Full Face of Revolution Makeup

As a makeup enthusiast people often expect me to only purchase & own high end, luxury makeup. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. I would estimate that my collection is actually 50/50 between high end makeup & drug store makeup.

There are so many high quality affordable options out there. One of those affordable brands
which I love is Revolution Makeup. In the last year or two they have noticeably stepped up their game in both packaging & product range.

While some of there products are almost direct copies of higher end products (I prefer to try & stay away from these products as it’s a bit murky ethics wise) they release some great products taking only a hint of inspiration from their luxury counterparts.

When I decided to do a full face of  Revolution products I didn’t actually have to buy anything as I pretty already had a full face worth of products in my collection (just missing brows which I improvised for)

First up the the Fast Base Stick Foundation in F1 (€5.99) & the Conceal & Define Concealer in C1 (€4.99) While it’s so handy to have a Foundation in stick form, this one disappointed me despite the glowing reviews from influencers. It didn’t seem to blend into my skin, just sat on top & highlighted every single pore & line in my face. The Concealer is good, & I will probably repurchase when I run out.

One of the standout products for me is is the Luxury Baking Powder in “Lace” which I use for setting my under eyes. At only €5.99 this is a steal, it makes my under eyes look flawless. The Loquid Highlighter in “Unicorn Elixir” was not a standout product unfortunately, I found it too greasy & it lifts the Foundation when applied over it. For this look I applied it under my foundation & it seemed to work ok, but I wasn’t blown away. The Aqua Seal Liquid Eye Primer (€3.99) is another product I will be repurchasing, while the liquid formula takes a bit of getting used to, it’s a good primer.

The Ultra Sculpt & Contour Lit in “Ultra Fair” (€4.80) is the perfect multi-use product for travel, combining a contour, blush & highlight in one slim package. The Ultra Blush palette in “Hot Spice” is a product I would highly, highly recommend. Six blushes & two highlighters for
€6.99, yes please. The Triple Baked Bronzer in “Summer of Love” (€5.99) is very pigmented so a light hand is needed.

The Soph x Revolution collection is a collab with Youtuber Soph Does Nails. The Highlighter palette retails €9.99 & is a very high quality product, with a mixture of both warm & cool tone highlighters with a variety of finishes. The Eyeshadow palette is good, seems to be a different formula than the other Revolution Palettes. My only complaint would be the colours, it’s a warm, neutral colour scheme, so if you have a lot of palettes, chances are you already have these colours in other palettes. Great choice for someone who’s only just starting their collection though.

Pantone Spring 2017 Colours

Pantone is the world-renowned authority on color and provider of color systems and leading technology for the selection and accurate communication of color across a variety of industries. The PANTONE® name is known worldwide as the standard language for color communication from designer to manufacturer to retailer to customer.

The PANTONE VIEW Colour Planner is a biannual trend forecasting tool that offers seasonal color direction and inspiration 24 months in advance for multiple usages, including menswear, women's wear, activewear, cosmetics and industrial design. Introduced in 2004, 

Below are the Colours which Pantone has forcasted to be popular for Spring 2017. These colours were used as inspiration by the worlds leading cosmetics & fashion brands

Source: Pantone.com

A Mixture of Vitality, Relaxation and the Great Outdoors

From colors that are bright and vivid to those that convey a sense of earthiness, our top 10 colors for spring 2017 are reminiscent of the hues that surround us in nature. 

"Reminiscent of the hues that surround us in nature, our Spring 2017 Fashion Color Report evokes a spectrum of emotion and feeling. From the warmth of sunny days with PANTONE 13-0755 Primrose Yellow to the invigorating feeling of breathing fresh mountain air with PANTONE 18-0107 Kale and the desire to escape to pristine waters with PANTONE 14-4620 Island Paradise, designers applied color in playful, yet thoughtful and precise combinations to fully capture the promises, hope and transformation that we yearn for each Spring."

The top colors for Spring 2017 fashion are:

PANTONE 17-4123 Niagara

Comfortable and dependable, Niagara leads the PANTONE Fashion Color Report as the most prevalent color for spring 2017. Niagara is a classic denim-like blue that speaks to our desire for ease and relaxation.

PANTONE 13-0755 Primrose Yellow

By contrast, Primrose Yellow sparkles with heat and vitality. Inviting us into its instant warmth, this joyful yellow shade takes us to a destination marked by enthusiasm, good cheer and sunny days.

PANTONE 19-4045 Lapis Blue

Conveying even more energy is Lapis Blue. Strong and confident, this intense blue shade is imbued with an inner radiance.

PANTONE 17-1462 Flame

A red-based orange, Flame, is gregarious and fun loving. Flamboyant and vivacious, this wonderfully theatrical shade adds fiery heat to the spring 2017 palette.

