essentials Archives - Irish Beauty Blog Beautynook

Posts

Handbag Makeup Essentials

Ok, handbag makeup essentials is a bit of a broad statement. And very much up to the individual who owns said bag and makeup 🙂

These are my interpretation of handbag makeup essentials. For your everyday ‘throw everything into’ bag. I know the evening out bag generally consists of just powder and lippie. These are the products that you carry around, just in case. In case you get stuck at work late and have to go out after. Or you’re just out, and then decide you want to go out out. Or, you just want to refresh your makeup and maybe add some more definition.

I have oily skin, so for me blotting sheets are a must. Although I’m constantly running out. I generally pick up the Catrice or Essence ones. Super affordable and do the job perfectly. Even if you’re not super oily, these are just great to have. I have been known to use tissue too though. If you split 2 ply tissues apart, the one layer does a darn good job at blotting! I have another alternative here too if you want to check it out.

Once your base is ready to receive another layer of makeup, don’t go too crazy. Less is more. If you pile it on, it’ll probably just move around. A light concealer will work if you have blemishes or under eyes that really need more covering, or your foundation has rubbed off anywhere. I generally like having a more liquid formula of concealer on hand, it’s easier to blend over anything that’s already there.

Depending on your preference, a powder is nice to have around, whether it be a translucent or something with a little more coverage. It’s good to powder your nose, but it’s also nice to have if you need to set your lids to jazz them up a little. I prefer to use a brush to set with, just because it adds less product to the skin. Just preference though and another thing to carry 🙂

This brings me on to another handbag makeup essential, an eyeliner! Whether it’s just a flesh coloured one for a more natural look or a black or brown for more intensity. A slick of liner across the lash line, or blended out all over the lid, can really help define a simple makeup look. Kohl is great if you want to create a really quick smoky eye, as it works on the lid and in the water line too.

By no means is bronzer a handbag makeup essential, but it is great for adding more colour to the skin and adding some definition to the eyes too. I carry one because I have a mini. Mini products are a handbag’s best friend 🙂

If I’m being completely honest I have all of these plus mascara, eyebrow powder, highlighter… I could go on, don’t judge me, I like to be prepared. I was a scout growing up.

I’ll add two more things into my essentials kit though. A brighter (or darker) lip shade. A slick of fresh statement lippie and a bit of powder and you can be good to go for the night.

Lastly, I’ll add in a setting spray or even just a facial mist. Again, I have a mini one that I just refill. Something that you can refresh with. But also set with and to take away the powdered look which really helps when touching up. Urban Decay do travel versions of their setting sprays here.

And there you have my handbag makeup essentials. Too much? Probably 🙂 What’s the one makeup product you always bring with you? (Handbag featured was part of recent haul video here, if you’re curious).

xxx

October 18, 2017/by Gem

Makeup

Summer Makeup Essentials!

Since the sun is shining, don’t say that too loud, we might spook it! But, since it is, I thought I would put together some of my summer makeup essentials. This isn’t so much about the products, just dive into your collection and see what you have already to play with.

These are products I have in my stash right now. I love shopping my stash, especially when a new season begins.

Summer makeup for me, is about a light base and having fun with everything else.

My skin tends to behave itself a little bit more in the summer months so I can spend less time on my base. It still needs help though!

My Summer makeup will always consist of primers. I have oily skin.

I just find adding a few dabs of it to the t zone and blending it out over my whole face, really helps with the longevity of anything I put on top of it. Eyeshadow primer is another must for me. All year round, but particularly in the warmer months. Oily lids are no joke! I am really enjoying The Ordinary High Adherence Silicone Primer (you can buy it here) and Benefit Porefessional has always been a holy grail for me.

Because I use a more mattifying primer, I find I can go a little bit more dewy and light with the foundation.

If I know I am going to be out in the sun for a long period of time, I will of course use sun protection on my face. However, it does tend to melt my makeup. So, if I am going somewhere that is more shaded, I’ll use a foundation with SPF.

One very important Summer makeup essential for me, is coloured eye liners.

