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Beauty Stocking Fillers

I did this a couple of years ago in a different format. It went down pretty well. So I thought I would do it again. This year we’re definitely dialling it back for Christmas. Well as much as we can, I love buying presents. So whether you’re on a budget, want to pick up a token gift, or even something for yourself. Here is my list of beauty stocking fillers for 2018.

I picked from websites that are easy for us to order from in Ireland and that generally have decent discounts and sales on product too. I know everyone has different budgets as well, so I tried to cater to all, and to the skincare and makeup lovers in your life.

I’ll go in shop order to make things hopefully a little cohesive. Let’s start with beauty stocking fillers from Cloud 10 Beauty.

First up is this Best Of Bright Travel Kit from Pixi Beauty for €23.

I am such a fan of the brand, and this is a really lovely affordable introduction into their skincare.

Cloud 10 Beauty have some awesome Stila gift sets too.

I thought this Shimmering Heights one for €31.95 would make a lovely beauty stocking filler. It’s three of their Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eyeshadows.

Lastly from Cloud 10 we have this Alpha H Petite Holiday Collection for €25.

Minis of some essentials, including their Liquid Gold, which I have yet to try so I have my eye on this in particular 🙂

Ok, over to Look Fantastic now.

This Caudalie Hand Cream Trio would make a great beauty stocking filler in my very humble beauty obsessed opinion. It will set you back €11.45.

I don’t think you can go wrong with hand cream as a gift idea.

Another super affordable suggestion is this Garnier Hydrating Sheet Mask Selection for €14.95.

Five Moisture Bomb Sheet masks for different concerns.

Beauty Bay is next on my beauty stocking filler hit list.

This Holiday Facial Spray Trio from Mario Badescu is €14!

Facial Sprays are a nice treat within your skincare routine, and it’s a great way to sample all three versions the brand have on offer.

If someone in your life is a fan of sleep sprays the This Works Sleep Tight bauble is awesome and is only €15.

You get two teeny pillow sprays and a stress check roller ball.

I got carried away on Cult Beauty, I must admit, so bare with me 🙂

This Peter Thomas Roth Meet You Mask Set looks awesome and it’s only £20.50. Sorry Cult Beauty don’t covert to euro, this is good for our exchange rate though!

I’ve never tried this brand and have always wanted too. It’s not the most affordable so I thought this would be a great way to dip a toe or two in and give it a go.

Nest up is one of my personal faves. This is the Becca Cosmetics Golden Trio and it costs £35.

It’s mini versions of Champagne Pop, Opal and Moonstone highlighters.

I’m fairly obsessed with this 🙂

This Sweet Indulgence Set from Beauty Blender would have us sorted for makeup sponges for all of 2019. It costs £52.

It contains 4 Beauty Blenders and 4 solid cleansers to keep them clean.

I got the original Zoeva Plaisir Box a couple of years back from John and I bloody love it. This is a mini eyeshadow palette version and it retails for £31 so thought it was good beauty stocking filler material.

It contains three small but mighty eyeshadow palettes, and the display box is gorge too.

Last stop on this journey is Debenhams.

I actually nearly pulled the trigger on this Urban Decay Starfire Heavy Metal Trio in store yesterday. The only thing that stopped me is that it contains the infamous Midnight Cowboy liner and I already own it.

These retail for 20 quid a piece. To buy them as a set is €46.

Last but not least on this beauty journey, let me introduce the Kat Von D Limited Edition Best Of Nudes Mini Studded Lipstick Set.

This is currently on sale for €32.01 which I thought was a great deal for 6 mini lippies. It would make any nude lipstick lover happy.

And there you have my beauty stocking fillers for this year. No pressure, just sharing my research 🙂

xxx

December 5, 2018/by Gem

Makeup

Esteè Lauder Bronze Goddess Illuminating Powder Gelèe

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?

xxx

June 17, 2018/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Fashion, Fragrance, Hair, Lifestyle, Makeup

My Christmas Wishlist 2017

I asked on my Facebook page, would you lovely lot be interested in seeing my Christmas Wishlist for 2017. I toyed with doing gift guides this year. But, I feel a bit weird recommending things that I haven’t tried myself. I’m not really in the position blog wise or financially to get lots of lovely things together myself…maybe one day 🙂

You guys were so supportive of a Christmas Wishlist post. And so was John too may I add. He’s very excited to have a list of all the bits and bobs I would love under the tree. Makes his job a bit easier 🙂 Now, I am not expecting all of these, don’t worry. And also, we’ve decided not to do really big pressies this year either. In an ideal world, I would be getting a Dyson hairdryer, an iPhone X and a new bed, but that’s a big excessive. I would also be totally sticking a Nintendo Switch down on my list too if money was no object.

Oh and also if I didn’t have carpal tunnel from playing Mario on the DS. No, I am not ashamed of it 🙂 But we’re being somewhat sensible and going for more medium range pressies and some little bits and bobs for each other too this Christmas.

Enough jabbering on. Let’s get on to my actual Christmas Wishlist.

First up would have to be a L’Oréal Steampod.

So many of my blogging friends have literally said this has changed their hair lives. I’m still using a first edition GHD which is pretty shameful, I know. This would be a lovely addition to my hair tool collection. This is the 2.0 version. You can find it currently on offer from Look Fantastic here.

