contouring Archives - Irish Beauty Blog Beautynook

Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter

John kindly bought me the new Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter for my birthday.

I asked him why because it wasn’t something I had hinted at or anything and he simply said. ‘Because you collect Urban Decay.’ Cannot argue with that logic 🙂

The Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter is a contour, colour correct and highlighting palette. It comes in two shade ranges. One for darker skin tones and then the one I have here which is the light medium shift, more suited to lighter skin.

The palette itself is quite narrow and is two sided. The creams are on one side. You get five in total.

And the powders on the other. You get four in total.

Both are separated by decent sized, double sided mirror and the palette has a magnetic closure. The packaging reminds me a lot of the Naked Smoky Palette which I reviewed here when it first came out.

The creams consist of a dark contour shade, a light contour, a colour corrector (peach toned), a colour corrector/highlighter (pink toned) and then a pearl highlighter. You get 2.15 grams of product in each pan.

The powder side consists of a dark contour, a medium contour, a light contour and a pearl highlighter. You get 3.7 grams of product in each pan.

Both the creams and the powders are really nice quality. They are all soft, pigmented and easy to blend. The creams do not have any slip too them which I like. And, the powders do have some kick back once a brush is introduced, like most Urban Decay powders because they are so soft in texture. I particularly like the lighter powder contour shade and the highlight shades in both. The dark cream contour shade is a bit too full and brown on for me though.

Here they are in action on my face. I used the cream peachy colour corrector and the pink colour corrector/highlight under my eyes and set it with the light powder contour shade. I also used the medium powder contour shade as contour. Then, the cream and powder highlighter shades to highlight the tops of the cheeks and the tear ducts.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter_0303

I find the light contour shades on both sides a bit confusing. To me, they are both just yellow toned product. I would probably use both to brighten under the eyes. I really couldn’t see them being used as contour products personally.

You can buy the Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter now in Debenhams in store or online here. It costs €47.50. Have you picked it up? Would you pick it up? I always love to know your thoughts 🙂

xxx

June 21, 2017/by Gem

Makeup

Benefit Cosmetics! New Products!

I received a very cute package in the post this week from Benefit Cosmetics.

Seriously, they do the cutest packaging in the business! The Hoola family has expanded and there is also a new box highlighter in the mix too. I thought I would give a closer look at them, and of course swatch all the products here too.

I am a big fan of the original Benefit Cosmetics Hoola Bronzer.

It’s just a really good, build-able matte bronzer. You can find it on the Debenhams website here. At €34, it is pricey, but they do last a really long time.

They’ve now released a new version, Hoola Lite.

As the name would suggest, it’s Hoola, but lighter 🙂 It is matte and slightly cool toned. Definitely more suited to paler skin tones.

It is in the same box format, containing 8 grams of products. You can find it on Cloud 10 Beauty here.

The second new product being welcomed into the Benefit Cosmetics Hoola family is their Quickie Contour Stick.

This is a cream stick version of Hoola.

It’s super creamy and easy to blend. I think I would personally use this for warming up the face or for layering colour to help with longevity.

You can buy it online from the Debenhams website here.

The last newbie on the scene is Dandelion Twinkle Highlighting Powder. Packaged the same as any of the boxed products. You get 3 grams of product within.

Benefit describe it as as, ‘delicate strobing powder’. It is a really soft light pink shade with a silvered sparkle running through it. It gives a very subtle highlight to the skin.

Dandelion Twinkle is available from for €34 from the Debenhams website here.

And now, you’re up to date with the all the Benefit Cosmetics Hoola news 🙂

Any of the products tickle your fancy? Have you picked up any of them yourself?

xxx

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

June 14, 2017/by Gem

Makeup

Clarins Face Contour Palette

Clarins are releasing some awesome products at the moment. You know how enamored I am with their 4 Colour All In One Pen. I did a post on it here a little while ago. Another one of their limited edition releases is a Face Contour Palette. This is their first one.

It contains 3 shades. A highlight, a contour and a blush colour.

The packaging is beautiful. The powders are packaged in a very swish gold palette.

And a large mirror is always welcome too.

It also comes with it’s own mini contouring brush.

The natural hair brush is super soft and actually super functional. It works really well at applying the product. The angled shape makes it great for applying contour, but it’s wide enough that you can blend out with it too.

Here are all three colours swatched side by side on my arm, just to give an idea of the finish and the pigmentation. They are enriched with plant extracts that are supposed to help nourish the skin. As well as Clarins own Anti-Pollution Complex.

