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YouTube 100 million percent made me do it! I have to admit I can be a bit skeptical when YouTubers or online people bring out products. A lot of it is just done to make a few bob on the side, and not really thought out.

Tanya Burr Cosmetics Illuminating Powders

Tanya Burr Cosmetics has been going a while now and I actually did try some bit from hers in the beginning, and they weren’t half bad. Since then though nothing has really caught my eye majorly so I didn’t invest in anything.

Tanya Burr Cosmetics Illuminating Powders

The Tanya Burr Cosmetics Illuminating Powders are new from the range. I watched her Get Ready With Me Video here, where she showcases her new ‘Chasing The Sun’ Collection. The Illuminating Powders in particular took my fancy.

Tanya Burr Cosmetics Illuminating Powders

They remind me so much of the Hourglass Ambient Lighting blush and bronzers. And the Max Factor Creme Puff blush and bronzers too. I actually did a post on the Max Factor Bronzer not too long ago here if you want to see the lighter shade in action.

There is three illuminating powders within the ‘Chasing The Sun’ collection.

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I picked up all three because Superdrug were having a 3 for 2 offer. Any excuse, right? They all come in a square, pretty sturdy clear topped palette, with 12 grams of product within.

The darkest of the three is ‘Warm Bronze’.

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It’s a medium, shimmering bronze shade.

 

Next, we have ‘Champagne Sorbet’.

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As the name would suggest, this is more of a champagne shimmer. Much more suited to use as a highlight for my lighter skin tone.

 

The last of the three is ‘Peonies Please’.

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This looks like a darker pink in the pan than it swatches. It’s still a really pretty shimmering light pink blush shade. This, for me would be a blush and highlight all in one. irish beauty website

I have to admit, I am really impressed with the colour pay off from all three of the Tanya Burr Cosmetics Illuminating Powder shades. The powders themselves are nice and soft and easy to blend. You get a really decent amount of product for the price point €10.85 ( in store here from Superdrug.) Not the cheapest ‘from the drugstore’, I know. Although they are only €8.99 from the Feel Unique website here. They give a really nice glow to the skin without being too sparkly or glittery.

I will definitely get a lot of use out of ‘Champagne Sorbet’ and ‘Peonies Please’. ‘Warm Bronze’ might be a little too dark for me to use regularly. It will make a lovely eye shadow though!

Here is ‘Peonies Please’ applied as blush to my skin: irish beauty blog beautynook

And then ‘Champagne Sorbet’ applied on top:

 

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Have you tried anything from the Tanya Burr Cosmetics range? What has YouTube made you buy? I reckon I could do a whole dedicated blog post on that question myself 🙂

xxx

 

 

It’s October Favourites time!

October favourites

Halloween is over and it is time to embrace the colder weather. Oh, and it means we are allowed talk about Christmas properly too now, right?

My October Favourites are strictly beauty related this month. For whatever reason there has been nothing else really floating my boat over the past few weeks.

October Favourites

I talk about my hair care favourites, skin care and of course some makeup too.

As always the actual Youtube video can be found on my channel here. But, you can watch it above too by just clicking on my mush there, Whatever you prefer 🙂

You can find the L’Oréal Fibrology hair products in Boots in store or online here.

The Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser is also in Boots in store or online here. Liz Earle are great with special offers and gift sets so keep an eye out if you want to try it.

You can watch my first impressions video on the  Urban Decay Afterglow Highlighter in Sin here if you want to see it up close and in action

I also have the Max Factor Creme Puff Blush in Nude Mauve up close in a post here if you want to see swatches.

The Kryolan Transluscent Powder is available on the Sunaura website here. You just have to scroll down to see it listed.

And that’s it for my October Favourites for 2016.

I was digging my somewhat simple makeup that day so I thought I would include a couple of pics 🙂

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The shadows are from the Too Faced Christmas Macaron Palette that is in Debenhams at the moment. And, my lippie is the Rimmel The Only One Matte Lipstick in ‘Trendsetter’. I have swatches of the lippie here. I’m obsessed!

