The Makeup Geek brand is slowly and surely starting to become a more recognized brand around the world. As a makeup junkie I have known of Marlena (owner and creator of the brand) for a few years now as she started out as a blogger and YouTube makeup guru. I have already reviewed some of the pigments that she has created here and given some info on the brand so I won’t bore you with that again. But I will say I LOVE the pigments and would really recommend them if you are in the market.
So… onto the shadows. You can avail of them in pan form. They are priced $5.99 which is very reasonable and then the tax and delivery is pretty reasonable too. I keep all of mine together in Z Palettes. Mise Beauty in Dundalk have Z Palettes available from the store or online as do Makeup Geek themselves. These are magnetic palettes that you can place your pans in any way you wish. They come with magnets too if the item you want to put in them is not magnetic, so handy 🙂
I’ve made a few purchases off the Makeup Geek site and have gathered eye shadows from all ends of the colour and finish spectrum, so read on to see my collection (so far) swatched and named. I did not use a primer purposely to show the pigment and texture of the shadows on their own.
Dirty Martini
Makeup Geek Dirty Martini
Envy
Makeup Geek Envy
Appletini
Makeup Geek Appletini
Mermaid
Makeup Geek Mermaid
Neptune
Makeup Geek Neptune
Boo Berry
Makeup Geek Boo Berry
Stealth
Makeup Geek Stealth
Graphite
Makeup Geek Graphite
Unicorn
Makeup Geek Unicorn
Drama Queen
Moondust
Makeup Geek Moondust
Burlesque
Makeup Geek Burlesque
Makeup Geek Latte
Cocoa Bear
Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear
Glamorous
Makeup Geek Glamorous
Peach Smoothie
Makeup Geek Peach Smoothie
Bling
Makeup Geek Bling
Vanilla Bean
Makeup Geek Vanilla Bean
Phew….are you still with me? 😛 That’s alot of scrolling I know. I wanted to show them individually though because sometimes when things are swatched together the camera doesn’t capture them enough.
As with all eyeshadow brands texture and finish vary from shadow to shadow. I can whole heartedly say Makeup Geek are doing a fantastic job though and for the price and amount of product you get in the pan these are absolutely brilliant and dare I say comparable to the almighty MAC! I use these shadows most days to make looks with just them or in corporation with bases and other shadows. They blend well, have great colour pay off and last on oily lidded me (with a primer of course). I think my fave so far if I had to pick would be Mermaid, Peach Smoothie, Bling and Burlesque.
Be sure to let me know if you have tried any Makeup Geek products. Aswell as shadows and pigments, they offer liners,blush brushes and lipsticks galore so they are building up quite the brand! I need to get my hands on more I know that for sure 🙂
Thanks for sticking with me and if you buy anything after reading this post please let me know, it warms the cockles of my heart!
I love Lush, there I said it! I cannot walk past the shop without going in and sniffing treats until I feel faint. I see the bath-bombs as an necessity to get through the working week, even at their ridiculous prices. On my last trip to Lush I picked up the Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner.
Lush tells you to use this product just as you would hair conditioner. You put it on wet, already cleansed skin, massage it in and then rinse off. It has a similar consistency to hair conditioner and similar ingredients so I suppose the comparison make sense.
Ro’s Argan was apparently invented by Rowena the creator of Lush because she wanted to have the same soft feeling on her skin as she got from using conditioner on her hair.
If you dislike the scent of Rose, you will probably not want to use this product as it smells strongly of the scent. It’s not my favourite of smells but I overcome it because I love the stuff so much and it doesn’t linger for too long on the skin afterwards once you’re finished throwing on deodorant, body spray and perfume 😛
This body conditioner is filled with lots of lovely, natural (as Lush products always are) ingredients that are great and feel lovely. Cocoa butter, cupuacu butter, almond oil and Argan oil are among the list.
I have gone through different brands that have similar in shower moisturisers, which were lovely, and I enjoyed using them, but this is the only one so far that I can honestly say leaves my skin soft and hydrated until I shower next and I don’t need to top it up with a normal moisturiser if I don’t want too.
You are left with an oily residue after using this product so again if this is something you dislike, steer clear 🙂
Ro’s Argan does not come cheap, this 225g pot will set you back 19.95, I think your skin is worth it though, and you can always just keep it for those lazy days when you don’t want to get out of the shower and THEN moisturise!
If you are in the market for a new way to keep your skin supple and soft, you don’t mind the smell of roses and you are ok with the slight oily residue it leaves behind, then I truly recommend this product.
