂

As always I’ll list my May favourites here, but if you want to hear my musings on them click on the video above or here to check them out.

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Vichy Mineral 89 Serum . I definitely use more than necessary of this stuff as a day time moisturiser. But it’s great if you don’t like a heavy cream in the day or for night time. I use it in conjunction with a serum and it doesn’t interfere with my makeup.

I actually think the Essence Kawii Trend Edition Collection is gone from June, so apologies if you like what you see.

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This is a great little palette if you see it around though.

The Kryolan Translucent Powder is a great staple to have in your makeup stash.

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Mine is battered and bruised, all with love though. I end up going back to it so much 🙂

Second last in my May Favourites is this giant eyeshadow brush from Blank Canvas Cosmetics.

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Specifically known as the F11 Large Eyeshadow Brush.

Then finally two brow products from Isa Dora which I have been using all through May and really enjoying.

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The Precision Brow Pen and the Brow Shaping Gel. Feel Unique actually sell Isa Dora too so I’ve linked them if you want to have a closer look.

And that’s it for my May Favourites. We are officially in June, my birthday month. My June faves are usually a bit more interesting as a result 🙂

xxx

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I am way late on the March Favourites for 2018 bandwagon. We are well into April. But sure I thought, better late than never, right?

March Favourites

My March Favourites this year are a bit of a mixed bag of beauty (of course), fashion, (in inverted commas ha), and a Netflix recommendation.

march favourites

March has been a bit of a funny month for me. I have been job hunting, but in a different way from what I am used to. Blogging for the last four years has given me a love for digital media and I’ve realised it’s the industry I would love to work in. Don’t get me wrong, I would love nothing more than to write about beauty full time, but here in Ireland, as someone like me, that’s not really a reality right now.

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So March has been a been a whirl wind of interviews, beauty writing and life stuff. It’s been weirdly a month of clarity for me, so for that I am very grateful. Also, the weather was getting a teeny bit warmer through the month, so that helps everything. I wouldn’t be Irish if I didn’t bring the weather into this sum up somehow 🙂

Ok, I digressed completely there, let’s get into my random bag of March Favourites.

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I talk more about them of course in the video, but I will link what I can here.

The Ella & Jo Squeaky Clean Brush Cleanser is my first beauty fave. You can buy it directly from their website or Meaghers Pharmacy also stock it. (It’s currently 20% off from Meaghers.)

I chat about the Wet n Wild 1 Step Wonder Gel Nail Colors all of the time but the shade, Lavender Out Loud, has been my go to shade through March.

The Nudestix Intense Lip + Cheek Pencils are available to us from Cult Beauty. I chat (and am wearing), the shade Kiss.beauty blog ireland

My Betty & Biddy necklace that I show isn’t on their website now, but I will link them here so you can check out what else they have on offer.top irish beauty blogger

The jeans are from Penneys and Littlewoods as I mention. I don’t have links to either, sorry.beauty blogger ireland

And then finally my honourable fave is Wild Wild Country on Netflix. I’ll link the Wikipedia page here so you can check it out. It’s a mind boggler 🙂

And there you have my March favourites for this year. Thanks for clicking as always, I really appreciate it.

xxx

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affordable makeup favesI’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 🙂Affordable Makeup Faves Spring

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.

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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!

Penneys eyeshadow palette
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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.

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

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 🙂

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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.

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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.

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

affordable makeup favourites

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.

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This comes as part of a 12 piece brush set available here for €39.95.top irish beauty blogIt’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.

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

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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

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afforfable makeup lovesI am back with another installment of current affordable makeup loves. This has just become a bit of a thing now on Beautynook. I am constantly trying out new makeup, but there is always certain products that stay in the main makeup stash!

affordable makeup loves

My last installment of affordable makeup loves was here if you fancy checking it out.

I have five makeup products to talk about this time. First up is actually two products I hauled from Beauty Bay on Black Friday. (You can check out the full haul here).

They are both from the brand LA Girl. The first one is their Glide Gel Liner in Brown.irish beauty blogger

I have worn this nearly every day I’ve worn makeup since it came. It is so damn creamy and pigmented. I am going to sound really dramatic here, but it’s a dream to use. I find now since I’m getting older. The skin around my eyes isn’t as tight as it once was. I’m in my 30’s now, sad times. Some kohl pencils can drag a bit on the upper lash line.irish beauty blog

This honestly does exactly what it says on the tin though. It glides on, lasts really well and they also come in loads of different colours as well. They are €4.70 on the Beauty Bay website here.

