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Catrice All Round Contouring Palette

I think it’s safe to say I’m on a bit of a contour binge at the minute 🙂 My last review was a round up of some of my favourite budget friendly powder contour palettes, which you can catch here if you missed it. This post is going to be all about the new Catrice All Round Contouring Palette.

If you know Catrice they already have a concealer/correcting palette in the same vein as this. I never felt the need to pick that one up, the contour palette on the other hand, had to be mine. I went everywhere looking for this and was sold out everywhere. I finally stumbled across it in a local pharmacy a little while ago. It seems the Catrice All Over Contour Palette is in high demand. And at €4.50 for a cream contour and highlighting palette, I guess I can see why 🙂

The Palette comes with 5 cream shades.

There’s a matte ashy brown contouring shade, a warmer contouring shade (that I use for bronzing and it works great). There’s a peachy and a more yellow undertone matte concealer/highlighting colour. And then finally at the far right of the Catrice All Round Contour Palette there’s a light cream shimmering shade.

Here they are swatched on my arm from left to right.

And a more up close look at the swatches.

Honestly, I am so impressed with the Catrice All Round Contouring Palette. More affordable brands really seem to struggle with the cream contour and highlighting medium. Catrice, for me have hit it out of the park. The pigment is strong, the texture is light and creamy without being oily and all of the shades blend really well into the skin. After blending, you are left with no excess residue or shininess. I’ve worn all the shades numerous times and didn’t get any creasing or oxidising. I do have oily skin though and always set creams with powders.

The lighter matte shades can even be used for concealing, I think, as they are so pigmented. I love using the shimmery highlighter colour as a base for powder highlight, but if you have normal to dry skin, it is a beautiful highlight on its own along the cheekbones and in the inner corners of the eyes, even on the brow bone. I love that you get a warm and a cool contour shade aswell because then you have the choice of both depending on your skin tone.

I have nothing really negative to say about the Catrice All Round Contouring Palette. It’s so affordable and all the shades do exactly what you want them to do.

If I was being really picky I would make one of the lighter matte shades in the palette a little lighter, so paler skin tones (like myself) would benefit more from their highlighting effect. Maybe if this palette is a success, Catrice might bring out a lighter and a darker version…just a thought 🙂

Have you tried it yet?

I’d love to know what you think.

xxx

February 28, 2016/3 Comments/by Gem

Archives, Bargain Buying, Makeup

Budget Contour Palettes

I am on a bit of a budget roll at the minute, I don’t know what has gotten into me…maybe the post Christmas poorness 🙂 This post is going to be about budget contour palettes, that I have and use in my makeup collection. Contouring has come such a long way in the makeup world, it used to be a drag industry secret and now most of us do some form of it on a daily basis. I know it’s not for everyone, but personally I love a bit of chiselling, anything to make my chubby chops look more defined 🙂

I chose 3 contour palettes to showcase in this post:

First up is the newest of the bunch, the Catrice Prime And Fine Professional Contouring palette.

This comes in different shades which is very handy, I have the colour 010 Ashy Radiance.

Ashy is the important word here, especially for paler skin. A powder with a grey undertone, creates more of a shadow so in theory looks more natural. I really like this palette. The highlighter is more on the subtle side, so good if you just want to add a hint of a glow to the cheekbones. The contour side is soft, pigmented and blends well in the skin.

This will set you back €4.50.

Next up is the Seventeen Define & Conquer Contour Kit

This is a little different as both of the shades in this contour palette are matte.

I like this take on it because the ‘highlight’ shade can double up as a setting powder for lighter skinned gals and then works as a subtle more brightening shade maybe under the eyes for darker skinned lovelies.

The contour shade is a little more on the warm side, so this would double up as an all over matte bronzer shade as well as getting away with being a contouring colour.

You can buy the Seventeen Define & Conquer palette in Boots and it costs €8.49, but they are always on special.

My last choice I think is my favourite and is the most pocket friendly of them all. The W7 Hollywood Bronze & Glow.

It bares a bit of a resemblance to a much more expensive contour palette, right? 🙂

This little duo resides in my handbag and it gets so much use. The contour shade does have a sheen and a warm undertone to it, but it’s soft and blends out really well on the skin so you can still get away with it for contouring. I adore the highlight shade. It’s a really pretty golden shimmer, not at all bitty or glittery. I use it on my cheekbones, on my lids even and it’s a lovely inner corner highlight too.