Lush are a natural, vegan brand and are against animal testing which helps too!
Have any of you used Ro’s Argan or anything similiar? Be sure to let me know.
I have a love hate relationship with my hair. I have been blessed with lots of it, that in fairness I can just wash and dry and be out the door on a normal basis, happy days. However, I am not blessed with the bodily or mental functions to do much with it. I can spend hours on my makeup for a night out and then my hair is curled in a tong tangled frizzy before running out the door. Thank god nowadays we have lots of hair care lotions and potions to help with hair styling that makes it easier for novices like me to look half decent 🙂
I’ve been loving vo5’s new offerings of late (you might have noticed that from the photo above). They were also on 3 for 2 in Boots which makes them even more tempting to try 🙂
This is the Plump It Up Dry Backcombing Spray from them. This spray has collagen in it so helps you get the back combed effect without using too much combing or a brushing to achieve it. You spray it in the roots of your hair and rub it in and it boosts your hair without damaging it. I like using this for a night out, its not too sticky and it last the duration.
Next up from is also from the V05 range and is called Plump It Up, this is an amplifying blow dry lotion. It claims to give volume and thickness with natural bounce and is a heat defence. I can concur that this gem of a product does speed up your time under the hair dryer which is great, as it means less frizz and damage, I can’t say it really offers volume and bounce. It doesn’t weigh my hair down though, which alot of heat defences can so for me was worth buying.
I know there is a texturising spray in the V05 range that I have, but I prefer this one so wanted to add this in.
This is the Charles Worthington Volume and Bounce Texturising Spray. I like this over the Vo5 texturising spray as it is lighter and not as sticky, it is still sticky though be warned! This has been to compared to the very coveted and expensive Orbe Dry Texturising Spray. I like using this in the ends of my hair to give my hair a bit of movement and bounce without using heat on it and I think it works well. It also smells amazing. You can use this for backcombing too, but as I have an oily scalp so I only use this in the lengths of my hair. I picked this up in Boots too not too long ago. I think its a good find.
My next hair care love is the Fudge Urban Styling Mousse. I have straight hair naturally and I always thought mousse was just for straight hair, but this stuff smells amazing (iced raspberry and vanilla they say is the scent), it’s a heat protectant but also its great for frizz. If I use alot of heat on my hair frizz is inevitable, especially on my roots, this mousse does a great job of keeping this to a minimum. I picked this up in Superdrug, it’s my first delve into this brand, I would like to try more.
I try to give my hair a break from using heat on it as much as possible, so when I have time or nowhere to go I use the L’Oreal Elvive Full Restore Conditioning Repairing Spray. This is a leave in conditioning, it’s not too heavy and doesn’t leave your hair feeling greasy which I love because my hair is prone to feeling yucky after using conditioning or any products really. Again, I love the smell which is a bonus as your left with that smell until the next time you wash your hair. I just comb some of this through the lengths of my hair and let it dry naturally, and it makes my hair nice and soft without too much bother.
I know alot of these hair care products do some of the same things, but depending on your mood or how you want to style your hair it’s good to have a range of things to choose from. All of these brands are readily available and are at a very reasonable price point, so you can have a choice without breaking the bank.
As always thanks for taking the time to read and any hair tips are greatly appreciated 😛
We all love a bold red lip or a nice nude, but I am sure I’m not the only one with pinks dominating my lipstick/stain/balm collection? Pink Lipstick overload 🙂
Ever since I decided to get braces maybe 3 or 4 years ago, which made me more confident, my lipstick obsession has grown and grown. I wish I didn’t wait this long to enjoy them though, I think there’s colours and finishes out there for everyone, we just have to try and test to find what we are most comfortable with. I thought I would round up some of my favourite pink hues and finishes that grace my own personal collection in hopes to inspire you to maybe go out of your comfort zone even a little. If I can do it, anyone can 🙂
I’ll ease you in to my pink frenzy gently with this.
This is an Elf lipstick in the shade Gypsy. It’s the perfect every day pink colour. For me, it’s a my lips but better shade. It feels nourishing, and lasts really well on me and I can literally just smear it on without any hassle. You can buy Elf online, it’s such a reasonably priced brand with a huge range of products. This lippie cost 2.39. Madness! You can buy it here.
Next up is a bit more on the pricier side, but still a very wearable shade.
How pretty is this packaging? This is a YSL Rouge Volupte in the shage 29. It is a creamy nude pink. I like to wear this dabbed on the lips for a subtle hint of pink that is very moisturising. The YSL Rouge Volupte’s are very much a treat product. They are priced at 33 Euro. You can buy them from Brown Thomas.
