Did I need the Esteè Lauder Bronze Goddess Illuminating Powder Gelèe in my life? Hell to the no. This was a complete lust product. You might remember I did a post here a while back about my beauty shopping lust list. This was on it along with a few gorge other things.
Every Summer, the Esteè Lauder Bronze Goddess collection is released again. Usually reimagined somewhat, but still familiar if you’ve been keeping an eye on it throughout the years.
I’ve always lusted after the Illuminating Powder Gelée. The packaging alone had me hooked visually. I’ve tried to get my hands on it a few times, but it sells out super quickly. So I’ve been actually checking up on it regularly this year. Yes I am a makeup addict through and through ha. The release coincided with my 33rd birthday this year, so I was able to ask John to get it for me as a bday treat. Score!
Off the bat the Esteè Lauder Bronze Goddess Illuminating Powder Gelèe for 2018, visually is just gorgeous. For €49, it would kind of want to be. It’s not as weighty as I anticipated, it is a plastic compact, but I can live with that.
I feel like this year’s representation is definitely more golden and glittery than other years. The pigment and shine pay off are really lovely though. The sparkle is just something to note. In case you’re curious the shade name is 01 Heat Wave. There is only one to choose from.
You can see there is a lighter shade within the darker more bronzed highlight shade. It nearly looks like a pretty sunburst within the pan.
Esteé Lauder call this an ‘all over bronzer’. I can’t get on board with that at all. I bought it knowing it’s a highlight and it definitely is a highlighter!
Unfortunately probably a highlighter that’s too dark for pale ol’ me. But by god, I will make it work 🙂
I am so glad to have gotten my hands on the Esteè Lauder Bronze Goddess Illuminating Powder Gelèe for this year. It’s not the most practical purchase, but it will be something that I will hang on to forever as it’s limited edition.
I bought mine from Debenhams here, although it is out of stock as I write this post. Have you picked up any of them over the years? What’s your thoughts?
I get asked every year to do a beauty advent calendar post, and I’ve always not ended up doing one. I generally always like to be able to use and give a physical opinion on products when it comes to the blog. I’ve been doing this four years now and that’s what kind of feels natural to me. To talk about products I have road tested and used. But sure there’s always exceptions and I’ve realised that now.
I’m a little blogger fish in a big pond and I can’t buy or get sent all of the fancy beauty advent calendars every year. So, I thought I would just compile the ones that are really taking my fancy in the run to Christmas for 2017 🙂
The first one is the one I am really considering buying for myself, although I have yet to justify it. This is the Beauty In Wonderland from Look Fantastic
This is retailing from their website here for €98. They say it contains product worth up to £300.
It’s a mixture of all different brands and all different types of beauty products. Also the packaging is pretty gorgeous. i blame Sharon Leavy from Behind Green Eyes for making me lust after this so much 🙂
Feel Unique do their own version too here. This costs €42 which is a little more palatable, I know.
They also give you a list of the products enclosed if you don’t want to wait until the Christmas countdown.
Clarins always do a really lovely beauty advent calendar and this year is no exception.
This is what would be deemed the more feminine version but there is a male offering too. This will set you back £52.50 here. This has been the cheapest I’ve found it online. It contains 12 minis including one of their Instant Light Natural Lip Perfectors, one of my personal faves.
Lancôme have a ridiculously lovely one this year with a 25 day countdown.
This costs €130 from Boots here, but you do get 25 mini products, ranging from skincare to fragrance.
If you want exclusively skincare, L’Occitane have a beautiful 25 day calendar chock full of it.
I actually think this is a really good deal at €59 from Debenhams here.
If Charlotte Tilbury is your go to brand, you’re in luck! She has released a Naughty & Nice Magic Box for this year.
It contains 12 makeup and skincare goodies. This is the most expensive one of the bunch coming in at €180 here.
If lipstick is your thing, Nyx have released their Kiss & Tell Advent Calendar again this year.
This is €67.57 from Asos here. Although if you buy in pounds it generally works out cheaper.