And the best part? It’s €3.75. Cara Pharmacy sell them online here

Three contour palettes for three decent prices. What do you think? Are you a contouring queen or not really into it? I’d love to know your thoughts.

xxx

February 19, 2016/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup, Skincare

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

Makeup, Makeup Tools

What’s In My Holiday Makeup Bag

I already delved into all the skincare goodies I’m bringing for our Christmas trip away here I thought it was only natural to show what will make it into my holiday makeup bag. I say a bag, lets be honest I’m bringing a couple of bags I’m not gonna lie 🙂

My makeup bag is definitely overflowing, but as I said in skincare post I like to be prepared!

First up is eye products.

I’m bringing 3 palettes, excessive I know, don’t judge, one of the zpalettes does contain my Inglot blushes though and a yellow under eye setting powder so it’s kind of ok, right? 🙂

I’m bringing the new Urban Decay Gwen Palette which I have swatches of here I bloomin’ love this palette and don’t want to be without. Also some Makeup Geek shadows in a zpalette and then the palette of a few Inglot shadows and some blushes.

Eye primer is essential in my world so I have a mini Urban Decay Primer Potion being added to my makeup bag. Then, in case I’m feeling posh I’m going to pack the Charlotte Tilbury cream shadow in Bette, I have a full review of this here. Rather than a black gel liner I have been loving using a dark grey one at the minute so I’m bringing my Inglot matte gel liner in 78. Then two kohl pencils. A grey L’Oreal one and a brown one from Rimmel.

The rest of my eye goodies consist of lashes, my fave individuals from Penneys, a pair of Amazing Shine lashes that I love, you can now buy these in Mr Price which is really handy. Then some Duo glue to apply them, an eyelash curler from Shu Uemura and finally some Catrice Glamour Doll Waterproof mascara, I have a full review of this here I love it 🙂

For the face, of course I am going to bring a few options because I am very fickle, and like to change my mind…alot. Also I think you need day time options and night time options too.

The Botanice Radiance Balm is coming. I have a review of this here The primer I have been using for the last while is the Wet n Wild Coverall. I really like it for my oily skin. I have the Estee Lauder Double Wear Light in a shade darker in case I get a little bit of colour, I can mix it with my tried and tested Rimmel Lasting Finish Nude foundation (review here) and a tester of the Makeup For Ever Ultra HD which I really like too. I’m also bringing the Benefit Porefessional License To Blot which is such a weird product. It’s a cream blotting stick and it bloody works!

My concealer choices for the week are my beloved Mac Full Coverage foundation. I love using this as a concealer. Then, my favourite under eye concealers of the moment (again another full review here 🙂 The Flormar Perfect Coverage and the Catrice Liquid Camouflage.

Powders consist of four faves…yep four I have problems ha! I have Nars Laguna in this really cool palette (it’s called Tahiti) and it comes with a mini Ita brush! Then the Chanel Vitalumiere Powder Foundation, sorry for dropping all of the links but I reviewed this too . the cult classic Champagne Pop from Becca is coming, I have this reviewed too here .The last one on the right then is to bring with me for touch ups, it’s the Mac Studio Fix Powder.

For contouring (and cream highlighting) I have a couple of old reliables. The Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder in Medium (yep review here 🙂 and the Smashbox contour and highlight sticks (demo here 🙂

Brow products consist of the Soap & Glory Archery Pencil, then three Billion Dollar Brow products, you can buy these from Boots. I have their brow brush, brow powder and brow gel.

I have a full colour spectrum of lip choices to choose from going into my makeup bag. A red from Tom Ford called Cherry Lush, a Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Ping Pong, Essence liquid lipstick in Show Off (review here) and then one of the Rimmel The Only One Lipsticks in Naughty Nude (I have a load of these swatched here) A couple of lip liners join the crew too. Rimmel Eastend Snob and Mac Whirl.

To apply all the slap some brushes are essential, right? I have the Nima Brush Girls On Tour travel set, I’m so excited to use these beauties, you can see them up closer here. I have a mini Mac 217, a random mini flat Nars brush and a big Powder n Pout P230 which I have yet to try so the hollier will be a good test. I think these will keep me going for the week, right?

That’s all the makeup that will make it into my suitcase. I’m definitely an overpacker I know, a couple of makeup bags will be needed.

If you want to have a nose at what I get up to, be sure to follow me on Snapchat. I love snapping. My username over their is ‘Beautynook’.

