demonstration Archives - Irish Beauty Blog Beautynook

L’Oréal Steampod Review And Demo

As you probably know if you watched my ‘What I Got For Christmas‘ video. John very kindly got me a L’Oréal Steampod for Christmas.

I say it all the time, hair is not my forte. I’m lucky enough that I have a decent mop on my head, so I don’t always think too much about it. I can straighten and curl it and that’s about as fancy as I get. I have quite the chubby face, so I wear it down most of the time, it’s kind of my comfort blanket. My previous straighteners was a GHD (that was around eleven years old). So a new one was definitely overdue.

After doing some research and listening to some of my awesome blogging buddies, the L’Oréal Steampod was decided on. I got the second generation one.

‘The Steampod 2.0 is a revolutionary hairstyling tool from L’Oreal. A combination of steam and pro-keratin technology helps to tame hair movement and leave it silky smooth, whilst protecting from heat damage’, according to L’Oréal.

There’s loads of videos and blogposts already on it. But I thought I would throw my opinion into the mix. And also give a very basic demo of it on my hair. I have a lot of hair, but it is quite fine and it tends to get limp very quickly. As always you can watch the demo and hear my thoughts by clicking on the video above. Or, you can click here to go directly to my YouTube channel.

John got my L’Oréal Steampod directly from Peter Mark salon here in Dublin. I believe it was Liffey Valley. It’s generally cheaper online though. I found it on Look Fantastic here for the best price.

Let me know what you think. Have you tried the Steampod yourself? What’s your favourite hair tool or product?

Gemma

xxx

January 19, 2018/2 Comments/by Gem

Makeup

Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer

I have been using the Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer on and off for a few months now. It’s high time I tell you my thoughts on it 🙂

Off the bat I will say if you are looking for a light, breathable foundation, stop reading now. The Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer is not for you I’m afraid. If you like a more high coverage foundation, or perhaps you need something for a special occasion, then keep reading.

First up, I have to say I am not particularly a fan of the packaging of the Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer. I like the glass bottle, yes. But, it comes with a doe foot applicator attached to the lid. (Like the Rimmel Lasting Finish Breathable Foundation I talked about here). I am just not really a fan. I don’t tend to complain when there’s one on concealer but I like to decant my foundation onto my hand myself and apply.

My relationship with it is a bit mixed. It’s quite thick, (not as thick as the Estée Lauder Double Wear for example though). You can have it at medium or full on coverage.

I have the shade Alabaster. It goes on a little darker than my skin tone initially, but does blend in and match quite well after a few minutes. It has a more emollient texture, which for me, with more oily skin can be quite problematic as it can be hard to blend. If you have drier skin, the texture might work in your favour though. As you can probably see from the swatch here, it does gather in fine lines, so you do have to be careful and make sure to blend really well. I would definitely recommend using a primer before application as it will help with the settling. Once you work it into the skin it though, I don’t find it too heavy or uncomfortable.

If you have redness, slight rosacea or acne scarring, it will cover well and you can build it up on the areas you want more coverage. I don’t tend to bring it up to the eye area too much though, as it does settle. But if you don’t have that problem, it will work well for under eye concealing. The emollient texture means it’s not too drying. The staying power is decent too. I do always use primer and powder with it.

For me, I found I like this foundation mixed with something else. So I will add it to another foundation to bump up the coverage. I don’t like the finish on my skin by itself. That’s obviously just personal preference though. If you are looking for something with high coverage and you don’t mind having to work with it a bit, the Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer could be for you.

You can find it online here, or in store from Brown Thomas, Arnotts and even Boots. Have you tried it?

xxx

December 18, 2017/by Gem

Makeup

Rimmel Wonder Wing Eyeliner

The whole eyeliner stamp phenomenon has definitely intrigued me. I have watched countless YouTube videos of people demoing them. However, the price of them has always put me off. Especially when it comes to getting one of them delivered to Ireland. And sure most of them are just made of rubber. You could probably fashion one yourself. I am not that way inclined though. So when I saw the new Rimmel Wonder Wing Eyeliner, I knew I had to pick it up.