My other LA Girl love, that again, I’ve been using every single day is the Shade Slim Brow Pencil.beauty blog ireland

I have the shades Medium Brown and Espresso. I’ve definitely been reaching for Medium Brown more though. It’s a tad cooler in tone. I love a micro brow pencil and these are a really great one. They are €5.90, again from Beauty Bay here.beauty blogger ireland

My next affordable makeup love is one of the Bourjois Rouge Velvet Lipsticks.top irish beauty blog

I literally haven’t stopped harping on about these. (I have a full video and blog post on them here). The shade 02 Flaming’rose has become my everyday lip shade in particular though. top irish beauty bloggertop beauty blog ireland

It’s a really flattering pinky nude shade for paler, more pink toned skin like mine. These lippies are uber pigmented, apply really smoothly and last really well on the lips too. I would for sure recommend them. They are the cheapest online from Feel Unique here.

I have a eyeshadow brush for my fourth product. I actually received this in a goodie bag. It is the Blank Canvas, Rose Gold, E01 Round Eye Blending Brush from their Dimension 1 Collection.dublin beauty blog

I had this on my desk still in the package when I decided to wash and sort through the main brushes I use. My eye brushes were still drying when I had to put on a face of makeup, so I picked up this. I literally did a whole eye look with this one brush.irish beauty siteirish makeup blog

It’s a good size for crease work and using on the lower lash line too. You can apply product with it, but it’s also nice and fluffy so you can blend with it too. A great all rounder. You can find it on their website here.

And that leaves us with one more favourite. This is the limited edition Under The Midnight Sea highlighter from Wet n Wild.top beauty blogger ireland

It’s from their Midnight Mermaid Collection which is in stores now, I believe.beauty blogtop beauty blog

It’s lovely cool toned gold, soft powder highlighter. Wet n Wild have had some absolute highlighter gems over the past couple of years. This is definitely one of them. It’s gold but has like a green iridescent to it. Very wearable though and very pretty. I’ve been wearing this lots since I got it in the post.

And there concludes my current affordable makeup loves. Let me know what you think 🙂
xxx
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Affordable Beauty Favourites CurrentlyI’m back with some affordable beauty favourites.

I have here six products that are currently in heavy rotation in both my makeup and skincare routines. And they all fall under the affordable beauty umbrella. My last version of this post is here if you fancy seeing what made the cut.

Affordable Beauty Favourites Currently

All the makeup products are reasonably new to me. The skincare, I’ve been using for quite a while.

First up we have the new product to me in the bunch the Elf Shimmer Highlighting Powder in Pearl Glow.

Elf Highlighter

Elf can definitely be a hit or miss brand for me. Well let’s face it, most brands can be hit or miss. But I’ve owned Elf products in the past that I’ve adored and some that made their was straight to the bin. This highlighter falls into the adore category. I’ve been wearing it everyday since I got it. It’s a really soft blendable powder with a pearly gold shimmer.

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Really nice for pale gals like myself 🙂 Elf is now available in Superdrug, certain Penneys stores and an abundance of pharmacies here in Ireland. You can also buy from their UK website here.

My second current affordable beauty favourite is the L’Oréal Paradise Extatic Mascara. L'Oréal Paradise mascaraThis is a weird one for me because if I didn’t have my lashes lifted, this mascara wouldn’t have really gotten a look in from me.

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Generally my straight lashes need a waterproof formula. But as they are currently chemically curled, this has been my jam! The brush is huge and it does clump a little. But, it also gives really nice length and volume. If you have semi decent lashes naturally, this is a really nice mascara.

You can find it on the Boots website here.

Thirdly, we have the Catrice Ultimate Matt Lipstick in From Rose With Love. catrice makeup irelandVisually these lippies are so cool. The bullet is completely matte!
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They have a really nice smooth long lasting formula as well though. I am not just digging them for the bullet 🙂 This colour is just me in a lipstick. I am a mauve whore and this feeds my habit completely. I have been gravitating towards this so much since I got it.

