Mastering Your Makeup: Sample

Foundation Review- Armani Luminous Silk

09:55:00
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Lip Glosses Summer 2018... Splurge Spend & Save

Hello Lovelies,

Our summer... hello you beauty! The weather has been unreal, I am so happy the sun has been shining, it's been giving me all the wedding feels. I also can't believe I am now less than a month to my big day its sooo exciting!

One thing that has happened over the last few weeks is the postman has been visiting my house with some really interesting new samples. Lip Gloss is making it's big come back this season and I for one am delighted! I really tried with the whole matte lip look for the last few seasons. I spent a fortune of my own money buying liquid matte lipsticks, bullet matte lipsticks and went to countless launches of brands with matte lipsticks. I'd wear them and I'd re-apply throughout the day if needed but I really missed the creamy sensation on my lips.

I actually started to use a more gloss based lip for events last summer so now that we are in fully into Summer 2018 and more & more lip glosses are back on the scene I am delighted! I have four brands I want to mention to day which escalate in price but will give you an idea of what's on offer this season in terms of lip gloss.

Essence: Essence is a brand extremely well known in Ireland. For me it's the go to brand when you've forgotten something and you need a cheap fix that will work. Recently I attended an Essence Ireland event with Anita from Adorn and it was all about creating festival looks. We were asked to take products home to create a festival inspired look which I posted to my social media accounts a couple of weeks ago. For me, festival makeup while sitting in a tent with a small hand mirror needs to be simple and glowing and needs to stay put for hours on end.

One of the products I used as part of my Essence makeup festival look was the Shine Shine Shine Lip gloss. "The lip gloss creates an extreme shine with a wet-look effect on the lips. The supple texture feels wonderfully pleasant and comes in a broad range of colours - including creamy nude shades, shimmering pink and intensive colours with a prism-glow finish. The heart-shaped flock applicator with a soft coating allows an accurate, smooth application." (essence.eu)

This lip gloss does exactly what it claims, it's really easy to apply, the nude pink shade I had was not too sticky so my hair didn't get too caught in it and it lasted a fair while. For under €5 this is an absolutely bargain and as I say if you are at a loose end or someone who is totally new to lips gloss then these are a great place to start!

Urban Decay:Next up and we do take a jump is price is a brand new product from the ever amazing Urban Decay Cosmetics. They have just launched their new Hi-Fi Shine Ultra Cushion Lip Gloss and it is retailing at €18 here in Ireland. There are 20 shades to choose from and available in locations such as Debenhams around Ireland.

The new Hi-Fi Shine Ultra Cushion Lip Gloss is ultra-shiny, glides on cushiony-soft and provides long-lasting wear that’s comfortable, not tacky. Laced with vitamin E and peppermint oil, our hydrating formula leaves lips feeling nourished, has an immediate plumping effect and comes in a yummy vanilla-mint flavor. And wait until you see our lineup; whatever gloss frequency you’re on, we’ve got you covered. Tune in to everything from blaring brights to soft neutrals in four different effects—metallic, holographic, cream and sheer cream.Urban Decay is 100% cruelty-free. (urbandecay.com)

I was kindly gifted Fireball, Midnight Cowgirl, Naked, SPL &. My absolute fave shade from these five beauties has to be Midnight Cowgirl, it's a fab sparkly nude shade. It's perfect to add a layer of sparkle over a lip pencil so you can have staying power with a glossy look. Fireball & SPL look very frightening in their boxes but on the lips bring a little party to your face so are great to have in your collection for a night out or if you're feeling fun. Naked has been living in my handbag quite a bit and the peppermint scent from the tube is lovely. At €18 a pop, with such a fab range of shades, if you loved a shade in the matte lippy for instance 1993 then having it in a gloss is just brilliant to move you right into the summer months.

Lancome: The final lip gloss installment in this post is a serious splurge purchase. A brand so world famous they can totally justify their costs and that is Lancome. The doorbell rang one day over the Easter holidays and a lovely delivery man held out a Lancome bag asking for me by name. I had no idea this little gift was coming to me so when I opened the bad to see four of the new lip glosses I was just delighted with life. It's not every day you can say you own a €30 lip gloss while saving for a wedding and a house I can tell you that much!! The new product I was sent were four of the L’ Absolu Lacquer.

