A Little Bit Of Makeup And Beauty

February Favorite's

2012-03-03T15:37:00.002Z

I have been hymning and hawing on weather to do this post because when I first taught about it I taught I had none I kept saying I am not using anything different. But I had another clear out of my room the other day( I know only did one last month! Don't ask me where I get the stuff) and I organised things into places where I use them the most and stuff and I realised ooo I am using different products!

Elizbeth Arden 8 hour cream:
Ok I got this sample at the Girls Day Out Show and I used it a few times and put it in a draw. I rediscover it a few weeks ago and I can not put it down. This sample is tiny like super small(5ml) but it's never ending I use it at least once a day on my lips and it just keeping them really moisturised and soft. Also if you like this but not the smell they are bringing out a fragrance free one!

Davines Moisturising Balm:
I got this in my January Glossybox and I really taught I was not going to use it and now it's in a Favorite's blog. This stuff is great well for my face anyway. I use it as a cleanser to take off my makeup and it's just soo lovely! The smell which I hated at first has grown on me and now I love using it at night. I 've seen this in other blogggers and vloggers Favorite's but mostly for on their hair I did try it but frankly did nothing for my hair at all!

Birdcage:

I did a post on The Prettiest Things two weeks ago. I love this site and have a list of pieces I want! I have been reaching for my birdcage soo much this month and I have had clients comment on it asking where I got it. It's just such a cute piece! My friend let my know that you actually cud not see the birdie in the last picture so here's a better one. Also when Prettiest things reach 5000 likes on Facebook their doing a 50% off sale get liking people I have a shopping list to buy!

Party Pink:

Ok since going lilac I have been avoiding dark lipsticks and been converted back to pinks. Before the lilac hair I was like pink lipsticks make me look too young now I am like pink pink pink. I think because it just goes with the lilac where reds clash. I have been loving E.L.F Party Pink. I got this back in October in their 50% off sale so only cost me €2. I love these elf lipsticks ( they do have other lines) they are just really nice not drying last well good color payoff and great price. So yeah I'm a pink girl now any more suggestions of pink lipsticks you love let me know!

L-R:Pinker-Bell, Party Pink

Ok wrote this post last night and I have fallen in love with another pink lipstick since then, I was trying out a new lipliner and the only color I had to match it was Pinker-Bell( how cute!) from Catrice . Its really in your face and vibrant which I love! And its cheap, got this a while back for a shoot but I am sure it did not cost me more then 4 euro.

So yeah that's my favorites let me know yours?

Some More Moss

2012-03-01T21:01:00.001Z

My first ever blog post was on Kate Moss lipstick range for Rimmel. Feel like it was soo long ago even though it was only November. I had no swatches or anything on the post, you can see it here! I had vouchers for Boots so I decided to treat myself to one. I picked up shade 12 which is a gorgeous orangey/red perfect for summer in my opinion.

Number 12 no flash

Number 12 with Flash

My three Kate Moss Lipsticks, Top-Bottom 01,05,12 (no flash)

My three Kate Moss Lipsticks, Top-Bottom 01,05,12 (flash)

Available on all Rimmel Stands, vary in price from 4.95-7.95, Penneys/Primark is the cheapest place so far I have found them for.

Sleek Pout Paint in Pin Up

2012-02-29T21:53:00.000Z

157 Pin Up

The excitement when this was delivered this morning! These pout paints have been out a while now and there has been numerous posts on them, the only thing I never saw a post on was how long they lasted(if there has been one I have missed it). So I taught I would do one today for you all.

Applied this at 1.30pm, when applying you need to use a lip brush and literally the tiniest dot is enough to do your whole lip. Be warned it's a bold true red , and it's in your face! If you do decide to wear this during the day keep eye makeup to a minimal like I did here.

This is me at 5.30pm, I've been out shopping and just had a cup of coffee. While I was out I kept checking on them one thing I did notice was after 2hours the glossiness wears off and they become matte. Note though that they do not dry at all so you will get transfer.

7.30pm just had dinner and a glass of water and I kissed my niece twice. I then had to get a wipe to get the red off her she was not impressed to say the least!

All in all I am really impressed, not only are they highly pigmented but they have good staying power as well. The range has 12 different colors which include a white and a blue which can be worn on their own or used as a mixing agent to make new shades how fab is that! I got mine from Beauty Emporium for €5.70.

Its is defiantly great for a night out, stick to a straw with your drink and avoid kissing any boys and there is no need for constant trips to the toilet for lipgloss top ups!

I also picked up a Sleek Blush in Rose Gold, I will not be doing a blog post on this because it has been blogged about zillions upon trillions of times. It is a dupe for Nars Orgasm and a 1/3 of the price. Check out EmeraldEyeliner's post on it here!

Rose Gold

This is literally how much you will need of the pout paint! Rose Gold beside it!

Pin Up and Rose Gold

Sleek Makeup is available to order from beautyemporium.ie with €2 postage to Ireland and €3 to UK

Febuary Glossybox

2012-02-28T13:47:00.005Z

Glossybox arrived this morning and let's just say I am not impressed! Firstly Glossyboxs were sent out on Friday 17th of February and are only arriving today the 28th of February in Ireland. 11days! Technically yes it's only 7 working days but Royal Mail work on Saturdays so actually 8 working days. All last week the beauty bloggers had countless posts up on what's in the the Glossybox and also Glossybox themselves posting pictures and blogs up of what's in it! Totally ruins the surprise for all us Irish folk! In my opinion Irish Glossyboxs should be sent 2/3 days before English ones and then we would all get them at the same time!

Onto the box, they have gone back to the original packaging which is pink and brown. So what did I get

• Duwop Venom Gloss in Buttercup

• Dr.Bronner Magic Liquid Soap

• Paul Michell Round Trip

• BM Beauty Pure Mineral Eyeshadow In Noir

• Como Shambhala Invirgorate Body Lotion

Lipgloss it's ok bit sticky but it's a nice color.

The magic Liquid soap which is more like an oil, hold on did I just not get an oily moisturising soap in my last box that I have barely used, I suppose though this one is citrusy where the last one was nectary so their totally different! NOT! Also got a shower gel in the box before that too and got Fab body wash in the January box aswell as the oil. Glossy box must think were extremely dirty!

Paul Mictchell Round Trip, smells absolutely devine, there's one problem with it I DO NOT HAVE CURLS. Like seriously do they not read your beauty profile!

Also trying to read the instructions to see if I could actually use it in some way(there's not!) was a nightmare like it does not peel off properly and you end up pulling nearly the whole label off!

Mineral eyeshadow not much to say about it could be better pigmented in my opinion and they could have filled the pots better. They over filled mine and when I opened it, it went everywhere!

The body lotion is a body lotion nothing exciting about it!

All in all hate the box it only had one full size product which is only worth £1.99 the box just contains same stuff they had before just different brand.

I am still waiting on the wow box I know there will be one they have had them before with the Illamasque Freak box, HD Brow box and the Nars box. Not all boxes are bad but this one takes the biscuit it's like they just took a break after the limited edition boxes and through just crap into this one. Come on Glossybox sort this stuff out!

