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Affordable Makeup Favourites

I do this every so often. I’ll pick five (or so) affordable makeup products that are in my makeup rotation at the mo and have a little chat about them.

Affordable Makeup Favourites

Why do I give them different names you ask? The last one here was called ‘Current Budget Friendly Makeup Favourites. Well the only reason for that is that it’s good for SEO not to have the same titles all of the time. That’s the only reason I am calling this Affordable Makeup. Sure it all means the same thing 🙂

My first affordable makeup love of recent times is the L.O.V Cosmetics Eyeshadow Palette in ‘Devoted To Metallics’.
lov cosmetics
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L.O.V is created by the same company who brought us Catrice and Essence. You can find it in pharmacies nationwide. There’s more information on the Irish Facebook page here. I’ve used a fair few products from the brand, It’s definitely been hit or miss for me. This palette from their Autumn collection is a hit in my humble opinion though.

irish beauty bloggerbeauty blog ireland It’s €14.99 so not the cheapest out there I know. The quality of the packaging is A1 though and the shimmery shades inside are super pretty. The pink colour in particular has been getting a lot of love from me on minimal makeup days. It’s a great ‘whack all over the lid shade’.

Next we have the Eylure X Fleur De Force Brow Define Pencil.

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Now I did a whole blogpost on this a while back here so I won’t go into it too much. But, I have been thoroughly enjoying this. Having the two tones of brow pencil in one means I reach for less brow powder too. I think this makes my brows look a teeny bit more natural and less drawn on.

top beauty blogMy third affordable makeup choice is the Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liners.

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I talk about these all of the time. They are some of my favourite liners out there full stop. I feel like when the weather gets cooler I become more obsessed with lipstick and branch out a bit more. I consistently pick the Rimmel liners to either use on their own as they are super creamy and pigmented. Or to use under lippies.

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I have the shades Addiction, Diva Red and Eastend Snob here:

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Because they are soft, they do have a tendency to break. This doesn’t bother me too much though. I’m just careful not to twist them up too much. You can find them on the Boots website here.

Another Rimmel offering has made into my current top five. This is their Insta Fix & Matte. rimmel irelandRimmel know their way around a setting powder and this one proves that for sure. It’s just a general talc based pressed translucent powder but it’s quite smoothing on the skin too. This is something that I always appreciate as I have ginormous pores. I like it 🙂 You can get this from Boots online here.
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My last favourite is the Wet n Wild Liquid Catsuit Matte Liquid Lipsticks. wet n wild irelandI am fairly late to the party with these. Everyone has been raving about them for a good while now. I have two shades in my possession.

Nudist Peach and Give Me Mocha.

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Give Me Mocha in particularly has been floating my Autumnal lip shade boat. I have been using this with Rimmel Addiction lip liner underneath. They are of course matte liquid lipsticks so they can be drying. But I find the formula on these quite thin so it doesn’t ball up or feather. And they stay on put once they dry too. I need to try more shades. They are under a fiver aswell which makes it even better!

And there you have my current affordable makeup favourites. What’s yours?

xxx

*********INCLUDES PR SAMPLES**********

Yep it’s happening, it’s January Favourites time!

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I am panicking a bit, not going to lie. We are properly into the second month of 2017, eeeekk! But in blog/vlog world that gives us an excuse to recap and look over the month and pick out some of our most used bits and bobs. I do this in video form now, but I do like to still do a blog post too.

My January Favourites for 2017 consist of a couple of fashion bits, a skincare item and of course my one true love, some makeup as well.