So the Rimmel Wonder Wing Eyeliner is a standard felt tip liquid liner with one difference. The felt tip is shaped at wing angle. One side of it also has a flat edge. Why? To use like a stamp of course 🙂

Rimmel say, ‘Draw the line and stamp to flick’. Sounds easy in theory right?

Myself and winged liner have a complicated relationship. Some days it works for me, some days it goes horribly wrong. A lot of the time I’ll use the post-it method. I did a video on this a while back here.

My thoughts on the Rimmel Wonder Wing Eyeliner are, it takes practice, but it can work! You position the flat edge where you want your flick to be and stamp it down to create the shape. It doesn’t always work, but after a few attempts, it definitely gets easier. And then you can create the rest of the line across the lash line with the other side and tip of the applicator.

A couple of issues that I have with it. It’s not the blackest of formulas. It’s not the worst, but I would probably find myself going over it with gel or even powder most of the time. I kind of think the actual stamp would be easier to use if it was the other way around. You could use the pen upright then. I think for me, it would be easier to get a sharper flick that way.

Overall, it definitely gives me a better chance of creating a cat eye I can actually leave the house with. And it definitely gives me a greater chance of getting somewhat even wings on both eyes. Not perfect, but sure what is 🙂

You can get the Rimmel Wonder Wing Eyeliner in stores now. I picked mine up from Boots for €7.99 here. I did see it cheaper in Penneys though.

What do you think? Have you tried it or any of the stamps on the market? Let me know.

xxx

September 25, 2017/by Gem

Makeup, Youtube Video

Sleek Colour Corrector Palette

So as you can probably tell from the title, this weeks video is about the Sleek Colour Corrector Palette 🙂

Yep, the one I am pointing to right there 🙂

I was dubious about this little palette, I won’t lie. I received it in a very generous goody bag from Sleek along with lots of other amazing goodies. Including the Solstice Highlighting Palette that I have a review of here. And, the Cleopatra’s Kiss Highlighting Palette which I have a post on here. They got use straight away, the Sleek Colour Corrector Palette got forgotten about.

But, I was shopping my stash which I do regularly and I stumbled across it in the back of a drawer. And sure the rest is history 🙂

You can see my first impressions and a demo of some of the shades on my face in the video above. Or, you can click here to watch it directly.

I show you it in action on my visage, and show how well makeup applies over it. As well as giving you my honest opinion throughout the video.

Before

After (With Makeup Applied On Top Too)

Overall, it’s safe to say I am a fan of the Sleek Colour Corrector Palette! Not all the shades are for one specific person. They are for use on specific complexion issues. That is something to be wary about. I personally like the green and the yellow shade for my skin type.

You can buy it from Boots here, Cloud10Beauty here and Dolledup.ie here. I always like to give some Irish links where I can too. It’s always good to support your own 🙂

Would it rock your boat? I know it’s definitely not a makeup necessity but, would it have a place in your makeup bag? I’d love to know your thoughts 🙂

xxx

*pr sample

October 21, 2016/by Gem

Makeup

Revlon Colorstay Foundation Combo/Oily

I cannot believe I’ve never talked about the Revlon Colorstay Foundation here on Beautynook. It’s one of the most popular foundations on the market and it was probably one of the first to come out in different formulas to cater for more drier and more oily skin types.

I have oily skin so I of course use the Revlon Colorstay foundation in the combination/oily skin formula. Both formulas have an spf of 15. I have here, what I believe is the lightest shade they do ‘110 Ivory’.

This is a tad to light for me in the summer months, but in the winter it matches pretty well. I have tan on in the swatches here which looks a bit ridiculous, but I think it also shows the coverage that the Revlon Colorstay Foundation actually has too.

It has a pretty thick consistency and can be a bit harder to blend into the skin than some other foundations out there. Revlon finally revamped the bottle though and gave us a pump which is awesome. It’s been a long time coming.