Now that I’ve lured you in I’ll go onto a little bit more of a brighter shade of lip colouring, still very wearable though, don’t want to scare you yet 🙂
This is a Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream in Addis Ababa. I love the Nyx Lip Creams, they are very buildable so you can just do a wash of colour or layer it up for a more intense effect depending on what you fancy. They are called Matte lip Creams, but I think they have a slight sheen to them and do not completely dry on the lips like other brands (I may talk about one later 🙂 ). They last well and can be very well priced. However the Nyx brand can be hard to get your hands on here in Ireland. Beauty Emporium do stock the brand but do not always have a lot of items in stock. Littlewoods Ireland are stockists also. I usually buy mine from Ebay if I can find a decent seller.
Ok, I’m going to get into some of the more colourful pinks that I stock in my stash 🙂
This is Lime Crime’s lipstick in Countessa Flourescent. Lime Crime do the coolest lipstick packaging ever! I know what your thinking Barbie bubblegum pink overload, but the formula is quite wearable, it’s pigmented and creamy and goes on really opaque. I will admit I probably wouldn’t wear this quite as full on as in the picture above, I am not that brave, but I love to dab this lipstick on and rock it a bit more washed out. I bought this lippie at London Imats, but you can buy Lime Crime from Love Makeup and Cocktail Cosmetics. The lipsticks are £12.50 GBP.
I have a Mac firm fave next.
This is Mac’s Show Orchid. It is an Amplified formula, which is a fab blue toned hot pink. Girl About Town from Mac is probably one of my first pink loves from them, but Show Orchid I think is a lovely choice too because it’s not completely matte, it has a nice sheen to it. If your a makeup fanatic like me, I suggest both, I can’t choose between them 😛 You can buy Mac from the usually stockists eg: Brown Thomas for 19.00Euro
My last pink lovely to show off is an offering from Bourjois.
This is one of the new Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipsticks. This is number 6 of the bunch, there is a few to choose from. I love these!! I have three of the shades and I love every one of them. They go on a dream, the doe foot applicator makes the extremely pigmented colour glide onto the lips really easily. The colour dries matte (my camera flash gave it a bit of a shine but I promise it’s matte). This stuff lasts all day. I went out for a drink one night with the boyfriend just to test it out of course 🙂 and I had a fair few beverages and it was still there in all it’s glory at the end of the night and even some the next day as it does stain the lips. They don’t transfer very much either when on,, which keeps smearing to a minimum. I know lots of brands have their own version of these, but these are my favourites of the minute. You can buy them from Boots for a reasonable 10.99. I got mine on 3 for 2, score 🙂
So there you have it, a sneak into my pink world, according to my lips. I have lots more but I think these are the ones I have been reaching for most often and there is an option and shade in there for everyone.
Hope you enjoyed. If you have any suggestions for more be sure to tweet us, facebook, instagram us or pop it below, I love chatting to you.
Spring is finally here, we can all breath a sigh of relief and look forward to longer days with hopefully some sunshine woohoo ! So another month is gone which means it’s monthly favourites time in blog world. My March favourites are all beauty related this month, not on purpose I promise 🙂 So lets delve into the products I have been enjoying continuously through the month of March.
First up is not a very glamorous choice, but I honestly have not being able to get enough of it since getting it:
This is organic coconut oil, say what?! My good oul mammy was doing her usual ramble around the supermarket and she stumbled across this in the food aisle. You can use it for cooking or on your hair, I like to use it on my temperamental skin and I’m officially addicted. This big 500ml pot was about 6 or 7 quid and will last you a lifetime. When you open it the oil itself is solidified:
But when you scoop it out with your hand it instantly starts to melt into oil, that you can slather on and let it work it’s magic. It’s not something that dries instantly it does take a while to soak in but I think it’s worth it for how soft your skin feels after using it. When I have a bath I take a scoop and throw it in now aswell. Much better alternative to baby oil and it’s all natural baby 🙂
I use the coconut oil every second day. On the days I don’t moisture up with that I am using this:
The Cocoa Brown Gentle Bronze. I am a pale Irish girl, I do not get a tan I get freckles, it’s depressing, this stuff helps keep the pale at bay though without me looking too weirdly bronzed on a normal day to day basis. It is basically a moisturiser with a hint of tan in it. The cream itself is brown, which I love because alot of the alternative brands are just white in colour and you can miss spots when applying, which does not look great when the tan develops.
