Mastering Your Makeup

Anastasia Beverley Hills Modern Renaissance Palette- Review

17:31:00
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Urban Decay- My current top 3!

Hello Lovelies

Over the Easter holidays, I was lucky enough to be off work for a whole week. I was home in Waterford spending time with my mam and dad and also hosting one of my besties for the week. We had a fab time catching up and getting into town that on the Thursday evening we went to a beauty event in Debenhams in City Square Waterford. This event was to showcase the new skincare line from Urban Decay Cosmetics. It was hosted by the lovely Lisa who a lot of you will know is a mummy/beauty blogger also from Waterford, Cuddle & Contouring. I've known Lisa since she first set up her blog but this was the first time I was going to watch her demo a look using all Urban Decay products.

At the event I did my usual, I was mad busy on snapchat,I was taking notes like a mad woman and building up a wish list the length of my arm...or so I thought! It's not for a second that there wasn't loads I wanted from Urban Decay, it actually showed me just how many of the products I already own myself! I was delighted! (Now let's not get carried away, I still spent over €50 on 3 products on the night only to discover when I rang J in Dublin, I already had the lipstick!!) Who does that? Anyway... it got me thinking about the amount of Urban Decay products I actually own and use on a frequent basis so here is a post on my current most loved & used UD products!

First up is an oldie but a goodie...The setting sprays! Now this is technically a cheat but.. I have been using the All Nighter setting spray for at least 3 years now, even when I get my makeup done, if it's not set with a spray from the own brand I will always come home and spritz my face with the all nighter spray. On long days in work I will also make sure to set my face as there's never time to top up your makeup. Using the all nighter spray means you don't have to.My face and I have had some crazy night's out and still when I have that spray on the only thing that gives me away in pics is my lack of posing the drunker I get :) At the recent event I decided to try out the de-slick instead as it may be more what I'm looking for when working. Being out for the night in hot sweaty bars and clubs is very different to your work place in the day time. I have been using the spray since I got it every morning finishing off my look and I'm really liking how well it's keeping my face during the day. The best thing about this product and the reason it's actually top of my list is the value. I always buy the travel size of this product and it's only €12!! Sometimes if you're purchasing at the counter at the really good time they even have sample bottles of the all nighter spray and this can last you ages! Unfortunately the girls didn't have any at the Debenhams event so my bigger bottle will be coming to Poland with my next week!

The second of my UD loves at the moment is a Vice Lipstick. These 100 shades came out last year and took over social media for all the right reasons. The stunning Ruby Rose was the model for the campaign and she is such a girl crush of mine, just so badass! Te shade that I love has been a bit controversial as some people find it too retro from the 90's but I love shade 1993! Yep it's super brown but when I have tan on and get to wear my NC35 in MAC with a burnt orange smokey look on the skin, a bronzing highlighter, I love my 1993 on my lips! It's really easy to apply although lets face it ladies help yourself out and use a lip liner, they make the work so much easier if you've any sort of angled lips so I love a Penneys liner to start with and then fill in the whole lip with the lipstick. I was considering buying the 1993 liquid vice but I thought that was taking things just a little too far so I decided to then purchase the BackTalk shade instead in the Lipstick. It's a beautiful colour and I can imagine more of a favourite for many people but I'm not many people and the 1993 shade is the shade out of 100 that I love most!!

The third product I want to talk about today is my Naked Flushed palette, again this is a little cheat but it's actually because I have two Strip & Going Native! I know, wouldn't one be enough but no.. I have one for when I'm wearing darker foundation (say when I'm tanned) and then one for when I'm the paler me. Both of my Naked Flushed palettes have a contour, blush and highlight shade. The price is around €28 and is ideal for travelling. Again if like me you are in a rush in the mornings, a palette that does three of the jobs is gold-dust to you! ow to be fair neither of my palette Going Native and have a matte contour shade which is something I should a have considered when buying them but they do only contain a small amount of shimmer so it's totally acceptable to use the brown shades as your contour. When I am pale, I rarely use contour as most are way too dark for my pale skin so a small lick of the colour from my palette and I'm sorted. The highlight shade in both is absolutely stunning and the blush is not for the faint hearted. The best thing about these palettes is the flawless application on the skin, the product feels so silky you never get that muddy look you can sometimes see with a cheaper palette. I really do love both my palettes and I think if you had an Urban Decay fan and wanted to gift them something they'd get great use of out then I highly recommend one of the palettes. Don't forget you can always multitask with products so any of the shades in the face palette can also be used on the eyes! Bargain!!

