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Essence Lash Princess Mascara Waterproof

Well hello there, it’s been a minute or two since I put fingers to keys and wrote a blogpost! Life, lack of creativity and well the lack of people tuning into them all contributed to it in all honesty. But sure no harm in letting my creative juices out every so often, I like writing 🙂 I picked up the new Essence Lash Princess Mascara, the waterproof version, pretty much upon its release. I always use waterproof mascara and people had such good things to say about the other formulas. And it was less than a fiver! I got mine in Penneys.

From the get go, the Essence Lash Princess Mascara (waterproof), was for me. I don’t use waterproof mascara, because I think I can dunk my head in water and be ok, although some formulas are reasonably good for that. I use it to hold a curl in my straight, boring lashes.

This mascara is quite a thick consistency and it has a bristle spoolie, which usually my lashes don’t like as much. In this instance they do though.

You get volume from the first application of this mascara. A lot of product goes on to your lashes. I don’t find that it weighs mine down in anyway, but it can clump. That is something to be wary of.

It provides volume and length really quickly and holds a curl, so it ticks all the lash boxes for me.

It can flake a little after a few hours of wear, but I don’t find that it transfers too much. I don’t use it on my bottom lashes, I find the wand to cumbersome for that. I stick to my trusted Mac Extended Play for that.

The Essence Lash Princess Mascara waterproof is a damn good mascara though. It gives maximum impact with very little effort. I curl my lashes and apply a couple of coats and I’m done. I don’t feel the need to layer too much more for a long, (well as long as my lashes can go) lashed look 🙂

Have you tried it yet? Are you a fan of the original? Let me know.

xxx

July 16, 2019/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup

Catrice Lip Foundation Lip Liners

There is five shades of these Catrice Lip Foundation Lip Liners. I managed to find four of them to try. I initially bought two while we were staycation-ing in Kilkenny. Enjoyed the concept, so wanted to grab more shades when I was back in Dublin to do a post on them.

I believe these were part of their Spring/ Summer collection from last year, I hadn’t seen them until now though. I ran out my brow pencil while we were away and needed to pick up. So I just went to the local chemist and they happened to have a Catrice stand. I got one of their micro brow pencils, and then kept perusing. That’s when I came across these little beauties.

The concept of the Catrice Lip Foundation lip liners is that they’re a base colour for your lips. So you can use them to prime for lipstick, contour, or as an all over colour.

I really just like them because of the shades available and the fact that their super creamy and pigmented.

They’re my kinda nude lip colours and within the four that I have, I think there’s a matte nude shade for pretty much for everyone. That alone, made me think they deserved their own blogpost 🙂

As always, I’ll give them an oul swatch and you can make up your mind.

First up is ‘Addicted To Cafè Au Lait’ a lighter pinky nude:

‘Caramel Blonde To Go’ is light pink shade:

‘I Take You To The Chocolate Shop’ is a medium brown nude.

And the final one I have is ‘Cool Brown’, which I think ironically is a warmer toned brown 🙂 :

The shade I am missing just because the chemists I went to didn’t have it is ‘Can’t You Hear That Super Base’. This one seems to be the lightest shade in the collection.

And that’s it! Just to mention, they are super soft pencils, which is great. But it does mean you’ll get through them pretty fast. Thought that was something to note.

The Catrice Lip Foundation lip pencils are available in all good stockists now in store and online. Inish Pharmacy have all five shades online here. And they only cost €2.80 a piece which I think is really decent.

xxx

July 25, 2018/by Gem

Monthly Favourites, Youtube Video

May Favourites 2018

It’s about that time again dudes. Another month, another faves video. This time I’m looking back over my May Favourites for 2018.

May has been a trying month for me personally I won’t lie, but shite talking about makeup and beauty products definitely helps with all the personal stuff 🙂

My May favourites for 2018 and beauty heavy, there’s no fashion or random loves in sight. Also the lip I am wearing is one of the new L’Oréal Color Riche Shine lipsticks in 466. I am loving the formula of these.

My messed up hair is something I can’t even apologise for. It was a good idea at the time. I swear one of these days I’ll take a course on styling hair or something. I am absolutely brutal at it 🙂

As always I’ll list my May favourites here, but if you want to hear my musings on them click on the video above or here to check them out.

Vichy Mineral 89 Serum . I definitely use more than necessary of this stuff as a day time moisturiser. But it’s great if you don’t like a heavy cream in the day or for night time. I use it in conjunction with a serum and it doesn’t interfere with my makeup.

I actually think the Essence Kawii Trend Edition Collection is gone from June, so apologies if you like what you see.

This is a great little palette if you see it around though.

The Kryolan Translucent Powder is a great staple to have in your makeup stash.

Mine is battered and bruised, all with love though. I end up going back to it so much 🙂

Second last in my May Favourites is this giant eyeshadow brush from Blank Canvas Cosmetics.

Specifically known as the F11 Large Eyeshadow Brush.

Then finally two brow products from Isa Dora which I have been using all through May and really enjoying.

