expensive Archives - Page 5 of 5 - Irish Beauty Blog Beautynook

Posts

Chanel Vitalumiere Loose Powder Foundation

As you may have read in my post about what I got for Christmas here, I picked up the Chanel Vitalumiere Loose Powder Foundation in Brown Thomas with a voucher I got off my brother (thanks bro)!

With a price tag of €65.00 I did not want to like this product, but alas I fell in love from the get go, I apologise in advance 🙂

First off I will quickly mention the mini kabuki brush the foundation comes with.

This is the softest little synthetic brush I have ever come across, oh my god, it’s like rubbing a kitten on your face. Dramatic maybe, but it does a fab job at applying the product. It is the perfect density for it and it is very pretty, so a lovely addition to my makeup brushes. I have never owned a Chanel brush before and I feel very fancy indeed using and owning this one 🙂

The sifter on the pot is made of a textile/mesh material rather than plastic which is rather refreshing as you can just bounce the brush of it to get the product onto it. You do have to be careful, the brush can pick up alot, so be sure to tap before you dab onto your face.

Onto the main event, the foundation. I have used a few different powdered foundations in the past, and have always ended up just using them as setting powders as I never really got my desired coverage out of them.

This stuff has changed my mind. I feel comfortable wearing this as just my foundation with some concealer underneath (I have crap skin!), hallelujah!

The Vitalumiere Powder Foundation has an SPF of 15. It is finely milled and blends in very well. It does a good job at covering light imperfections, veins and redness and gives a lovely velvety finish to the skin. You definitely need something more heavy duty underneath for proper breakouts or under eye circles.

I have oily skin so for me this is the perfect kind of product for me. I think if you have dry skin or dry patches this foundation might cling and enhance them, so air on the side of caution and test it out at the counter.

I find this powder lasts really well on me, and looks natural and satin like. It does not oxidise which is brilliant too.

Overall, for such a lightweight powder it ticks so many positive boxes for me. I am nearly sad at this because lets face it, 65 quid is a pretty hefty amount of money to splurge. I suppose it is nice for a treat now and then though. When I enjoy a product like this I add it to my present list, so when family members are thinking of something to buy me, there is always a few reliable things on the list that I will be delighted with. How thoughtful am I? :p

Tell me, have you any favourite mineral foundations?

As always, thanks for reading.

Gemma

xxx

January 13, 2015/2 Comments/by Gem

Kevyn Aucoin- The Sculpting Powder

I have spoken before in passing about my beloved Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder in Medium, but I really think it deserves it own blog post!

I have not been blessed with anything angular on my face (or anywhere for that matter). I know contouring is not a necessity in everyday life, it is a complete choice, and for me it’s a choice I make everyday. I have tried many different products for the “chiselling” process and to date the Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder has been the best one I have personally used. Now, I will say I only use this in the cheek bone department, I tend to use bronzer around the perimeter of my face, this is just what I feel comfortable doing. If I am dolling up for a night out, then I may put some under the double chin region to help it look less…well double chin like but that would only be if I’m really packing on the face!

The Sculpting Powder really is a luxury item, this set me back just under 42.00 euro from Mise Beauty, madness I know as it’s nearly the size of an eyeshadow, 3.10grams to be exact.

However, I have had this for maybe 6 months, have used it everyday and there is just barely a dint in it.

This powder, unlike alot of bronzers on the market has no red tones to it at all, it has a grey undertone. This makes it perfect for contouring, particularly I think for pale gals like myself. The purpose of contouring is to create a shadow like appearance wherever you add it to the face tricking the eye and making your features appear slimmer or more angular, as highlighting is used to enhance features you want to draw more attention too.

This little box is magic, it contains the softest and most pigmented powder ever, you need such a light hand with it. It blends so beautifully and can be built upon depending on how much cheek bone you are going for 🙂

I tend to use a a dense small brush with it. It is not for warming up the face, use your bronzer for that. I have been enjoying using the Nima Brush called “Blaithin” from their Artistic Collection to apply it of late, as it is tapered at the end, dense but still soft enough to blend the product in. And less face it, it’s pretty too 🙂

I do the well known “fishy face” in the mirror to myself and that shows me where my “cheekbones” are, then I add a little of the product directly under the bone concentrating most of at my ear and bringing the brush out, not too far though, I stop just around where my nostril is. Then I blend, the cardinal rule of makeup. The Sculpting Powder doesn’t disappear from blending it just gets more faint and natural looking. Add as much as you want, I usually just add a little for day to day.

And I can safely say that it lasts the whole day, it’s not something I would every bring with me in my handbag unless I was going to redo my whole makeup.

Before Contouring

After Light Contouring

It’s an investment I know, but I think after buying it and using it for a long time, it was worth it.