Nu Essence Beauty

2012-02-26T15:25:00.000Z

On my recent trip to Dublin I had the pleasure of trying out Au Courant Tan at Nu Essence Beauty on South Anne Street just off Grafton Street. They had put out a request on twitter a few weeks beforehand looking for a willing candidate and I jumped at the chance. I have been embracing my paleness for the last year but I still love a bronzed body for Saturday night.

On arriving I met the wonderful MrsNuEssence Margaret Kelly who let me know about Au Courant Tan, and how it was suited to pale Irish girls like myself and that I would not turn out orange like I had in the past.

Here is a little bit on what Nu Essence has to say about Au Courant Tan:

Au Courant Tan, is the world's first sunless tanning product. It creates the most natural looking tan, giving your skin a healty bronzed glow. For all your special occassions Au Courant tan will give you a flawless tan that fades beautifully and gradually, with no nasty residue. Tan yourself the safe and convient way with an Au Courant spray tan from Nu Essence.Best suited to a paler skinned person or anyone that may be nervous about being too dark.

Nu Essence did they're own blog post on how I got on with my tan and pictures you can check out their blog here Nu Essence Blog.

I would like to add this is the first tan that I have had no lingering smells of nasty tan afterwards even during tanning it smelt like bananas. As with every tan you need to look after it with moisturising, 10 days on I am still not back to my natural coloring and its fading evenly.I have in the past had tans where it faded in patches and lots of exfoliation is needed but not with Au Courant.

Nu Essence is a beautiful salon and in a great location, they not only offer tanning but also treatments in nails, waxing, massage etc. They have wonderful staff who are very helpful, I was tanned by Joan who was lovely. You can check out their website for all their treatments or call in if your in Dublin City.

Website:http://www.nuessence.ie/nuessence/Main/Home.htm

Phone: 01 6716443

Blog:http://nuessencesalonlife.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nuessencebeauty

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/nuessencebeauty

Avons dupe for Benefits They´re Real

2012-02-24T16:46:00.000Z

As well as the nail polish, Avon's new Mascara arrived also. Introducing SuperExtend Extreme Mascara.

Avon says it lengthens lashes up to 87% and does not flake clump or smudge micro precision brush captures even tiniest of lashes. First thing I noticed was the brush! Nearly identical to Benefits They´re Real mascara, the only difference is Avon´s brush is slightly squarer.

Picture sourced from magicmakeup.co.uk

As you know I worked for Benefit over Christmas, They´re would always sell out in a matter of hours anytime we got in a delivery. Women everywhere were crazy for the hype, and yes it is a nice mascara it did nothing spectacular for me.(I must be the only person in the world!) My mother blessed me with long lashes ( I am forever grateful), so with They´re Real in did not give me any more length. I will say it did work wonders on ladies with short lashes but I have seen regular cheaper mascaras do that also! One thing I did like though is its precision brush on the top it was great for getting in the inside corners and coating the bottom lashes easily.

Avons Brush

But look this brush has it also and its great for getting in them inner corners! I am pretty impressed with the mascara it coats the lashes nicely and gives them a nice curl its not clumpy or gloopy in any way. There is been no flaking or smudging so far.

No Flash

With Flash

As for the packaging its pretty basic which I like, just a solid yellow color and black writing. It would certainly be easy to find in your handbag!

SuperExtend Extreme Mascara will be launched in Brochure 7 at an introductory price of €6.50 and will normally be €13 thereafter. Benefits They´re Real is €24.50.

You can order Avon from your local Representative , if you do not have one you can request one here!

NOTD

2012-02-23T20:06:00.001Z

As I have stated before I am pretty bad at nails but I do like having painted nails. So spurred on by recent posts from Cherry Sue doin´ the do and Lovely Girlie Bits I am going to continue to practice and hopefully get better!

My new Avon Nailwear Pro in Blue Escape arrived in this morning and I had to try it out straight away. I teamed it with Avon Nailwear Pro in Apricot Mystery from the Smoke and Mirror collection.

Practice Practice!!

Apricot Mystery is available now in brochure 5 at a discount price of €4
Blue Escape is available from next week in brochure 6 at a discount price of €4.
(Both are normally €8)

Master Pro Lash Comb

2012-02-21T19:42:00.001Z

As you know I won a $250 voucher for Royal and Langnickel brushes before Christmas. I posted a picture of them here. I got around 50 brushes and I still have not used all of them. I have used quite a few and I have to say I am really impressed with their quality! I mostly picked brushes from their SILK range as I had heard these were best for pro artists and really luxurious, the reviews were not wrong!

I did however pick up this lash comb from their Master Pro range. Wayne Goss or as known gossmakeupartist on YouTube had done a video using a metal comb like this. He claimed it would give beautiful separated lashes that were not clumpy or weighed down and held a great curl. I was instantly curious so when my brushes arrived this was the first one I used.

Boy, he was not wrong! In my opinion my lashes are more fanned out, there's no sign of clumping or spider lashes and each lash is coated nicely. I used Maybelline Falsies mascara in both pictures.

Mascara applied normally with mascara brush

Mascara applied with Master Pro Lash Comb

Now I will say if your all a bit squirmy with things touching your eyes or you apply your mascara in a hurry this technique is not for you! This comb is metal and you are coating your lashes from the root up so you feel metal on your skin. Your also working close to your eye so doing this technique quickly can seriously lead to some major accidents!

But if you have the patience and really want beautiful lashes I would suggest investing in one of these comb. They are available on the Royal and Langnickel website for £5.99. Or if your heading to the Irish Beauty Show in March there will be a Royal and Langnickel stand there.

Mini mini haul

2012-02-20T14:04:00.000Z

This really is a miniature haul it consists of two products. I was in Dublin during the week doing a photoshoot. I decided to stay over night and hit Grafton street with my mother in tow on Thursday. My main objectives was 2 go to MAC and spend the rest of my Christmas vouchers and collect my stuff I already bought in Inglot. Also see if I could get any good deals in the makeup shop in Georges Street Arcade that Leanne from Thunder+Threads recently mentioned. Well everything went pear shaped!

On the way up I realised I had forgot my Brown Thomas voucher :( and then when I got to Dundrum I could not for the life of me find my receipt to pick my stuff up! ( When I got back to Wexford the receipt had magically reappeared in my purse! >:( )

I still went to MAC and picked up Face and Body in C1 for my kit, I absolutely love this foundation, and here are the reasons why

It's buildable coverage

Comes in a range of shades and in yellow and pink tones

You get 120ml for €36.50( most foundations are 30ml)

I just love it and selfishly I bought it in my shade!

I did go to that makeup shop in Georges Street arcade, I think it's called Cosmetique (correct me if I am wrong). I went for Revlon Colorstay which are only €9.99 in there instead of €17.50 like Boots. They only had the dark shades tho so I did not pick up any as I wanted to try the dry skin one in Ivory as the oily skin one is not sitting right on my skin.

I did however get some Directions hair color in Purple from a shop straight across from Cosmetique. I been wanting this since I started dying my hair purple but it's not easily available in Ireland and would have to order it online so I opted for purple dyes that were more readily available. So when I saw these I got pretty excited :) their only €8 and a little goes along with these.

