Posts

What did we do before highlighters? Actually I remember what I did, wore too much blush 🙂

highlighters

My oily skin doesn’t really let me enjoy cream highlighters to their full capacity. They just don’t last on me and I have to powder pretty much my whole face so the premise is lost. Powder highlight is my jam though. For the sake of longevity I mattify everywhere. But, then I can go in with a powder highlight and bring some much needed dimension to everything.

highlighters current favourites

Here, I have five highlighters from my collection that I’ve been reaching for alot over the past while. I’ve done posts in the past on all of them so I’ll link them as I go. I just thought it would be good to dedicate one post so some of my very faves.

beauty blog

irish beauty blog

First up, we have the cheapest of the group.

sleek solstice palette

This is the Sleek Solstice Highlighting Palette. I am only adding one shade within it into my most used. The other three don’t really get much use. I have full swatches of the palette here. ‘Equinox’ is my shade of choice. It is a baked peachy champagne colour.

sleek makeup
irish beauty blogger

This is just a great all round colour. It is the most powdery formula of the bunch, but for the price point, it’s bloody lovely. Sleek,if you’re reading this, you should totally bring ‘Equinox’ out on it’s own!

My second choice in Mary-Lou Manizer by theBalm. This really is an infamous highlighter.

thebalm

I have an old post on this here. I’ve had Mary-Lou for nearly two years now and she is still going strong.

maryloumanizer
top irish beauty blog

It’s a light champagne colour that works for so many skin types and blends really nicely into the skin. At just over 20 quid it’s not quite budget or high end, but she’s worth every penny 🙂

My third choice is the Urban Decay Afterglow Highlighter in ‘Sin’.

urban decay afterglow

When these first came out last year, I ran to Debenhams and picked one up. I am a bit of an Urban Decay fan girl! ‘Sin’ is like Mary Lou’s lighter sister.

urban decay
top irish beauty blog

The formula of these is so long lasting on my skin. This is nearly what makes me reach for it so much! I did a first impressions video on ‘Sin’ here when I first bought it. Not the best quality, but you can see me ramble out it more 🙂

My fourth and fifth choices are both by Becca Cosmetics. Becca know how to formulate a good highlighter. The consistency is always super creamy and a dream to blend.

‘Champagne Pop’ doesn’t really need much introduction. If you are a makeup fan you will know all about it and probably own one yourself.

becca cosmetics

This was their first collaboration with Jaclyn Hill. It’s a gorgeous peach champagne colour. More deep in colour than ‘Equinox’.

becca champagne pop
beauty blog ireland

If I am being honest with myself it’s too deep for my skin tone, but I love it so much I wear it anyways. I just have to bronze up a little more. I have a really old blog showcasing it here. Excuse my eyebrows in it. They are awful ha!

My last fave is ‘Pearl’ from Becca. This is the newest highlighter in my collection but I think it’s the most complimentary out of all of them on my skin.

beauty blogger ireland

As the name would suggest is a white pearl colour. It swatches quite icy.

beauty blogger ireland
powder highlighters

But it does blend into a really lovely wearable shine. It’s honestly one of the best highlighters I have found for lighter skin tones. You can see it applied to the face here.

Here they are all swatched together for colour reference.

irish beauty site

What do you look for in a highlighter? Do you use one in your day to day makeup? Let me know 🙂

xxx

 

It’s monthly favourites time again. I’m back to ramble all about my September Favourites for 2016 this time.

irish beauty blogger

Can you believe it’s October? The year is honestly slipping away at a rapid speed, I can’t keep up at all! My September favourites consist of makeup,skincare,fragrance and even a stab into the fashion world.

September Favourites

There’s the original Urban Decay Naked Palette. You can of course get this from Debenhams here.

The makeup mixing palette, I picked up in store from Penneys for €4. A little bloody bargain.