PANTONE 14-4620 Island Paradise

Island Paradise is a refreshing aqua that calls to mind a change of scenery. A cool blue green shade that speaks to our dream of the great escape, Island Paradise is emblematic of tropical settings and our desire to unwind.

PANTONE 13-1404 Pale Dogwood

Continuing the tranquil mood, Pale Dogwood is a quiet and peaceful pink shade that engenders an aura of innocence and purity. The unobtrusive Pale Dogwood is a subtle pink whose soft touch infuses a healthy glow.

PANTONE 15-0343 Greenery

Bringing forth a refreshing take, Greenery is a tangy yellow-green that speaks to our need to explore, experiment and reinvent. Illustrative of flourishing foliage, the fertile attributes of Greenery signals one to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate.

PANTONE 17-2034 Pink Yarrow

Tropical and festive, Pink Yarrow is a whimsical, unignorable hue that tempts and tantalizes. Bold, attention getting and tempestuous, the lively Pink Yarrow is a captivating and stimulating color that lifts spirits and gets the adrenaline going.

PANTONE 18-0107 Kale

Evocative of the great outdoors and a healthy lifestyle, Kale is another foliage-based green that conjures up our desire to connect to nature, similar to the more vivacious Greenery. And, just as we see in nature, this lush and fertile natural green shade provides the perfect complementary background to the more vibrant tones in the palette.

PANTONE 14-1315 Hazelnut

Rounding out the spring 2017 colors is Hazelnut, a key neutral for spring. This shade brings to mind a natural earthiness. Unpretentious and with an inherent warmth, Hazelnut is a transitional color that effortlessly connects the seasons.

The New Eyes On MAC 9 Series seems to seriously embody this years' Spring colours perfectly:

Source: maccosmetics.com 

Also Kat Von D's Pastel Goth Palette:

Source: Katvondbeauty.com

And the Lorac Limited Edition Brunch Palette

Source: Ulta.com 

Disappointing Products

Bourjois City Radiance Foundation

This foundation is really bad. Really really bad. I picked it up due to the fact that it had "Radiance" in the title & I find that a lot of foundation can look flat on the skin. This product has no radiance at all. The product seemed to separate as soon as it was applied to the skin, leaving what looked like small dots of foundation on the skin instead of a smooth canvas. I tried different methods of application- Beauty Blender, brush, fingers etc, different types of primers and mixing it with other foundations or moisturisers. Nothing helped, its just a really bad foundation. €12 from Sam McCauleys. 

Schwarzkopf Got2b Mind Blowing Xpress Dry Styling Spray

This spray actually damaged my hair rather than helping it. It is supposed to speed up drying time when blow drying, condition & provide heat protection. This product completely dried my hair out & it became incredibly brittle & ended up breaking.This spray might work if you have oily hair, but stay well clear if you've any dryness.  

Naked 3 palette

I wanted to love this palette so much, it looks absolutely beautiful & the colour range of dusty pinks is divine. Unfortunately I was disappointed, when blended on the eye the mattes just blend into one dusty pink colour, there's no gradient or colour differentiation. Some of the colours even blend away to nothing. 

The shimmers are, unfortunately, just as bad. Even when using Mac Fix+ on the brush you can't get enough product for a wash of colour, all you end up with is a few flecks of glitter on the eye.  I barely use this product, but I opened it the other day & some of the pans are loose. Not good, especially for the money. €50 from Debenhams.

Caudalie Micellar Cleansing Water 

I received this product in a kit from Cult Beauty & also received it in a Birchbox last year. Its not necessary a terrible product. It's just OK. My Garnier Micellar Water performed much better & is much cheaper. It doesn't seem to be great at removing make-up, so I generally just use it at the very end of removing make-up to get rid of any left over cleanser.

Catrice High Glow Mineral Highlighting Powder.

Again not a terrible product by any means, but this was so hyped on Instagram I had to try it. Because of the surrounding hype, it was out of stock every time I tried to purchase it from Penneys/Primark. When I finally did get my hands on it I was severely under-whelmed... It's fine. Just fine. Gave a subtle highlight but also left a slight pink cast & noticable glitter on my cheeks which I wasn't a fan off. It's grand if you're looking for a cheap highlighter though.

What I Got For Christmas 2016

I was absolutely spoilt this Christmas, so I have just included my make-up items that I received. These are a mixture of gifts received from my parents, fiancé & sister. Most of the items are from Cult Beauty, Sephora or Brown Thomas.

Reviews & swatches to follow in separate review posts!

