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Wet n Wild Megaglo Highlighting Powders

The Wet n Wild Megaglo Highlighting Powders have been around for a while now. I had tried to get my hands on them a few times as such good things were been said about them online. Unfortunately for me (not Wet n Wild of course), they always seemed to be sold out in my local Penneys and Dunnes.

Luckily (for me), I was sent a package from the brand with their best selling products of 2017! Included, were two shades of the Wet n Wild Megaglo Highlighting Powders.

There is more in the within the range, but I believe these are the only two shades available in Ireland at this time.

I can honestly say, they are some of the best affordable highlighting powders I have yet to come across! If you follow me on Instagram, you’re probably sick to your back teeth of listening to me talk about them. I thought they deserved a blog post for reference purposes though, and some close up pics too.

The packaging is a little bit flimsy on these. I tend to find that a lot with Wet n Wild products. I guess they have to cut corners somewhere to keep costs down. The powders themselves are soft and easy to blend. They leave a shine on the skin, with a hint of shimmer. I find they apply really nicely with a dense brush for more pigment pay off. But, you can also get a lovely, more subtle effect with a fluffy brush.

The first shade ‘Precious Petals’, is a pale golden pink shade.

This, for me, is the colour I reach for most as an everyday highlight. It’s a shade that compliments my pale pink toned skin.

‘Crown Of My Canopy’, is very much a rose gold shimmer.

Although I can get away with it as a highlighter if I warm my skin up. In my humble opinion, I think it is more suited to more medium tones. I use this A LOT for eyeshadow. I reach for it so much to use as a wash of colour all over the lid.

Wet n Wild Megaglo Highlighting Powder_3526

I think it’s safe to say I am a big fan of the Wet n Wild Megaglo Highlighting Powder. Since receiving them myself, I’ve seen them a few times now in store. It’s always the same, isn’t it? 🙂

Have you tried them?

xxx

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

January 22, 2018/1 Comment/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

Makeup, Makeup Tools

Penneys PS Pro Makeup Brushes

This is my second Penneys post in the space of a couple of weeks. That must mean I am either going mad, or they are really stepping up their game! The last one was about their new individual eyeshadows here. It was more just a show and tell. This post is going to be on the Penneys PS Pro Makeup Brushes.

I’ve have been using these for a good chunk of time now, so think I can give a decent review on the ones I own. I wanted to use them and to clean them a few times, so I could show you properly how they fared.

They have pretty much all manner of brushes in this collection. I picked up the ones that I thought people would be interested in and of course I would actually use myself. They are all synthetic and from what I can see all under a fiver too.

I have nine brushes from the collection. Five eye brushes, and four face.

I have the Duo Precision Brush Set. This was €4.

It contains two eye brushes. One duo fiber pencil brush and a blending brush with a more splayed out tip.

The other double pack is The Duo Blending Brush Set. Again, this was €4. This contains a black bristled tapered shadow brush and then a blending brush very much like the Mac 217 just synthetic.

My last eyeshadow brush from the Penneys PS Pro Makeup Brushes range is probably my least favourite out of the ones I have. This is €2. It’s their Eyeshadow Shading Brush. Just personal preference but I find this a bit too soft to pack on colour with, and that’s what I would mostly use this shape brush for. I don’t get much use out of it.

I have their Touch Up Brush with is a duo fiber little domed brush. This costs €3. Generally, I use this for under eye powder or highlight.

This is the Large Duo Buffing brush is €4.

To me this is a standard enough large stippling brush. I have been loving this for applying bronzer.

I have been using their Large Powder brush for it’s complete name sake and loving it. This costs €4.

I’ve actually purchased very similar tapered brushes to this in the past that I found shed alot. The dye also ran dreadfully when I washed them. I can confidently say, neither of these things has happened with the Penneys version.

The last brush I have from the Penneys PS Pro Makeup Brushes range is their foundation brush. This costs €4.

This was the hardest brush to get my hands on and the one most people told me to get! It’s a soft, but densely packed, rounded, with a slight slant, kabuki brush.