I hope you enjoyed this post taking a look at my current three faves from urban Decay, come back to me in a few months and maybe I'll have new ones but I've been using these babies so long I highly doubt it!!

12:50:00
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Hush Lash & Brow Lounge Naas- My Mink Lashes!

19:29:00
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Lancome Teint Idole Foundation- My New Skin Match

Lancôme Launches Teint Idole Ultra Wear

"To Celebrate the Foundation in 40 Beautiful Shades, Lancome have found one inspiring woman to represent each skintone including Irish Violinist & Dublin Girl Cathy O’Neill. #myshademypower #ultrawear #lancomeireland

In celebration of its 20 years – an age when anything is possible – Teint Idole Ultra Wear pursues its quest for perfection, reinventing itself once again! In 2017, a new chapter begins: iconic longwearing formula Teint Idole Ultra 24h becomes Teint Idole Ultra Wear.

With a new bottle, chicer than ever, its high coverage formula now exists in 40 shades, answering every woman’s need and making it simpler for them to replicate the most sophisticated techniques. It is easier than ever to recreate a radiant and velvety complexion – without discomfort, streaks or caking – and looks that you can customise for each moment of the day, depending on the occasion, from natural to glamorous and sweet to wild; whoever we decide to be, Teint Idole Ultra Wear has got us covered.

Thanks to a formula that will never fail, it encourages any woman to live life to the fullest. By being a best friend and ally, it allows all women to express each facette of who they are. Long lasting perfection: a secret weapon for women who thrive to enjoy each moment of life without compromising.

To celebrate the re-launch of our best-selling Ultra Wear foundation in 40 beautiful shades, Lancôme have found one inspiring woman to represent each skintone. "At Lancôme, we believe there’s never been a better time to be a woman. You can be an Olympic athlete, a neuroscientist, a DJ, a movie director…. And whatever you decide to achieve, your make-up should have you covered."

#myshademypower #ultrawear #lancomeireland

As you can quite imagine all of the above information came from a press release which was sent to me some weeks back, in fact it's months back at this stage. I then took it upon myself to head to a Lancome stand and have myself skin matched. I was actually in Wexford with my mum for a girly night away so I popped into the Sam McCauley's Chemist and was matched to my shade. You would think with so many shades now, out of the 40 one would be perfect! I was starting to feel a little disheartened when the first two didn't suit me at all but the lovely lady at the counter (who's name of course now I cannot remember) thought of another shade, one of the new shades and low and behold shade 023 was a perfect match. I left it on my whole face to see would it oxidize at all and it didn't, it remained the pale shade I needed to be able to not have to wear tan but not look sick of ghostly at the same time! I was thrilled, so when my new bottle arrived, I couldn't wait to wear it to work.

I moved jobs recently which has led to massive changes in my life. I now rise hours earlier than before and I finish earlier in the day. My day is spent pretty much on the move for all of it, having little time to sit and there's certainly no time to fix my makeup at all so it's one application in the early hours of the day and then I pretty much take my face off the minute I get home, it's a real cleansing of the day type thing!

I can honestly 100% say I am blown away by this foundation. With my 8 hour working day and travel to and from work, I am so pleased with it. I often refer to the real test of a foundation for me being a disco ball in a few hours, I just seem to have really shiny skin but this foundation is helping with that. I always use a primer and always set my face with a translucent powder so I always know when the foundation itself is really helping me and this one is.

I think the smell is ok, I don't know why but I'm a real smell person and I always find with Lancome the smell of products is only ever alright but that's a total personal thing. The cost of €35-€38 depending where you shop is also really good. The most I ever use is two pumps to cover my entire face for work so the bottle will last you a while if you wanted to use it every day.

For me anyway this product gets a big thumbs up and seeing as my bottle is barely going down in the last few weeks of using it, it will deffo be on my Christmas list again!!

20:24:00
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Collette Griffin Masterclass in Waterford Health Park Pharmacy

Hello Lovelies,

So a couple of weeks ago I was home for a few days as some of you will have seen from my snaps. While I was at home, I saw that the Waterford Health Park Pharmacy was hosting a makeup masterclass with Collette Griffin. As some of you will know, Collette is doing my makeup for my wedding next year, I had actually asked Collette before we had even set a date as I knew the month. I cannot wait for her to do my makeup so I take every opportunity I can to see her in action… you always learn something new!