All the powders are soft and pigmented. The highlighter is not what you would expect. It’s matte for a start! Clarins say use to enhance the face rather than add glow. Like under your eyes, the chin and the middle of the forehead.

The contour powder is quite warm toned.

For me, although the powder is lovely and blends really nicely. It doesn’t work as a contour. I much prefer using as a matte bronzer around the perimeter of my face to warm up my complexion.

The blush is pink toned with a satin finish. It’s a nice universal colour, that I think would work on a lot of skin tones.

Overall, I think the Clarins Face Contour Palette is nice. It is always nice to have multi functioning products under a pretty roof. The powders are really good quality, they are packaged beautifully and the brush is really functional. The highlight shade for me, works better as a setting powder and the contour shade as a bronzer. If you are looking to use it for their stated purposes however, it might not be the palette for you.

It is available in all stockists now. You can buy it from Boots online here. It will set you back €47 for 13.8 grams of product, along with the accompanying brush.

xxx ****PR SAMPLE****

February 20, 2017/1 Comment/by Gem

Archives, Bargain Buying, Makeup

Essence Autumn/Winter Collection.

I have here some of the new Essence Autumn/Winter releases for 2016/17.

It’s safe to say Essence have been kicking ass of late and are constantly upping their game with their releases. So, I thought I would bring you through some of the products that are going to be hitting stands soon in the Essence Autumn/Winter Collection.

I’ll start with some of the eye products.

We have ‘The Metals’ single eyeshadows.

These come in six colours. I have the shade ‘Frozen Toffee’ to show you here.

These will cost €3.10.

Eye contouring is playing a big part in the Essence Autumn/Winter Collection. We have the Contouring Eyeshadow Set.These are available in 4 colour combos. I have the shade 01 ‘Mauve Meets Marshmallows’ here.

They cost €3.10

There’s a Contouring Eye Pencil too. Essence say it can be used as a liner, eyeshadow or highlighter, and it’s available in two shades. One for darker skin tones, and there’s one for lighter which I have here. It’s called 01 ‘Caramel Meets Frosting’.

They cost €3.10.

There is six shades of the new Extreme Lasting Eye Pencil.

I have the colour 05 ‘Rockin’ Taupe’.

These are said to be waterproof and ultra longlasting. They cost €2.50.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Duo Stylist Eyeliner Pen has a ball-shaped felt tip for creating dots and lines on the eyes.

It costs €3.10.

There is three new mascaras in the Essence Autumn/Winter Collection. I have two of them here to show you.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll XXXL Volume mascara that has long and short fibers within the formula.

And, the False Lashes Mascara Dramatic Volume Unlimited.

All three mascaras are priced at €3.50.

Up next we have lip products. There’s a bundle to choose from including lip balms and plumping lip glosses.

We also have Matt Matt Matt lipsticks.

These come in a total of seven colours. The shades I have here are 07 ‘Purple Power’. And, 02 ‘Perfect Match’.

These retail for €2.90, not bad at all!

Essence have also jumped on the matte lipgloss bandwagon with these Matt Matt Matt Longlasting Lipgloss.

There will be five colours in these. I have here 03 ‘Girl Of Today’. And, 01 ‘LA Vie Est Belle’.

They again cost €2.90.

There’s BB beauty balm Lipglosses that contain vitamin E and shea butter with a subtle hint of colour. There will be five shades in this range. I have 05 ‘Heartbreaker’.

The retail price for these is €2.50.

The final lip product I have is the Essence 2 in 1 lipstick & liner. These are also part of the Matt Matt Matt range and come in three colours. I have the shade 02 ‘Make Some Noise’ here.

You are supposed to be able to define your lip line with these aswell as apply full on colour. They cost €3.10.

The Essence Autumn/Winter Collection has all new face products included too.

There’s the Camouflage 2 in 1 makeup & concealer. This claims to offer long lasting high coverage and provide a matte, flawless finish.

This is the shade 10 ‘Ivory’, there is a total of three to choose from.

The price is €4.80.

Here we have the Get Picture Ready Long Lasting Compact Makeup.

You get a mirror and a sponge inside the compact and the cream to powder texture is meant to be great for on the go. It comes in four shades. This one is in 10 ‘Mat Ivory’. And, it will set you back €4.95.

We have a Get Picture Ready brightening concealer too. Essence say it has light reflecting pigments to help diminish under eye circles. You apply to product with the ball shaped sponge applicator. It comes in two shades. This one is 10 ‘Ivory’, and it costs €3.80.