The Sleek Cleopatra’s Kiss Palette. I have a full review and demo of this here. It’s worth a look, I promise 🙂

The Clarins Instant Light Comfort Lip Oil. A definite splurge at €21, but a really nice treat for the lips. You can get it from Debenhams here.

Stella McCartney Pop Eau De Parfum. Summer in a bottle for me 🙂 You can buy this from Boots or any decent perfume shop. Here’s a link to it on the Debenhams website.

Asian sheet masks are readily available from different sellers on eBay or Amazon. A Irish distribution called Natural Balance Global sent me the SNP ones that I have particularly enjoying. Here’s a link to their website if you fancy checking them out. They do come in boxes of ten though, I think that’s worth noting, in case you were just looking to try them out.

Then, the last of my September Favourites includes my cute little Zara bag. It’s €29.95 and I ordered it from the website here. May I add, Zara are killing it in the bag game. I just went on there to get the link for my bag and saw at least five other bags I really really want!

And there you have my September favourites for 2016!

irish beauty vlogger

I am kinda sad to be leaving the Summer behind, not gonna lie 🙂

top irish beauty blog

Anything you’ve been particularly loving lately?

xxx

This is my interpretation of an Autumn Makeup Look.

irish beauty blog

Of course makeup has no rules and you can wear what you want. But, we do (well I think we do), tune in to certain trends for the different seasons. For me, when I think of an Autumn Makeup Look I think of golds and bronze shades on the eyes and dark lips.

In this video I used some old favourites. Yes, I dusted off the original Urban Decay Naked Palette for this look. I forgot just how much I loved this! The shade ‘Half-Baked’ is probably my favourite gold eyeshadow ever. It is just so flattering on the eyes.

autumn makeup look

I also dipped into a couple of newbie products from Sleek Makeup. The Cleopatra’s Kiss Highlighter Palette which I only spoke about here recently. And one of their Matte Me liquid lipstick in ‘Velvet Slipper’. It is out of stock at the moment, eeek, apologies for that! I wouldn’t have used it if I had known!

beauty blog ireland

I mention all the products I use in the video, which as always you can click on above. Or, you can watch it directly over on my Youtube channel here. If you have any questions about anything, you can of course just ask me though 🙂

I always like to stress to that I am not a makeup artist, just someone who loves makeup…alot 🙂

Autumn Makeup Look

Let me know what you think of my super simple Autumn Makeup Look. And let me know the makeup looks or products that make you think of Autumn. Dark lips are the only thing I like about the weather getting colder, I swear. The sun hasn’t even completely gone yet and I am already mourning it 🙂

As always, thanks for taking the time to watch, read and interact. I really really appreciate it.

Gemma

xxx

Myself and John are on a little break away in Wexford. We’re in Duncannon and honestly it’s one of the prettiest places I have ever been in my life. The scenery is breathtaking! One of the days we thought we would head out for a bit of lunch and a wander so I thought I would turn the camera on and take you through my Ten Minute Makeup Look.

ten minute makeup look irish beauty blog

I would describe this as quick, simple ten minute makeup look with a bit of added extra effort. I didn’t want it to take too long, but I still wanted to look put together.

The products I used for my ten minute makeup look are as follows:

The Hyalmide HA Blur Prismatic Blurring Surface Hydrator. You can read more about this on their website here.

L’Oreal Nude Magique Cushion Foundation. I have a full review of this here.

Nyx Micro Brow Pencil. Full review here.

Freedom Brow Powder Duo. I spoke more about this here. I also talk about the Collection concealer in this post too.

The Soap & Glory Archery 2 in 1 Setting Gel. I did a post on this here.

theBalm Put A Lid On It eyeshadow primer. There’s a full blog post on this here.

Makeup Revolution, Ultra Contour Palette. I have a review of this here.

Makeup Geek Foiled Shadow in ‘In The Spotlight” and their shadow in ‘Brown Sugar’. You can see up close swatches of these here.

Colorpop Crème Gel Liner in ‘Stomper’. There’s swatches and more info on this here.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer. Click here if you want a full review on this.