Overall, I am a big fan of the Penneys PS Pro Makeup Brushes! I have used other brushes from the brand in the past that have ended up in the bin. These, however have made it into my daily rotation. I am picking up some of these brushes instead of my Zoeva, Sigma, Blank Canvas and even Mac. I have washed them all a few times now and haven’t had much hair shed as of yet. They all washed really well. (Have a click here to see how I clean my brushes).

The handles are plastic, so if you enjoy a more weighty makeup brush, these won’t be for you. All of the ones I have are soft, and do pretty much what they are supposed to do. I honestly cannot say anything bad about them, and generally I try to be objective here! If you’re in the market for some new brushes that work and don’t want to break the bank, look no further.

Have you tried any of them? What other ones do I need in my life?

xxx

October 25, 2017/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup

Current Budget Friendly Makeup Favourites

I haven’t done a round up like this in a while. So, here is five of my current budget friendly makeup favourites.

I am not a makeup snob by any means. If a product is good, it’s good, regardless of the price 🙂

My first budget friendly makeup pick of the minute is the very talked about Coverage Foundation from The Ordinary.

I harped on about this here in a dedicated blogpost, so I won’t go into too much detail. But, I am a big fan. I always judge a foundation on whether I would pick it up to wear for a night out or going out all day. This is definitely one I reach for alot. I love the coverage, the finish and the longevity. Oh and may I add, the price point too!

My second choice will come as no surprise either (sorry ha!). The Maybelline Eraser Eye in the shade ‘Brightener’.

I like both of the colour correcting shades (details on both of them here). I think I just reach for the Brightener more. I feel like I can get away with it just on it’s own. Whereas the ‘Neutralizer’ leaves a bit of a yellow hue to the skin. I am delighted these shades are available in Ireland now, because for me, the ‘Light’ concealer version, just wasn’t light enough. These work so much better.

My third budget friendly makeup favourite is another Maybelline Product. This is their Master Fix Setting & Perfecting Loose Powder.

This is actually Maybelline’s first loose setting powder. It is super finely milled and applies really lightly and smoothly onto the skin.

It’s really mattifying, so I usually apply a liberal layer of it and then use a setting spray over top to lift the skin a bit. It absorbs oils really well though and definitely helps with the longevity of your makeup. It is a more pricey ‘affordable product’ at €13.79 from Boots here.

Number four is the Catrice Metallic Liquid Liner in 010 ‘Bronze Lee’. I bloody love that name 🙂

You can see it in action is a previous blogpost here. These Metallic liners come in a couple of different shades, I believe. I need to find the others to add to my collection. I really like the formula and the finish. The shade is less intimidating than black or even dark brown. And I can generally create a flick with the applicator. When I can say that you know a liquid liner is half good. Feline flicks are not my forte at all.

Last on my budget friendly makeup roundup is the Maybelline Brow Artist Plumper.

I am way late to the party with this one. I don’t know why I never tried it up until now. I have the shade Medium/Dark. I like that the spooley isn’t very tightly bound.

It means it doesn’t hold onto alot of product. I can find with some coloured brow gels, it can end up all over your skin. This doesn’t leave your eyebrows feeling crispy either. It just adds a bit of a tint with some added fibers for fluffiness. It’s a really decent tinted brow gel. It costs €8.49 from Boots here.

And that’s my five current picks! Things that are actually in rotation on my makeup desk at the moment, that hopefully won’t break the bank 🙂

xxx

*****CONTAINS PR SAMPLES*****

June 30, 2017/1 Comment/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup

Essence My Must Haves Palette

The Essence My Must Haves Palette are such a great addition to the makeup brands line!

Affordable interchangeable palettes. They come in two sizes. You can buy a quad of an empty palette of eight.

Within the Essence My Must Haves Palette range, there is 20 eyeshadows shades, five blushes, and three lip powders, all with different finishes to choose from, There is also a pink lip base for the lip powders, a highlighter, a bronzer and a fixing powder. All I believe, retail for €1.90 individually.

You purchase the Essence My Must Haves Palette empty and then you can fill them with whatever shades or products you may want from the range. The four pan retails for €1.90 and the eight pan €2.50. All the individual pans are the same size. You just take them out of the cardboard and they click into the palette.

The name and what the actual product is on the bottom of the pan which is handy too.