It contains 24 lip colours to suit any mood.
I know these are all pretty pricey, so if you are looking for a more budget friendly beauty advent calendar, hopefully I can cover you here.
The Tanya Burr 12 Sweet Days Beauty Calendar contains 12 products including nail polish and glitter liners.
I included this because you can still get your beauty hit with it, and it’s on sale from Feel Unique at the moment here. They also have it on 3 for 2 if you’re shopping for anyone else.
Asos have a budget friendly option too here from Mad Beauty.
This is a range of hair, skin and nail products and will only set you back €14.85.
My last choice is this years Makeup Revolution Calendar. This contains 25 full sized products.
It is on sale at the moment from Superdrug here. It was £50 and now it’s £30.
And there you have my beauty advent calendar countdown. Any take your fancy? Have you already bought one? Let me know 🙂
Don’t be jealous, but last week I popped into Lush in Grafton Street to have a look at some of the new Christmas stock. Yes it’s not even Halloween yet and I’m talking about Christmas. This is the way of the retail world 🙂 I got to hang out, play with some bubbles and even got to make my own Butter Bear! I also very generously got to take home a goodie bag with me. Mine contained the new Lush The Man In The Moon Christmas Tin. Do you want to see what’s inside?
Lush The Man In The Moon comes in a really cool Christmas Tin. When I first saw it I was saying if you wrapped it up and gave it to someone, they would just assume it was a box of Roses or Quality Street. The theme of the tin is very much night time relaxing and helping you to drift off to sleep.
It comes with eight products within. Two bubble bars, one sparkle jar, three bath bombs, a shower gel and a body lotion. You can have a look at it in full on the UK Lush website here.
It’s very sweet and limey, but it has an underlying muskiness too. It will turn your bath green. Neroli and lime are the main components of the scent so that makes sense completely.
The Magic Of Christmas reusable bubble bar in the other bubble maker in the tin. I’ve actually had this before. I got it a couple of Christmases ago in the Lush Wonderland set here.
Cinnamon is definitely the main component for the Magic Of Christmas, which I’m sure isn’t surprising it all. The star is on top of a cinnamon stick 🙂
Almond is another scent front runner here as it contains almond oil. It’s very much Christmas in bath form. I am not usually a cinnamon fan, but I actually really enjoy this. And it looks so pretty too!
There are three Twilight related products within the Lush The Man In The Moon tin. If you like lavender, you will love these.
This is a massage bar, so you use it to moisturise your skin. Your body heat allows it to melt and then you can massage in the product. It contains lavender oil, cocoa butter, tonka and chamomile. It also leaves behind a gold sparkle, so probably not for everyday use. But nice for a special occasion over the festive season. You can press something pointy into the dimples of the crescent to get even more sparkle.
This again has lavender and tonka within. It also has Ylang Ylang oil.
The last Twilight offering is their well known bath bomb.
This contains all the main ingredients that the shower gel has with added benzoin resinoid. This is an anti inflammatory. This is one of my favourite bath bombs.
Next up we have the Sleepy Body Lotion. You get a mini 50 gram tub of this.
It has all the lovely ingredients of the Twilight shower gel & bubble bar with added oatmeal. It’s made specifically with sleep in mind.
Mine got a bit of a bashing in transit, but he’s still lovely.
This is a slow fizzer so it’ll give you something to focus on in the bath 🙂 It has bergamot and lemon oil in it and turns your bath blue.
And there we have the Lush The Man In The Moon Christmas Gift Tin. I am a huge fan of Lush, so cannot wait to get stuck in. If I were more fancy, I would have shown you them all in action, but I didn’t want to waste anything 🙂 I’ve linked all of the goodies individually so you can see what they are priced at alone. What’s your favourite Lush product?
https://i2.wp.com/beautynook.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/IMG_2268.Lush-The-Man-In-The-Moon.jpg?fit=5184%2C3456&ssl=134565184Gemhttps://beautynook.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Logo.pngGem2017-10-23 18:50:062017-10-23 18:50:06Lush The Man In The Moon Christmas Gift
I have a lot of nice makeup that’s worth a few quid. These five products though, would be my most high end makeup products in my collection.