The Mac Snowball Mini Lipstick Kit has been something I’ve been eyeing up for ages, but definitely do not need.

It contains 12 mini lipsticks of some of Mac’s best selling shades. I actually couldn’t find it available online anywhere else now except John Lewis here. It’s the cheapest I have seen it in the past though. Only thing is they won’t ship it to Ireland so you would have to use Parcel Motel or Address Pal to ship it to a UK address and then get them to deliver it here. Not the worst though. It’s a very reasonable and effective way to do it.

Another beauty product on my list would be the By Terry Baume De Rose.

I do love a fancy lip balm so I do. It’s a lovely treat. And lip balm is something I use consistently everyday. This one is full of lovely ingredients and has SPF. It can also double up for dry skin or cuticles aswell. You can find By Terry in store from Space NK or online here. They have a Christmas ornament version of it too, which is super cute.

I waffle on about the L’Occitance Almond Shower Oil all the time. (I only hauled some of it here recently).

Well this is the body oil version of it and I really want to try it. I am currently obsessed with body oils at the minute. The colder weather definitely has something to do it it. This 100ml of the oil is actually on special at the minute from Debenhams here. Such a lovely gift to get someone.

The last more beauty related item on my list is something quite practical. An electric toothbrush!

I have to be honest, I picked this one from Boots here for a couple of not so logical reasons. It’s currently half price at €45.99. I figured that was a good deal. And it’s an Oral B. They are the only reasons. I’ve tried electrical toothbrushes over the years and they’ve always been crap so I’ve always gone back to manual brushing. But they’ve come a long way since then and they’re meant to clean so much better than just using a standard toothbrush. Ok, I’ll shut up now, I sound like an advert.

I have my sights set on a couple of pairs of shoes this festive season. This first pair are these awesome buckle ankle boots from River Island.

I’m not usually a fan of faux crocodile skin, but I think it just works for these. I love the buckle detailing and I also love that they have a zip for ease. They’re flat for comfort, but still look super smart. They’re current stock on the website here.

My other shoe want are some Vans Old Skool runners.

Everyone and their granny has a pair of these at the moment I know. But they’re just so darn cool. I couldn’t find the classic black and white ones in my size online. But, I came across these all black ones here and I actually really dig them! Let me know what you think?

I was never one for particularly nice jewellery. Penneys costume would do me grand. Ever since getting my engagement ring though, I’ve become more interested in investing in some nice pieces. The Missoma website has become a bit of a haunt for me. YouTube definitely makes me do it. I’ve three pieces from Missoma that my eyes are currently on.

The first ones are their Talisman Evil Eye Earrings.

Super delicate and pretty. They’re on the website here.

Another pair of earrings are haunting my dreams too.

Again, super small and delicate. I have my ears pierced three times and already have actual diamond studs (how fancy am I?), in the third hole. John got me them last Christmas. So in an ideal earring world these would round out my trio of ear adorments 🙂 They are the Gold Vermeil Tiny Orb Hinged Hoops if you want to check them out here.

My third Missoma love is their Tiny Horn Necklace.

These come in different sizes, I just like the idea of wearing the small one on an everyday basis. It’s from the Lucy Williams collection here.

Another accessory I have my eye on (John actually knows all about this already) is this Casio Rose Gold Watch.

This has been in my ASOS Wishlist folder for ages. I often add things into it in hopes they go down in price and I can justify buying them. I love the masculine feel of this, but it’s still quite delicate and classic. You can check out more info about it here.

Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf is always part of my fragrance collection. But I thought I would add their newest release BonBon to my Christmas Wishlist for this year.

It’s much sweeter and more girlie. I think it would be lovely layered with Flowerbomb as well as worn on it’s own. I’ve tested it a few times in store now and really like it. It’s currently on sale from Debenhams here.

My very last wishlist item will only mean anything to you if you’re a fan of Gilmore Girls.

I fell in love with this print after seeing it in the background of Karissa Pukas’ videos. She told me she ordered it from Etsy. I found the seller here. Unfortunately the creator is in the States so shipping to Ireland is pretty steep, but I still definitely would. I really really love this.

And….we’re done. If you got to the end of this, well done you! Let me know what’s on your Christmas Wishlist for this Christmas?

Thanks, as always for taking the time to read.

xxx

December 8, 2017/1 Comment/by Gem

Fragrance, Hair, Makeup, Skincare

Beauty Advent Calendars 2017

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 🙂

November 13, 2017/by Gem

Skincare

Lush The Man In The Moon Christmas Gift

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.

First up we have the gift’s namesake, the Man In The Moon Bubble Bar.

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.

First up is the Twilight Sparkle Jar.

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.

Next is the Twilight Shower Gel. You get a 100 gram bottle.

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.

The last two products are bath bombs. We have Shoot For The Stars.

This is honey scented with orange oil, bergamot and coconut cream. It turns your bath blue with golden glitter from the bath melt stars.

Last but not least is the Rocket Science bath bomb.

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?

xxx

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October 23, 2017/by Gem

Makeup

High End Makeup – My Five Most Expensive Products

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.

This is €74 from Brown Thomas here.

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.

High End Makeup My Five Most Expensive Products_1692

High End Makeup My Five Most Expensive Products_1693

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 🙂

xxx

September 4, 2017/2 Comments/by Gem