It also has the well known Cocoa Brown cocoa smell which we all love, you do not end up smelling like biscuits in the morning which is brilliant. Overall a winner for me. In fairness, Marissa has yet to steer us wrong 🙂
Next up is some makeup loveliness:
This is the neutral Mac pre filled palette. Mac have released two fully filled palettes and I had to scoop up this cool toned one, the other one is more warm toned so is more suited to those with a darker complexion. I have used this practically everyday since I got it. I have always found it hard to justify buying their eyeshadows from a price point of view. I have a few stocked away in a z palette, and another quad but other than that I don’t own many (don’t worry I make up for it in with other brands 😛 ). So when these came out and were 75 euro, this was cheap in Mac world so we had to buy some. I really like this palette, I know its yet another neutral one but I don’t care, you can never have enough of them if your a makeup fiend 🙂 The colours are pigmented, easy to blend, and there’s a great selection for everyday use right up to a dark smoky eye for night time with matte and shimmery shades a-plenty. I think Brun and Black Tied are the only ones I’ve ever heard of before that are in the palette, the rest of the names aren’t familiar to me. Overall it’s a winner for though 🙂
So onto my next favourite of the month:
This is the Maybelline Lasting Drama Black Shock Gel Eye liner. That’s a bit of a mouthful! This stuff is something I stumbled across rummaging in Boots for new stuff to try out. It’s a gel liner in pen form:
You twist the bottom of the pen and the product comes through the diagonal rubber tip. I’ve never had anything like this before. My favourite black gel eye liner is still No77 from Inglot that I rave about here. I use this in my waterline and top lash line and I know it won’t budge. However, I really fail in the skills of mastering the feline flick, especially with a brush. This eyeliner has helped me alot (I am still no master). It comes out of the nib in a nice thin line and I love that the nib is diagonal as it helps with drawing the flick. You can just place the nib on the corner of your eye and press down and it draws it for you.
This helps me because I don’t add too much product, and it sweeps across the eye in one swift movement, helpful again because I don’t have to go back in and fix it too much, which I am prone to do and that’s where it can all go wrong 🙂 It doesn’t transfer onto the eyelid once dry and lasts all day. Overall a great product and you can buy it in Boots!
Another Boots/pharmacy product. My foundation of the month has definitely been the Rimmel Stay Matte:
This is a mousse/liquid foundation. I use the shade 100 Ivory and it’s a pretty good match for day to day for me. It is a matte finish foundation as the name would suggest and is medium to full coverage.
Buffed into the hand, you can see if evens out my skin colour.
Not more I can say about it. It’s cheap, has good coverage, good colour range and lasts well throughout the day. Thanks Anita for recommending it to me 🙂
I have more face stuff from Boots next, I must have spent the whole month there!
This was a really random purchase. I ran out of my Image skin cleanser and just needed something to keep me going until I got more. I was in Boots and this was on sale for, I think 4 euro. It is the Botanics cleansing foam wash. I am a Clarisonic addict, I use it everyday. My clarisonic is an ugly yellow because I got it on Amazon before you could get them in Ireland so couldn’t pick a pretty colour 🙁 It still does the job though.
It works best with a foaming cleanser so just threw this in my basket as back up. I am so glad I did, it’s soap free and really foams up. It gets rid of all my makeup including mascara and works really well with the Clarisonic. And is has a nice fresh subtle smell. Overall a great (and cheap) cleanser. I will finish the bottle for sure before purchasing another one.
My last favourite of March is ANOTHER face product that can be purchased in Boots! Well Boots in Liffey Valley shopping centre anyways:
This is the Sleek blush trio in Pink Lemonade.
Pink Mint Macaroon Icing Sugar
We love Sleek makeup here at Chatterbox. And I love this blush trio. They are so pigmented and easy to blend. Usually I don’t buy cream blush much because my oily skin drinks it up and it disappears very quickly from my cheeks. However from having this palette I’ve been using the Macaroon shade under the other two and it helps them last all day! I use my fingers to apply it lightly on my cheekbones and then I tend to mix the other shades Icing Sugar and Pink mint together on a blush brush for a nice pink glow. By all means they can be used alone though, that’s just how I like to wear them :). I will be buying more of these trios for sure in the future.
So there you go, my fab faves for the month of March.