The L'Absolu Lacquer buildable shine & colour longwear lip lacquer has a lightweight formula that coats the lips with colour and gives a high-shine lipstick finish. With buildable shine and colour you can create the lip look that you want, whilst ensuring lips are moisturised and hydrated for hours. Apply one coat for a sheer, natural look and a dewy shine finish. Apply two coats for intense colour and a high-shine finish. Apply three coats for a dramatic lip look head turning colour impact and an ultra lacquered shine! (www.lancome.co.uk)

Back to my shades, I was kindly sent 134 Be Brilliant, 323 Shine Manifesto, 378 Be Unique & finally my favourite 202 Nuit & Jour!! They range froma brilliant red to two pinks and my fave the 202 is a stunning nude shade. You can tell I have a thing about nudes... well I do! I was only at an event this week and purchased another nude lippy which may be a contender for my wedding day lip. The Nuit & Jour shade is deffo a product I will be keeping in my handbag the day of the wedding, it's the perfect top up product, so nice on the lips, not drying, not sticky just a stunning layer of colour and you really can build up the layers taking a little setting break in between layers.

So there we have it ladies... a little look at the lip glosses that have been happily added to my lip stash for the upcoming summer months. Now if only the weather would catch up and give us a chance to enjoy some sunshine that would be awesome!! Hope you enjoyed this post and of course any questions let me know.

23:10:00
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Dermalogica Sound Sleep Cocoon- Heaven in a tub!

Dermalogica

Hello Lovelies,

Let's take a look at what I've been using lately from Dermalogica to help me drift off for a good night's sleep and wake up feeling fresh.

We all know ladies the 'science' bit isn't my style so here is the info i received with the press release for this product and then we'll take a look at my thoughts.

"There’s a serious stigma about sleep. In today’s increasingly interconnected, 24/7 world we view it as a period of idleness or lost productivity, and we try to get by on as little as possible. Most of us don’t realise that the hours we spend asleep are actually among our most productive: when it comes to your skin care routine, sleep is a crucial component for the skin’s recovery from the assaults of the day. Just a few nights of missed sleep can lead to dull skin and fine lines, and chronic sleep deprivation leads to dark circles and early aging.

While our ‘always on’ attitude means we won’t be getting more sleep any time soon – NEW Sound Sleep Cocoon™ is a revitalising treatment gel-cream that works with the skin’s natural overnight repair and recovery process to optimise the skin benefits of the sleep we do get, delivering glowing skin by morning. Because skin is best able to absorb active ingredients at night, Sound Sleep Cocoon™ is formulated with motion-activated essential oils to soothe senses with aromatherapy and promote deep, restful sleep for healthier-looking skin.

Ingredient features and benefits:
Sound Sleep Cocoon delivers advanced ingredients that work with and optimise the skin’s natural active overnight repair & recovery process.

Encapsulated essential oil with motion-activated technology encapsulated, motion-activated French Lavender oil, along with calming Sandalwood and Patchouli, soothe the senses with aromatherapy to help promote deep, restful sleep for healthier-looking skin
Albizia Julibrissin Bark Extract (Persian Silk Tree) reduces signs of skin fatigue and restores vitality
Evodia Rutaecarpa Fruit Extract (Fruits of Wu-Zhu in traditional Chinese medicine) provides visibly radiant skin by morning and promotes a more refined skin texture.
Kakadu Plum Extract, rich in antioxidant Vitamin C, is clinically shown to improve and brighten skin tone.
Tamarindus Indicia (Tamarind Seed Extract) is a polysaccharide that cushions skin, creating a nourishing cocoon of comfort for softer, more hydrated skin.

How to use: Smooth over face and neck as the last step in your night-time regimen, allowing the gel-cream to melt into skin overnight. Ideally it was suggested to put this on around 9pm, potter around the house and leave it sink into your skin before you hop into bed.

How much: Sound Sleep Cocoon, 50ml is €86.50

Dermalogica understands that everyone’s skin is unique as they are. That’s why it’s the number one choice of skin care professionals worldwide. Our products combine scientific innovation with powerful natural ingredients so that everyone can experience healthy glowing skin, for life."

It sounds ridiculously expensive and with really high hopes for itself so the big question is, does it live up to all it claims? Well.... ladies it's an investment I think I will have to make once this tub is over! I honestly mean that. The price tag has me fearing using it, so there is no wasting going on in my house. One pump will do your whole face and they say you should get around 90 pumps from the tub which means each night you're spending less than €1 on your face (if you're easy on the product!)

Once you pump it onto your fingers, I don't like to play with it at all, I dot it around my face and then gently, very gently blend it onto my face. The scent from the lavender is beautiful when you're applying the product. Your face feels so fresh and so fragrant it really does make me want to jump into bed. The scent for me tells me it's bedtime, so as I said above, I like to let it sink in while I'm sitting up in bed checking my phone, watching a show or reading a book. I don't like to think my pillow is getting any benefits from this product.

Motion-activated technology... what is this you ask? Well.... when you eventually drift off into dream land and move on your pillow, the little essential oils continue to burst on your skin giving you more and more benefits as your skin regenerates while you sleep.

