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April Favourites 2018

As I am writing this, the sun is shining and it’s May. Which means it’s officially Spring, which means no constant rain and being miserable…just some of the time :). A new month also means a look back over the previous month. So, here is a run down of some of my April Favourites for 2018.

How was your April? Mine wasn’t too bad all in all. I had some good times and made some good memories.

My April Favourites consist of mostly skincare actually with a snippet of makeup, fashion and dare I say some political views as well. Definitely not something I talk about a lot. If I do it’s mostly on Twitter. I don’t shy away, don’t get me wrong, there’s just people out there doing a way better job at it than I ever could. But I think May, for me, for us as woman of Ireland is so very important. Please make sure you are registered to vote, do your research and make an informed decision.

Ok, let’s talk about some silly stuff now 🙂

My April Favourites definitely reflect the changes in the seasons, I think. As always I talk much more in depth in the video above or here. But I’ll give you a quick run down and link to everything I can.

Human + Kind Miracle Makeup Remover. (A Micro fiber face cloth).
The Clarins Hydra Essentiel Moisturising Reviving Eye Mask. This is actually on sale at the moment from Debenhams here.
The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution. Definitely a mouthful of a name. It’s an exfoliating peel which treats the top layer of the skin.
Garnier Ambre Solaire Sensitive Advanced Protecting and Hydrating Face Mist SPF 50. This is actually way cheaper than I initially thought and has been working a treat for me.

I’ve reviewed the Catrice Lashes To Kill Pro Mascara here if you want to see it in action.

Earring are from Betty & Biddy.

Then finally my bag was a gift from my friend Ella of Siopaella. She sourced them in Morocco and sells them in store too.

And that is it for another instalment of April Favourites. Let me know if you like these types of posts, it’s always good to get constructive feedback.

Thanks for clicking as always.

Gemma

PR SAMPLES INCLUDED**

May 4, 2018/by Gem

Fragrance, Haul, Makeup

Beauty Shopping Lust List

Do you know what I like to do when I’m broke? Put potential beauty items in my basket online. It somehow makes be feel like I’m beauty shopping. Do I sound deranged? Probably, but it makes me feel like I’m kind of, sort of shopping Pander to me people 🙂

If money was no object right at this moment in time and I was beauty shopping online, these products would be in my baskets all across the internet. And I could actually put in payment details to proceed with order!!

Two things from Anastasia Beverly Hills are currently in my Cult Beauty basket. The first is the Soft Glam Palette. (£43 from Cult Beauty).

To think I actually call myself a beauty addict and I’ve never owned an eyeshadow palette from Anastasia. It’s embarrassing really. This one just speaks to me. I feel like it has everything you would want. Transition colours, lid crease and liner colours. It’s pretty simple, but I think that’s what gets me with it. I think it’s going to be a great palette for makeup lovers but also artists too. It would make the perfect wedding day palette.

The other thing is probably on everyone’s beauty shopping lust list at the moment. The Amrezy Highlighter, again from Anastasia. (£29 from Cult Beauty).

They’ve either just marketed this impeccably or it’s the shiniest highlighter out there at the moment. Every time I see the promo videos or pictures, drool comes out of the side of my mouth.

Ok, there’s another two eyeshadow palettes on my list currently. I have a weakness for them if you didn’t know already.

First up is the Urban Decay Naked Petite Heat. (Will be available in limited supply from the UD flag shop in Grafton street. Available everywhere else from the end of April. RRP is €32).

This is the Urban Decay Naked Heat Palette‘s little sister. Do I need it? No? Do I already own the original full sized one? Yes. There’s something about UD palettes that has me hooked though. I have a bajillion of them and still can’t get enough. This would make for a great travel companion. There, that’s my justification 🙂

My other palette want is, surprise surprise the Huda Beauty Desert Dusk. (€65 from Cult Beauty).

Anyone who has this palette just says you need it in your life. And if EVERYONE says it, sure it must be true. After trialling the brand with the Mauve Obsessions and the Smokey Obsessions, I seriously need to try more.

There’s another highlighter on my lust list, but hear me out. This is the limited edition Estée Lauder Golden Goddess Illuminating Powder.

They release this every year as part of their Summer Golden Goddess Collection. Every year I want it and every time I decide to bite the bullet and get it…..it’s sold out! The packaging alone has me wanting this and I see so many YouTubers using it and the want grows. I can’t find it to shop for from here currently though, I will keep hunting!

I had a voucher and nearly bought the Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation (€42 from Feel Unique).