I have two four pan palettes here filled to give you a closer look at some of the shades on offer.

One of them is actually part of the Essence 15th anniversary live.laugh.celebrate trend edition collection.

There is even more shades release with this collection and the packaging looks a little cooler too 🙂 The trend editions are generally limited edition.

Here are the pans I have swatched and named to give you a closer look and to see how they perform on the skin:

With Flash

Without Flash

Cotton Candy Eyeshadow:

Best Friends Are Forever Eyeshadow:

Peach-Party Eyeshadow:

Celebrate Good Times Eyeshadow:

Black As A Berry Eyeshadow:

The Sun Is Shining Eyeshadow:

Raspberry Frosting Eyeshadow:

Everybody Dance Now Lip Powder:

And that’s all that I have swatched :). All of the shadows I own are shimmery, but I believe there is matte ones available to choose from too.

The Essence My Must Haves Palette collection are in stores right now! Are you intrigued?

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

May 3, 2017/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup

Five Budget Beauty Faves Currently

I haven’t spoke about some current budget beauty faves as a collective in a while. If you read my blog alot, you know I am big fan of budget makeup, as well as high end. I like to mix it up 🙂

I have five budget friendly beauty favourites here, that I have been reaching for alot when I am putting a face on!

First up is a dual ended brush from Blank Canvas. This particular combo is just brilliant for day to day eyeshadow application.

On one end is the E25, a rounded blending brush. The other end is the E26. I would compare this to the Mac 217, so it’s a flatter blending brush.

It is so handy to have both brushes to work back and forth with in one. I picked this up at the beauty show last year. It is on the Blank Canvas website here for €11.99.

My second pick is the L.O.V Heartful Healthy Glow Blush in ‘Seductive Flamingo’.

This is a fairly new brand to Ireland. I got this in a press pack a while ago with some other products. It has been the one out of them all that stuck around in my everyday makeup drawer. The packaging feels really nice and it is a super pretty peachy pink shade with a golden shimmer running through it. It is soft and blendable too.

L.O.V are made by Cosnova which also manufacture Essence and Catrice. They don’t have an Irish website as of yet. You can find out more about the brand and it’s retailers on their Facebook page here. The blush costs €7.95.

My third pick is something I only did a post about last week, so I won’t harp on about it too much. It’s the Catrice Liquid Gel Cushion Eye Liner.

I just wanted to add it in in case someone reading this didn’t get to read that post, as I really think it’s worth checking out. It is a black liquid liner in cushion form and I am really enjoying being about to use my own brush with a liquid liner.

I am not the best with applying liner, so anything I find that makes it a bit easier, I will shout about 🙂 The full review of this is here.

The Colourpop Scultping Stix in ‘Dove’ has very much become my everyday contouring product.

The grey toned brown is literally the perfect colour for my skin tone.

It twists up so you don’t have to pare it. It is also really narrow, so you can just draw a line and blend! It also blends really well too. It costs $5 from the website here, so really affordable. Colourpop do ship to Ireland, but it is quite expensive. I usually wait until they have a deal on and keep my order under the 25 dollars tax threshold, so the tax man doesn’t take any more money off me.

My last budget beauty favourite of the moment is the Rimmel lasting Finish Concealer.

I bought this because Rimmel were doing a 2 for €7 deal in Boots and I was in a hurry to choose another product. I wasn’t really expecting anything from it.

It is quite a thick concealer, so although it says you can, I don’t use it under my eyes. I love it for everything else though! It covers blemishes, redness and fills in pores really well too. The formula blends nicely into the skin and it lasts great on me, once powdered.

I do not change up my face concealer products very often, so as dramatic as it sounds this is a bit of a find for me. I have been using the Mac Full Coverage Foundation as concealer for literally years now. It’s been my holy grail. The Rimmel Lasting Finish is definitely giving it a run for it’s money though. And at €7.99 is more than a third cheaper! It’s on the Boots website here.

There you have five budget beauty faves that have been making it onto my face over the past couple of months. Have you been using any budget friendly products that you would recommend?

xxx

*****SOME PRODUCTS MENTIONED ARE PRESS SAMPLES*****

February 27, 2017/by Gem