New blog layout

2012-02-19T12:34:00.000Z

Some of you may have noticed my blog changing over the past month or so. The makeover still is not complete but it's nearly there.

So the changes:
Design:
When I first started my blog it was pink and glittery, it so was not working and did not represent me as a person. So I changed it to the grey and cream layout, these are the colors I use on my business cards and posters for my business so they all tie in together.

About Me:
I added a new about me tab up above which gives you more of an insight into my background of why I became a makeup artist and started my blog.

Giveaway:
I also added a tab to my latest giveaway so it is easier to find.

My Portfolio:
There is also a tab labeled My Portfolio, this is my professional makeup portfolio , any time I complete another shoot I will be updating it. Feel free to comment on them!

Blogs Worth Reading:
My blogs worth reading tabs, is just an insight into the blogs I read, these are great blogs and are worth a look there is also a few more to be added but every time I go to write them I go blank! So annoying! This will constantly be updated because I am still discovering some great blogs especially from us Irish girls.

Contact Me:
My contact details are on the left side if you would like to contact me, I am also available for bookings so mail me for a price list!

As I said I am still updating my blog so any suggestions comment below!

First Look At Avons New Ideal Flawless Concealer Sticks

2012-02-17T14:44:00.001Z

Sorry for my absence I have been in Dublin the past two days with no Internet so blogging was impossible! When I arrived home late last night my sister handed me my Avon order, which consisted of the 3 new concealer sticks from the Ideal Flawless range. I had been hearing rave reviews about the Ideal Flawless foundation on other beauty blogs that I was tempted to give it a go but I am trying to use up my other foundations before I tried a new one.

I took off the packaging on fair before I remembered I had to take a picture.

The concealer sticks come in 3 shades Fair,Medium an Dark. First impressions are good, they provide good coverage and blend easily.I have tan on at the mo but I do think once that washes off I will be shade fair, the other two I will pop into my kit for photo shoots and clients.

Without Flash. L-R Dark, Medium, Fair

With Flash. L-R Dark, Medium, Fair

The sticks are available to buy now in Brochure 5 for €6.50 each normally they will be € 9.00.

You can order Avon from your local Representative , if you do not have one you can request one here!

The Prettiest Things

2012-02-14T19:17:00.001Z

A few weeks ago scrolling though my news feed I came across a picture of a cute coffee cup necklace. Intrigued and totally in love with this little piece I went in search of where it came. The picture brought me to The Prettiest Things facebook page where I found the link to their website. I was instantly writing up a list of all the pieces of costume jewellery I wanted. They have everything from slices of cakes rings to gingerbread man earrings. Alot of their pieces have that vintage feel which I love, but they also have some cutsie thing like Disney character earrings which appeal to the young and the young at heart. None of their pieces are over £5.00 apart from the hand stitched samplers and postage to Ireland is only £2.35. So here is the pieces I got:

They come wrapped in pink paper with a cute Hello Kitty sticker.

All pieces are carefully wrapped!

Firstly I got these fab Tattoo love heart earrings, the heart is velvet. I am in love with these they are pretty big but I love statement pieces.

The fab coffee cup that started this splurge off! I am a coffee addict so this fits me to a T!

The last piece was this gorg vintage birdcage. It has a long chain and a little bird perched inside.

You can kind of see the little birdie! The cage door also moves up and down!

I am in love with all these pieces and can not wait to get some more especially their carousel necklaces and hot air balloon necklace! Check out The Prettiest Things on facebook, they host giveaways every Wednesday as well as keeping you up to date with new stock. They are also on twitter follow them here.

Online Shop:

The Prettiest Things

Giveaway Update!!

2012-02-13T16:03:00.000Z

There is just over one month left to enter the giveaway!! A few more goodies have been popped into the bag and there is still more to be added!!

The bag now includes a basic eye set from Royal & Langnickel, matte top coat nail polish from E.L.F, 10 pairs of eyelashes, Bling nail stickers from Penneys/Primark and 120 eyeshadow palette.

Above are close ups of the two new products.

Ways to enter:
You must be subscribed to the blog through google friend connect. Its on the right side of this page.

For extra entries
•Add my makeup page on facebook as a friend!

•Follow me on twitter here and tweet
@MeganRoseMUA is hosting a makeup and beauty giveaway on her blog checked it out http://alittlebitofmakeupandbeauty.blogspot.com/
I must be tagged in the tweet and must include the link to the blog or entry will be void!

Each of these will give you one extra entry!

Comment below this post on how many entry's you have.

T&Cs are still the same and can be seen here.

*Disclaimer* All prizes have been purchased by me and no company has sponsored me so far to host this giveaway!

Rant Saturday

2012-02-11T13:53:00.000Z

Two things to rant about today, I do not usually get annoyed with products or brands but this week just took the biscuit!

Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner:
So I only received my Glossybox on Monday so on Tuesday I decided to give my Skinny Eyeliner a go. I applied it to my waterline and found it pretty sore applying it. So when I went to topic up that evening I decided to warm it up on my hand. The pencil just crumbled so I reached for the pairer! I literally turned it once which was so difficult to even turn and SNAP! The whole end broken off! Not Impressed!!

ART DECO
On Wednesday Art Deco the makeup brand posted on their Facebook page asking fans to write up Makeup Tips and if they got 10 or more friends to like their post in 24hrs then they got a free product. This was the only T&C's! So I posted up a tip on how to get the perfect red lip. Got nearly 20 family and friends to like my comment! Art Deco wrote under my comment when I had hit ten to forward my address to their email to claim my product. Two days passed and I had not received an email as confirmation. I commented again on their Facebook to see if they had received it and was told they had and my product was on the way. I woke up yesterday morning to find an email from Art Deco stating because I lived in Ireland I would not receive a product! Eh I was already told it was sent! Seriously am not impressed and they got an email back stating how I was not impressed either. They have failed to reply ''great customer service'' and can certainly say I will not be buying any Art Deco. You know it does not cost much to post to Ireland!

Rant over! Have a great weekend!

NOTD!!

2012-02-10T14:34:00.004Z

First NOTD post, as I have stated in past posts I am terrible at nails but I am practicing more. Since I was so bad I never really purchased any nail varnish I think I have about 10 in my collection and some are in need of chucking in the bin. I have started to purchase more recently as I am really started to get into the whole having your nails painted completes your outfit kind of thing.

Above I am wearing Deborah Lippmann in Razzle Dazzle, I got this in my December Glossybox, to see what else I got have a look here! I am absolutely in love with this polish, this is actually my first glitter polish, I know it's terrible 21 years old and have never owned a glitter polish! I use the Revlon Base Coat and ELF Matte Top Coat on top as I do not like the texture of it with a normal top coat.

As far as I know you can purchase these from HOF website but they are pretty pricey at £ 16.00.

So what do you think of Razzle Dazzle? What nail polish are you wearing?

A Little Bit of Praise!