All five, funnily enough are only from two brands. And none of them I bought myself. They were all gifts from either John, or family and friends. Thanks guys 🙂
I chose these as my most high end makeup, simply on the price of them per product. It’s crazy money and you don’t need to spend it at all. I just thought it would be fun to delve into them a little in blog post form. I do love a good makeup rummage 🙂
I will go by brand and start with Tom Ford. I have three different products from the brand. All picked out by John and by John alone. He prides himself, when he buys me makeup, on getting as little help from the sales assistants as possible. First up, is his latest Tom Ford purchase. He had made a mental note of me saying if he was ever stuck to buy me something, a fancy lip balm would always be appreciated. So for my birthday this year I received the Tom Ford Lip Balm in L’Odissea. You can see it on the Brown Thomas website here. They cost €35!
Now, I do believe he didn’t know you could get these in slightly different hues. This wouldn’t have been by first colour choice. Also, it is tiny, I am more than halfway through the bullet already. It is something I would never have bought myself though, and I do feel very fancy using it and popping it into my handbag.
I do own one Tom Ford lipstick as well. For the past few years John has gotten me a red lipstick for Christmas. He did it one year, I liked it, so made him continue it on 🙂 One year it was Tom Ford’s Cherry Lush. €48 from the Brown Thomas website here.
Crazy money for a lippie I know, but as a makeup whore, it was so lovely to open at Christmas. And it is a beautiful lipstick too. Probably a bit old to use now, but I will still keep a hold of it.
The last Tom Ford product I own, came with the lipstick. They were a package deal from Mr John. This is the Eye Color Quad in 05 Silvered Topaz.
I was very much a cool toned eyeshadow gal for many a year, until I discovered I can make warm shadows work for me. This was the perfect and fanciest addition to my makeup collection at that point. The shadows are lovely. Super pigmented and blendable (thank god). The packaging is also very fancy….and magnetic. There’s a dark purple matte, two silvery shimmery tones, and a silver glitter shade for a pop of sparkle. I got so much use out of this palette. Don’t reach for it as much anymore, but it has still been known to make it into an eye look every now and again. Oul Tom makes a lovely eyeshadow, I must admit :).
My final two fancy high end makeup products are both from Chanel. The first one was a very generous gift from a family member It is one of the Chanel Rouge Allure Glosses in 17 Suprème. They don’t seem to have this one on the Brown Thomas website anymore. But there is similar colours available here, and they retail for €33. The packaging on this is so damn fancy. You click down the top and the applicator pops up. The click is so satisfying.
It’s a really lovely magenta pink gloss, a little sticky on the lips but lasts really well as a result. I don’t always reach for a gloss, but when I do it is something like this. So, it’s always nice to have an extra fancy one to choose.
The only other Chanel makeup product I own right now was a very lovely gift from my friend Ella.
She picked this up for me in the airport really recently, I believe it’s from last Autumn’s collection. It’s a Les 4 Ombres eyeshadow quad in 268 Candeur Et Expèrience.
These are the only Chanel eyeshadows I have ever owned. And I am sorry to say they are pretty gorgeous. Their quads retail for €51 on the Boots website here. I can’t find this exact one because the collection is from last year.
