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Eyeshadow Palettes I Don’t Reach For

This is not a dig at any of the brands that created these eyeshadow palettes. In fact I don’t really think overall, it’s really a dig at the eyeshadow palettes themselves. It’s just me explaining why I don’t reach for them, and why they don’t seem to work for me.

I might get a bitchy in between, but that tends to happen when you’re on a roll, right? 🙂 I have a bucket load of eyeshadow palettes. Makeup is my favourite pass time. There’s always going to be times I spend my money, or get something in a pr package that just doesn’t float my boat though.

There’s times also where you think you’re going to love a product, and then it just doesn’t get utilised. And that’s fine, it’s the look of the draw. Beauty products are being released constantly, it’s so easy to get caught up in the new shiny things on offer.

I’ve mentioned, I think all of these eyeshadow palettes in one form or another here on Beautynook or on my Instagram page. Some of them I loved initially, some I wanted because of the hype and some were bought on a whim. There is no reason to my thought process. And by the end of the video, I talked myself into trying to use at least one of them again, just because I don’t think it got a fair trial.

There is five palettes in total:

All the brands listed I enjoy and use a lot! I don’t think you can love everything a brand brings out. As I say in the video too though this is just my opinions and thoughts. We are all different. When it comes to reading reviews on products, never just read one. It’s always good to get different views and thought processes. Do you have and love any of these? Let me know.

xxx

*********INCLUDES PR SAMPLES*************

May 10, 2019/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup

Colourpop Cosmetics Haul

Zoella collaborated with Colourpop Cosmetics, (just in case you didn’t know). Zoe lives in the UK and Colourpop are in LA, so to celebrate the launch of the collection, they had free world wide shipping.

I’ve bought from Colourpop Cosmetics before, seen here, and never had any issues. Since this order, I’ve seen articles about it being illegal for them to ship to the EU. Apparently they violate EU regulations. I just wanted to state that. I don’t want anyone being out of pocket at all. Always do your research. There’s yet to be an issue for me, but maybe I just got lucky. I always keep my order below the VAT threshold, so I don’t have to pay anything extra. The threshold is only €22 now I believe, before you could have to pay customs charges for orders from America. Because the shipping was free, no matter how much money you spent at the time, I made two small orders and sent them to two different addresses.

They both came in about a week. I am obsessed with having an eyeliner in every colour imaginable. In case you don’t follow me on Instagram and didn’t know that 🙂 My Colourpop order definitely reflects that, so might not be for everyone. They have loads and loads of products to choose from though, with decent packaging, quality and price tag.

I am not Zoella’s target market whatsoever, but I liked the look of her collection, so picked up the blush to try. I brought this away with me at the weekend, so excuse its grubby appearance. It’s called Soul Mate and it’s a lovely pinky peachy shade. For me, the payoff is subtle but buildable with this.

The Mar Pressed Powder Eyeshadow Palette came on my trip away too, so it has been used before photographing it for this post. The blogger shame is real 🙂

From left to right, row by row you have:

El Rey, Wild One, Detour.

Boozy, Gridlock, Sorbet.

HWY, Top Down, My Way.

I really wanted to try one of their Jelly Much Eyeshadow. The jelly texture intrigued me so much. I went with the shade Short Circuit.

This is beautiful and the colour payoff is immense. I just wish I didn’t go for such a predictable shade. I have loads of similar colours in my collection already.

Lastly, I picked up three colourful eyeliners in three different formulas. I haven’t put any of these to the test yet.

A Crème Gel Liner in Zulu.

A Crème Gel Colour in Piggybank.

And finally one of their BFF Liquid Liners in Ducky.

And there you have my latest Colourpop Cosmetics haul. Did you pick up anything? Have you ever tried anything from the brand? Be sure to follow me on Instagram and subscribe to my YouTube channel to really see all of these put to good use 🙂

xxx

March 11, 2019/by Gem

Lifestyle, Youtube Video

Travel Vlog Malta

I took some (very amateur) snippets of travel footage while myself, John, my mam and my brother were in Malta. It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, right? As you’ve probably seen me mention a couple of times on Instagram stories, my mam isn’t very well, so we’re trying to make some lasting memories with her. She’s been to Malta a few times over the years and loved it. I thought it would be fun for us all to go together on a little family trip.

I booked the flights for next to nothing on Ryanair a couple of weeks before we went. It’s off season so they we super cheap.

So was the Airbnb, although as I say in the vlog, I wouldn’t recommend where we stayed, so I didn’t show much of it. It was grand for how we used it and how much it cost in January. The location was great too. We stayed in St Julian, the apartment was close to lots of bus stops and had plenty of amenities close by.

As I mentioned this holiday was more for my mam, and she loves shopping. We spent most of it waiting outside of shops for her 🙂 We did do a little exploring and lots of eating and drinking in between though.