2012-02-09T15:25:00.001Z

Today's blog is actually just to rave about a online store I recently made a purchase with. If you follow me on twitter (which if you do not you should here) you would have seen I picked up some Sleek eyedusts from BeautyEmporium.ie Winter Sale for €2.50 each, they also had some items starting from €0.50 complete bargain! I ended up having a few hiccups with my order, had to happen to me of course! I was instantly on to customer service where the wonderful Stephanie went beyond what I have ever experienced from any customer service to help me. In the end I got much more then I ever expected and they now have a customer for life!

So who are Beauty Emporium, it's an online company based in South Wexford. They sell high end beauty products at discounted prices which is much needed in this crazy recession. Here's what they have to say on their website about themselves

''Beautyemporium.ie is a 100% Irish company owned and run by certified beauty addicts. Fed up with the high exchange rates, shipping costs and customs charges associated with buying cosmetics online, we decided to set up our own online retail beauty emporium and called it well..........BeautyEmporium.ie!! (original eh?) We offer some of the biggest names in make-up and skincare from around the world at great low prices. BeautyEmporium.ie is dedicated to offering brilliant beauty bargains.All products are guaranteed 100% authentic and while we carry most of our lines all of the time some of our great special buys are one time offers only - so if you see something you want snap it up! Our staff are experts in the area of customer service and with a superior knowledge of all things beauty we are ready to answer your questions via e-mail, twitter and facebook. Sign up to our newsletter Beauty Addicts to keep up to date with all our great beauty and skincare offers. Beautyemporium.ie accepts payment via Laser, Visa Debit, Visa, Mastercard and Paypal. We use SagePay as our payment gateway so you can be assured that all payments are secure - we don't keep your payment details on file either! Beautyemporium.ie is a verified Volusion sercure site and we have the re;evant SSL certification to prove it - so don't worry shopping online with us is safe and hassle free!''

They are Ireland's official stockist of Sleek Makeup and also carry brands such as Stila, NYX, OPI, MAC,Urban Decay,Essie and the list goes on. They only charge €2 delivery to Ireland and €3 to the U.K again complete bargain! I for one am sick of paying like €7-€10 just to get something shipped over here. They are constantly adding new products and brands and are in the process of developing a new website. Which Facebook fans got a sneaky peek of a couple of nights ago this is how it looked.

I can not have enough praise for beautyemporium.ie and their amazing customer service. I also been badgering them for a while to get NYX jumbo milk pencil and they promise it will be on the new website so keep an eye out!

Here's all their links

Website: http://www.beautyemporium.ie/Default.asp
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/beautyemporium.ie?ref=ts
Twitter:https://twitter.com/#!/beautyempie
Pinterest:http://pinterest.com/beautyempie/

Also here's two looks I created using the Sleek Eyedusts so check them out when your having a browse on the website here.

Sleek Eydusts in Breathless,Zing,Sunset and Inferno

Sleek Eyedusts in Fantasy, Livid Lilac and Drama

* All opinions are my own, I was not asked to write this blog by any third party!*

Too faced Smokey Eye Collection

2012-02-08T14:30:00.002Z

I am a sucker for a bargain even if I do not need it I want it because it's such a good price. While collecting my weekly piggypoints 3 weeks ago I came across their Too Faced megadeal. For only €19.99 you got their Smokey Eye collection which rrp is €42. With using some of my points I only had to pay €9.99.

I had never purchased Too Face before , I had heard good things about some of their products but nothing about their eyeshadows. Which I think I know why!

The packaging is very eye catching and really nice for a palette but it could have been better. There is a few places where you can see white edges poking through and some of the corners are actually sharp! But I can always decant them so really it's not that much of a let down.

They give you these cute cards giving you directions on how to create certain smokey looks with the shadow. These are actually pretty cute and people who love smokey eyes these are really good would help veer people away from just the basic black. The only downside of them is it's telling you to blend certain colors and you can not blend well with the sponge applicators that are supplied.

l-r Classic smoke, Day smoke, Fashion Smoke

So onto the colors, they are really good smokey colors but I have them ten times over in other palettes. Their not extraordinary in any way. They are pretty pigmented apart from the two big cream colors. They can create a good few looks and I am glad it includes a matte black aswell a shimmer black.

The fact if the matter is this palette is not worth €42 , and if I had of paid full price I would be majorly annoyed. I only paid €9.99 and I do not think I would have paid much more. I am not saying do not go out and buy this it is nice,but you can get all these colors else where for cheaper.

January Glossybox!

2012-02-06T14:32:00.004Z

My glossy box literally just arrived in the door. This is Glossybox second limited edition box, their first one been last months Christmas box. This box is all about Valentines Day hence the pink box and the products inside are for you to pamper and preen yourself so you look your best weather you have a bf or not!

I have avoided all week reading what was in this box because I just love the whole surprise aspect, but I do wish Glossybox found a better and faster way to deliver because waiting a full week for them is soo hard!

In my box I got:

Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in Black
Davines Moisturising Balm
Davines Cleansing Necter
Fab Gentle Body Wash
Murad Hybrids Skin Perfecting Primer-Dewy Finish

I am a matte girl, me and matte can not live without each other even in Spring/Summer.I have tried countless time to do the whole dewy look but I just feel shiny! So this primer will probably end up going in my kit! I will give Murad a go it feels really nice on the skin but the whole dewy look I just do not think it's for me!

I have never tried Eyeko but I have heard a good few things about them and I always see Pixiwoo using their mascara in tutorials. From swatching it, it's really pigmented and pretty soft now it's not the softest but it's nice. The whole logic of the skinny silver handle is once you get to the bottom of the pencil you will still have something to grip onto. Pretty smart I have to say because I can never get my chubby fingers around stubs of eye pencils.

Fab which stands for First Aid Beauty is actually available in boots according to the Glossybox card. It's a Body Wash but for more sensitive skin or for people who do not like to use too much chemicals on their skin. It's fragrance,lanolin alcohol and phthalates free. According to the bottle it calms redness and relieves dry skin.

I got two products from Davines this month. These are made in Italy and both products 98% of the ingredients are from the organic carthame oil. They both really smell the same to me. One is a hair and body oil for cleansing and the other is a moisturising balm.it says it used on the face with a cotton pad it will remove makeup and eliminate impurities, and then it just moisturises the body and hair as far as I can tell. Even though it's moisturising it can not be left on the body or hair it does have to be rinsed off.

So that's my Glossybox, would love to know what everyone else got in theirs.

Avon New Perfect Eyebrow Pencils

2012-02-03T17:37:00.000Z

I literally can not go anywhere now without my eyebrows filled in and my mascara on, it does not matter weather I have nothing else on I just do not feel normal without my eyebrows or lashes. I have always used gel or powder in my eyebrows as anytime I had tried pencil they either look too drawn on and harsh and I like to keep mine natural but tidy. Ever since I have gone purple I have been trying to keep my eyebrows pretty light using more blonde haired shades instead of my usual dark browns. I ordered these two brow pencils primarily for my kit because some people do prefer pencil.

I had no expectations of them , I do like Avon cosmetics and they have been bringing out more and more makeup over the years that is as good quality if not better then some of the higher end products out there.I really taught I would not like them on myself but I was completely wrong! I am in love! I keep catching myself staring in the mirror at my beautiful eyebrows. They are in no way harsh looking and the spolie on the end of the pencil helps achieve the natural look I love.