Whether it be liquid, gel, waterproof pencil, or pencil with eyeshadow over top, this is something I cannot get enough of in Summer. It is just such a fun way to add something to your makeup without trying too hard. I love applying a slick of it across the lash line. If I am feeling extra daring, I’ll even attempt to wing it out. Adding a pop of colour to your water line too is a lovely way to incorporate a hint of colour to a makeup look aswell. I used the Nyx Vivid Brights Liner here in a makeup look last Summer.

Without waterproof mascara, I am a basic lash person.

My lashes are straight and need waterproof mascara to hold a curl. It is imperative in the Summer time too though. It is a bitch to get off, but a decent waterproof mascara means you don’t have to worry about panda eyes behind your sunglasses. Or if you suffer with watery eyes, you are less inclined to have black marks down your cheeks. I talk about two of my favourites pictured here and here.

My last Summer makeup essential is a glossy lip. I never thought I would say those words, but glossy lip products have come such a long way.

They don’t have to be sticky and they can be super long wearing and colourful too. Products like the Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfectors are great. They add shine with a hint of colour as well as nourish the lips. So handy to throw in your bag for top ups throughout the day.

Shout out to Rosie for helping me take the photos!

And, I will stop rambling 🙂 Have you any Summer makeup essentials?

xxx

May 26, 2017/by Gem

Hair

Current Hair Care Favourites

If you don’t follow me on social media, firstly eh why? 🙂 and secondly you won’t have seen that I took the chop with my hair this week. I decided to go to Lisa in Zinc Hair and Beauty because I had heard such great things about her. I can attest to that and say I had a really great experience there and I would definitely recommend them! I was happy to find out my hair is in pretty good shape too, so it sparked the idea to talk about my current hair care favourites in a blog post 🙂

I am by no means an expert on hair care, these are just the products I am using at the minute and seem to be working for me. I have alot of hair, although the hair itself is quite fine. I also get oily roots really quickly so products can weigh my hair down and make it look flat and greasy. I have to be careful.

First up is my shampoo and conditioner.

These are from the Joico Body Luxe Range. I got sent these at Christmas and only got around to using them in the last few weeks. I have really been liking them. These are designed for fullness and volume. I usually wash my hair twice with the shampoo and then add a little conditioner to the ends while finishing off the rest of my shower routine. My hair feels lovely and soft after using them and not at all weighed down.

After washing and to add a bit more conditioning…because I can’t get enough of it 🙂 I’ve been using the Mane n’ Tail Olive Oil Complex Spray Therapy.

This is for shine, detangling and it’s a heat protector, score!

My hair comes out by the bucket load, honestly I shed like a dog, so something like this is great. I apply a layer to my towel dried hair and then use my trusty Wet Brush (I actually have a full review of this here).

This combo seems to give me the less amount of breakage, it doesn’t tug on any knots and I’ve definitely noticed less hair in the brush afterwards.

If I know I am going to be washing my hair early in the morning or early in the day, I love to do a conditioning treatment the night before. I call it a treatment, I literally mean put loads of conditioner into my hair and pin it up when I’m going to bed 🙂

The last few months, I have been using the Alfaparf Precious Nature Leave In Spray. I spoke about doing this on my Snapchat a while back. I love giving mini reviews over there. My username is ‘Beautynook’.

It’s a leave in conditioner so it doesn’t make my hair hard and unmoveable when going to sleep. You know when you put a conditioning treatment in and then your hair is like a rock so it’s super uncomfortable? If I’m super fancy, I’ll even apply some, then throw a towel into the microwave for a couple of seconds to heat it up and then put my hair into it, the heat helps the conditioner on it’s way and your hair feels extra awesome then when you wash it! The Precious Nature Leave In Spray is made specifically for coloured hair. It’s also sulphate and paraben free.

The last thing I wanted to mention is this Joico Hair Shaker.

This is a liquid to powder texturising spray. Now I know texturising sprays don’t make your hair feel particularly nice, but if you’re looking for extra volume, they are a fab addition to your hair care collection. I don’t like backcombing my hair if I can help it, it’s so bad for the condition of it and it makes my hair fuzzy. The Hair Shaker is cool because it applies to your hair as a liquid, so you can move your hair freely into your desired style. For me that’s pretty much straight or wavy I’m low maintenance ha, and then the Hair Shaker dries to a powder finish to hold the volume you created in place. I’ve used hair powders in the past and they are just messy and leave your hair looking dull because the powder is white. Charles Worthington do a texturising spray that I love too and you can buy in Boots.