I couldn’t get a sample though, so that put me off. I’ve seen so much hype about this foundation online though, so it’s made it back onto my want list. It’s meant to be long wearing with full coverage but still have a radiance to it. When I have cash money to blow, this is going to checkout!

The Ordinary Glycolic acid 7% Toning Solution is not exactly a financial stretch. (€8.70 from Cult Beauty).

The reason this is still in my basket is because it’s an enigma, it is never in stock. This is like the Pixi Glow Tonic I love so much. I have a really old blogpost on it here. The Pixi one is 5% Glycolic, this one is 7% and nearly half the price. My oily, giant pored skin needs to try this.

Last on my beauty shopping lust list is the newest member of the Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb family (€71 for 30ml from Debenhams).

This is Flowerbomb Nectar. Now I’ve yet to sniff this, but I adore Flowerbomb. I know it can be a bit heady and overpowering for some. I love how deep but still sweet it is though. I always have a bottle in my collection. This release intrigues me immensely though. You have the flowery bergamot goodness from traditional Flowerbomb but with a Orange Flower and Osmanthus twist. They had me at nectar to be fair 🙂

And there you have my beauty shopping musings. What’s in your online shopping basket?

xxx

March 7, 2018/by Gem

Skincare, Youtube Video

Elf Magnetic Mask & Night Time Routine

The Elf Magnetic Mask is one of the coolest products I have ever tried. Does it work? I’m not sure yet I’ve only used it twice so far. I couldn’t resist putting in a video though to show you how you use it.

This concept of the Elf Magnetic Mask isn’t new to the market necessarily. There has been a few out before it. But, this is hands down the most affordable one at the moment. Unfortunately it hasn’t made it to our shores yet.

I was lucky enough to get one as a press sample. It is on their website here though and they do international shipping, if you fancy taking the plunge. For some reason the euro price is much more expensive. Hopefully if it does come over here, it won’t be as bad.

I can say my skin felt really nice both times I’ve used it. And I do feel like it drew some clogged pores to the surface. I definitely had a bit of a breakout after the first time. But in a good way, if that makes sense? 🙂

So in the video I give you a demo of the Elf Magnetic Mask. It’s so much fun to use. You apply the mask and then use the magnetized applicator to literally pull it off your skin. Sounds scary, but you can hardly feel it. There’s iron in it so that’s what makes it magnetic.

I’ve never been happier using a face mask…look at me like!

Within the video, I also gave a quick rundown on what I’ve been using to cleanse and then my bedtime moisturising concoction too.

I used:

Bioderma to take my eye makeup off. It’s in a limited edition pump bottle. If you can get your hands on it. Do! It’s on the Cloud10Beauty website here.
Nia Cleansing Balm. It’s on their website here.
Clarins Double Serum. (Review here).
Clarins Total V Contouring Serum.
Neostrata Bionic Eye Cream Plus. I found it on the Meaghers Pharmacy website here.
The Ordinary Retinoid 2%. More info on this here.
Botanics Facial Oil. It’s on the Boots website here.
Catrice Volumizing Lip Balm.

This is my current night time routine although I do alternate serums and I don’t always use an oil. I have oily skin, so it really just depends on whether I feel I need it or not.

As always you can click on the video above to watch the magic happen or you can go directly to my YouTube channel here. 🙂

Let me know what you think.

Gemma

xxx ********CONTAINS PR SAMPLES***********

September 22, 2017/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup, Skincare

Affordable Beauty Favourites Currently

I’m back with some affordable beauty favourites.

I have here six products that are currently in heavy rotation in both my makeup and skincare routines. And they all fall under the affordable beauty umbrella. My last version of this post is here if you fancy seeing what made the cut.

All the makeup products are reasonably new to me. The skincare, I’ve been using for quite a while.

First up we have the new product to me in the bunch the Elf Shimmer Highlighting Powder in Pearl Glow.

Elf can definitely be a hit or miss brand for me. Well let’s face it, most brands can be hit or miss. But I’ve owned Elf products in the past that I’ve adored and some that made their was straight to the bin. This highlighter falls into the adore category. I’ve been wearing it everyday since I got it. It’s a really soft blendable powder with a pearly gold shimmer.

Really nice for pale gals like myself 🙂 Elf is now available in Superdrug, certain Penneys stores and an abundance of pharmacies here in Ireland. You can also buy from their UK website here.

My second current affordable beauty favourite is the L’Oréal Paradise Extatic Mascara. This is a weird one for me because if I didn’t have my lashes lifted, this mascara wouldn’t have really gotten a look in from me.