They are such gorgeous matte earthy tones. After picking up the Urban Decay Heat Palette (review here), this is completely my jam at the moment. I am getting lots of use out of it. Unfortunately though, it just makes me want more of their shadows…I better start saving 🙂
And there you have the five most high end makeup products in my collection. Now come on and tell me yours so I can make a wish list 🙂
https://i1.wp.com/beautynook.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/High-End-Makeup-My-Five-Most-Expensive-Products_1647.jpg?fit=5184%2C3456&ssl=134565184Gemhttps://beautynook.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Logo.pngGem2017-09-04 19:40:422017-09-04 19:40:42High End Makeup – My Five Most Expensive Products
I had made the decision not to do Christmas gift ideas here on Beautynook this year. It hasn’t stopped me for sharing things on social media though. But, when I share product here, I want to be able to stand by it and share because I know I love it. I’m not in a position as the blogger I am that I get sent a whole load of press samples and I don’t have the cash to buy everything I would want to share. Maybe next year 🙂 I did have a bit of Christmas fomo though not going to lie, so I’ve done some research and compiled a list of Kris Kindle treats for the beauty lovers in your life, or yourself. These are not too pricey goodies that I would genuinely be happy to get off someone for Kris Kindle or as a stocking filler.
I am kind of going back on my word I know, don’t judge me. I thought Kris Kindle/ stocking fillers was a good middle ground though. Not too pricey and I can still talk Christmas beauty. So John, if you’re reading, take note 🙂
My first choices are from one of my favourite shopping destinations Spacenk. On a side note, European orders need to be made on the website by the 14th of December in order to make delivery by Christmas.
The Eve Lom Kiss Mix is a really well known and effective lip balm in the beauty world. It hydrates and leaves behind a lovely sheen on the lips too.
For Christmas this year, it comes in a really cute disco ball for £16.
Super cute and super practical. You can get it in store or directly from the website here.
Next up we have the Merry & Bright Christmas Cracker from Oskia.
The Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel is probably one of my favourite facial cleansers….ever! It is pricey though. This cracker is a really good middle ground. You get a pretty packaged gift with a really luxury product inside. The normal 100ml sized bottle is 30 quid, where as you get this 40ml bottle for £18.50. Not cheap, but a little does go a long way with this product. It is listed on the website here.
Emma Hardie who are also knows for their facial cleanser have a really cute Kris kindle appropriate gift set too.
For £25 you get a 50ml or their cult cleansing balm, a cleansing cloth and a 15ml of the Age Support moisturiser. All in a little toiletry bag. You can click here to see it on the Spacenk website.
My next choice is a variation of something I actually got myself for Christmas this year. This is just more stocking filler appropriate. It is the Aromatherapy Associates ‘My Treat’.
They have different ones to suit all budgets and requirements though. This is their Revive Morning Bath & Shower Oil, again already in really pretty festive packaging. This will set you back £10 which I don’t think is too bad at all. You can get it on the website here.
My last choice from Spacenk is the Glow On The Go set from Becca.
It contains a mini but still substantial ‘Moonstone’ Shimmering Skin Perfector in pressed and liquid formula. I think any makeup fan would be delighted to open this on Christmas, me included. This is £20 from the website here.
Next up I have a few choices from Irish owned website Cloud10beauty.
The Cocoa Brown Golden Goddess Collection is a great reasonably priced stocking filler.
For €14.95 you get three shimmering dry body oils including their brand new one ‘Ice Goddess’.
Shimmering skin for the party season for whoever is lucky enough to be gifted it. You can pick this up from the Cloud10beauty website here.
The Pixi Glow Tonic is such a great addition to your skin care, so this Best Of Bright Kit, would be a great Kris Kindle for you or a beauty lover in your life :).
For €25.95 you get a 30ml of their glow tonic, 13ml of the Glow Mud Mask and a 13ml or the Glow Mud Cleanser. All full of glycolic loveliness.
My last choice from Cloud10beauty is the Real Techniques Your Picks Berlin.
This is a limited edition brush set containing their best selling brushes voted for by the fans. You get their buffing brush, contour brush, stippling brush, deluxe crease brush and the base shadow brush, I use all of these on a daily basis (except for the stippling brush). So, I thought this was a good addition to my list. It costs €29.95 from the website here.
My last website choice is Boots. You can of course go in store too. Now Boots have a huge amount of gift ideas. I just picked four things to add to my list otherwise this blogpost would go on forever 🙂
The first one is a bit pricey and probably over the average Kris Kindle budget. I thought I would add it in in case you have a little bit more to spend though.