I love a red lip and I thought this was an appropriate time of the year to talk about my top 5, with Valentine’s Day only around the corner. I am not a romantic soul, but any excuse to wear a red lipstick and I am all over it, so keep reading to see what are my favourite red lipsticks are from my stash 🙂
First up is Lime Crime’s Velvetine. This is a bizarrely wonderful product. It is so opaque and creamy in texture. The colour is nearly over whelming when you first use it as it has so much colour pay off in lipgloss form, but once you get used to it it’s a fab product. It is a beautiful rich red with the blue undertone we want so our teeth look whiter:
The finish of it is in the name it definitely. It has a matte velvet look once it dries and once it dries it is not budging. It is on your lips to stay, so you can kiss all you want (bleh) :). I’ll admit, I bought this because of the hype around it and have to say I’m glad I did, it is a welcome product to my ever expanding make up collection.
My next red love is Mac’s Ririwoo.
This is basically Rubywoo in rose gold packaging for an extra 4 euro, but I just couldn’t resist, I am drawn to shiny things. Ririoo has a “retro matte” finish according to Mac. I construe this as being a matte lipstick but not so matte your lips crack from the dryness so it is easy to wear as it doesn’t have a complete matte finsh:
This is a very similar red to the Velvetine, rich and pigmented with a blue undertone that I think would be suitable for all skin tones. With this lipstick however, you have the choice of how deep you want the colour in accordance to how much you add, if you use a lip liner underneath and if you if you diffuse it with your finger or a brush for a lighter day appropriate application. Mac really do make fab lipsticks and this is probably one of their most popular ones and with owning it I can see why.
Third up on my list is a red for the people who aren’t really a fan of the traditional bright red. This is Nars’ Joyous Red.
This is a hybrid of colours, which I know does not look very appealing in the tube, although it does have the lovely smooth black packaging to compensate :). This is an unusual lipstick, it is semi-matte with a satin/glossy finish. The colour reminds me of Autumn, it borders on brown and red which I think is a great option for a day time lip. Again can be worn full on:
Or muted down with a just s few dabs added and using your finger to work the colour into the lips. I think this is a lipstick that looks fab on pale skin and older ladies who still want to rock a bold lip with out going full on Marilyn with it. I wear this lippie quite alot to brighten up my makeup without having to put too much effort in and the formulation is beautiful, it fades away really nicely so is great for wearing to work. Not a traditional choice I know, but I thought not everyone likes bold red so why not mix it up a bit.
Next on the list is my very loved Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple. I was obsessed with these when they first came out and have quite a few.
I love the packaging as much as I love the product inside (I am a sucker I know). These are like a lip gloss, lipstick and lip balm in one:
They are so nourishing and easy to apply but are quite pigmented and long lasting to boot. Candy Apple is a lovely,youthful, vibrant glossy red that is not too over the top. I think this would be great for anyone really, particularly anyone who is scared of red lipstick but really wants to experiment. The lip butters in general and their colour range are a great place to start incorporating colour into your makeup routine as they are easy to maintain on the go, can be worn sheer or full on and are very mistake forgiving. I would recommend them to anyone.
Last on my voyage of reds is a bit of a special one, but I could not talk about my collection without adding this one in for good measure 🙂
This was actually a Christmas pressie from the boyfriend along with the gorgeous eyeshadow quad mentioned here This is Tom Ford’s lip colour in “Cherry Lush”. The name say it all, this is a opaque, not too glossy cherry red colour but again with a slight blue undertone, that will lasts a long time and fades beautifully throughout the day (or night):
The packaging is so luxurious too. Black, gold and sleek that feels heavy in your hand. Can that justify paying 46Euro for a lipstick? Absolutely not. But will I do it again? Probably! I adore this lipstick, I love the colour, I think anyone could wear it and I think for a treat or present (hint hint Valentine’s Day present), this is a fab lipstick that really is pretty amazing. Well done Tom!
To maintain your lovely red pout, make sure to always give your lips a good ex foliate and add a slick of lip balm while doing the rest of your makeup. Line the lips with a similar colour of lipliner, this gets your lip line just right and you can even it out if it’s a bit wonky like mine, although I didn’t use one for the pics as I did not want to compromise the colours. Also do the blot, repeat step. Use a lip brush to fill in your lips with the lipstick, use one layer of a tissue, put it up yo your mouth and with a brush and some translucent powder blot lightly over the lips with the tissue on top, taking up the excess product. Then, apply another layer of lipstick out of the bullet and you’ll be good to go.
So there you have it, some red goodies to get you in the festive mood for this coming February the 14th whether you are celebrating with your other half, your friends or family, why not rock a red lip and get into the spirit of things. It is a Friday after all, I think Friday is worth celebrating even if Valentine’s Day isn’t 😛