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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

I already harped on about my go to highlighter, the Balm’s Mary-Lou Manizer not too long ago here. And then I get my greedy little mitts on this.

The Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in the Shade ‘Champagne Pop’.

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Champagne Pop‘Champagne Pop’ is in collaboration with American YouTuber Jaclyn Hill. If you are a YouTube makeup tutorial fan, you already know who Jaclyn Hill is, but if not, she is a Florida based makeup artist turned YouTube makeup guru with millions of people subscribed and watching her makeup tutorials here, including little old me 🙂

We have Becca here in Ireland. Spacenk sell it as well as Mise Beauty. It’s a gorgeous makeup brand that originated in Australia. They already have some beautiful skin perfectors in their collection i.e highlighters, but ‘Champagne Pop’ is the newest one on the block. Unfortunately for us it is a Sephora exclusive, so all us Irish fans had to beg steal and borrow to be the proud owners 🙂

‘Champagne Pop’ is a powder highlight with a peach/champagne tone to it.

Champagne Pop Review

I’ve never owned a Becca Skin Perfector, and now after owning this, I want them all. It glides onto the skin beautifully and is pigmented from the first swipe.

Irish Beauty BlogBut obviously you can build it up to whatever intensity you desire.

It’s gives such a pretty glow to the skin. It shines rather than sparkles if that makes sense? And I love it for this. The peachy shade works on Mac NC20 pale skin, and I have seen others using it with lighter and darker skin tones online and it works just as well.

I apply it with something like this little duo fibre brush from Nima

beauty blog review champagne popI dip it in lightly.

irish beauty blog beautynookThen apply a couple of light layers to the tops of my cheeks. I’m not going to call them cheekbones because my cheeks are way to chubby for that 🙂

irish makeup and beauty blogIt leaves you with a lovely champagne shine to your skin as you can see.

champagne pop swatch

irishbeautyblogLike Mary-Lou, as well as being an absolutely beautiful highlight on the face, Champagne Pop applies just as lovely on the eyes either on the lids as a peachy pop or in the inner tear ducts to open up the eyes. I use a Nima concealer brush for this or a pencil brush.

irish makeup and beauty blog beautynook

beautynook beauty blog

makeup beauty blog

I like to apply a little on my cupids bow too if I’m feeling really fancy 🙂

beautynook beauty blogMy skin has a tendency to ‘eat up makeup’. It just soaks in and begins to disappear after a while. I find that ‘Champagne Pop’ does stay put well on me. And even at the end of the day when the oils are after coming through on my skin (shine in the wrong places) I can still see highlighter on my cheeks. For me, this is rare. Mary-Lou Manizer and Champagne Pop have been the only highlighter I have ever owned to stand the test of time on my oily skin.

I can’t really say anything bad about this product except I wish it was easier to get hold of. There has been talk online though about Champagne Pop coming to Europe though, so if it does, run out and buy it, you won’t be disappointed 🙂

I got Champagne Pop direct from Sephora and it cost $38. It is now part of the Becca permanent line and you can buy in Spacenk and on their website.

xxx

 

Makeup Revolution is pretty new to Irish shores. We could buy it online but never in store. Now we have a couple of stands, just in the Superdrug’s we have here in Dublin. So still not the easiest to get if you don’t live in the county 🙁

I picked up a few bits which I documented here in a blogpost a while ago.

One of them was their Radiance Palette.

Irish beauty blog makeup revolution radiance palette

This is a trio of their highlighters. If you are a makeup fiend you may be thinking these look familiar? Well you would be right there.

This palette has a remarkable resemblance to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette which I also have in my possession.

beauty blog hourglass ambient lighting palette

These are being compared alot online. The Makeup Revolution Palette is being deemed a dupe for the Hourglass. They look really similar in the pan but of course the Makeup Revolution one is a hell of alot cheaper than the Hourglass palette. So do they compare?

Beautynook Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette V Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette

irish beauty blog close up makeup revolution radiance palette                                                            Close up shots of both palettes

beauty blog close up ambient lighting palette

Here is the Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette swatched on my arm from left to right.

makeup revolution radiance palette swatch

Then, here is the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette swatched in the same way. Radiance Light first, Incandescent Light in the middle and then Dim Light.

Hourglass ambient lighting palette swatch

I think the Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette fares ok. The palette itself is grand. It had a good sized mirror within a plastic casing and the powders are housed pretty firmly inside. The product is a little powdery and takes alot of building up in my humble opinion. It disappears as you blend it into the skin, but you can eventually get there and build up a glow with them. They have quite a sparkly finish.

As I reiterate in most of my posts I have oily skin, and I find the Radiance Palette doesn’t last very long on me. After a couple of hours of applying any of them, I can’t really see the product anymore, it’s like it just sinks in, not great 🙁 It may work better on drier skin? I don’t know.

So what about the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette?