When it was first released you just had to dump the product on something and hope for the best.

For me, the Revlon Colorstay foundation has pretty much full coverage.

Here’s my skin before application:

And here it is after:

I just used a kabuki brush to blend it into the skin.

You can definitely feel this foundation on your skin, it sits on top of it and is visible. The longevity is good and if you have any breakouts or imperfections it will cover them well so you won’t need as much concealer.

Before

After

Two even three years ago if someone asked me for a more affordable oily skin foundation recommendation, the Revlon Colourstay would have been it no questions asked. However, I think brands have come along way with foundation formulas and we have more options out there now. As I get older, although I still get breakouts so want decent coverage and of course I want good staying power, I also want my skin to be able to breath somewhat and I don’t think Colorstay really allows that. I prefer to apply it with a damp sponge myself, it makes it look less cakey and noticeable on my skin. I end up usually mixing it with other foundations if I want to lighten them or bulk up the coverage. I rarely reach for it to use on it’s own.

So there you go, there’s my two cents on the cult classic that is the Revlon Colorstay Foundation. Is it still your holy grail?

You can buy online here or in store from Boots and it will set you back €18.99.

xxx

August 20, 2016/1 Comment/by Gem

Makeup, Youtube Video

Wet n Wild Dual Ended Contour Stick

The Wet n Wild Dual Ended Contour Stick is new to our shores.

When new cream contour products come onto the ‘drugstore’ market, I am always intrigued. Not many of the brands do it right. I was given this along with some of the other new Wet n Wild beauty goodies at an awesome event they held at Tropical Popical a couple of weeks back! I thought rather than just playing around with it and giving a review, I would make a first impressions video about it and let you see my honest reaction to the product.

Wet n Wild say: ‘Contouring made easy and portable! This amazing highlighting and contouring stick is dual-ended for precise application to easily enhance your features. The contouring shade helps define and chisel while the highlighter illuminates your best features.’

I have the Wet n Wild Dual Ended Contour Stick in the Light/Medium skin shade. The colour match is really good for me (which of course you’ll see in the video 🙂 ).

It’s a twistable pen with a cream contour colour on one end.

And a cream matte highlighting shade on the other end for brightening the skin.

As always you can click on the video above to watch it within the post or you can click here and watch it directly from my YouTube channel if you fancy.

I was worried when I went to edit that my waffling was a bit too much, that can happen sometimes. But, hopefully it gives a real and authentic sense of what I thought of the product and how it fared on me personally. 🙂

The Wet n Wild Dual Ended Contour Stick is available in Penneys, Dunnes Stores and all other good Wet n Wild Stockists now. The recommended retail price is €5.95.

Have you tried it? I’d love to know how it worked for you.

xxx

August 3, 2016/by Gem

Posts

Let me know what you think. Have you tried the Steampod yourself? What’s your favourite hair tool or product?

Gemma

xxx

Off the bat I will say if you are looking for a light, breathable foundation, stop reading now. The Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer is not for you I’m afraid. If you like a more high coverage foundation, or perhaps you need something for a special occasion, then keep reading.

You can find it online here, or in store from Brown Thomas, Arnotts and even Boots. Have you tried it?

xxx

Rimmel say, ‘Draw the line and stamp to flick’. Sounds easy in theory right?

So as you can probably tell from the title, this weeks video is about the Sleek Colour Corrector Palette 🙂

I cannot believe I’ve never talked about the Revlon Colorstay Foundation here on Beautynook. It’s one of the most popular foundations on the market and it was probably one of the first to come out in different formulas to cater for more drier and more oily skin types.

You can buy online here or in store from Boots and it will set you back €18.99.

The Wet n Wild Dual Ended Contour Stick is new to our shores.

Wet n Wild say: ‘Contouring made easy and portable! This amazing highlighting and contouring stick is dual-ended for precise application to easily enhance your features. The contouring shade helps define and chisel while the highlighter illuminates your best features.’