•  Luminizing Moisture Tint by Jouer Cosmetics 
•  Finishing Creme by Ouai Haircare
•  Hair Oil by Ouai Haircare
•  Skin Pencil - Blur by Nudestix
•  Glow Mist by Pixi
•  Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone by Becca
•  Pro Firm Blending Crease Brush (M441) by Morphe Brushes
•  Mac Loose Pigment in Tan
•  Tarlette in Bloom Palette by Tarte Cosmetics 
•  Shimmering Skin Perfector in Champagne Pop by Becca x Jaclyn Hill
•  Shade & Light Eye Palette by Kat Von D Beauty

Sephora Favourites: Extravagant Eyes

I was lucky enough to receive one of these Sephora Favourites Boxes recently. I love these boxes as they are they perfect way to sample a number of products without committing to full size versions (although in this box there were quite a few full products!). It also works out so much cheaper as well if you tend to find that you don't always use up full sized products before they expire. The box costs $42/€39. You can't order direct from Sephora.com here in Ireland, but they do send to the U.K so set up a Parcel Motel account to get it delivered here.

This box contains eight products, five of which are full size & the remaining three are deluxe size. The general colour "theme" of this box appears to be burgundy/gold, which is huge this season. I love these colours & have been wearing similar tones since the summer. If you don't like burgundy tones this box may not be for you...

These products are also great for travelling due to the size, but also because of the formula of some of the products you don't need a whole bunch of brushes.

This Nars Dual Intensity Eye Shadow in the shade Himalia is a gorgeous bronze/gold shimmer shadow with incredible pigmentation.

I love using this colour as a lid colour for smokey brown burgundy eye or by itself for a natural shimmery look. Beautiful shine off it, with no chunks of glitter.

This Milk Make Up Eye Pigment in the shade Silent Disco can be a bit tricky to use. A little of this product goes a LONG way.

This pigment has a slight pink glitter going through it so I tend to use it on the lid rather than the crease. The best way that I found to apply it is to put a tiny, tiny bit on the back of my hand and use a fluffy synthetic brush to apply over an eye shadow primer. This lasts all day & does not crease or budge.

The Marc Jacobs O! Mega Lash Volumizing Mascara in Blacquer is a good all round mascara, not the best in the whole world, but still a good day to day mascara.

The Sephora Collection Eye Contour Crayon in Black Lace is the perfect eyeliner for the water line, nice & creamy so it doesn't drag the skin & lasts for hours.

Similar to the Milk Pigment,with this Smashbox 24 Hour Photo Finish Shadow Primer a little bit goes a long way! This primer has a slightly silicone-like feel to it & blended nicely across the eye lid.

Apparently the Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Midnight Cowboy has been sold out all over the states (I've spotted it in Debenhams over here though). This is great used in conjunction with black liquid liner & was just made for the Christmas Party season.

This Laura Mercier Caviar Eye Shadow Stick in Plum shade is SUPER pigmented & does not budge, I had to use an oil based Eye make-up remover to take it off.

I found this the hardest product to apply, just because once you apply it to an area it's not moving! I used it as a crease colour as there is no shimmer, but had to spend ages blending it out. The final result was worth it, you just have to work for it! 

These Huda Beauty Lashes in "Samantha" are pretty dramatic! I haven't had an occasion to wear them yet, but soon...

I've heard great reviews about the Huda Beauty Lashes & they retail for around $20 so these are definitely luxury & hopefully I'll get a good few uses out of them.

The Best of Liquid Lipsticks Part 1: Kylie Cosmetics

A few weeks ago Kylie Cosmetics had a free shipping offer, so I decided to try one of her Liquid Lipstick Sets. The colour I chose was "Dirty Peach" as I thought it would be a good autumnal neutral & didn't look like any of the other liquid lipsticks I owned (I have a lot).

The Lip Kits are $29 & international shipping is usually $14.95. With the free shipping I paid €26 for the lipstick & lip pencil. Irish customs are applicable for international orders over €22, but luckily this time mine wasn't chosen.

I found that the best way to apply this lipstick is to exfoliate the lips, apply a lip balm & let in sink in for a few minutes, then wipe off any residue left on lips.

Next, apply the lip liner all over the lips & top with lipstick. The formula of the lipstick is fairly runny & doesn't dry too quickly, giving you time to work with it.

The Lip Liner appears very similar to MAC's Prolong wear lip liners & applies very similar too. It's nice & soft so it doesn't drag the skin.

There has been a lot of talk about the similarities between Kylie Cosmetics & Colourpop Cosmetics. While it's fairly common knowledge that the two are made in the same factory, some believe that Kylie Cosmetics is simply Colourpop repackaged. While there is certainly some similarities between presentation & packaging type the formulas do feel different & the Bottle of Kylie Lipstick is heavier & much better quality than Colourpop.

One issue I had with the lipstick is that it wouldn't apply to the inner rim of my lips, this does happen with a lot of liquid lipsticks, but was even more pronounced with this one.