I again am being completely honest here when I say, from using this product the last few weeks, you wake up feeling like you have super fresh skin. I am not a fan of heavy night creams, I'm always worried that I'm adding oil to my pillow, sleeping on that and causing congestion on my skin. With the sound sleep cocoon, my skin is looking refreshed in the mornings.

For added wedding prep and extra hydration, I have also been adding a few drops of my skin hydrating booster some nights into the Sound sleep especially if days have been hot or long on my face. I'm on the fence if I am sleeping better due to the product but I am certain that it makes for getting into bed a much more pampered experience.

Would a price tag of a product turn you off? Are the claims from this something you'd believe... let me know!!

22:23:00
4 Comments

Catrice Cosmetics: Bridal Makeup Look By Me

Beauty

18:40:00
40 Comments

Madison Makeup Launches in Ireland- Review

Beauty

Hello Lovelies,

Today on the blog we are taking a look at a new brand to my life, Madison Makeup. Unfortunately due to work I missed the official launch of this new brand in what looked like an out of this world event in Dublin's City Hall at the end of last year. But after Christmas I was sent two of the new products from the range to try out and review for you all.

About Madison Makeup:

Madison Makeup has been created and developed by Irish beauty industry veteran Paul

Mooney, and is his latest in a long line of innovative products. Paul’s vision is to create

obtainable luxury, while still providing uncompromised quality and Madison Makeup is

leading this vision. Madison Makeup has been created with the Millennial Irish girl in mind; its trend driven colours allow you to replicate the most current makeup looks. (press release email)

Berry Bold Eyeshadow & Hightlighter Palette- €19.95

This is an essential eyeshadow & highlighter collection with 14 shades in light , neutral & berry tones.

Highly pigmented formula for complete build-able coverage

Finely milled formula for the most seamless blend

Shades range from pink champagne to rich berry with a mix of neutral browns & 4 highly pigmented highlighters that open up an unlimited amount of makeup looks to choose from to suit every type of style. (madisonmakeup.ie)

This palette is really pretty. I also have to say that the size of the palette is very good. It's certainly big enough for the pans to work out at a brilliant cost of only €2 per eye shadow or the four highlighters at only €5 each if they were to be in a palette separately. The tones in the berry bold palette are exactly the type of colours I like to work with. Oranges and Burgundy's are my go to shade for my blue eyes especially when I have tan on, I love to make my blue eyes pop as much as possible. I also think that the shades can be used as a stand alone colour for a quick day look. I like to use the shade burnt when I want this look and sometimes I take it slightly browner with neutral. My absolute favourite shade from the palette though has to be berry itself I just love it!

The highlighters in this palette are not for the faint hearted, or I advise you to use them sparingly. The glow is unreal. I've been using them alone or sweeping my brush across them all. I find when I have tan on, they look even better on my skin. Although, doesn't that apply to every aspect of my life? Always better with a bit of tan on!! Daisy is my favourite highlighter shade from the palette and the one I used the most, it's not the lightest but I love the gold hue it leaves on my skin. I think if you are sallow skinned then fifi would be absolutely stunning on!

Contour; Contour Highlight & Blush Palette- €19.95

A kit to expertly sculpt and define your features with these highly bendable – 6 cream sculpting shades, 1 cream radiance highlighter & 1 powder coral blush
Each of the 6 contour colours can be inter mixed and custom blended to create a tailor made shade to expertly sculpt your features !! (madisonmakeup.ie)

Before we go any further, this is a disclaimer, I am not really into cream contouring. I have to be honest, I just panic when it comes to adding cream contour to my face. I always worry that I look really muddy and then if I do make a mistake, I'm trying to add more foundation ending up feeling like I've a weeks worth of product on my one night face!

That being said, I do think this palette would make a brilliant gift for someone who is into cream contouring or for yourself if you're growing in your cream contouring confidence. The blush shade takes my breath away the beautiful rose gold shade is stunning and I am OK with using the cream highlighter, again be light handed, it is creamy but you always want to be careful about the placement of a cream highlighter.

In the description of the contour palette on the Madison Makeup website, it's says that you can blend the shade to custom colour your contour shade... I will admit I tried this but it didn't work too well on me. I clearly thought my foundation was darker on my skin but I made the contour too dark so started again. Little by little I could see myself starting to add some of the cream contours for a night time look but at the moment, I like to use them more as a concealer. Carving out my brows using Contour 1 or sometimes adding a little of 4 as a concealer, it's deffo something if you're into cream contouring you'd love.

I hope you found this post helpful in deciding if you'd like to try out Madison makeup products. Being tailor made to the young women in Ireland, I think this brand will do very well. I think the price point is smart and this is reflected also in the packaging, it's young and funky and totally appeals to the young makeup lovers of Ireland.