My natural brow, which has a good few gaps of no hair!

Full face makeup with new brows!

Blonde on top and dark brown on bottom

The Pencils come in too shades blonde and dark brown, they are super soft and easy to use. They will be available from brochure 5 onwards. And will normally be €8.50 but they are on offer for €4.50 in brochure 5. So if you love eyebrow pencils I would defiantly recommend these and if you were like me and did not like pencil I defiantly recommend these to convert you.

You can order Avon from your local Representative , if you do not have one you can request one here!

Blinging!!!

2012-02-02T15:56:00.001Z

Cherrysue posted a picture of her new nails on her facebook the other day, they were so pretty and I wanted them instantly! I was shocked when she told us all they were from Penneys and were only €4.50. So yesterday I went on a shopping trip to buy an outfit for Saturday night and as per usual I came home with an incomplete outfit and loads of stuff I did not need but wanted! I picked up two packs of these nail stickers. Wexford Penneys had only 3 types to choose from the plain studs, the pink polka dot ones and there is a not so nice grey multicoloured leopard ones that I left on the shelf.

I applied them last night and I do really like them there is a few pros and cons with them though.

Pros:

Really pretty and they do have a good few designs to suit everyone
No glue needed
Easy to apply(when you know how)
Reasonably priced
You get 18 in a pack so great if you make a mistake
They are sticking pretty well I slept with them on washed and dyed my hair and they have stayed on apart from one.

Cons

Needs better instructions I applied two the wrong way round when I first applied them
Smaller Penneys do not carry a great selection
If you have short nails they do not apply well, I can not get one on my baby nail as it broke the other day and there's no nail to push the sticker under.

All and all I like them and would be good for a night out, and if I had longer nails I would think I would like them better!

January Favorites!

2012-02-01T13:22:00.000Z

John Frieda Frizz Ease Hair Serum
My sister got me this as part of my Christmas box. I was completely baffled why even she even bought it for me, I do not have frizzy hair so I did not even know if I would use it. I tried it out of curiosity a few weeks ago, and it does do something. My hair miraculously drys in half the it used to! So now I can not put this down I never dry my hair without it!

Nip+Fab Spot Fix
I got this in my December glossy box and spots have been popping up like no body's business! It's like it jinxed me! But this is great it drys them out and takes down the redness and within a day or two their a distant memory.

M.A.C Vanilla Pigment:
Ok this is all year round favorite, but I recently got a new one and I just can not put it down. It looks amazing in photos, catches the light beautifully , it's just stunning can not get enough of it!

Soap and Glory's Mist You Madly Spray
Just after Christmas I ran out of my favourite perfume and when I went in to get another one they were sold out :(! I have other ones but instead of reaching from them I've been spritzing myself with Soap and Glory Mist You Madly Spray, it's so light and feminine it's just yummy! I pop it into my bag for extra sprays during the day because it can wear off, I wish they did a smaller bottle just because the big bottle can weigh you down.

Panda jumper
My mam gave it this name first time I wore it so it now has stuck. I just can not stop wearing it, it's just so snug it goes with everything. It's just my go to piece. It does have a down side :( I went to wash it and when I checked the label it's DRY CLEAN ONLY. Eh gutted was the word, it's an effort to bring to the dry cleaners where I am living at the moment. There is no dry cleaners near me I know one closed down in town due to the recession so at the moment I'm spritzing with febreeze until it really needs a dry clean it only really touches my skin on the shoulders and wrists so it's not too bad.

Giveaway Update!

2012-01-30T15:31:00.002Z

Ok I was supposed to be doing updates every week but I've been waiting for An Post to sort their act out(which they haven't) and deliver my stuff! My postman likes to be lazy on Monday's and does not come till after 1pm so I waste alot of time on just waiting. Arriving this morning he only had one of my orders and there was a problem with that so my rage at An Post has grown significantly in the last few hours! Rant Over!

So the giveaway so far the bag has 3 gifts in it which is due to grow significantly in the next few weeks. In the bag there is :

Royal & Langnickel 5 piece basic eye set
E.L.F Matte finish clear nail polish
10 Pairs of false eyelashes

If you have not entered already here is how to do so:

Main Entry:

You must be subscribed to the blog through google friend connect. Its on the right side of this page.

For extra entries
•Add my makeup page on facebook as a friend!

•Follow me on twitter here and tweet
@MeganRoseMUA is hosting a makeup and beauty giveaway on her blog check it out http://alittlebitofmakeupandbeauty.blogspot.com/
I must be tagged in the tweet and must include the link to the blog or entry will be void!

Each of these will give you one extra entry!

Comment below this post on how many entry's you have.

Competition runs until Midnight 16th of March so still loads of time to enter!

For all t&cs check out the original post here http://alittlebitofmakeupandbeauty.blogspot.com/2012/01/giveaway-how-to-enter-and-term-and.html

Decanting Lipsticks

2012-01-29T14:02:00.000Z

So I was hoping this parcel was something for the Giveaway when it arrived but it was my empty palette I had ordered from ebay two weeks before. I promise I will do an update on the giveaway this week even if packages I am expecting do not arrive. My kit seems to be getting bigger by the minute and my kit bag is still the same size so I decided it was time to decant my lipsticks. I looked at a few places that sold palettes like z palettes and so on ,I was going to buy one but i decided to check out ebay first see what they had to offer, I found this empty palette with 28 metal pans for €3.23 and €4.85 p&p. I decided to give it a go sure if it was crap it would not be too much of a loss.

So how to decant your lipsicks,

You will need:

Metal spoon
Candle
Lighter
Knife
Empty metal pans
Tissue paper
Lipsticks(duh)

Place a tissue paper on the table and light the candle. cut off enough lipstick to fill the pan. if your not sure just cut off a small amount and if its not enough you can just add more.

Place the cut lipstick on the spoon and hold t over the flame. Constantly swirl the spoon when the lipstick starts to melt.

When the spoon gets really hot move the lipstick away from the flame but keep swirling the lipstick

If some lipstick is still not melting place over the flame again but make sure not to burn the lipstick.

Once the lipstick is completely melted pour into the metal pan quickly as it will start to dry, you may need to move the pan in circular motions to make sure the whole pan is filled. Make sure not to burn our fingers.

Continue to do this until all your lipsticks are done, I taught I had loads but I actually only have 12 I need to get more so there will be a lipstick haul soon.

I decided to put my front cover I shadows in the palette with my lipsticks until I get more. They used to be in their original box but I was constantly dropping it as you an see from the broken parts of the eye shadows. These palettes are actually pretty good you will need more metal pans if you do take the plastic bit out but you can order them on ebay as well. I will be ordering another 2 palettes for my other frontcover sets.

Here is where you can buy the palettes:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/NEW-28-Piece-Empty-Palette-2-6cm-PAN-/160710311050?pt=AU_Makeup&hash=item256b14bc8a#ht_5236wt_905

Heres where you can buy empty metal pans:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/28-x-26mm-diameter-aluminum-pans-New-/160719502144?pt=AU_Makeup&hash=item256ba0fb40#ht_4849wt_905

Save Water, Save Money!Soap and Glory's 2 Minute Rinse!