I loved the colour & the formula but this was not a long lasting lipstick on me (I tried with & without primer) after two cups of coffee this had all but disappeared. Touch-ups are definitely needed throughout the day.

PS... Pro Range

Primark has had a beauty/make-up range called "PS... Beauty" but they have recently launched a premium range called "PS... Pro" which promises high quality, professional products at a value price.

I decided to try some of the products out after hearing great reviews from the likes of Celebrity Make-Up Artist Wayne Goss.

My local Primark is very small, so the selection of the PS... Pro products wasn't great, that & a lot of the products had been opened & used. But I managed to pick up a few unopened bits & pieces to try.

The first product I picked up was the Longwear Mineralized Foundation, which comes in a frosted glass bottle and a pump applicator. There was only two shades available,the very lightest & the very darkest. I settled on the very lightest, which turns out is a shade too light for me but can be warmed up with a bit of bronzer. This foundation was €6, and was amazing! It has SPF 15 & Vitamins A & B. The initial smell wasn't great but this soon wore off. This foundation is medium to high coverage that's buildable & can be applied using either a brush or a beauty blender, I used a beauty blender to sheer the coverage out slightly as on my skin it's VERY high coverage.

This foundation is much better than more pricier ones, covered all blemishes & lasted 10+ hours on my skin. As my skin is very dry I didn't powder & it dried down to a comfortable satin finish. If you have oily skin you may want to powder though. I will definitely e purchasing this foundation again

This was my first time using a lip scrub, it has a subtle vanilla fragarance & smells good enough to eat. As I have long nails I wasn't able to apply with my fingers, instead I used a cotton bud & then massaged into lips. 

At first the texture was very grainy but as I rubbed it in the graininess disappeared leaving a Vaseline like substance behind so I had little hopes for much exfoliation. But when I rinsed it all off I was left with incredibly smooth lips with no flakiness, at €3.50 this is a product I would definitely purchase again as I wear matte liquid lipsticks most days & need a smooth base.

The PS... Pro lip primer is also €3.50, but it's not as good as the other products. It does not go on smoothly for me & leaves a white cast on the lips. It's almost painful to apply as it drags on the lips depositing very little product. I much prefer the Colourpop primer as it glides on smoothly & is about the same price.

For me the stand-out product is the foundation, it feels more like a luxury product than a budget one. But I would give the Lip Primer a miss, there are better performing primers around within the same price range.

Birchbox UK & Ireland

What is Birchbox?

"When Birchbox founders Katia and Hayley first met, they had wildly different approaches to beauty. Hayley was a self-proclaimed novice, while Katia was a connoisseur. But they agreed on one thing: Shopping for products was frustrating, inefficient, and confusing. How were customers supposed to navigate the vast range of options? And in the growing online market, how could they try products without buying them all (and going bankrupt in the process)?

That’s when Birchbox was born: the brainchild of two friends with a love of the internet and an itch to create a better way to shop for beauty products.

Katia and Hayley envisioned a way for customers—just like themselves—to easily and efficiently try, learn about, and purchase beauty products online. They combined monthly deliveries of personalized samples with original editorial and an exciting ecommerce shop. It was easy, efficient, and fun—a monthly delivery of surprise and delight.

We shipped our first Birchboxes in September 2010, and soon realized that men needed a better way to shop too. Birchbox Man launched in April 2012 to bring guys tailored shipments of grooming and lifestyle products. Millions of boxes and product matches later, our mission remains the same: to help customers find products they love. We keep that top of mind every single day."

I started to subscribe to Birchbox in July of this year. Initial sign-up was easy, I filled out a questionnaire about my preferences & skin types. Then all I had to do was wait for my first box to arrive! So I waited & waited & waited... I placed my order on 27/07/16 and it took over three weeks to arrive, I actually received my August box before my July box! So beware: Bircnbox shipping is SLOW!

                                            

Birchbox costs me approximately €16 per month & for that I received 5 samples, one is usually full size, one single use & the rest deluxe size.

                     

Each box has a different theme, July was a Millie Mackintosh inspired collection, which included one of her lip pencils

                 

August theme was "Festival"

 

The products I have received so far are all items I would use (I think the detailed questionnaire when you sign up helps with this) my only complaint about what I have received a volumizing hair product two months in a row, which while useful it would have been nice to have a bit of diversity.

     

Every time you leave a review or feedback you receive points which can go towards products from Birchboxes online store. The store has a multitude of items and every month features full sizes of that months box samples (these sell out quickly though) 

I haven't decided if I am going to continue long term with Birchbox yet, I think I need to get a few more boxes to judge the consistency of the boxes & compare to the likes of Glossy Box.