creamy Archives - Irish Beauty Blog Beautynook

theBalm Balm Jour Creamy Lip Stain Swatches

This post on the new theBalm Balm Jour Creamy Lip Stain (s) is ridiculously overdue. I’ve been threatening to do this for like two weeks now. I even gave away the whole collection over on my Instagram last week. The PR were super cool and sent over two sets, how deadly of them 🙂

I have been using these pretty much every day since I’ve had them in my possession. They’re just a really easy lip product to throw on. The colours are really wearable, the formula is pigmented and easy to apply, as you’ll see in the video here or above.

Are the eight shades available in the new theBalm Balm Jour Creamy Lip Stain collection ground breaking? Absolutely not, but they did a really good job at covering all bases I think, so there’s a shade in here for everyone.

It’s good to note too, that the formula isn’t sticky either. Also, you get the best of both worlds with them. Gloss and high impact colour that leaves a hint of a stain behind when the shine wears off. I’m a big fan overall, as you can probably tell. If you’re a fan of their Meet Matt(e) Hughes Liquid Lipsticks, but are over the dryness of a matte liquid lip, these are definitely worth checking out in my very humble opinion.

I swatch all eight in the video, with just one dip into the tube, just to show you the colour pay off and how they perform. Here are all eight, as I call it, ‘arm swatched’ too, just so you can see the shades close up.

From left to right we have:

Hola, Namaste, Salut, Konnichiwa, Aloha, Hello, Ciao, Ni Hao.

theBalm Balm Jour Creamy Lip Stain (s) are available now from theBalm website. (You can use the code ‘beautynookie’ for 15% off), and they are also available from Cloud10beauty here.

Have you tried them?

xxx

PR SAMPLE

August 26, 2018/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup

Catrice Lip Foundation Lip Liners

There is five shades of these Catrice Lip Foundation Lip Liners. I managed to find four of them to try. I initially bought two while we were staycation-ing in Kilkenny. Enjoyed the concept, so wanted to grab more shades when I was back in Dublin to do a post on them.

I believe these were part of their Spring/ Summer collection from last year, I hadn’t seen them until now though. I ran out my brow pencil while we were away and needed to pick up. So I just went to the local chemist and they happened to have a Catrice stand. I got one of their micro brow pencils, and then kept perusing. That’s when I came across these little beauties.

The concept of the Catrice Lip Foundation lip liners is that they’re a base colour for your lips. So you can use them to prime for lipstick, contour, or as an all over colour.

I really just like them because of the shades available and the fact that their super creamy and pigmented.

They’re my kinda nude lip colours and within the four that I have, I think there’s a matte nude shade for pretty much for everyone. That alone, made me think they deserved their own blogpost 🙂

As always, I’ll give them an oul swatch and you can make up your mind.

First up is ‘Addicted To Cafè Au Lait’ a lighter pinky nude:

‘Caramel Blonde To Go’ is light pink shade:

‘I Take You To The Chocolate Shop’ is a medium brown nude.

And the final one I have is ‘Cool Brown’, which I think ironically is a warmer toned brown 🙂 :

The shade I am missing just because the chemists I went to didn’t have it is ‘Can’t You Hear That Super Base’. This one seems to be the lightest shade in the collection.

And that’s it! Just to mention, they are super soft pencils, which is great. But it does mean you’ll get through them pretty fast. Thought that was something to note.

The Catrice Lip Foundation lip pencils are available in all good stockists now in store and online. Inish Pharmacy have all five shades online here. And they only cost €2.80 a piece which I think is really decent.

xxx

July 25, 2018/by Gem

Makeup

theBalm Bonnie-Lou Manizer & Foiled Again

Let me introduce you to theBalm Bonnie-Lou Manizer and the new Foiled Again Foil Eyeshadow Palette.

I literally got my greedy makeup loving mitts on these only last night! In fact they were only released into public hands here in Ireland yesterday. And the awesome news is, we are the first to have them. They are officially available in store exclusively from Debenhams today the 27th of October. So if you like what you see, go go go 🙂

I wanted to show the theBalm Bonnie-Lou Manizer. (Incarcerated sister of Mary-Lou which I adore and did a blogpost on yonks ago here.) And the new Foiled Again Foil Eyeshadow Palette up close and swatched so I can hopefully help with your retail decisions.

We will have a look at Bonnie-Lou first.