Fairydrops Scandal Queen Waterproof Mascara. I have a full review and close ups of this in action here.

Mac Full Coverage Foundation. I have literally used this for years. it something I always repurchase. You can buy Mac from Brown Thomas.

Wet n Wild Dual Ended Contour Stick. I did a first impressions video not too long ago on this here.

L’Oreal Glam Bronze Cushion De Soleil. Full review here.

Ben Nye Cameo Powder. There’s a full review and more info on this here.

The Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Face Palette is really new to me. I have swatches in this post here if it tickles your fancy 🙂

And then finally the Barry M Matte Me Up Lip Crayon in number 3. I did a post about a couple of these a while back here.

There you have it, my ten minute makeup look from our little home away from home 🙂

ten minute makeup look

If there’s anything else you want to know about, just ask. If you fancy watching this video directly on my Youtube channel you can just click here too 🙂

 

As always thanks for watching and reading. It makes all of the effort worth while.

Gemma

xxx

 

 

I managed to nab a Becca Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Face Palette. Phew, that’s a mouthful, right? 🙂

Becca Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Face Palette
I went in to Space NK Grafton Street just to have a look and ask about them as they had had a shipment the week before. Low and behold the lovely ladies told me they were getting another shipment in the next day and I could put my name down if I was certain I could be in to collect in that very day. And so, I did just that 🙂

Completely spur of the moment really, the Becca Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Face Palette became mine.

Becca Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Face Palette

If you don’t know already, Jaclyn Hill is a very successful American beauty You-tuber. She had previously collaborated with Becca Cosmetics and that was when Champagne Pop was born. (I have a full review of it here). The collection has now grown and includes: Champagne Splits which are a blush and highlighter combo. Liquid and cream Champagne Pop shimmering skin perfectors. There was also an eye-shadow palette that Becca controversially had to take off of the market because of quality issues and of course finally what I am showing you now, the Becca Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Face Palette.

Becca Cosmetics

I really love the gold and white packaging of the palette. It is smooth to the touch, is a little weighty so feels nice in your hands and contains a large mirror in the lid, which is always appreciated.

Becca Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Face Palettetop irish beauty websiteirish beauty blog

It contains 5 powders in total. 3 blushes and 2 shimmering skin perfectors i.e highlighters.

Becca Cosmetics Ireland

We have Rosè Spritz which is deemed a luminous blush.

Amaretto – A mineral blush.

Pamplemousse – This is also a mineral blush.

Then we have the highlighter that started it all Champagne Pop.

And then finally, Prosecco Pop.

Here are all the powders swatched together just so you can get a sense of the colour differences and finishes.

irish makeup blog

With the flash on

irish makeup blogger

Without the flash on

All of the powders are as you would expect from Becca super soft and pigmented. They swatched really nicely onto the skin. The blushes are a good mix of colours and finishes.  I use Champagne Pop alot already even though I think it might be a little too deep for my skin tone, I don’t care, I love it 🙂 I am foreseeing I might have the same problem with Prosecco Pop, it is very golden. But, it’s very pretty so I’ll make it work 🙂 I think it will make for a lovely eye shadow too.

The Becca Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Face Palette retails in Ireland for €54 from Space NK if you can get your hands on it. They do have it on the UK website here though if you want to get it shipped and it costs £48.

So, let me know what you think? 🙂

xxx

 

 

Here’s my first ever Youtube video! It’s a speeded through Get Ready With Me. I love zoning out and watching these, and on the plus side it meant less talking for me 🙂 It’s not perfect, but sure neither am I.

Thanks so much for watching and if you like it please be sure to subscribe here. That would make my day…my year in fact, can you tell this is a big step for me? 🙂

There’s a list of all the products I used in the info box of the video too, so if you see something you like they’re all listed in order pretty much.

Let me know what you think and also what videos you like to watch yourself, I am going try create one a week on my channel, but I will also do an accompanying blogpost with any extra details and of course a bit of waffle 🙂

Gemma

xxx