I have this palette a long time now and really love it. I love the sleek packaging (even though it’s plastic) and then the powders inside are just so soft and buttery to the touch. They blend into the skin without much effort at all. They glide onto the skin much easier and they last much longer on me personally then the Makeup Revolution ones. They look more soft focus than the Radiance Palette, which I prefer too.

There is a pretty substantial price difference between these two. The Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette will set you back €10.35 and the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette is a whopping €68!

On comparing the palettes, it really comes down to brass tax, you get what you pay for. There is often amazing similar products (I find the word ‘dupe’ hard so I’ll go with similar ha)  to be found in the ‘drugstore’, of course, and I love to hunt them out and shout them from the rooftop, but I personally don’t think I have found one this time. They definitely look similar, but they do not perform the same at all.

In conclusion, I think the Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette is OK as a shimmery highlighter palette, I don’t think I would repurchase it, whereas I think the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette is a gorgeous face powder/ soft focus highlighting palette and I would splurge on it all over again. That is my over analytic summation anyways 🙂

Do you have either? Or both? Let me know what you think.

xxx

Beautynook Top Cream Shadow Stick Picks

I use cream shadow pencils, sticks whatever you want to call them alot in my day to day makeup routine. Formulas have gotten so great nowadays that you can use them as shadow on their own and they don’t budge (for the most part) throughout the day. Or you can layer them under shadows to intensify them or increase their longevity too. They come in very handy.

So I compiled some my favourite brands for this post to show you some of the ones I love using and that I have tried and tested.

First up is the posh ones of the group.

By Terry Ombre Blackstar

These are the By Terry Ombre Blackstar. These are so very nice and so very posh with their €30 price tag. They are so creamy, pigmented and easy to blend though and they last all day on the lids. You can literally just throw one of these all over your lids, blend the edges and you’ve got yourself a really lovely eye look.

I have two shades…so far 🙂

5 Misty Rock 4 Bronze Moon

5 Misty Rock (on top) 4 Bronze Moon (bottom)

I have a couple of brands that I just have one offering from, but I wanted to include them because I pick them up regularly.

Rimmel Scandaleyes shadow stick

The Rimmel Scandaleyes. I love this shade under gold or creamy coloured shadows. It’s a great neutral shade to have in your collection. They come in an alot of different shades though. This is 002 Bulletproof Beige.

Rimmel Scandaleyes Bulletproof BeigeI bought one of the new Bourjois Colorband sticks not too long ago in Boots.

Bourjois Colorband Eyeshadow & Liner

This shade 05 Mauve Baroque is a great more affordable dupe for the By Terry Ombre Blackstar in Misty Rock. These stay put on the lid too, no messing about. You need to work quickly with them once it’s on it’s on!

Bourjois Colorband Mauve Baroque

Bourjois Colorband Mauve Baroque

 

The Kiko Longlasting Shadow Sticks are new in my makeup collection, but I picked them up because I’d read so much positivity about them in the blogging and You Tube world. You have to order online if you’re in Ireland which is a pain but the shipping is really good, as are the sticks themselves 🙂

I got three shades 05 (another dupe for the By Terry Ombre Blackstar, do you see a theme forming?), 10 a sparkly blue green shade and 10 an electric blue.

Kiko Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow

These are just awesome, simple as that. Creamy, smooth ,vibrant, longlasting, and come in a plethora of colours to suit everyone, and they are so reasonable priced too. More will find their way home to me soon, I’m sure of it.

Kiko Longlasting Shadow Sticks 05,11,10

05, 11,10

A couple of Wet n Wild picks up next.

Wet n wild Idol Eyes Creme Shadow Pencil

If you are a regular round these parts you’ll know I am a huge fan of this affordable brand. These are their Idol Eyes Creme Shadow Pencil. So ridiculously affordable and lovely base for shadow to help them stick around and help the colour become more vibrant too. These come in loads of colours, soft, but not as pigmented as maybe some of the others on the market. For the price though they are pretty great 🙂 I have two:

Wet n Wild Idol Eyes Graphite Techno

E133 Techno (on top) E135 Graphite (on bottom)

I left the probably most well known ones until last.

Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencils

These are of course the Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencils. Apologies as mine have seen better days, they aren’t very photogenic. That doesn’t mean they’re not good at their job though. These things are brilliant! I’ve been buying Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencils a long time, I use to have to buy them on eBay from America, but thank god Ireland now finally has gotten its act together and we are starting to see Nyx in pharmacies more and more. Wohoo! These literally come in all of the colour of the rainbow and more. They come in different finishes too,  some are matte some are more shimmery or sparkly. They are stupid pigmented and last well on the eyes. I have even used these on my water line and they last really well inside the eye too. I know Milk is such a cult shade now. It’s a matte, opaque white, if you are wanting vivid colours to stand out, you need Milk in your life believe me!