The best way for me to remember the demo I decided was to snap the entire thing and to post each picture with a description of the action and the products used. This post should really like a little picture book and of course I will add in any of the missing information.

Collette on the night was using products that you can find in the pharmacy, a very clever idea on Waterford Health Park Pharmacies part as for once you weren’t hearing about something that looks amazing but not able to buy it there and then. The shopping was manic once the event was over. Me being stony broke didn’t help at all but I’m telling you there’s a new wishlist for that pharmacy of stuff I will have over time.

The brand that Collette used mostly was The Balm, a real love affair of mine, I have the Mary Loumaniser on her own and as part of her sister set, it’s such a fantastic highlighter. The Meet Matt Hughes of course are desired by many, I have two shades and now I have taken to adding a little gloss on them to brighten them up for the coming spring. My lip can be a little dry sometimes but I find these fantastically creamy and not as drying as other matte lippies at all. Other brands used on the night were Cailyn which we know I love my Browlux Gel in Oak, literally wear it most days and then Flormar which I have to say I really wanted to buy their new oil free foundation on the night but wasn’t sure of my shade so will need to investigate more. The lashes were from new Irish brand Rebeluna and I have two pairs of these lashes. Created by Lauren Cleare, a MUA friend of mine I am loving her products (and yes I paid for two pairs of my own lashes at the beauty show so this is not an ad, they really are just that nice) The look really was stunning on Collettte’s model, her niece Eve.

Collette is so super down to earth you could literally listen to her for hours, I certainly could anyway and I really hope to see a lot more of her work and not just on my own face when I have events coming up. I actually have a wedding at home in a couple of months and wanted to book her, but wouldn’t know the bride has only gone and booked her so I’m thrilled to see her so busy.

The look Collette was creating on the night was a ‘Glitter Half Cut Crease’ and it was stunning so let’s take a look... I can only apologies as I spent over an hour trying to resize and rejig these pictures but to no avail to get them in the right order. As I was snapping I literally tried to include as much detail as I could.

The stunning finished look

As always I am inspired watching Collette work, her talent is just amazing and the fact she is so down to earth each and every time I see her makes me more and more excited to have her as part of my big day. i hope you were able to pick up some of the tips and products used in this post but also be sure to check out Lyanne's post HERE from Beauty & The brunette and Sarah's post HERE from Beauty & the Masseuse. It's always a great night in Waterford Health Park Pharmacy with the girls!!

20:03:00
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My visit to Renassiance Clinic Howth- Image Skincare Consultation

Hello Lovelies

Today on the blog I am going to talk to you about my recent visit out to Renaissance Clinic in Howth North Co. Dublin. I went out to get a free skin consultation of the Image Skincare brand. Image is not a new brand to me whatsoever, in fact, I have been attending launches of Image skincare products for about the last two years, I have used a good few added into my routine and then with the wedding coming up, I wanted to be sure I was using the best products for my skin.

I was booked in for 5:30pm and was delighted to learn that Renaissance is actually open until 8pm during the week to cater for clients like myself who are working. It did however take me well over an hour to drive to Howth from my place of work to make it on time but the weather was beautiful so Howth was glowing.

The clinic itself is extremely clean and warm inside. It’s welcoming and there are those wonderful salon smells you only get when you are about to be pampered. Just to say, not all facials are pampering, some like the peels are there to do a job on your face so don’t be falling into a false sense of security and then come back to me and say I was all wrong, I tell no lies I swear!!

My consultant was an absolute pro. She is 100% behind Image as a brand and as I lay there on the bed she used more words that I didn’t understand than I did but basically she was able to see each and every skin concern I had and she knew of either a product or a treatment from Image that would be able to help with it. At the end of the day she couldn’t say 100% that my skin would be absolutely perfect for my wedding but she was sure that my skin wasn’t in too bad shape to start with which was lovely to hear.

After talking through my concerns, I was then given a detailed plan of action. This was where my heart skipped a beat. The therapist wanted to start straight away with a course of peels then move onto another type of facial known as IPL and then closer to the wedding use a totally new procedure into the clinic again from image called Mezzo. (I will clarify that name) She said that by starting now that I would be into a maintaining phase for my wedding in August 2018.