She’s more warm and golden than Mary-Lou. You can see Mary on the left here. But she is not as dark as Betty.

As with all theBalm highlighters she is super pigmented, buttery and easy to apply to the skin. It would actually make a very pretty eyeshadow too.

theBalm Bonnie-Lou Manizer Foiled Again Eyeshadow Palette_2438

Her recommended retail price is €22.50.

Next up we have the Foiled Again Foil Eyeshadow Palette.

This contains 12 shades. Eight foiled and then four matte, which I actually really appreciate. It means you can do a full look with one palette. I love all shimmer palettes, don’t get me wrong. But, it’s always nice to have a few mattes within too for crease work or to just use on their own aswell.

There’s a good mix of warm and cooler tones within the foiled eyeshadows and the mattes too!

The eyeshadows are talc free, super soft and extremely pigmented. I think I am going to have fun playing with this one.

I swatched them in their rows of four, from left to right:

The recommended retail Price for this is €34.

And there you have the new theBalm Bonnie Lou Manizer highlighter and the new Foiled Again Eyeshadow Palette. Do either intrigue you?

Let me know.

xxx

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

October 27, 2017/by Gem

Makeup

Kat Von D Shade & Light Eye Contour Palette

I already gave my first impressions of the Kat Von D Shade & Light Eye Contour Palette here not too long ago, along with some other bits from the brand.

I finally got to go into the counter in Debenhams on Henry Street and check out everything in the flesh. How cool is it we have counters in Ireland now though? So exciting 🙂

After using the Kat Von D Shade & Light Eye Contour Palette consistently for the past couple of weeks, I feel I can give a decent enough opinion on it. I also wanted to swatch all of the shades so you can see them in action on the skin.

The packaging is pretty robust cardboard adorned with hand drawn calligraphy depicting the palette name done by the lovely Kat herself. It has a generous sized mirror in the lid too which is always handy. Although if you look at the American site here, you’ll see they have redone the packaging and the shades are now housed in a plastic palette.

The palette is described as: ‘Inspired by an artist’s palette and loaded with twelve matte shades that capture the true hues of shadow and light, this ‘Shade and Light’ eye contour palette is arranged by undertone for neutral, warm and cool shades. Use deeper contour shades to add natural shadow and depth to the face, then accentuate best angles with the brighter highlight shades. These silky, buildable powders blend effortlessly into the skin with a formula so incredibly fine, it’s like brushing on powdered silk.’

So we get 12 shades in this palette. All matte and they are a mix of neutral,cool and warm shades.

They are arranged in their tone families, each one has a base, contour, define and highlight shade. Of course you can mix them whatever way you see fit though! I’ll swatch them in their tone groupings (from left to right) just to give you an idea of what they look like together:

For me, the shadows are rich in pigment, soft and really easy to apply and blend. I do find you get some kickback when you dip your brush into the pan. But, that doesn’t take away from the quality, it is just something to be weary of. There is a good range of shades to suit everyone too! You can go from a really simple makeup look to a full on smoky eye with one palette. Matte colours aren’t always the easiest to get right, I find, but Kat Von D have done a stellar job. The shade range covers a multitude too! I’ll be honest and say I find the colour selection very similar to the Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics Palette which I have a blogpost on here. The Kat Von D Shade & Light Eye Contour Palette did come before it though 🙂

The Kat Von D Shade & Light Eye Contour Palette is available from Debenhams in store or online here. It’s priced at €46. It’s nice to note, the Kat Von D brand is 100% cruelty free!

Have you picked up anything yet? Do you have your eye on anything?

xxx

April 21, 2017/by Gem

Makeup

Rimmel Everyday Lip Combo

I go through lip colour stages where I gravitate towards a more brown nude or a more pinky nude on the daily. Obviously, there will be a smattering of other colours thrown in on special occasions. On an everyday basis though, I will be rocking a more ‘everyday appropriate’ colour. Generally, I tend to go for a matte finish too. It lasts longer and they are less messy. If my lips are feeling a little drier on a particular day, I’ll pop a bit of lip balm over top. My go to pink toned nude combo, are both from Rimmel.

I am a big big fan of Rimmel lip products. You’ll see me talk about them alot here and on social media. I particularly always repurchase their retractable Exaggerate lip liners when I run out. And they do run out quite quickly, the formula is very soft. It means they apply really easily, but they wear down fast as a result.