Malta is a beautiful place. We managed to travel to Valletta, Sliema and Gozo, (which is an Island), within our week there. It’s a reasonably small country so it doesn’t take too long to get from one place to another.

The architecture is beautiful and the cathedrals in particular will blow your mind. I never thought I would get up close to masterpieces from the artist Caravaggio. I actually studied some of his paintings in school, so it was amazing to learn more about him and see some of his works in real life.

Overall, our trip to Malta was a memorable one. The food, the views and the people are all brilliant. It is pretty chilly there if you travel in January, that’s something to be mindful of. You automatically think of it as a warm country. We will 100% will be back, to do even more exploring.

Let me know what you think of the travel vlog. Is it worth me doing more of them in the future?

xxx

February 6, 2019/by Gem

Fashion, Youtube Video

Louis Vuitton My New Handbag!

I know, I know! This video only went up at the end of last year showing you my bargain River Island find. But having friends like Siopaella means I come into contact with some beautiful things. And sometimes those things stick, like my new Louis Vuitton handbag 🙂

I’ve gotten some questions about my new purchase, so I thought it would be fun to answer them in video form. My new very fancy purchase, is a vintage find from the 90’s, which makes me love it even more. It’s called the Louis Vuitton Jeune Fille Crossbody bag. I found out later that Jeune Fille means young girl in French, which I am at heart, but definitely not in real life 🙂

I am not a designer expert whatsoever. That’s Ella’s job, so be sure to follow Siopaella on Instagram to keep up with all their awesome content. Their unboxing videos are the best!

There is of course wear and tear to my new Louis Vuitton splurge, it’s old and it’s been used. I am completely ok with that, that comes with buying vintage. In the video, I tell you how I came across the bag and why I bought it, so I won’t bore you with any of that in written form.

And as an extra little bonus at the end, I rummage through it and show you the compartments that it has and all the crap I can fit into it. Including a stupid amount of makeup, of course 🙂

Makeup for this occasion was pretty simple. I used the Anastasia Sultry Palette, which I happened to get in Siopaella too!! And also my beloved Urban Decay Torch eyeliner in my water line. Nothing ground breaking.

Let me know what you think of my fairly pricey Louis Vuitton splurge. It’ll be a while before my next, that’s for sure 🙂

xxx

January 17, 2019/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Fashion, Fragrance, Hair, Haul, Makeup, Skincare

Black Friday Deals / Cyber Monday 2018

It’s that time of the year again. Time for black Friday deals, and Cyber Monday to boot. I’m more of a Cyber Monday gal myself. I don’t tend to bother with the crowds 🙂

As a disclaimer, I will just say. You are under no obligation to buy any black Friday deals. I am doing this just because as a blogger I get sent a lot of the codes, so it’s easy enough to put them in one place. And also to be completely transparent, some of the links I will share are affiliate links. You pay no more using an affiliate link. All it means is that if you click on my link and choose to buy something, I make a minuscule commission.

Anyway, let’s get onto the black Friday deals. I’ll insert the ones I have already and then update this post as often as I can with more codes/links and cyber Monday deals too.

I’ll update as I source more or things change. Happy and safe shopping 🙂 And if this was helpful, please do share. Thanks.

Gemma

xxx

November 21, 2018/by Gem

Makeup

MAC Shiny Pretty Things Party Favours – Gold

I wasn’t going to do this just because I haven’t really played with them enough. But, a few of you asked to see swatches of my new lovely Mac Shiny Pretty Things Party Favours. I have the gold ones. There is also a pink version to choose from in Brown Thomas.

My lovely mate Cherry Sue and I were in BT perusing the Mac Christmas ranges. She decided to treat herself to the gold Mac Shiny Pretty Things Party Favours. But, she also very kindly picked me one up too. For no reason other than she’s sound. And yes, I cried, so thanks Sue 🙂

Mac know how to do Christmas. And this year is no different. Yes, I said the C word. Halloween is over, it’s officially the festive season. Get your garlands out 🙂

A full sized Mac pigment and glitter is €22 and I feel like although they’re awesome, you’ll never get through an entire pot in a lifetime. Unless you are hardcore or a makeup artist. So I love that they’re doing minis now. The minis on their own are €12. The Mac Shiny Pretty Things Party Favours in gold and pink are €30, so you make a decent saving. There are four pots per pack. Try saying that really fast.

You get two pigments and two glitters within the pack. I ripped mine open quick smart when I got it, so I just have a stock photo here for reference.

From left to right we have: English Gilt (pigment), Gold (glitter), Copper (glitter), Shiny Time (pigment).

I applied the pigments dry with a flat brush. I did used some setting spray with the glitters, just to adhere them to the skin.

I will 100% be showing you these in action on my eyeballs over on Instagram over the coming weeks, so pop over there if you want to see that. Are you going to pick anything up from the Christmas range? I think there’s a lot of great beauty lover present ideas within it for sure.

xxx

October 31, 2018/by Gem

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