The Precision Brow Pen and the Brow Shaping Gel. Feel Unique actually sell Isa Dora too so I’ve linked them if you want to have a closer look.

And that’s it for my May Favourites. We are officially in June, my birthday month. My June faves are usually a bit more interesting as a result 🙂

xxx

PR SAMPLES INCLUDED

June 1, 2018/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup

LA Girl Pro Matte Foundation

The LA Girl Pro Matte Foundation landed here in Ireland before you could even get your hands on it anywhere else in Europe. I was lucky enough to go to the launch of it here in Dublin, so I got to bring a bottle of it home to try out.

According to the brand, the LA Girl Pro Matte Foundation gives a ‘suede like finish to the skin’. ‘Has buildable coverage for both day and night’. And is a ‘paraben free formula’.

I have the shade Natural.

Looking at the shades at the event, Ivory was too light and the other shades after that were a bit too yellow for my skin. Natural is a bit too dark, but it was the most suited out of the lighter colours. We have 14 shades to choose from here in Ireland.

It comes in a glass bottle and have a pump, that alone impresses me, I won’t lie 🙂

On me, the LA Girl Pro Matte Foundation definitely has a more medium to full coverage. It’s not super thick though like some more full coverage foundations can be. The formula definitely does dry down to a suede like finish as the brand suggests. So although it’s more matte, it’s not gonna crack if you smile matte 🙂

I have oily skin. I know I say it constantly, but especially for foundation reviews it’s really important to note. Generally, I use a more silicone heavy primer, as I find they are the ones that work best for my skin type. I actually used the LA Girl one here which I really like.

I use a synthetic kabuki brush to apply it and again that works well for me too. The formula is pretty pigmented so you really have to work it into the skin, so a more dense brush makes things easier. I find the formula can cling to more drier skinned areas so that is something to note. That’s why I think the more silicone heavy primers work better with it. It gives it a bit more of a slippy base. Once I use one though it glides over enlarged pores and doesn’t sit in fine lines either. I don’t apply foundation on or around my eyes.

On me, the coverage is medium, but I can amp it up to more full where I want it. It covers redness and slight pigmentation. My darker freckles come through but I am completely ok with that. I love that the finish, although matte, has a satin feel and look to it. It’s not just completely flat. I think it photographs really well too. It lasts well on my skin once I prime and lightly powder. I can get 6-8 hours out of it, with minimal shine or breakdown. It honestly competes with my very favourite L’Oréal Infallible 24 HR Matte in that department!

Overall, I am a big fan of the LA Girl Pro Matte Foundation. It has made it’s way into my everyday foundation rotation. Yes I have one of those 🙂 You can find it now in store from LA Girl stockists. Online from TRNDbeauty, and Beauty Bay. Have you picked it up yet?

xxx

PR SAMPLE

March 23, 2018/by Gem

Makeup

Wet n Wild Megaglo Highlighting Powders

The Wet n Wild Megaglo Highlighting Powders have been around for a while now. I had tried to get my hands on them a few times as such good things were been said about them online. Unfortunately for me (not Wet n Wild of course), they always seemed to be sold out in my local Penneys and Dunnes.

Luckily (for me), I was sent a package from the brand with their best selling products of 2017! Included, were two shades of the Wet n Wild Megaglo Highlighting Powders.

There is more in the within the range, but I believe these are the only two shades available in Ireland at this time.

I can honestly say, they are some of the best affordable highlighting powders I have yet to come across! If you follow me on Instagram, you’re probably sick to your back teeth of listening to me talk about them. I thought they deserved a blog post for reference purposes though, and some close up pics too.

The packaging is a little bit flimsy on these. I tend to find that a lot with Wet n Wild products. I guess they have to cut corners somewhere to keep costs down. The powders themselves are soft and easy to blend. They leave a shine on the skin, with a hint of shimmer. I find they apply really nicely with a dense brush for more pigment pay off. But, you can also get a lovely, more subtle effect with a fluffy brush.

The first shade ‘Precious Petals’, is a pale golden pink shade.

This, for me, is the colour I reach for most as an everyday highlight. It’s a shade that compliments my pale pink toned skin.

‘Crown Of My Canopy’, is very much a rose gold shimmer.

Although I can get away with it as a highlighter if I warm my skin up. In my humble opinion, I think it is more suited to more medium tones. I use this A LOT for eyeshadow. I reach for it so much to use as a wash of colour all over the lid.

Wet n Wild Megaglo Highlighting Powder_3526

I think it’s safe to say I am a big fan of the Wet n Wild Megaglo Highlighting Powder. Since receiving them myself, I’ve seen them a few times now in store. It’s always the same, isn’t it? 🙂

Have you tried them?

xxx

*********PR SAMPLE**********

January 22, 2018/1 Comment/by Gem

Makeup

Affordable Makeup – Five Current 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.

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’.

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.

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.

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.

My third affordable makeup choice is the Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liners.

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.

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

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 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.

My last favourite is the Wet n Wild Liquid Catsuit Matte Liquid Lipsticks. I 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.

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**********

November 6, 2017/by Gem

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