Generally my straight lashes need a waterproof formula. But as they are currently chemically curled, this has been my jam! The brush is huge and it does clump a little. But, it also gives really nice length and volume. If you have semi decent lashes naturally, this is a really nice mascara.

You can find it on the Boots website here.

Thirdly, we have the Catrice Ultimate Matt Lipstick in From Rose With Love. Visually these lippies are so cool. The bullet is completely matte!

They have a really nice smooth long lasting formula as well though. I am not just digging them for the bullet 🙂 This colour is just me in a lipstick. I am a mauve whore and this feeds my habit completely. I have been gravitating towards this so much since I got it.

Number four is a makeup brush. I picked up what I could find of the new Primark/Penneys PS Pro makeup brush range. This particular one came in a pack of two that cost €4.

It’s called the 236. It’s a dome shaped blending brush. It is small but soft and fluffy. I love it for applying colour softly in the crease. I am super impressed with these brushes so far.

My last faves come as a combo for me. The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% and the Advanced Retinoid 2%.

I feel like I can’t review them singularly because I alternate between the two.

At 32 now, I am doing some major ageing prevention in skincare form at least. Retinol is the way to go if you are looking to do this. I use this every second night in my skincare routine and my skin has been really enjoying it. Also, it’s only €9.80 from the Deciem website here.

When I don’t use the retinol, I use The Ordinary Hyaluronic 2% + B5.

Hyaluronic Acid can apparently attract 1000 times its weight in water. It’s great for hydration and helping in plumping the skin.

What I love about this is that it doesn’t feel heavy, but still feels like it’s moisturising the skin. I generally use it conjunction with an night moisturiser or a face oil. This is again available from their website here.

And… I’ll stop waffling.

xxx

*********CONTAINS PR SAMPLES***********

September 20, 2017/by Gem

Monthly Favourites, Youtube Video

June Favourites 2017

Yep, It’s June Favourites 2017 time 🙂

June is my birthday month so I always think it’s extra exciting for monthly favourites, because I usually have more stuff to ramble about.

This year’s June favourites really consist of a mixture of everything really.

My first faves were something I bought out of my birthday money.

I am totally not cool enough for these babies, but sure I am going to wear the hell out of them anyways 🙂 These are The Quay Australia X Desi Hi Key Black Fades. I bought them on Asos here. YouTube totally made me do it and I am completely OK with that :).

The really inexpensive eBay half lashes that I talk about can be found here, if you want a closer look at them. Definitely not great quality, but they do the job!
The band tees are a mixture from Primark and H&M. They are pretty much everywhere at the minute though. I am very much jumping on the bandwagon. It’s a comfortable wagon though so I feel no shame about it 🙂
I speak more about the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge and link to it here.
Benefit’s Hoola Bronzer is swatched and linked in a blogpost here.
I chat about my new favourite AMC gel liner from Inglot. I did a blogpost on my latest Inglot haul here. You can see the liner swatched and where to get it over there.
And then, my final pick for my June Favourites was The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution. This has such a long scary name, I know! You can read more about it on the Deciem website here.

I obviously ramble a lot more about these in the video here. I just like to do a blog post to accompany it with links, and to add in anything I may have forgotten.

Let me know what you think and if you have any June favourites yourself.

Thanks for clicking.

Gemma xxx

*****CONTAINS PR SAMPLES*****

July 2, 2017/3 Comments/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup

Current Budget Friendly Makeup Favourites

I haven’t done a round up like this in a while. So, here is five of my current budget friendly makeup favourites.

I am not a makeup snob by any means. If a product is good, it’s good, regardless of the price 🙂

My first budget friendly makeup pick of the minute is the very talked about Coverage Foundation from The Ordinary.

I harped on about this here in a dedicated blogpost, so I won’t go into too much detail. But, I am a big fan. I always judge a foundation on whether I would pick it up to wear for a night out or going out all day. This is definitely one I reach for alot. I love the coverage, the finish and the longevity. Oh and may I add, the price point too!

My second choice will come as no surprise either (sorry ha!). The Maybelline Eraser Eye in the shade ‘Brightener’.

I like both of the colour correcting shades (details on both of them here). I think I just reach for the Brightener more. I feel like I can get away with it just on it’s own. Whereas the ‘Neutralizer’ leaves a bit of a yellow hue to the skin. I am delighted these shades are available in Ireland now, because for me, the ‘Light’ concealer version, just wasn’t light enough. These work so much better.