2012-01-27T13:43:00.000Z

Recently the electricity bill arrived at the house and with 6 of us now living in the house it had risen significantly. And Mammy was not very impressed! I always try and turn off all the lights when I leave the room, plug chargers out when they finished charging, turn off everything before I go to bed you know the norm. But in honesty I am a devilment for the electric shower I will turn it on before I even am ready to get in, avoid the water half the time I am in there when washing my hair. I would spend nearly up to an half an hour if I was shampooing, deep conditioning, shaving, washing, exfoliating, the occasional song or dance! So I literally cancel out all my good deeds by having one shower and I have a shower every second day and if I am going out I would have two showers that day. That can be up 3hours a week of electricity and wasting water!

So scrolling through my news feed on Tuesday I came across a post by Soap and Glory on the 2minute rinse. Read here https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150934011890427 .
I was like if they can do it so can I and save the household a few bob as well. So Wednesday morning I with my Soap and Glory's Clean On Me shower gel and Face Soap and Clarity face scrub in hand I decided to tackle this challenge. At first I was a bit confused on how I could time it , ideas of someone standing at the door listening to the shower go on and off, bringing a stopwatch in to the shower I finally decided to count in my head was the best option I would start counting once the shower went on and stop when it went off and remind myself of the number and continue from that number when I turned the water back on. So with all that sorted I was ready to go...

Then the fear set in! The initial cold water that would fall when I turned on the shower freaked me out! I spent 10mins outside the shower going no I can not do this! I finally grew some manly things and got in the shower! My first rinse to get myself wet took 27secs due to the total freak out I had the water hit me. It was bloody icicle! After switching off the water I shampooed and exfoliated my face, I will admit it was a bit chilly but it's only for like a minute if your quick. After scrubbing enough I switched back on the shower and rinsed this brought me up to 58secs. The water is not as cold when u stick it on the second time. I deep conditioned with Aussie 3min miracle and washed with Soap and Glory's Clean On Me shower gel. As I had to leave the conditioner on for 3 mins I took my time washing and then combed through my hair. I taught it would have got really cold waiting for the conditioner to work but it wasn't have bad I was still pretty warm from the other rinses. After my final rinse I had to say I was pretty cuffed with myself I had finished in 92secs or 1min 32 secs. A major difference from my leisurely half hour showers. It's completely changed my morning shower routine and hopefully change the electricity bill, I might just have to change the rest of the household first before there's a significant change. So what do you think of the 2min rinse think you could do it?

December Glossybox!

2012-01-25T13:27:00.000Z

Yes I am really late on this post but I only received my box yesterday! I only signed up for Glossybox on fifth of January and then my first box got lost in the stupid Irish postal system. Me and An Post have never been the bestest friends! But Glossybox have excellent customer service and got back to me straight away when I emailed last week and sent me a new box the very next morning.

So what is Glossybox?( I know you probably all know but let pretend you do not). It's a monthly subscription where you pay around €16 and some cent when converted from £15 and in return they send you 5 high end beauty products suited to your needs. Some are full size and some are trial sizes. When you sign up you fill out a questioner on skin type, hair color, etc ... So your box can be filled with products to suit you. Every box contains a mix of skin products, makeup, nail products and hair products.

The box comes beautifully packaged in a grey and pink dotted box. The inside presentation box is usually pink but due to Christmas is red this month. The products are wrapped in a white sheet of paper and tied with a black ribbon and glossy box sticker. The products sit on little bits of crinkly paper also. The box is so beautifully presented which makes you want Glossybox even more.

So what was in my box

NIP + FAB Spot Fix

RITUALS Foaming Shower Gel

BLINK + GO Eyeshadow and Blush Palette

CARGO COSMETICS Classic Lip Gloss

DEBORAH LIPPMANN Razzle Dazzle Mini Nail with Stripped to Go Sachet

If I had of received this box last week I would have been kind of annoyed at the Nip + Fab spot fix because I rarely get spots and I would had rarely no use for it. But this spot popped up on my eyebrow yesterday and has been killing me every time I talk ( yeh I am a bit of expressionist when I talk. So I popped the gel on and within an hour pain and redness vanished! Been popping it on every few hours now and spot nearly gone delighted.

The Shower Foam is actually really nice, it comes out as a gel and quickly turns into a foam. Its like a shaving foam but when you add water it gets all suddy. The smell of eucalyptus overpowers the smell of rosemary but its actually not bad, I think this would be great if you had a cold would clear you right up.

I really was not expecting much from Blink + Go eyeshadow and blush palette as I have not heard much about the brand. But their actually really pigmented. I really like the rusts and bronze colors in the palette not a big fan of the blues but that just because I do not like the color blue but they are beautiful when you swatch them I might give them try. The blushes are really pigmented and you need to be careful when you apply them not to pack your brush as they are not so easy to blend once their on your face. So little goes a long way!

Lipgloss on top and two blush shades on bottom

I am in love with the Cargo Lip Gloss, my pet peeve is sticky lipglosses even though I love Soap and Glory's Mother Plucker I can not stand the stickiness. So when I read the card and this claimed to be non sticky I was yeh rite! But it's actually not sticky at all, and it's longevity is pretty good for a lipgloss aswell. I got the Paris shade, which is pretty sheer with just a hint of color.

As you all know I not much for nail varnishes, reason being I am the worst at putting them on! I rarely ever buy them due to this fact, I always get slightly jealous of when I see other bloggers notd posts, they all look so nice. I was especially jealous of all the glitter polish nails over xmas, so when this Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle pink glitter polish arrived this morning I got pretty excited, it was my first glitter polish and it's so pretty aswell. With just two coats you get a perfect even base if you apply it really carefully ( as my thumb has a few humps and bumps because I applied it too quick with excitement.) It's actually the first polish I have not started to pick off after a full day of wearing ( that's another reason why I do not wear polish!) I actually gave it a little test also I applied a normal top coat from boots on the left fingers and elf clear matte polish on the right fingers. I wanted to see which one I preferred but I actually can not choose they both have their pros and cons. The clear top coat gives them a lovely shiny and the glitters sparkle so well but when you feel them their all bity which is not so nice. The elf matte polish makes them so smooth to touch but it dulls the glitter a bit. I want the sparkle but I also want the smoothness. Ah you can never win! The nail varnish is still divine though and my mam has already booked it for her nails on Saturday night!

Normal top coat

ELF Matte top coat

You also get to review products to earn glossydots which once you get a thousand glossydots you get a free Glossybox.

If you want to subscribe leave your email below or tweet me here and I will send you an invitation as I will earn 200 glossydots and if you invite your friends you will get 200 glossydots. Refer 5 friends you get a free box!

FOTD

Foundation: Lancome teint 24hr in 005

Concealer: 24hr Maybelline in

Powder: Rimmel Clear Complexion transparent

Blush: The lightest pink blush in the Blink + Go palette

Contour: MUA powder in shade 4

Brows: Inglot 571 brow gel set with brown from a Victoria Jackson palette.