As I was visiting from a blog as well as a customer point of view I did go home with some of the home care samples to help me prep my skin for further treatments not to mention to see if I liked the brand itself. I have been an avid user of Dermalogica for the last few years so it’s really important for me that if I was going to change, it would be to the best brand out there.

I left the clinic feeling slightly overwhelmed but delighted at the prospect of having improved skin for the wedding. I’m sure I’m one of millions of brides who wants to be proactive about her image at her own wedding and ensure she is at her best on the biggest day of her life. Although the treatments will be spread out there are expensive but it’s an investment to change how you feel about yourself so please do bare that in mind. When I came away from the clinic I was quite overwhelmed by the money aspect for a brand I hadn’t overly used in the past so after consulting with our wedding budget, whichever brand I choose be it Image or Dermalogica, I am not going to start for a few months yet.

If you are looking for a skin consultation and have access to Howth than I 100% would recommend you book in and visit Renaissance Clinic. I was in no way sponsored to attend there but as part of my visit and receiving some products, it was for a review purpose. I can whole heartedly say that being three weeks into the homecare products, I am already seeing my skin starting to brighten and also look less uneven. In conjunction with proper skincare and a rigid routine I am also trying to up the fitness and take on slimming world again so I think all in all I am in a much better position to give my skin what it needs. My favourite product from my samples is the illuminating serum (which is probably where I am seeing the glow from) I use one pump in the morning under my SPF moisturiser and I am really loving it. The smell (as we all know I’m a smell person) is not the greatest for me personally but the effects are brilliant. I will continue to use the samples until they run out and if I have any more thoughts to share I will of course pass them on.

I hope this post was helpful and I have tagged both the Renaissance Clinic in Howth and Image Skincare Ireland so you can take a look at what your skin might need. Of course if you have any questions please feel free to get in touch with me and I look forward to really kicking my skin into gear in the next few months.

19:50:00
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Ziaja Cucumber & Mint range- Newbies from budget brand

CLEARER COMPLEXIONS AHEAD

NEW ZIAJA CUCUMBER INFUSED SKINCARE

Dramatically transform your skin’s health and appearance with cucumber - the ultimate skin beautifying veggie. ziaja’s new cucumber & mint infused skincare products will help keep your complexion clear and your skin feeling incredibly soft and hydrated. Cucumbers have long been loved by beauty experts because this green veggie effectively treats many common skin problems and offers many skincare benefits.

Ziaja’s cucumber products contain pure cucumber pulp extract which has an array of benefits for your skin – it’s purifying and anti-inflammatory, it helps reduce pigmentation, improves skin tone, it’s refreshing and revitalising, soothing and cooling and has a delicious fresh cucumber scent. Ziaja’s new products also contain mint extract for its refreshing feel and fragrance, and to help reduce oily skin, along with lactobionic acid – an ingredient that is buzzing in the beauty industry - as it’s a non-irritating polyhydroxy acid derived from milk sugar (gentle natural exfoliator) that helps prevent and reverse the appearance of photoaging, including lines and wrinkles, uneven pigmentation, enlarged pores and roughness.

Here in this blog post you will read all of the PR information and then my own review of products I have tried. Where you see the bold italic writing you know that's me but you'll soon see that's very clear because I am in no way scientific!! Enjoy xx

Ziaja’s New Cucumber Skincare Products:

cucumber mint micellar gel €3.99 (200ml)

A gentle ultralight micellar gel for every skin type which foams up with water to swoosh away every last molecule of grime and dirt and remove make-up. With cucumber extract and lactobionic acid (gentle natural exfoliator) to deeply cleanse and resurface skin and leave it feeling soft and smooth. Protects the skins moisture levels and provides a feeling of minty freshness. The mint extract diminishes oil production and reduces inflammation in the skin. ingredients include cucumber pulp extract, lactobionic acid, mint extract and provitamin B5 (D-panthenol)

I have to say I am really loving this product. I find I am using it as a precleanse with my new Penney's face cloth. It's meant to rival the likes of the Nima Mitt and the Cleanse off Mitt but it's not in the same league. Because of the brilliant powder of the micellar gel, I don't actually need a mitt like one of those. The penney's facecloth works perfectly well because the gel is doing all the hard work for me. I do like to go back in with another cleanser but to be totally honest that's just my routine. I can sometimes wears a lot of makeup so i like to double cleanse to make sure each and every screed is off but trust me if you don't cake it on the way I can, you won't need to double up. Also one pump will more than do so you never need to waste product making the €3.99 price tag even more desirable.