January Favourites

I have a bit of disclaimer, I filmed this feeling a little bit under the weather. I have the cold that so many people have at the minute that just won’t go away. So it’s a bit of rambley video, hope that’s OK ha. I am a bit zonked on cold medication 🙂

The products mentioned are:

  • A Zara bag pack, that is gone from the website now, I apologise if you liked the look of it.
  • Coverse Hi Top runners. You can get these in so many places, but I’ll put a link to them on the Schuh website here if you want a closer look.
  • Asos watch: I can’t find a to the exact one, but they have lots of similar (and actually some nicer ones) here.
  • Cailyn Dissolv’It Makeup Melt Cleansing Balm. I got given this at an event, but it retails for €25 from their website here.
  • Isa Dora Matt Fixing Powder. I got this as a press sample. But, I found it on the Feel Unique website here for €17.86.
  • Zoeva Blanc Fusion Palette. I have a review and info on all of the palettes within the Plaisir Box here.
  • Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liners. You can pick these up in Boots in store or online here. They are €5.49
  • And then finally Mac Extended Play Mascara. I have a whole blog post about this here.

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And that is all of my January Favourites. You can watch the video by clicking on it above or going to my YouTube channel here. Have you any stand out products from the month?

xxx

 

 

I did a post similar to this last here year for my first Christmas in Beautynook world. It’s a festive red lip for under a fiver. I still love and use both of products I used, these are just alternatives for your 2016 Festive Red Lipstick look 🙂

festive red lipstick

I think a decent lip liner is as important as the lipstick you choose when rocking a red lip. You can by all means go for a more soft approach and that’s beautiful too. But, when you’re going full out bright and Christmas-sy red, I think a crisp lip line is important. And you don’t want any bleeding, I mean lipstick bleeding but of course we don’t want any bleeding at all 🙂

festive red lipstick

For this year’s festive red lipstick lip liner, I went with the Rimmel Exaggerate in ‘Red Diva’.

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I am a big fan of the Rimmel Exaggerate lip liners. They are super soft and easy to apply. And they now have an angled twist up nib which I find really handy for outlining and correcting my lip line. ‘Red Diva’ is the perfect classic red colour and actually works really nicely on it’s own as well.

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This costs €5.49 and you can get it from the Boots website here.

The lipstick I chose is a new release for 2016. It’s one of the new Lip VIP’s from Sleek Makeup. It is called ‘Walk Of Fame’.

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These are a semi matte formula lipstick. They are really creamy, pigmented and very comfortable to wear.

sleek lip vip
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I just think both of these products together are a really lovely and affordable festive red lipstick combination. The Sleek Lip Vip’s are available from Boots too for €7.49 here.

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Matte lips are everywhere at the minute so I thought I would go old school with more of a creamy textured combo. Layering the products means they are still long lasting but they won’t dry out your lips as much.

It is such a cliché I know, but I just love a red lip during Christmas time 🙂

xxx

 

It’s April Favourites time! Yep April is over, yep it’s nearly half way through 2016, no I am not panicking, why do you ask 🙂

April Favourites 2016

I started up doing monthly favourites again last month ( here ‘s Last months in case you missed them). And so I am back again a month later with my April Favourites for 2016 🙂

I did it in rambling video form again, let me know if it’s something you enjoy,or would you prefer it in a blog post format. I will list all the products always here on my website too though.

  • The first product is the Organic Surge Extra Care Brightening Hot Cloth Cleanser. I found it online from Inish Pharmacy here. It costs €16.95.
  • YSL Volume Effect Faux Cils Waterproof, there’s a full blogpost about this here and you can buy it online from Boots here
  • Essence Prettifying Lip Oil
  • Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner in Addiction, €5.49 from Boots here
  • theBalm MaryLou-Manizer. I have a full review here. You can buy it online from Cloud10beauty here It costs €21.50
  • Mac Book Air. I bought mine from Power City but I can’t find a link online. Here’s a link to it through Harvey Norman
  • And last but not least Lemonade from Beyonce (which I am currently listening to yet again as I write this 🙂 ) I signed up to Tidal to watch it. You can sign up for a month’s free trial. If you do just be sure to turn off the subscription roll over or you’ll be charged for the next month, unless you want to keep using it of course 🙂

And that’s it, these are some of my April Favourites. Be sure to let me know some of the things you’ve been loving for the month of April. Can you believe it’s no May? Madness altogether.

