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.

Autumn Pintrest Style Inspiration

Style Estate

Glam Radar

My Fash Avenue

Lauren Conrad

Style Caster

Stylish Wife

How to Know You've Got Your Life Together #1

You know you've got your life together when:

#1 Your nail polish matches your new shoes...

Primark Make-Up Review

After seeing a lot about the new range of "Ps Beauty" I decided to try them for myself. The shade I picked was a deep plum colour to help ease myself into a darker Autumn/Winter palette.

First up is the Lip Liner at only €1.50 in colour "Plum". The pencil gave a nice crisp line around the edge of the lips, but wasn't as soft as some other brands when it came to filling in the lips, so it did drag a bit.

After filling in my lips with pencil, I applied the all over lipstick "Ladies Day". At €2 the lipstick is a matte, long lasting formula, which like the lip pencil does not glide over the lips, the consistency feels very dry & it tends to drag the skin. However when it is applied, it is long lasting. I wore the pencil/lipstick combo for a full day & only had to re-apply once (after eating).

Cons: The consistency is very dry & drags the skin as it is applied.

Pros: The price is definitely one of the biggest pluses, €3.50 for both is an unbelievable bargain. Long lasting, which is very important with such a strong, dark colour. The colour was exactly the plum shade I had been looking for & will be perfect for the up coming autumn colour palette.

Benefit They're Real Gel Liner Review

I wear liquid eyeliner everyday & I have done for years so I've tried many of them out. I actually do like the Benefit one, but I find it a little bit fiddly, so if you're not used to applying it, I'd say it would be a hassle. 

It can be hard to get the quantity right, but through trial & error I have figured out that on one of my eyes two "clicks" covers from the inside of the eye to the outside & after that another "click" does the little flick on the outside corner.

 If you open your eyes too wide before it dries it can transfer onto the upper lid, but if you're careful, once it's dried it lasts ALL day & the colour doesn't fade which is why I like it.

In summary, I love it, but it does take a bit of practice to get a smooth line so I don't think it would suit a make-up novice.