There you have it. All the hair care products I have been truly using and loving over the last couple of months. I would have included dry shampoo in this too, but the one I’m using has been discontinued…devo!

You can buy Joico from Shampoo.ie

Salon places like Xpert Professional sell Alfaparf

And Mane n Tail is available in pharmacies nationwide.

xxx

February 12, 2016/by Gem

Haul, Skincare

Lush Winter Wonderland

Lush treated us bloggers and the press to an up close look at what they have in store (literally ha) for Winter and Christmas 2015. As a big Lush fan, I was very excited to see so many new and well known products back for the festive season. They have gift sets galore to suit any tastes and budget, and of course most of the products can be bought individually too.

We were very kindly gifted the fabulous Lush Winter Wonderland Gift Set, and so I wanted to show you what is inside, in case it’s something you would want on your Christmas list.

There are some old faves and some newbies up for grabs in this pretty huge gift box.

Snow Angel Bath Melt is in there. It contains cocoa butter and leaves your bath glittery.

We have Yog Nog Bath Bomb. This is a cinder toffee soak with spicy clove and ylang ylang.

The Ceridwen’s Cauldron Bath Melt looks really interesting. This plops into the bath as is and melts. It has sandalwood oil,oats and wildflower inside.

The Candy Mountain Bubble Bar has sparkles and fair trade vanilla to bubble up your bath with.

The Peeping Santa Bubble Bar looks funny right? This has shea butter and strawberry inside, so great for us with a sweet tooth.

The Yoga Bath Bomb is great for relaxing with. It contains olibanum and ho wood.

You can reuse this cutie. This is The Magic Of Christmas Bubble Bar. It has clove and almond in it. You can just sweep it across the water a few times and then put it somewhere safe to use again.

I get a Holly Golightly Bubble Bar every year from Lush. I think it just screams Christmas, and it smells like it too 🙂

Of course the Lush Winter Wonderland has a Frozen Bath Bomb this year. It contains grapefruit and Tunisian Neroli. Yum yum.

This is the Stardust Bath Bomb. It has vanilla and Rosewood in it.

Cinders is a lush classic. It smells like cinnamon.

I saw this Luxury Lush Pud Bath Bomb (mouthful) in action when we were in Lush. It dissolves into the bath just how it looks in the bomb it’s really cool. It also contains lavender so good for a before bed time bath.

My Father Christmas Bath Bomb got a bit bashed by its friends inside the box. He will turn your bath green though and smells like candy floss.

I think bubble bars are where you get the most bang for your buck in Lush. You can just break pieces off and get as many uses out of them as you want. This is the Bar Humbug Bubble Bar. It contains Liquorice, not my favourite scent, but if you love DollyMix this one is for you 🙂

The Lord of Misrule Bath bomb makes your bath wine coloured, so you could drink wine while you were having your bath and you wouldn’t even noticed if you spilled!

My So White Bath Bomb didn’t make it in one piece, but at least it means I can show you what it looks like inside. It contains bergamot and rose…yummy!

Golden Wonder is my all time favourite bath bomb from Lush. It has lime oil in it, so it smells really zesty and when it melts away it leaves little stars in your bath!

The Butterbear Bath Bomb is great for dry skin, it has cocoa butter in it like the Snow Angel…I might actually use these together for an extra hydrating bath time!

The Comforter Bubble Bar is probably my favourite out of all the Lush bubble bars and is one I purchase all the time. It’s really sweet but not in a sickly way. It contains cassis and cypress oil.

The Twilight Bath Bomb is the last on the list. As you would assume by the name and the look of this bath bomb, this is another good bath time bomb. It contains lavender and tonka and according to Lush makes your bath look like the night sky…we’ll see about that 🙂

The Lush Winter Wonderland will cost you €117.50, it is one of the priciest gift sets instore. I think if you are wanting to buy a hardcore Lush fan (or yourself) a really special gift this is pretty perfect though.

Any of your Lush faves in here? Any you fancy trying? Let me know 🙂

xxx

October 23, 2015/1 Comment/by Gem