As always thank you so so much for reading 🙂

xxx

December 21, 2015/by Gem

Makeup, Makeup Tools

Nima Brush ‘Girls On Tour’ Travel Set

If you haven’t heard of Nima, eh where have you been living? 🙂 They are an Irish owned makeup brush owned created by the lovely Niamh Martin. I’ve waffled loads about different brushes here on Beautynook in the past. I’m a big fan. Nima Brush’s last big release was the Artistic Collection which I spoke about in more detail here if you fancy a nose.

Nima Brush’s newest additions to their every growing brand is the ‘Girls On Tour’ Travel Set. They are seven of some of the most loved brushes from the Artistic Collection in a more travel friendly form, and in a really cute Nima pouch. The set costs €55 and you can pick it up from the Nima site here.

First off, how gorgeous are these brushes? If you are on the hunt for a Christmas pressie for a makeup lover…or a treat for yourself, I think Nima have you covered. The Girls On Tour Set would be great for bringing on holidays or just to have in your handbag for touch ups.

I think the choice of brushes are really thought out and have you everything you need for doing your makeup on the go.

Here’s the low down on Girls On Tour:

The ‘Blaithin’ is included.

This is probably my most reached for Nima Brush, I have the full handle sized version. I use it for contour mostly which you can see in action here but I love it for blush and powder too.

We also get the ‘Jane’.

The softest duo fibre stipping brush ever!

The ‘Tara’.

Perfect for blush, bronzer,contour the works.

The ‘Girls On Tour’ set also contains another one of my favourites from the Artistic Collection, the ‘Debs’.

This is a gorgeous blending eyeshadow brush.

The ‘Patricia’

A duo fibre tapered eyeshadow brush.

The ‘Ollie’.

I would describe this as a smudger brush, perfect for the lash line.

And finally, the ‘Danielle’.

Danielle is an angled duo fibre brush. I would use this for brows,liner or even lip definition.

The only real differences between the Girl’s On Tour collection and the Artistic Collection version of the brushes is the slight change in colour and the length of the brush handle. The actual brushes are the same great quality that we’ve grown to expect from Nima.

I have small child like hands so for me the Girls On Tour set will probably end up becoming part of my everyday makeup. For now, I’m trying really hard to keep them to bring on holiday with me next month…wish me luck 🙂

xxx

November 26, 2015/1 Comment/by Gem

Makeup, Makeup Tools

Five Essential Makeup Brushes

Ok ‘essential’ is a bit of an exaggeration. Maybe which brushes make life a bit handier? That aren’t foundation that I spoke about here or eyeshadow brushes that I speak about here? That’s more of a mouthful though 🙂 And I promise it’s just a coincidence that I have five here like the other lists.

A blush brush is definitely one of these. It’s handy to have a makeup brush dedicated to this task.

Blush is usually pink or peach and you don’t necessarily always want them colours on the rest of your face, so pick up a smallish, soft brush. One that will fit the apple of your cheeks but still blend the colour in.

A concealer brush is handy, but of course not a necessity.

I know you can just use your foundation brush (or your fingers). It’s handy to have a smaller, dense synthetic brush to apply concealer though. You can get into all the nooks and crannies of you face with it.

A powder brush for me, I think is pretty necessary in this business we call makeup application.

You can have one to apply your setting powder and bronzer or one for each, it’s up to you. I think if you were to have another brush, grab a large fluffy variety and even a smaller one for under the eyes (if you’re feeling really fancy) or like to use a different powder under there like I do. 🙂

Ok contour.

I know not all of us do it, nor do all of us give a crap about it, but if you do and are interested, there is many a brush to help you on your contouring journey.

Flat paint brush types, tapered fluffy types or even small rounded types. There’s one for all! If you want a stronger contour, choose a denser brush like the paint brush, but if you want to add a more diffused contour grab something tapered and soft.

Ok, last unnecessary but necessary brush. One for highlighting.

Again this all depends on your highlighting needs, if you don’t do it, you don’t need a brush and if you just use your fingers, that’s perfectly acceptable. This is just another brush option, if you want one 🙂

As you want to use a light hand with a highlighter…well I’m assuming you do? So a fan brush is a great brush to have (although I cannot find mine to use as an example sorry). Or a mini duo fibre brush works really well, as you can just use the top less dense layer for application. Anything smallish with a soft lightly packed bristles is good for the job really.

What do you think? Too many makeup brushes? If you are a full on makeup junkie, you’re probably thinking eh Gemma where’s the rest of them I know 🙂

Thanks for reading as always and be sure to follow me on social media for the chats. Snapchat is becoming really handy for that. I’m Beautynook over there.

xxx

August 17, 2015/3 Comments/by Gem