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LA Girl Pro Matte Foundation

The LA Girl Pro Matte Foundation landed here in Ireland before you could even get your hands on it anywhere else in Europe. I was lucky enough to go to the launch of it here in Dublin, so I got to bring a bottle of it home to try out.

According to the brand, the LA Girl Pro Matte Foundation gives a ‘suede like finish to the skin’. ‘Has buildable coverage for both day and night’. And is a ‘paraben free formula’.

I have the shade Natural.

Looking at the shades at the event, Ivory was too light and the other shades after that were a bit too yellow for my skin. Natural is a bit too dark, but it was the most suited out of the lighter colours. We have 14 shades to choose from here in Ireland.

It comes in a glass bottle and have a pump, that alone impresses me, I won’t lie 🙂

On me, the LA Girl Pro Matte Foundation definitely has a more medium to full coverage. It’s not super thick though like some more full coverage foundations can be. The formula definitely does dry down to a suede like finish as the brand suggests. So although it’s more matte, it’s not gonna crack if you smile matte 🙂

I have oily skin. I know I say it constantly, but especially for foundation reviews it’s really important to note. Generally, I use a more silicone heavy primer, as I find they are the ones that work best for my skin type. I actually used the LA Girl one here which I really like.

I use a synthetic kabuki brush to apply it and again that works well for me too. The formula is pretty pigmented so you really have to work it into the skin, so a more dense brush makes things easier. I find the formula can cling to more drier skinned areas so that is something to note. That’s why I think the more silicone heavy primers work better with it. It gives it a bit more of a slippy base. Once I use one though it glides over enlarged pores and doesn’t sit in fine lines either. I don’t apply foundation on or around my eyes.

On me, the coverage is medium, but I can amp it up to more full where I want it. It covers redness and slight pigmentation. My darker freckles come through but I am completely ok with that. I love that the finish, although matte, has a satin feel and look to it. It’s not just completely flat. I think it photographs really well too. It lasts well on my skin once I prime and lightly powder. I can get 6-8 hours out of it, with minimal shine or breakdown. It honestly competes with my very favourite L’Oréal Infallible 24 HR Matte in that department!

Overall, I am a big fan of the LA Girl Pro Matte Foundation. It has made it’s way into my everyday foundation rotation. Yes I have one of those 🙂 You can find it now in store from LA Girl stockists. Online from TRNDbeauty, and Beauty Bay. Have you picked it up yet?

xxx

PR SAMPLE

March 23, 2018/by Gem

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

Makeup

YSL Volume Effect Faux Cils Waterproof Mascara

I am a big fan of ‘drugstore’ more affordable mascaras. As you know if you’ve been around these parts before, I am a waterproof mascara junkie. It’s been a while since I had tried a high end one so I traipsed into Brown Thomas a few weeks ago, had a look around, asked you lovely people on Snapchat what I should get and left with the YSL Volume Effect Faux Cils Waterproof mascara.

May I add the girl on the counter was super lovely and friendly which made the experience so much nicer. I love going to Boots and picking up bargains, but I do also love splurging every now and again on more luxurious items. As Tom Haverford and Donna from Parks and Recreation would say “Treat yo’self’ and that I did with the YSL Volume Effect Faux Cils Waterproof Mascara 🙂

I have to be honest I kind of hoped I wasn’t going to really like it, because it means if it runs out I am going to want to buy one again. Alas, it was love at first use, damn you YSL!

The packaging alone is pretty glorious, right? They definitely get brownie points for that.

The formula of the YSL Volume Effect Faux Cils Waterproof is wet but still very build-able without clumping together on your lashes. It has quite a thin tapered bristled wand that is great for really getting into the roots of your lashes.

The reason I always go for waterproof is because I have really straight lashes and waterproof formulas seem to hold a curl better throughout the day for me. I also have oily eye lids and normal formulas can sometimes transfer and make a mess.Since getting this mascara I have always used a eyelash curler before application, just to give my lashes an extra bit of oomph, for the purpose of this post I didn’t though and I was actually quite happy with how my lashes turned out regardless. For me and my crap eyelashes, there’s volume, there’s length and there’s a bit of curl too!