I have six in my collection, I’ve had more in the past but where they’re gone I don’t know 🙁

Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencils

In Order 603 Pots & Pans, 615 Slate, 612 Gold, 617 Iced Mocha, 624A Rocky Mountain Green and 604 Milk

There you have it, if you are in the market for some new cream shadow sticks, I hope I’ve helped a little showing you some of my favourites. I tried to pick some from all spectrum’s of the market to suit everyone. I honestly get so much use from all of these little beauties. Writing this blog post has just made me want to buy more 🙂

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

Can you believe Christmas is over? 2015 has come so quickly. I hope you all had a fantastic break and the start of your new year is going well.

Christmas was very good to me and I wanted to share with you some of the goodies we were lucky enough to receive as gifts. I love seeing what people got so we hope you don’t mind us getting in on the fun 🙂

The boyfriend did good this year (as he does every year).

First up I got this rose gold faced Accurist watch.

Accurist Rose Gold Watch

Black Leather Accurist Watch

 

I have wanted one of these for ages, ever since I saw Youtube’s Lily Pebbles rocking one, so I was very happy to open this on Christmas morning.

He also got my the coveted Hourglass Ambient Blush Palette.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette

How beautiful is this? It is so pretty and pretty extravagant looking. The colours are very wearable and have a lovely glow to them. I love owning this palette 🙂

I of course had to get the Soap & Glory Next Big Thing set. I get this every year and love it. It contains all of the Soap & Glory items you will ever need for shower time.

Soap & Glory Next Big Thing

He got me the Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot Palette, which was an absolute bargain, considering how expensive Benefit boxed blushes are.

Benefit Cheeky Sweet SpotBenefit Boxed Blushes

It contains 5 of their cult blushes as well as Hoola, a sample of Watts Up and a little brush. I love Benefit blushes so this is a very welcome addition to my makeup collection.

A new hair dryer was amongst the gifts on Christmas morning.

Babyliss Hair Dryer

I didn’t think I needed this, but it has 2100w and is so much stronger than the one I already have. I have a whole lot of hair so this will not go to waste.

Diptyque’s Mimosa Candle is on my Christmas and Birthday list every year, it’s my favourite scent, so I was very happy to receive a nice new one. Yum yum yum 🙂

Diptyque Mimosa Candle

Another gift I got from him was all from his own findings. A couple of years ago he surprised me with the Anna Sui Minnie Mouse Lipstick and Eye set, which I love so much I can’t bring myself to use it and I think this is going to end up the same way.

Anna Sui Lipstick M

How pretty is the packaging? The lipstick inside doesn’t disappoint either.

Anna SuiAnna Sui

We always do a present on Christmas Eve because we are children and cannot wait to exchange gifts, so this year my Christmas Eve pressie was the Charlotte Tilbury Mini Lipstick Charms.

Charlotte Tilbury Mini Lipstick CharmsCharlotte Tilbury Mini Lipsticks

These are such a cute gift for any makeup lover, as well as being lovely pigmented lipsticks.

Kris Kindle goes down in the boyfriends house at Christmas time. We make a list and then the person who gets you can pick what they want from the list up to €100. This year mr father in law (to be) got me and it did very well. He made the money go very far. A couple of the stand out things were.

The Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette.

Urban Decay Vice 3 PaletteUrban Decay Vice 3

The shades Brokedown, Sonic and Alchemy make me squeal with delight 🙂 Can’t wait to get properly stuck into this.

He also got me an Alex and Ani bangle.

Alex and Ani Bracelet

This is the Path of Life charmed bangle, which I think is quite fitting for me at the minute. These are a really lovely and reasonably priced gift with a lovely sentiment.

The Mammy got me a couple of lovely goodies as she always does including these cute pj’s from Marks & Spencer. I can’t wear these enough, they are so cozy.

marks & spencers pj's

And the Lush Merry Christmas Gift.

Lush Merry Christmas Gift

Is it bad that these are all nearly gone already?

I was such a lucky girl this year. My brother kindly gave me a very generous gift card for Brown Thomas and so I went in over the Christmas break and bought a couple of extra presents. #brat I know 🙂

I picked up Charlotte Tilbury’s eyelash curler.

Charlotte Tilbury eyelash curler

Adore that this is rose gold, it’s so pretty. I’m not too fond of it unfortunately though, I much prefer my Shu Uemura 🙁

The other thing I bought is one of my new favourite things for sure though. I think it deserves it’s own blogpost, so stay tuned for that.

Chanel Vitalumiere Loose Powder FoundationSo there you have it a dip into some of the wonderful gifts I was given for Christmas. It was a fantastic one surrounded by friends and family and too much chocolate…the diet starts now I swear 🙂

Happy New Year, hope 2015 is an amazing one for you!

So tell me, what did you get for Christmas? Go on tell, I love to have a nose.

Gemma.

xxx