Happy November , have a brilliant one 🙂

Gemma

xxx

The day I filmed this video I was heading to the Irish Beauty Blog Awards where I was casually up for an award…no biggie like 🙂 Unfortunately I came home empty handed, but we had a good night regardless 🙂

 

I love handbags, but I am a lazy git and don’t always carry one. However, for a night out a bag is a completely necessary addition to my outfit. Us girls bring an arsenal of ‘just in case’ items in our handbags. We just make it a little smaller when we hit the town so we don’t have to lug around the big everyday bag. I think this makes what we bring that more important and it’s stuff we actually use and love 🙂

what's in my handbag

So tonight Matthew I bring you ‘What’s in My Handbag’ the night out edition. Just a bit of fun. I love having a nosey into other people’s handbags so I though it was fitting that I let you have a nose into mine. Click on the video about to watch me waffle up a storm and then I’ll have everything I talk about listed below and anything that I can link linked 🙂

So…what’s in my handbag?….

Too Faced Kabuki brush. I can’t find the exact one. This is a similar one from Too faced here.

Mac Studio Fix Powder, you can buy from Brown Thomas here

Catrice Prime & Fine Contour Palette can be found in Penneys nationwide and independent stockists. I have swatches of it here.

Benefit Porefessional License To Blot , You can pick it up from Debenhams online here and I have a full review here too.

You can buy the Rimmel Exaggerate Eyeliners in store or from Boots online here.

You can get the Exaggerate Lipliners like the eyeliners in store or from Boots online here. I also have swatches of it here if you’re interested 🙂

Rimmel The Only One Lipstick in Naughty Nude- I have swatches here and you can buy from Boots online here.

I bought the Chanel card holder from Brown Thomas. Very fancy purchase, but I do get alot of use out of it 🙂

 

And I think that’s it, if I missed anything out be sure to let me know.

Thanks for checking out what’s in my handbag 🙂

xxx

 

I am not a blush monogamist by any stretch of the imagination. I flutter from one to the other depending on my mood and of course what colour or finish I want on that day. Lately I’ve noticed my hand has been reaching for the same 5 blushes in my makeup drawer though. 5 is still probably alot in a normal case scenario I know, but for a makeup fiend this is a pretty respectable number 🙂 So I thought I would share them with you today as they are actually quite varied (as blushers go anyway).

First up is one of the first Mac products I ever had in my collection. Don’t worry I’ve gone throught a few of them since then, but you can still see this is well loved.

Mac Pink Swoon

This is Mac’s Sheertone blush in ‘Pink Swoon’. At one point this was the only blush I had in my possession.

irish beauty blogPink Swoon Swatch

I like the Sheertone blushes because you can build them up to your own preference. I think Pink Swoon is the perfect matte pink cheek tone. It suits my skin tone well and I can wear it day or night. Pink Swoon is available for €24 from Brown Thomas here.

My second choice is another Mac Sheertone blush, but in the shimmer formula.

Mac Springsheen blush

This is ‘Springsheen’ which I think is a bit of a Mac cult classic. You can buy this from Brown Thomas for €24 here.

irish makeup and beauty blogSpringsheen swatch

It’s light peachy shade with a gold sparkle running through it. Probably more suited to the warmer months, but I love Springhsheen if you gone to town on your eye makeup or your lippie and just want a subtle pop of colour to your cheeks. It’s a good staple to have in your collection.

The third choice I have been grabbing for of late is a blush I actually spoke about in My Everyday Makeup Routine here.

catrice blush kiss me ken

This is the Catrice Illuminating Blush in 030 ‘Kiss Me Ken’.

beauty blogkiss me ken swatch

This is a more mauvey toned blush I think, with just a little sparkle running through it.

 

I tend to grab for this when I’m going for a mauve toned lip, which I have been loving at the minute. I think the similar tone of colour on the cheeks and lips go well together.3

 

Number 4 is the priciest of the bunch. It’s £32 from Spacenk here.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Diffused Heat

This is the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in ‘Diffused Heat’.

irish beauty blog beautynookDiffused Heat Swatch

It looks pretty scary in the pan, right? But as you can see when it swatched on my arm, it’s a lovely peachy pink shade. You have a swirl of intense colour, but then you are kind of diluting it by mixing it with the lighting powder running through it. This is such a pretty shade and the formulation of these blushes are really lovely and so blendable too. I use this blush alot when I’m going for more of a fresh face approach to my makeup, if that makes sense? :p

 

I left this blush until last, because it’s really the one I reach for the most.