Highlight: White from Blink + Go palette

Lid: Champagne from Catrice Help I'm Stranded palette

Crease: Light bronze rust from Blink + Go palette

Outer Crease: Dark brown rust from Blink + Go palette

Eyeliner: Inglot 77 gel liner

Mascara: Maybelline falsies

Lips: Cargo lipgloss in Paris

Makeup Haul!

2012-01-24T14:47:00.005Z

I had not been up to Dublin since I left on Christmas Eve. So a shopping trip was much needed! As I was doing a photo shoot on Sunday evening I decided to head up early and meet up with my one and only Noelle! We decided to brace Dundrum with our presence as neither of us were in the mood to be trekking across town.

We headed straight to Inglot because I had €75 worth of vouchers to be spending. I had decided to give myself the limit of €100 and then the extra €25 for Noelle's birthday present. I actually spent €153 but with my pro discount I got it for €124 so I stayed right on budget. So as you know of yesterday's post I got a 10 square of eyeshadows which I am in awe of. My eye makeup never even moved yesterday! A whole 12 hours and not even a primer on my lids amazeballs! If you want to see the colors and all click here! I also got two gel eyeliners in matte black number 77 and White in 76. These are only €14 each.

I got three brow gels for €15 , in shades 571, 572, 573. You can get this palette made up with one brow gel one concealer and one eyeshadow or which every combination you want , been able to mix your palettes makes Inglot one of the best brands out there.

I got two blushes that didn't come in a palette but I think when I go up in two weeks I'll get another two and the four blush palette. I got shade 52 and 34 which I absolutely love there so nice on the skin and so blendable and at €9 each is great.

I also got the purple lipstick in shade 282. This was just released last week as part as their new bronze collection. So creamy and really pigmented, I will be using this on a shoot on Thursday so I will post pics on how it looked.

I also had a €50 Brown Thomas voucher so I picked up my favourite highlight pigment in vanilla. I can not rave about this pigment enough it's just beautiful!!

Inglot lipstick 282, Inglot blush 52 and 34, M.A.C Vanilla pigment

I had a voucher for €3 off L'oreal True Match foundation so I headed to Boots to pick one up. They were on offer for 2 for €21 so I got two for €18. So really I just paid €3 for the second bottle as they are €15 normally. Bargain!! These are labeled like M.A.C foundations with C labels for yellow tones and W for pink tones.I got W1 in Golden Ivory and C7 Amber Rose

C7, W1

I picked up the studio secrets primer which I have blogged about before here.

3,2

I also got two collection 2000 concealers in 2 and 3 I have heard great things about these concealers in many blogs so I taught I would give them a go. And they were free because I paid for them with my points. They retail at €6.39 but are on the offer for 5.64.

I also got a number 7 voucher because I did all this in separate transactions.I think the sales assistant wanted to murder me and Noelle we did 5 transactions in total! I picked up the NO.7 eyeliner brush, which I will use as a lip brush because it does nothing for eyeliner but it's a great lip brush.

All and all this haul came to €248.75 but with all my discounts and vouchers I got it for €86.99!

If Heaven Was An Eyeshadow

2012-01-23T16:23:00.000Z

It would be Inglots Eyeshadows! Since Inglot has hit Irish shores I have always really liked their products I have used a few their foundations and powders and eyeliners. So when it was time to write up my Christmas wish list Inglot vouchers were top of my list. Yesterday I went and did a pretty big makeup haul which I was going to blog about today but after using my new Inglot shadows on my photoshoot yesterday and on myself today I just have to rave about them first.

Inglots freedom system makes Inglot ten times better then any other counter. The fact that you can go in and pick all your colors by yourself or with help from one of the lovely Inglot girls is amazing! One of the items i picked up yesterday was the 10 square eyeshadow palette, it retails at €55 which is so reasonable I get pro discount so I got it for €44. You can also get it for €44 if your with meteor , they have a voucher for 20% off in the goodie bag deals, so if you are on meteor or you know someone who is it's a great voucher to print off!

Top row l-r: 348 matte, 433 pearl, 359 matte,378 matte
Bottom row l-r: 452 pearl,392 matte,15 shine,335 matte,318 matte

I got a mix of 7 mattes and 2 pearls and 1 shine. Theres no logic to why I picked these colors just they appealed to me. Yes there is one color missing which is a matte black that I have to go and pick up this week as they did not have it in stock yesterday.

l-r: 452 pearl,318 matte,359 matte,392 matte,378 matte,335 matte, 348 matte,15 shine, 433 pearl

So they pros and cons of the palette

Pros:

You can pick your own colors out of 250 colors!
They are extremly pigmented so a little goes a long way.
They are super blendable!
They are soft to touch none feel chalky at all.
The palette is magnetic and holds the eyeshadows in place so theres no breakages!

Cons:

I do not have enough money to buy all of them!

Face Of The Day!

Yes I do have purple hair!

Primer: Loreal Studio Secrets

Foundation: Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24hr in 005 ( Blog post on this when I have used it a bit more first impressions are good though)

Concealer : Maybelline 24hr in 02

Powder: 57 AMC Presssed Powder Inglot

Blush: 52 AMC Blush Inglot

Contour: MUA Powder in Shade 4

Lipliner: 050 Tiramiso from Rimmel

Lipstick:130 Soft Coral from Catrice

Lipgloss: Bourjais 62 rose Gold

Brows: Inglot Brow Wax in 571 and light brown powder from my 120 palette

Eyes: Lid: 359 matte Inglot,

Crease and under lower lash line: 452 pearl Inglot

Eyeliner: On lid and upper waterline Inglot 77 Gel liner, on lower waterline Inglot 76 gel liner

Highlight: M.A.C Vanilla Pigment
Mascara: Maybelline Falsies

Steal of the week!

2012-01-20T13:10:00.000Z

Quick post today! I was bored last night so I decided to accompany my parents on their weekly shopping trip and boy am I glad I did! I picked up these baby's!

After 2 hours of strolling around 2 supermarkets , yes not 1! But 2! I was so bored when we finally got to the checkout knowing that I could not help in the unloading of the trolley (my arms are to short!) I wandered into the shoe department. Nothing to my liking I popped into the kids shoe department and these were on sale for €10!! Now I know your thinking yeh good for you what about people who do not have kids size feet in their 20's. Well good news these go up to a size 5! You know it pays sometimes to check out the kids section and if your embarrassed just pretend your shopping for your niece/sister. Oh ya I got these in the good ould Dunnes Stores!

MUA Cosmetics Blushers

2012-01-19T15:41:00.001Z

Have you entered the GIVEAWAY yet ? Subscribe through google friend connect to win! Check out how to gain more entries and terms and conditions here! I just added a second prize into the goodie bag!

L-R Shade 4,2,6

So back to MUA Cosmetics I got 3 of their blushers which again were only €1.25 each. I got shade 2,4,6, at first look their pretty small about the size of a small single eyeshadow. They contain only 2.5g of product which is pretty small as most of my other blushers are 10g-12g but their only €1.25 buy four of these and you have 10g of blushers and only for €5! At the moment they only have 5 colors but this brand are still growing and are constantly adding new products and colors.