cucumber mint face cream €3.99 (50ml)

An ultralight face cream - the perfect solution for dry, inflamed, and irritated skin – this

cooling and calming cream provides intense hydration to the skin, while the cucumber extracts will alleviate any redness and irritation resulting from pollution, sun exposure, redness and acne. With lactobionic acid (a natural exfoliator) to delicately brighten and improve skin tone, while the mint extract refreshes and revitalises the skin. ingredients cucumber pulp extract, lactobionic acid, mint extract, provitamin B5 (D-panthenol)

The scent of the new product is so fresh, I think this is a great time of year for Ziaja to have brought out the new face cream. Of course it's wonderful if it's meeting the needs of those with dry, inflamed or irritated skin but I also think the scent will encourage people to use it more now the days are once again getting longer and hopefully that means we will also see some more sunshine. I do use this face cream myself but I am always conscious not to change my routine too much at once with introducing a whole new range. Someone in my house who is loving the new face cream however is J. He loves how lightweight it is. I am forever asking him to take better care of his skin, he hates that greasy feeling and he is reluctant to use many of my face creams but he absolutely loves this. If you are someone who really wants something lightweight and suffer from the allocated skin types then be sure to give this a try. It gets the thumbs up in our house anyway.

cucumber mint enzyme gel mask €0.69

A refreshing and cooling enzyme gel mask with botanical extracts of cucumber, mint and papain to instantly calm, soothe and moisturise dry irritated skin. Leaves the skin with a gentle feeling of coolness. The gentle gel helps soothe, hydrate, and detoxify dry skin with botanical extracts of cucumber, papaya and mint (is also excellent for calming and soothing irritated skin after sun exposure, peels, waxing, facials etc) and can be used under the eye area to help reduce puffiness.

I was sent two of the masks to try but I will tell you now I always keep Ziaja skin masks in my drawer. I use them all the time (mostly the nights I have my pre-tan bath) and I find then boost my face after hard days of makeup, pollution and general stress. I usually go for the cocoa butter mask but that's just purely for smell, I also use the jasmine mask even though it's for the older age range as it's so lovely afterwards but my skin literally drank this mask in. I wouldn't consider myself to have dry skin at all but my skin has really needed a boost lately, I have been terrible with my drinking water so I will be sure to pick up more of them and come on for 69c you'd be mad not to try it, it's less than a bloody packet of crisps!

cucumber mint body lotion €5.99 (200ml)

An ultralight micro-emulsion body lotion that acts like a fresh juiced green drink for everyday body care, flooding the skin with intensive moisture to increase its hydration content while it cools, soothes and smooths. Immediately and effectively moisturises the epidermis, reduces roughness, provides smoothness and elasticity to the skin and Soothes irritation. ingredients cucumber pulp extract, lactobionic acid, mint extract, provitamin B5 (D-panthenol).

This spray on body lotion has been a godsend to me. I always shower in the morning and it's nearly always a mad rush to be getting ready for work. I also don't like being cold so I'm forever trying to dress as quickly as I can. This body lotion spritzes on in seconds and it melts into the skin in no time at all. You can get dressed within minutes which suits someone like me who is on the go big time. I also like that when I am wearing tan, I don't see it taking off my tan when I am trying to make it last longer by moisturising my skin. One again a few sprays and your arms and legs are covered. I was a little afraid at the start that the 200ml would run out quickly but then I realised how far a spray will go on the skin, I was able to cut back on using so much product. There is nothing worse than being happy a product is cheap but then having to use loads every time so you end up spending the same amount anyway.

Also available in the range:

cucumber cleansing milk €3.99 (200ml)

Cucumber face toner €3.99 (200ml)

cucumber cream for oily skin €4.79 (50ml)

I hope you have found this post some way informative because as always I am a big Ziaja Skincare lover. They have such an extensive range of products that really does cater to almost every skin type there is and with such low pricing, every can afford to give it a go. If you are like me and love to tan all the time then I still highly recommend the orange scrub it works wonders at prepping your skin for tan!!