We also have a Light Up Your Face Luminizer Palette with three highlight shades.

It costs €4.95.

There is three Satin Touch Blushes for Autumn/Winter. This is in the shade 10 ‘Satin Coral’.

These will cost €3.10.

Last but not least we have an abundance of new nail products.

I am a big of The Gel nail polishes so I’m delighted to see Essence adding to the shade range.

I believe these cost €1.99.

The nail care products range from €2.10-2.50 and even includes hand cream and nail stencils!

Phew, so there you have it. Some of the products to expect to see from the Essence Autumn/Winter releases. 🙂 Anything tickle your fancy?

You can see them all listed on the Essence website here.

PS. Shout out to Rosie for all the help with taking the pictures in the garden 🙂

xxx

August 29, 2016/by Gem

Makeup

Essence Bloggers Beauty Secrets

Essence are releasing another limited edition collection this time developed with four beauty bloggers/vloggers. The collection is aptly names Bloggers Beauty Secrets and contains 4 palettes (with a matching) nail polish made in collaboration with these lovely ladies.

I got my hands on one of the Blogger Beauty Secrets Palettes before their release in June. They’ll be only on stands until then until July.

This is the Essence Bloggers Beauty Secrets Shape & Shadows Eye Contouring Palette.

This was made in collaboration with Mary from Strikeapose.co.uk According to Essence ‘Mary prefers a combination of trendy eye makeup styles and wow brows-so the shapes & shadows palette perfectly fits the bill. The eye contouring palette brings the contouring trend to the eyes and offers eyeshadow, eyebrow powder, highlighter as well as brow wax, which can be used as a basis for eyebrow powder or for keeping the desired shape in place. The Palette contains an applicator for applying powder or combing the brows. The nail polish in a trendy mud shade with a matte rubber finish compliments the look’.

A long description I know, but since I’ve yet to use the palette (until I swatch it right now for this post) I like to add in the brand’s description to just show you what they expect us to get from it 🙂

So in Gemma terms you get five eyeshadows in the palette, with obviously the matte ones doubling up as brow powders which is pretty cool! The shades in the pan look like really good everyday neutral shades. The eyeshadows are encased in a sturdy cardboard magnetic closing palette with a pretty decent mirror on the lid. All the palettes in the collection are like this.

Onto the swatching.

There is also a Prime & Fix Wax that Essence say you can use to set your brows and as an eyeshadow base which is a novel idea.

You also get a mini dual ended eyebrow brush and spooley which is a really nice addition I think.

It’s pretty decent quality too and not too small, so you would actually get use out of it.

The complimenting nail polish for this palette looks a bit like this:

03 all eyes on me

The other three palettes are:

Touch Up To Go One For All & nail polish from dFashion.

touch up to go!

02 hello beautiful!

Vintage Rose Eye Palette & nail polish from beautypalmira.

vintage rose

01 be happy + smile

And finally The Glow Must Go On Bronzing & Highlighting Palette plus a corresponding nail polish.

the glow must go on

04 shine bright

The Essence Blogger Beauty Secrets Palettes are limited edition and will be available from next month. They will cost €6.29 and the nail polish will be €2.30.

xxx

May 25, 2016/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup

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

Posts

John kindly bought me the new Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter for my birthday.

The palette itself is quite narrow and is two sided. The creams are on one side. You get five in total.

And the powders on the other. You get four in total.

You can buy the Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter now in Debenhams in store or online here. It costs €47.50. Have you picked it up? Would you pick it up? I always love to know your thoughts 🙂

I received a very cute package in the post this week from Benefit Cosmetics.

Clarins are releasing some awesome products at the moment. You know how enamored I am with their 4 Colour All In One Pen. I did a post on it here a little while ago. Another one of their limited edition releases is a Face Contour Palette. This is their first one.

Here are all three colours swatched side by side on my arm, just to give an idea of the finish and the pigmentation. They are enriched with plant extracts that are supposed to help nourish the skin. As well as Clarins own Anti-Pollution Complex.

I have here some of the new Essence Autumn/Winter releases for 2016/17.

It’s safe to say Essence have been kicking ass of late and are constantly upping their game with their releases. So, I thought I would bring you through some of the products that are going to be hitting stands soon in the Essence Autumn/Winter Collection.

Essence are releasing another limited edition collection this time developed with four beauty bloggers/vloggers. The collection is aptly names Bloggers Beauty Secrets and contains 4 palettes (with a matching) nail polish made in collaboration with these lovely ladies.

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.