Number four is a makeup brush. I picked up what I could find of the new Primark/Penneys PS Pro makeup brush range. This particular one came in a pack of two that cost €4.

Penneys Makeup Brushespenneys ps pro brushes

It’s called the 236. It’s a dome shaped blending brush. It is small but soft and fluffy. I love it for applying colour softly in the crease. I am super impressed with these brushes so far.

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My last faves come as a combo for me. The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% and the Advanced Retinoid 2%.

the ordinary retinoidI feel like I can’t review them singularly because I alternate between the two.

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At 32 now, I am doing some major ageing prevention in skincare form at least. Retinol is the way to go if you are looking to do this. I use this every second night in my skincare routine and my skin has been really enjoying it. Also, it’s only €9.80 from the Deciem website here.

When I don’t use the retinol, I use The Ordinary Hyaluronic 2% + B5.

the ordinary hyaluronic acid

Hyaluronic Acid can apparently attract 1000 times its weight in water. It’s great for hydration and helping in plumping the skin.

irish beauty siteWhat I love about this is that it doesn’t feel heavy, but still feels like it’s moisturising the skin. I generally use it conjunction with an night moisturiser or a face oil. This is again available from their website here.

And… I’ll stop waffling.

xxx

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Real Techniques Brushes

I have spoken a lot about Real Techniques Brushes (and their sponges too).

Real Tecniques Brushes

But, with all their new releases at the moment, which on a side note, I need everything! I thought I would bring it back to some of their basics, and the Real Techniques brushes I reach for on a daily basis.

Real Techniques Brushes

I’ve split it into face brushes and eye brushes. Just a coincidence that there’s three of each 🙂

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First up is one of the first Real Techniques brushes I ever bought. Although this is a newer version of it. John broke my old one when he attempted to do my makeup. You can check out the lolz in that video here. This is their Blush Brush.

affordable makeup brushes

Although I definitely do not use it for blush. I love that the fab Pixiwoo ladies always say their brushes do not need to be used for their namesake. Use them for what they work for.

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I use the Blush Brush for bronzer. I love the tapered shape for doing some light bronzer contouring too. It’s €14.99 from the Boots website here.

My next choice is their Setting Brush. It’s again tapered and like all of their brushes synthetic.

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I don’t specifically use it for it’s named purpose either. This, for me works great for setting my lids with powder rather than my face.

beauty blog ireland
beauty blogger ireland

I also use it for highlighter too. It’s €9.50 from Cloud 10 Beauty here

My last face brush choice is the one I probably use the most. It’s the Cheek Brush. top beauty blogger irelandI use this to pack on setting powder. It’s domed and moderately dense, so I find it great for applying powder quite liberally. As well doing a good job of getting in around the nose and the brows.

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Because I have oilier skin. I tend to go in hard with the powder and then use buckets of setting spray to make me look less like a powdery mess 🙂 This was part of the Nic’s Picks limited edition collection, so you can’t buy it individually unfortunately.

Onto my eye brush choices. beauty bloggerThese all have purple handles, and are all part of kits which is super annoying, I’m sorry. But they have such similar brushes still available and you can still find the kits in chemists and stores.

Feel Unique have the Starter Kit here, which contains the Deluxe Crease Brush.

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I bloody love this brush for under eye concealer. But I generally use it on lazy days when I just want to put a wash of colour across my lids. There’s no faffing needed, it does the job in a couple of swipes.

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I do use my other choices for their actual purposes 🙂 I love the Base Shadow Brush for building up colour on the lid.

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It’s quite small and tapers at the tip so works great for blending and application. You can kind of blend with it as you go.

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I love using it for applying loose pigments and glitter aswell. It works well with powders, creams and mixing mediums too.

My last choice is the Essential Crease Brush.

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This is just super dainty and great for precise crease work. The bristles aren’t too tightly packed so it still gives you scope to blend colour as you go.

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top beauty blogger

I love using this for blowing out colour on the lower lash line too.

And there you have my most used Real Techniques Brushes! I am a huge fan overall of the brand. They have brushes to cater to most budgets and needs. They are all synthetic and cruelty free. And for me, generally wash really well too. Have you a favourite?

xxx