cream Archives - Page 3 of 11 - Irish Beauty Blog Beautynook

Elf Magnetic Mask & Night Time Routine

The Elf Magnetic Mask is one of the coolest products I have ever tried. Does it work? I’m not sure yet I’ve only used it twice so far. I couldn’t resist putting in a video though to show you how you use it.

This concept of the Elf Magnetic Mask isn’t new to the market necessarily. There has been a few out before it. But, this is hands down the most affordable one at the moment. Unfortunately it hasn’t made it to our shores yet.

I was lucky enough to get one as a press sample. It is on their website here though and they do international shipping, if you fancy taking the plunge. For some reason the euro price is much more expensive. Hopefully if it does come over here, it won’t be as bad.

I can say my skin felt really nice both times I’ve used it. And I do feel like it drew some clogged pores to the surface. I definitely had a bit of a breakout after the first time. But in a good way, if that makes sense? 🙂

So in the video I give you a demo of the Elf Magnetic Mask. It’s so much fun to use. You apply the mask and then use the magnetized applicator to literally pull it off your skin. Sounds scary, but you can hardly feel it. There’s iron in it so that’s what makes it magnetic.

I’ve never been happier using a face mask…look at me like!

Within the video, I also gave a quick rundown on what I’ve been using to cleanse and then my bedtime moisturising concoction too.

I used:

Bioderma to take my eye makeup off. It’s in a limited edition pump bottle. If you can get your hands on it. Do! It’s on the Cloud10Beauty website here.
Nia Cleansing Balm. It’s on their website here.
Clarins Double Serum. (Review here).
Clarins Total V Contouring Serum.
Neostrata Bionic Eye Cream Plus. I found it on the Meaghers Pharmacy website here.
The Ordinary Retinoid 2%. More info on this here.
Botanics Facial Oil. It’s on the Boots website here.
Catrice Volumizing Lip Balm.

This is my current night time routine although I do alternate serums and I don’t always use an oil. I have oily skin, so it really just depends on whether I feel I need it or not.

As always you can click on the video above to watch the magic happen or you can go directly to my YouTube channel here. 🙂

Let me know what you think.

Gemma

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

September 22, 2017/by Gem

Real Techniques Brushes – Most Used

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. I 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.

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. These 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

September 6, 2017/by Gem

Makeup, Makeup Tutorial, Youtube Video

NYX Cosmetics Eye Makeup Look

I received some NYX goodies in the post a couple of weeks ago. I had some single shadows of the same tones already myself, so I really fancied playing with them all together. This is where the Nyx Cosmetics Eye Makeup Look came about. I popped the camera on and sure didn’t I film it 🙂

I didn’t do a whole face of one brand, because I didn’t think I had enough product to warrant it. But I did have some cheek, mascara and lip products to add into the mix too. So, I added them in to finish off the look.

I’ll list all the goodies below, just in case anything takes your fancy:

Hot Single Eyeshadow in ‘LOL’.
Prismatic Eyeshadow in ‘Sunset Daze’.
Hot Single Eyeshadow in ‘Heat’.
Prismatic Eyeshadow in ‘Golden Peach’.
Sweet Cheek Blush Palette.
Voluptuous Lush Lashes Mascara.
Highlight & Contour Pro Palette Palette (I have a review of this here).
Mauve Lipliner.
Soft Matte Lip Cream in ‘Stockholm’ all over the lips.
Soft Matte Lip Cream in ‘Tokyo’ just in the middle.

Luckily Boots have us covered in the NYX department now. In the bigger stores at least. We can get our hands on nearly the whole range. You can of course buy from them online here too.

This NYX Cosmetics eye makeup look ended up being a little bit more ‘out there’ than I would generally go for. But, I was actually really happy with it how it came out. The single eyeshadows are really lovely and easy to work with.

As always you click the video above to this really simple come together or you can click here to watch it directly on my YouTube channel.

Let me know what you think. Would you rock an orange eye look?

Thanks,

Gemma.

xxx

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

June 23, 2017/by Gem

Makeup

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

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow

The Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadows are a tongue twister first of all. I swear I keep having to check the name on the box to make sure I am writing it correctly!

Second of all, the Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadows are something I have been really excited about launching here for a long time. There are so many releases in the makeup world that if you are immersed in it, you can tend to take them for granted a little.

After seeing a lot of the big American YouTubers playing with these though, I was in awe of just how pretty they were!

I own two of the Stila Magnificent Metals cream shadows now. I thought that was enough to give you a somewhat rounded view on them as they aren’t cheap 🙂 The Magnificent Metals started out in the Stila family as as actual eyeshadow that you activate with a solution to get a foiled effect.

The next generation of these are what we have here. They are basically a shimmery cream eyeshadow laced with glitter. There are eight shades in the collection for sale right now to us. I know there are more coming though. The two shades I own I’ll admit are quite similar, but I wanted to get colours I would actually wear.

The first one I bought is probably the most wanted shade, ‘Kitten Karma’.

‘Kitten’ is Stila’s most sold eyeshadow shade, so it made sense to make it into a Magnificent Metal cream shadow too. I would deem this as a taupe golden shade with golden sparkle.

My most recent purchase from the range was ‘Rose Gold Retro’.

As the name would suggest, this is rose gold cream eyeshadow laced with golden glitter.

For me (and I only own two of them) there is definitely formula differences. From reading reviews online, this isn’t old news either. Out of the two I own, ‘Kitten Karma’ applies better and the glitter within the cream eyeshadow adheres to the eyelid more. There is definitely more sparkle within it too ‘Rose Gold Retro’ tends to have more fall out of glitter after the shadow sets, although the cream shadow itself is thicker and more pigmented. They do both set on the lids and are smooth to the touch on application. There’s no grit and they wear really well. I find them easy too apply and spread out on the lid aswell. I tend to take the product from the wand onto my finger and pat them onto the lid. That seems to be the best way they work for me.

Overall, the Stila Magnificent Metal Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadows are really pretty. It’s an easier way to add a pop of glitter to a look without having to work with loose pigments or glitter. There is inconsistencies in the formulas though and some colours are definitely better then others.

‘Kitten Karma’ seems to be hardest shade to come by. I got it directly from the Stila UK website here. ‘Rose Gold Retro’, I bought online here from Beauty Bay, which worked out cheaper as they do free shipping.

What are your thoughts on them? Have you picked up any?

xxx

April 3, 2017/4 Comments/by Gem

Posts

The Elf Magnetic Mask is one of the coolest products I have ever tried. Does it work? I’m not sure yet I’ve only used it twice so far. I couldn’t resist putting in a video though to show you how you use it.

So in the video I give you a demo of the Elf Magnetic Mask. It’s so much fun to use. You apply the mask and then use the magnetized applicator to literally pull it off your skin. Sounds scary, but you can hardly feel it. There’s iron in it so that’s what makes it magnetic.

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

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

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?

I received some NYX goodies in the post a couple of weeks ago. I had some single shadows of the same tones already myself, so I really fancied playing with them all together. This is where the Nyx Cosmetics Eye Makeup Look came about. I popped the camera on and sure didn’t I film it 🙂

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.

The Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadows are a tongue twister first of all. I swear I keep having to check the name on the box to make sure I am writing it correctly!

Second of all, the Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadows are something I have been really excited about launching here for a long time. There are so many releases in the makeup world that if you are immersed in it, you can tend to take them for granted a little.

What are your thoughts on them? Have you picked up any?