Max Factor Seductive Pink

This is the Max Factor Creme Puff Blush in 15 ‘Seductive Pink’.

beauty blog beautynookSeductive Pink Swatch

The beauty community went nuts when Max Factor first released these blushes, as they are such a lovely and affordable alternative to the Hourglass offerings that I talked about a minute ago. I think Seductive Pink is a blush everyone should have in their collection if I’m being honest. It’s just a great all rounder, and ticks all the boxes for me. It’s pink, but has a rosey tone to it aswell, it’s not completely matte, but it doesn’t interfere with your makeup at all, it will work on so many skin tones, it works with all types of makeup looks and the formula of Creme Puff blushes is so lovely as well. They’re soft, pigmented and easy to blend. Can you tell I love it? 🙂 You can pick it up from Boots here

Do you have a favourite blush or blushes that you reach for constantly? Do you even rate blush?

Let me know 🙂

xxx

Hourglass Mood Exposure Max Factor Nude MauveThe blogsphere has been alight ever since Max Factor brought out their Creme Puff Blushes. Instantly they were being compared to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes…they look really really similar in the pan so there is no surprise there! As the proud owner of 4 Hourglass blushes I thought it was my duty as a blogger and makeup obsessed person to buy a couple of the Max Factor Creme Puff Blushes and compare. All in the name of research I swear 🙂

So today I am comparing Hourglass’s ‘Mood Exposure’ (which I have in palette form)

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Mood Exposure

 

Hourglass Mood Exposure

 

to Max Factor’s ’10 Nude Mauve’.

Max Factor Creme Puff Blush 10 Nude Mauve

Max Factor 10 Nude Mauve

They look pretty similar in the pan don’t they? The marbling effect in ‘Mood Exposure’ is more prominent than in Nude Mauve, and ‘Nude Mauve’ looks a tad more shimmery when you look at them both up close.

When they are swatched on the skin, they look like this.

Swatch Mood Exposure Nude Mauve

Mood Exposure                                                                   Nude Mauve

Hourglass’s ‘Mood Exposure’ is a slightly more muted peach shade when swatched whereas Max Factor’s ‘Nude Mauve’ is true to it’s name and a little darker and more nude in colour.

Both blushes blend really well on the skin and can be worn as a light flush of colour or can be built up for a more noticeable application. They both have a very subtle sheen to them, with just a smattering of shimmer nothing too drastic or over powering at all. They both also have a light fragrance to them, different but it really won’t affect you when you are wearing either of them.

Rather than talking about them separately it just felt natural for me to talk about them together because they really are such similar products. Except of course when it comes to the price tag. The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes will set you back close to 40 quid where as the Max Factor Creme Puff Blushes are a much more budget friendly 11.50, there’s a big difference there.

Both of these blushes are the perfect neutral blush colour, for less makeup days or when you are having a day of focus on your eyes or your lips, both of them would tie your look together without trying to steal the show. It’s just down to which one you want to buy. As a makeup ‘collector’ yep that’s what I’m calling myself! I like having both of them at my disposal but in reality the Max Factor offering is cheaper, more readily available and does the exact same thing!

The decision is yours 🙂

xxx

Benefit Puff Off

When Benefit bring a new product out, they always do it so well. Their marketing department are amazing. One of their new launches, “Puff Off” is no different. The packaging is so cool, the applicator is an iron for god’s sake 🙂

Benefit Puff Off“Puff Off” is an eye gel to help wake up your eyes and help get rid of any puffiness and I think it does a pretty good job of this. The iron applicator may be whimsical but it does a really good job and fitting into the contour of your orbital bone and helps to massage the product in as well as helping to drain any fluid you might have built up. It is metal too which is nice and cooling on the skin.

The product itself comes out of the middle of the applicator. Be careful when dispensing it, as alot can come out of the squeezy tube.

IMG_4915Benefit suggest you put three small splodges around your eye and then blend in with the applicator.

The gel soaks into the skin really quickly, so it’s perfect for the morning time when you don’t have time to mess around. Benefit claims you can use Puff Off over makeup too, so I suppose if you are having an extra long day you could pop some on to get rid of some of the signs of over tiredness and lack of sleep.

This is a lovely product and it does do what it says on the tin. However if you need alot of hydration under your eyes, I don’t know if it will be for you, as it is a gel formula so it not super emollient.

I would recommend it if you are looking for a product to perk you up in the morning and make you physically seem more awake.

Puff Off is available at Benefit stockists now and costs €30.50

 

Gemma

xxx