 

As always thanks for reading (and watching) I really appreciate it.

Gemma

xxx

 

MS Ireland are running a campaign in the month of February called Kiss Goodbye To MS. It’s to help raise money for research and to support all the people living with MS in Ireland. What a fabulous cause!

A red lip (or anything red really) plays into the campaign and I was asked to share a red lip selfie with the #kissgoodbyetoms to raise awarness for it. As well as the important part, texting ‘Smooch’ to 50300 to donate €4 to the campaign. So, get your red lippie on and get involved. It’s for charity 🙂

Here’s the look I created for my selfie. I went with a subtle gold eye using the Sleek ‘A New Day’ palette (which I have a full break down of here). And, then a glossy red Rimmel lip.

First, I used two matte brown shades from the palette mixed together and used them to softly define the crease of my eyes with a fluffy brush after prepping my lids with primer and loose powder.

irishbeautyblogirish beauty blogirish beauty bloggerFor my lid, I took the yellow gold from the Sleek palette.

sleek a new day paletteTo make the colour a little more opaque, I dampened my brush with some Serozinc.

la roche posay serozincI patted this colour all over my eyelid.

irish beauty blogbeauty blog irelandTo deepen the crease and outer corner, I took the darkest matte brown in the palette and applied it to the outer corner of my eyes and swiped in slightly in to the crease with a tapered brush.beauty blogger irelandtop irish beauty blogirish makeup and beauty blogI’ll always highlight the brow bone just to clean up any harsh lines and cover any imperfections up there too. I used the lightest shade in the Sleek palette, it has a bit of shimmer but nothing to intense.

irish makeup and beauty bloggermakeu and beauty blog irelandmakeup and beauty blogger irelandTo add a bit of definition, I took the Sleek brown Eau La La Liner and applied it to the lash line.

sleek eau la la linersleek makeup irelandI applied some of the brown shadow I used in the outer corner of my eye on top of the pencil, just to set it in place.

irish beauty blogUnder the eye I took the two brown mattes I initially used to define my crease and buffed them under lightly with a soft brush.

irish beauty bloggerThen, I curled my lashes and added plenty of mascara.

beauty blog irelandblog irelandTo finish the eyes off I lined my top and bottom waterline with my favourite brown Rimmel Exaggerate liner.

makeup and beauty blogAnd used this light shimmery shade from the Sleek palette on the inner corners of my eyes.

irish blogirish makeup blogAnd the eyes are dunzo!

irish makeup bloggerFor the lips (the most important part 🙂 )

I applied some loose powder over my lips after finishing the rest of my makeup, just to get rid of any excess foundation and lip balm.

red lip makeup lookI lined them using the red Rimmel Exaggerate lip liner.

Red Lip Makeup Look (27)rimmel red lipI think if you’re going for a bold lip regardless of the colour lining the lips is important. It means you can even out your lip line, stops the lipstick feathering and it gives you a guide line to fill in.

Red Lip Makeup Look (29)I went with a glossy lipstick, Rimmel’s ‘The Only One’ Lipstick I have a review of these lippies here.

rimmel the only one lipstickrimmel 530 red lipstickI went in straight from the bullet, but you can of course use a lip brush, I was just feeling brave 🙂

red lipstick makup tutorialeasy red lip makeupAnd that’s me done, ready to take my red lip selfie for MS Ireland 🙂

simple makeup tutorialirish beauty blog beautynookEasy peasy right? And cheap too, that wasn’t on purpose! Let me know what you think.

xxx

 

I know so many wonderful bloggers have done their version of beauty favourites already so apologies if you’ve been inundated. I think it’s a really great idea though and I haven’t done monthly faves this year, so I thought I would do a yearly round of my beauty favourites 2015!