What do use for contouring, be sure to let me know, there could be lots of hidden gems out there 🙂

Thanks,

Gemma

xxx

October 9, 2014/6 Comments/by Gem

Hair

Babyliss Curl Secret

Lets start by saying this Babyliss Curl Secret contraption looks like some sort of torture tool. Don’t let that put you off though 🙂

I got this for Christmas off my lovely mammy this year, she knows me well. She bought it in Boots and paid 160Euro for it. You can get it from Boots here. It’s a pretty hefty price tag and I have to be honest it would put me right off buying it myself. I am brutal with my hair, I never leave enough time when I’m going out to do much with it, not that I am capable of it anyway. I usually spend all my time faffing with my makeup and then it’s a rush to do something with my mop. So this is where contraptions like this come in handy, it does the work for you you just have to follow the machine and do what you’re told.

I am a big fan of the curling wand, I think I have three, shame on me. But they are bloody dangerous (especially when you’re in a hurry like I am all of the time and don’t bother wearing the glove like I do all of the time). So the Babyliss Curl Secret is a safer option as there is no exposed parts that are going to give you third degree burns. It is heavy though so that can cause a problem if you are curling the whole length of your hair. I tend to just curl the ends, so it doesn’t be too bad on the arms.

So how do you use it. Here is a quick video of me demonstrating how easy it is:

Make sure your hair is dry and clean. There are two heat settings and 3 timer settings on it to choose to create the curl you want, you will want more heat for thicker hair and less for thinner hair. It will take some messing around with to figure out what works for you. You can only fit a small amount of hair in at a time, which for me is a bit of a let down as I prefer bigger curls, but you can brush them out for a more beachy effect. You take your section of hair, and put it in the chamber of the curler starting at the top of where you want the curl to start, clamp the curler together and then the cool bit…your hair magically gets drawn in to it. You hold it there until the curler beeps four times, and then release it. You then have a pretty perfect curl. I really recommend playing around with this on a night you’re not up to much, because it does take some getting used to, but once you are, you can do your whole head in a short enough space of time without your hair getting caught (my hair got caught in it a couple of times when I used it first, so be careful!).

Overall I love this product, although I am a beauty junkie that loves trying all the new gadgets on the market if I can. I believe because your hair is been heated from all angles in the chamber of the curler, your curls last longer then if you were to curl your hair with a traditional tongs or wand which is cool and good for girls who have trouble keeping a curl in their hair. For thicker haired gals like myself using the Babyliss Curl Secret will take longer than using a wand as you can only do small sections at a time, but it only take between 8 and 12 seconds for a curl to form so that makes up for it I think. You can also use it without a mirror when you get comfortable with it. I really like this curler and it is great for people who just aren’t gifted in the hair styling department as once you know how to use it, there’s no thinking involved. The price is a bit steep, so I say go into Boots and give the Babyliss Curl Secret a test run, they usually have one out on display and you can see the coolness for yourself.

Thanks for reading and I hope this helps if you been eyeing one up but not sure if you want to drop the cash.

Gemma

xxx

March 2, 2014/by Gem

Santhilea London Magnetic Lash Mascara Review

The fibre mascara has been around a few years now but never really seemed to take off hugely. However it seems to be back now and becoming more popular so of course I had to get it to test it out, sure isn’t that what we’re here for 🙂

The Santhilea London Magnetic Lash Mascara is a two step system.

You use the magnetic mascara, (marked as number 1 on the tube) first just like a normal mascara, I suggest doing one eye at a time. While the mascara is still wet dab the lash builder (tube number 2) onto the lashes coating as much as you can without clumping them. The lash builder is a tube containing small black fibres that adhere to your lashes, so you have to be careful. You then coat the lashes again carefully with the magnetic mascara to help keep the fibres in place. You can see the steps below:

Nothing on lashes

One coat of the mascara

Lashes with the fibres added and another coat of mascara on top

As you can above there is a pretty significant difference in my lashes in the last picture. I have not being blessed with the longest or most voluminous of lashes so any mascara is some improvement but I really feel this mascara gives them more length and volume than the other vast amount of mascaras I have ever used.

However there are some cons to using fibres on your lashes. Some of them do tend to fall down throughout the day so you can find yourself having to check your make-up and clean up any fall down that may occur. The mascara itself to the best of my knowledge is not waterproof so if you have oily skin and eyelids like me and mascaras tend to smudge on you that may happen too. For this reason I do not use the mascara on my bottom lashes I opt for a waterproof one.

The process of using the two steps (well technically three steps, as you have to apply the mascara twice!) AND doing one eye at a time takes time. You would not be rushing out to work in the morning and using this mascara, if you like to throw on your make-up in a hurry. I tend to keep it for the weekends, when I can take my time beautifying myself or at least trying too 🙂

Overall, I love this product I really do, it adds length and volume and some wow when you don’t want to be using falsies to do the work. There’s are couple of drawbacks but sure nothing is perfect and if you are willing to persevere and are looking to try something a bit different I would definitely recommend it.

It is not the cheapest of products, it can be bought on Look Fantastic for 28.11 euro That’s a pretty standard price for a high end mascara.

Have you ever used fibre mascara? Have you tried other brands of it? What did you think? I would love to hear your feedback or any tips and tricks you might have.

Here’s the rest of my mug and a profile of my lashes 🙂

Thanks so much for reading.

Gemma

xxx

January 14, 2014/5 Comments/by Gem