My go to everyday pink nude combination consists of the infamous Rimmel ‘Eastend Snob’ lip liner.

Yes, I harp on about this all of the time. I even did a post on it here comparing it to Charlotte Tilbury ‘Pillow Talk’. I own both and reach for this more. It’s great for just waking up the lips and giving some natural-ish colour. It works really well for over lining without looking too obvious aswell. I love it worn just on it’s own.

When I want it to last longer and make it more opaque and lipstick like (if that makes sense, ha?). I apply the Rimmel The Only 1 Matte Lipstick in 200 ‘Salute’ on top.

This is a really similar colour, with more pink to it. Eastend Snob is a little more mauve in tone.

I have a post on The Only 1 Matte Lipsticks here, this will give you a more in depth review. I love the formula. It’s a more creamy matte. The smell of these is intense though. It is super floral and sweet. Definitely not my favourite scent ever, but I look past it because I love the finish.

Rimmel Eastend Snob is available in store or online from Boots here. Exaggerate lipliners retail for €5.59. Salute is available from Boots in store or online here. The Only 1 Matte Lipsticks retail for €8.99

These two together just rock my pinky nude lip world. And let me even out my uneven lip line without looking too obvious or over the top. I hope 🙂

Have you a favourite go to everyday lipstick?

xxx

January 30, 2017/by Gem

Makeup, Youtube Video

Milani Conceal & Perfect Foundation

When I went shopping on Beauty Bay, I bought my first ever Milani products. I spoke about the one of them here, and now I am going to give my first impressions and a demo of the Milani Conceal & Perfect Foundation.

I do disclaim it in the video, but the shade I have, 01 Creamy Vanilla is definitely not the right colour match for me which is a bit annoying, as it’s the lightest shade. I did throw on some tan in hopes that it doesn’t look too odd on my skin.

The Milani Conceal & Perfect Foundation claims to be:

Medium to full coverage.
Lightweight, oil-free formula.
Long wearing, water resistant and sweat proof.

That is a hefty amount of claims! I thought my oily skin would give a good indication if any of this rings true.

I mention this in the video too, but I really like the packaging. It’s a 30ml glass bottle and it has a pump too which is always appreciated.

Not really a pro or a con because it depends on what you like personally, but it smells nicely. Kind of clean but does dissipate when the product is applied.

The texture is thick and it gives a good medium coverage to the skin.

Milani Conceal & Perfect Foundation review

You can see more in the video here, but I wore the foundation for about seven hours and then checked back in. I actually really liked how it performed. Here is my skin before, after and then seven hours later.

I would say I have a particularly oily t zone, so the shine doesn’t bother me majorly after seven hours wear. Overall, my first impressions are good. I like the finish, the coverage and how it wears. If they did a lighter colour, I would definitely stock up on another bottle!

You can find the Milani Conceal & Perfect Foundation on Beauty Bay here. It costs €13.50.

xxx

December 23, 2016/by Gem

Posts

theBalm Balm Jour Creamy Lip Stain (s) are available now from theBalm website. (You can use the code ‘beautynookie’ for 15% off), and they are also available from Cloud10beauty here.

Have you tried them?

xxx

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

The Catrice Lip Foundation lip pencils are available in all good stockists now in store and online. Inish Pharmacy have all five shades online here. And they only cost €2.80 a piece which I think is really decent.

xxx

Let me introduce you to theBalm Bonnie-Lou Manizer and the new Foiled Again Foil Eyeshadow Palette.

And there you have the new theBalm Bonnie Lou Manizer highlighter and the new Foiled Again Eyeshadow Palette. Do either intrigue you?

Let me know.

xxx

I already gave my first impressions of the Kat Von D Shade & Light Eye Contour Palette here not too long ago, along with some other bits from the brand.

I finally got to go into the counter in Debenhams on Henry Street and check out everything in the flesh. How cool is it we have counters in Ireland now though? So exciting 🙂

When I went shopping on Beauty Bay, I bought my first ever Milani products. I spoke about the one of them here, and now I am going to give my first impressions and a demo of the Milani Conceal & Perfect Foundation.

The Milani Conceal & Perfect Foundation claims to be:

Medium to full coverage.

Lightweight, oil-free formula.

Long wearing, water resistant and sweat proof.

PR SAMPLE