First up is an easy one. I know the Urban Decay Gwen Palette came out late in the year, but it has become one of my most reached for eyeshadow palettes.

urban decay gwen stefani paletteurban decay irelandI am completely head over heels for it. There is neutrals galore, transitional shades, fun sparkly shades and even a couple of cray cray shades to keep things interesting. Gwen, I bow down to you and can’t wait to see the new releases you and Urban Decay have up your sleeves for 2016 🙂 Full swatches of the palette can be seen here and I even did a makeup look with it here if you fancy a nose.

Next up is the very coveted Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Champagne Pop.

becca champagne popNo joke I have used this pretty much everyday since I got it. When I first got my grubby little mitts on this in mid 2015 it was only available in America. Now the lovely people of Spacenk are stocking it here, so everyone can bask in the Champagne Glow. Another one of my 2015 finds was the brush I use to apply the Pop 🙂

irish beauty blogThis awesome F28 brush from Blank Canvas Cosmetics. The lovely Ashling from Total Makeup Addict introduced me to this beauty and I will forever be in her debt for it. It’s the perfect cheek bone highlighting tool.

My favourite setting powder of 2015 would have to be the Chanel Vitalumiere Powder Foundation.

beauty favouritesI have pretty much used this exclusively for the past year.

chanel vitalumiere powder foundationI have a whole review if here. It’s a foundation so there is coverage with it, which I personally like. You can build it up or thin it out depending on application or what brush you use so it’s really versatile. Pricey but versatile 🙂

My next beauty faves are a little more pocket friendly.

irishbeautyblogAgain I have a review of these here, but they are two of the All About palettes from Essence. Essence have a few different colour choices in these really handy eyeshadow palettes and they cost less than a fiver, bargain! Oh and they’re damn pigmented too!

2015 was definitely the year of budget friendly favourite for me. Another one is the Catrice Glamour Doll Waterproof mascara.

irish makeup and beauty blogirish makeup and beauty bloggerFor the latter half of the year this is the only mascara I was (and still am now) using. And what do you know, I have a full review of it here 🙂

My favourite under eye concealer duo have been the Catrice Liquid Camouflage and the Flormar Perfect Coverage.

best of beauty beautynookflormar concealerCheap as chips and together for me are a dynamic duo. You can see them in action here.

My favourite blush of the year has to be the Max Factor Creme Blush in ‘Seductive Pink’.

max factor creme puffmax factor seductive pinkirishbeautyblogThis is just the easiest blush colour to wear. It goes with everything. I love the formula of these too. They blend so nicely. You can see it swatched here if you fancy a nose 🙂

My lip liner find of 2015 probably has to be Whirl by Mac.

mac whirl lip pencilmakeup and beauty blogThis lip liner got a life of it’s own in 2015. It’s a great all round colour though that you can use on it’s own, under nudes and even under darker and brighter shades of lippie. It’s great for evening out the lip line too. I have it swatched here if you want a closer look.

The Only Lipsticks from Rimmel are another makeup find of 2015 that I am very happy with.

irish beauty blogirish beauty bloggerThey came at the end of the year I know, but I’ve been obsessed with them so I had to include them. These two lighter shades have been the ones I grab for most but I own six of them and I wear all the shades alot. I love the finish, the pigmentation and the price point. (yep, I have them all swatched here 🙂

I have two facial skin care faves for 2015 that I wanted to add in aswell.

Serozinc from La Roche Posay.

la roche posay serozincI think I’ve gone through about 4 of these so far and I will repurchase! There’s a full review of it here, but I use Serozinc as a toner, to freshen up my makeup and as a finishing spray when I am finished my makeup. It’s a great all rounder.

My last fave is from the Oils Of Life range from The Body Shop.

the body shop oils of lifeirishbbloggerThis is their Intensely Revitalising Gel Cream. I use this as a night cream. I have oily skin, so heavy creams can sometimes clog my pores. This stuff feels so light on my skin and soaks in really quickly but still leaves behind nice soft hydrated skin. May I add it smells incredible too!

That’s my Beauty Favourites for 2015 done and dusted. Seriously, where did that year go?

Should I do below the neck beauty favourites too, as in more body orientated stuff ha. Let me know.

xxx