This is the Marc Jacobs Daisy Rollerball Gift Set, We do not have enough roller ball fragrances on sale in Ireland. They are so handy and brilliant if you just want to try a perfume or just don’t want to commit to a full size bottle. This contains 3 10ml rollerballs with three different Daisy fragrances. Original Daisy, Daisy Drea and Daisy Eau so Fres. A bit steeper than the rest at €64 here. But I thought it was lovely so wanted to include it :).
Sleek Makeup are killing it this year with their gift sets. All of them are lovely. I thought the Palette Gift Set was particularly nice though so wanted to share.
This contains their Vintage Romance Palette, two True Colour lipsticks in Liqueur (on the left), Vamp (on the right), blush in Antique Blush and a makeup bag all for €28.99 here.
I thought this Molton Brown hand Cream Gift Set was really lovely.
It’s already gift wrapped and you really cannot go wrong with Molton Brown. This is €30 from the Boots website here.
I had to add in Soap & Glory here somewhere. They just do Christmas so right. There are an abundance of sets to choose from including makeup. I went with the Clean Get Away gift set for €15.
I just thought it was affordable, small and compact, so would fit in a stocking and would be easy to bring into work on Kris Kindle day 🙂 It contains travel minis of their The Righteous Butter, Clean On Me Shower Gel, Calm One, Calm All bubble bath and a mini Hand Food.
And that is my Kris Kindle for beauty lovers done! Well I could go on and on and on, but I have to stop somewhere 🙂
I was lucky enough to head to the Too Faced Christmas launch in Debenhams a few weeks back. They sent home with a very generous goody bag. So, I thought I would use some of the products I got to create a simple Too Faced Makeup Look 🙂
I am not using everything Too Faced, but I do have their Born This Way Concealer, Brow Quickie, their Better Than Sex mascara, the Merry Macarons Palette and the Melted Matte Liquid Lipstick in ‘Bend & Snap’. I thought since I have just some bits and pieces, I would do a look with everything rather than individual reviews.
So, I figured that warranted me calling it a Too Faced Makeup Look 🙂
I didn’t really have much of a plan going into this video. I rarely do if I’m honest. I just kind of jump in with a rough idea of the products I am going to use and do my makeup 🙂 You could, I dare say call this a festive makeup look. I centered it around the Melted Matte Liquid Lipstick in ‘Bend & Snap’. I am in love with this formula and this colour. It’s super flattering and it will jazz up any makeup look.
Too Faced is available in store from Debenhams and from their website here too. The Christmas selection is awesome. Go have a look if you’re in the market for new makeup for yourself, or you want to buy some else a cool makeup related Christmas gift.
You can watch the video as always by clicking it up above or directly on my Youtube channel here. And sure if you like it give it an oul thumbs up and subscribe 🙂
I am fairly new to the Too Faced brand. When it first came to Ireland it was stocked in Boots and I used some bits and really liked them and then it just disappeared. I think it’s safe to say it is back now with a bang. Ok, so go on give me some recommendations. What do I need in my collection from them?
Did I need the Esteè Lauder Bronze Goddess Illuminating Powder Gelèe in my life? Hell to the no. This was a complete lust product. You might remember I did a post here a while back about my beauty shopping lust list. This was on it along with a few gorge other things.
Don’t be jealous, but last week I popped into 
First up, is his latest Tom Ford purchase. He had made a mental note of me saying if he was ever stuck to buy me something, a fancy lip balm would always be appreciated. So for my birthday this year I received the Tom Ford Lip Balm in L’Odissea. You can see it on the Brown Thomas website 
This is €74 from Brown Thomas 
The first one was a very generous gift from a family member It is one of the Chanel Rouge Allure Glosses in 17 Suprème. 
They don’t seem to have this one on the Brown Thomas website anymore. But there is similar colours available 
The packaging on this is so damn fancy. You click down the top and the applicator pops up. The click is so satisfying.