Here’s my lashes before application.

Then here is my upper lashes on one eye with a couple of coats of the YSL Volume Effect Faux Cils.

I even use this mascara on my bottom lashes too, as the wand it not too big and the formula doesn’t flake or transfer. This means I don’t have to necessarily buy a separate tubing mascara from my bottom lashes which I normally do. That’s penny pinching right there 🙂

Here’s the before and after on each of my eyes.

And then here’s the YSL Volume Effect Faux Cils applied to both eyes.

I do still prefer giving my eyelashes a quick curl with the eyelash curlers because I want maximum lash.

But if I forgot to do it or didn’t bring an eyelash curlers away with me, I wouldn’t be in panic mode as I have been in the past 🙂

I bloomin’ love this mascara, it’s pricey for sure, but it really ticks all the boxes for me. I may not use it exclusively forever because I do like to try new products, (it’s what I do ha), but if I HAD too, I wouldn’t be too unhappy about it at all.

You can pick up the YSL Volume Effect Faux Cils Waterproof mascara from Boots instore or online here and from Brown Thomas instore. It costs 32.50.

What do you think, would you splurge? Let me know what you’re favourite mascara is?

xxx

April 22, 2016/2 Comments/by Gem

Lifestyle

Being Yourself…Flaws And All

I am turning 30 soon and it has scared the pants off me for a long time thinking about it. I’m a thinker. I overthink, over analyse and worry that’s who I am, it’s only great :).

As I reach closer to the time of the next decade of my life I have spent alot of time (you guessed it) thinking about my life at this point and my goals. I am not where I thought I would be, not in the slightest. I always did well in school without having to try too hard and so I suppose I just assumed life would be somewhat easy when I grew up and became an adult. Things didn’t really turn out like that. I’ve spent many years trying to find a career and something I could be proud of. I have a relationship that I am proud of, he has been the one constant in my life (for a long time), that has kept me going. Life has some crazy turns both good and bad.

I am a smart arse, I sometimes talk before I think, I make alot of mistakes, I have more of a male sense of humour ( I am the only girl of 3). When I am shy or nervous I use humour to cover it up or I just close up completely and try to hide.

I am by no means perfect. And I am critical of that all of the time. I don’t have a perfect figure, perfect hair,perfect skin, I would deem myself average in alot of categories both physically and in my capabilities.

I enjoy my own company, but I don’t like to do things out of my comfort zone on my own, I find it hard to make plans and stick to them, I can be lazy, I can be selfish, I have a temper, I am brutal at small talk the list is endless and it’s not one I am proud of 🙂

The reason I sat down to babble though is because I have realised that just because I am not the definition of perfect doesn’t mean I don’t matter, doesn’t mean my opinion or feelings are not important. We are all important, we are also important to someone. We have people who loves us for who we are warts and all. We should embrace this and feel free in this environment instead of trying to make the people who don’t matter like us. I have spent big chunks of my life doing that. Not everyone will like you in life, we have to come to terms with it. I know it’s hard, believe me and I am not writing this because I have the antidote, I just wanted to write it to say you are not alone.

We can all feel alone at times even when we are surrounded by people. I know I can forget to live in the moment because I am so worried about what is going to happen in the future. Sometimes I have to be snapped out of it and told to cop onto myself…he does that alot 🙂

My goals for my 30’s is to take more chances, see more things, love the people who love me more, spend time with them, but most of all love and be proud of myself…flaws and all, because I matter!

I know this blog is for makeup and beauty products and I love these things because they make us feel better about ourselves, more confident, but it doesn’t define us. We define us! Don’t let anyone let you feel inferior. You are amazing! You won’t always believe it but you are 🙂

xxx

March 25, 2015/3 Comments/by Gem