My third budget friendly makeup favourite is another Maybelline Product. This is their Master Fix Setting & Perfecting Loose Powder.

This is actually Maybelline’s first loose setting powder. It is super finely milled and applies really lightly and smoothly onto the skin.

It’s really mattifying, so I usually apply a liberal layer of it and then use a setting spray over top to lift the skin a bit. It absorbs oils really well though and definitely helps with the longevity of your makeup. It is a more pricey ‘affordable product’ at €13.79 from Boots here.

Number four is the Catrice Metallic Liquid Liner in 010 ‘Bronze Lee’. I bloody love that name 🙂

You can see it in action is a previous blogpost here. These Metallic liners come in a couple of different shades, I believe. I need to find the others to add to my collection. I really like the formula and the finish. The shade is less intimidating than black or even dark brown. And I can generally create a flick with the applicator. When I can say that you know a liquid liner is half good. Feline flicks are not my forte at all.

Last on my budget friendly makeup roundup is the Maybelline Brow Artist Plumper.

I am way late to the party with this one. I don’t know why I never tried it up until now. I have the shade Medium/Dark. I like that the spooley isn’t very tightly bound.

It means it doesn’t hold onto alot of product. I can find with some coloured brow gels, it can end up all over your skin. This doesn’t leave your eyebrows feeling crispy either. It just adds a bit of a tint with some added fibers for fluffiness. It’s a really decent tinted brow gel. It costs €8.49 from Boots here.

And that’s my five current picks! Things that are actually in rotation on my makeup desk at the moment, that hopefully won’t break the bank 🙂

xxx

*****CONTAINS PR SAMPLES*****

June 30, 2017/1 Comment/by Gem

Posts

As I am writing this, the sun is shining and it’s May. Which means it’s officially Spring, which means no constant rain and being miserable…just some of the time :). A new month also means a look back over the previous month. So, here is a run down of some of my April Favourites for 2018.

Thanks for clicking as always.

Gemma

********PR SAMPLES INCLUDED**********

Two things from Anastasia Beverly Hills are currently in my Cult Beauty basket. The first is the Soft Glam Palette. (£43 from Cult Beauty).

The other thing is probably on everyone’s beauty shopping lust list at the moment. The Amrezy Highlighter, again from Anastasia. (£29 from Cult Beauty).

Ok, there’s another two eyeshadow palettes on my list currently. I have a weakness for them if you didn’t know already.

First up is the Urban Decay Naked Petite Heat. (Will be available in limited supply from the UD flag shop in Grafton street. Available everywhere else from the end of April. RRP is €32).

My other palette want is, surprise surprise the Huda Beauty Desert Dusk. (€65 from Cult Beauty).

There’s another highlighter on my lust list, but hear me out. This is the limited edition Estée Lauder Golden Goddess Illuminating Powder.

I had a voucher and nearly bought the Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation (€42 from Feel Unique).

The Ordinary Glycolic acid 7% Toning Solution is not exactly a financial stretch. (€8.70 from Cult Beauty).

Last on my beauty shopping lust list is the newest member of the Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb family (€71 for 30ml from Debenhams).

And there you have my beauty shopping musings. What’s in your online shopping basket?

xxx

The Elf Magnetic Mask is one of the coolest products I have ever tried. Does it work? I’m not sure yet I’ve only used it twice so far. I couldn’t resist putting in a video though to show you how you use it.

So in the video I give you a demo of the Elf Magnetic Mask. It’s so much fun to use. You apply the mask and then use the magnetized applicator to literally pull it off your skin. Sounds scary, but you can hardly feel it. There’s iron in it so that’s what makes it magnetic.

First up we have the new product to me in the bunch the Elf Shimmer Highlighting Powder in Pearl Glow.

Number four is a makeup brush. I picked up what I could find of the new Primark/Penneys PS Pro makeup brush range. This particular one came in a pack of two that cost €4.

Yep, It’s June Favourites 2017 time 🙂

I haven’t done a round up like this in a while. So, here is five of my current budget friendly makeup favourites.

I am not a makeup snob by any means. If a product is good, it’s good, regardless of the price 🙂

My first budget friendly makeup pick of the minute is the very talked about Coverage Foundation from The Ordinary.

My second choice will come as no surprise either (sorry ha!). The Maybelline Eraser Eye in the shade ‘Brightener’.

My third budget friendly makeup favourite is another Maybelline Product. This is their Master Fix Setting & Perfecting Loose Powder.

Last on my budget friendly makeup roundup is the Maybelline Brow Artist Plumper.

PR SAMPLES INCLUDED**