L-R Shade 2,4,6

So what are they like, well in my opinion they're worth €1.25. Yes they're highly pigmented but unfortunately they are extremely hard to blend you need to be so careful applying them. You need to use as little product as possible because once you put it on your cheek it's literally stuck to the spot you placed it on! Blending is soo difficult and after a few minutes of blending I give up and apply foundation over it! This kind of helps takes down the color if you applied too much and helps a bit with blending.

Unfortunately I will not be repurchasing these , and only giving them 1/5 that's because of the price! These are not in the giveaway!

Giveaway How To Enter and Term and Conditions!

2012-01-18T12:53:00.001Z

So yesterday I announced that I was doing a giveaway in celebration of reaching 1000 views. Yes some of you might say it's a small milestone in terms of the blogging world but I like to appreciate the smaller things because they lead to the bigger things. The main objective is to gain new readers and to get my blog more known out there in blogger land.

The Prize:
Is a goodie bag of makeup and beauty products that I really like and have reviewed or used on the blog or will use/review! I will announce one or two of the prizes in the goodie bag each week (one was announced last night here!). I will do a post on the complete goodie bag on the last week of the giveaway.

Ways to enter:
You must be subscribed to the blog through google friend connect. Its on the right side of this page.

For extra entries
•Add my makeup page on facebook as a friend!

•Follow me on twitter here and tweet
@MeganRoseMUA is hosting a makeup and beauty giveaway on her blog checked it out http://alittlebitofmakeupandbeauty.blogspot.com/
I must be tagged in the tweet and must include the link to the blog or entry will be void!

Each of these will give you one extra entry!

Comment below this post on how many entry's you have.

Terms & Conditions

1. You must be subscribed to the blog through google friend connect. It's on the right side of the blog just click the blue button.

2. Giveaway begins 18/1/2012 at 12pm GMT and ends 16/3/2012 at 11.59pm GMT and winner will be announced 17/3/2012

3. The competition is open internationally and I will pay the shipping costs.

4. I have payed for all products myself and have not been sponsored by any company or person to host this giveaway.

5. The winner will be picked fairly and not by me

6. The prize will be given as is and there is no cash equivalent nor can prizes be exchanged.

This is my first giveaway but hopefully not my last!

Royal and Langnickel Brushes and Giveaway!

2012-01-17T23:15:00.000Z

Short post today but finally my Royal and Langnickel brushes arrived. Just before Christmas I won one of their makeup contests with my peacock inspired makeup which was photographed by Alex Hutchinson .

I won a $250 voucher to spend on any of their brush line. I instantly knew I wanted their Silk Pro line because it is made from highest quality natural and synthetic hairs. I will do posts on them when I start to use them but first impressions are I am absolutely in LOVE!!

In other news this week I reached a 1000 views on my blog and gained a few more subbies which I am delighted with. I really want to gain a few more so I am hosting a giveaway in celebration of my 1000 views. This giveaway will be open to old and new subbies and will be international.I will post all t&cs tomorrow. But the prize will be a makeup goodie bag and the first prize in the bag is this Royal and Langnickel Basics Eye Set! Sorry for the bad picture but I do not want to remove the plastic but the set includes Silk Pro C521-s brow/ lash groomer, C422-s flat eyeliner, C450 smudger, C411-s eye shader, C490 eyebrow

MUA Cosmetics Cheap! But Are They Cheerful?

2012-01-16T16:23:00.001Z

I have had my eye on this brand since they came on the market. I was always kind of weary weather it was any good or was it just cheap tat aimed at young girls who could not afford to spend loads on higher end stuff. It was not until I started to follow their head makeup artist Karla Powell(check her out!) on Facebook and saw her create so many looks with products that retail at €1.25 that I started to consider maybe they have something to offer. I also saw a friend wearing a really nice red lipstick on a night out , she then proclaimed to tell me it cost her a euro and it was from MUA. I knew then I had to try it.

Before Christmas I went into Superdrug in Wexford with an aim to buying their 24 piece eyeshadow palettes that retail at €8, they did not have any in fact they had none of the big palettes something MUA needs to sort out. Discouraged I left with out buying anything, I decided to give them another go this week and picked up 3 lipsticks, 3 blushers and 2 powders which came to exactly €10. For a brand that is still growing they have a good selection of colors and products so I had a bit of a struggle picking colors but I got there in the end.

So here's the 3 lipsticks I got, I will do a post on the other products in the next few days just did not want this post to be too long.

Shade 7, Shade 2 and Shade 13

I got a pink, purple and red. Admittedly I did not want a pink as I have loads but they did not have an orange toned lipstick in the choice so I went with a pink. Firstly you notice you get as much product in these as you would in a €20 lipstick, they are also highly pigmented which I was very surprised by.

Shade 7, Shade 2 and Shade 13

I swatched them when I got home and then totally forgot to wipe it off 6 hours later getting ready for bed the swatches were still visible total shocker !! I have been wearing shade 2 for two hours now and it's still there. They go pretty matte on the lips but are not drying so defiantly another plus.

Shade 13 it is a red but very sheer and a bit too pink for my liking but its nice if you are just starting off wearing red lipsticks!


Shade 7, the pink I did not want but I actually really like how nude i it and gives your lips a nice wash of color

Shade 2, my favorite shade of all 3 its a purple berry tone, my fotd picture below does it much more justice but its a must have for the makeup bag in my opinion!

So if your still a bit weary of buying MUA lipsticks do not be. For €1.25 these lipstick get a 5/5 from me!
If you do not have Superdrug near you can order online http://www.muastore.co.uk/

Face of the Day !!!

Trends for 2012!

2012-01-14T15:16:00.000Z

So spring is almost upon us even tho it does not look like it, so I decided to do a post on makeup trends that braced us during the spring summer collections. The thing to remember with trends is that though they sometimes seem unwearable on the catwalk they can be tamed down to fit the everyday women.

1. Bright Eyes!!!
All the dark,plain tones are out and neon is in! Grab the brightest eyeshadow you have and slap it on and your in trend!! In truth not the easiest look to pull off nor is it the norm for most girls. So how can you wear it without getting a few funny looks, put down your black eyeliner and pick up a colored one in cobalt blue or fuscia pink, it will totally give your everyday look a bit of a twist.

2. Eye Catching Lips!
From bright eyes to bright lips you either choose one or the other, not together or you'll just look like you had an explosion of crayon on your face! With more and more cosmetics brands bringing out different color lipsticks its easier to get your hands on a dramatic color. I personally love Illamasque range but even MUA cosmetics have a great range of bright colors! There is also this "wine stained" lips that we saw at Gurung, its not for everyone but if you dare go for it!

3. Smoulder Your Way Into My Heart!
Irish girls will be so happy with this trend, known for their love of the smokey eye this is right along their alley. All you need is a black kohl pencil ( make sure its soft) to create this look, I personally love Inglot pencil, but M.A.C do great ones as well.

Team your metallic nails with your smoulder eyes!

4. Do Not Put Away The Metallic Just Yet!
Metallic is still in! Well in nail varnish anyway ! In A/W11/12 we saw an explosion on metallic nail varnish everywhere and it seems to be sticking around. You can get metallic nail varnish every where now even in Penneys so there is no need to miss out!

5. Make Me Shimmer!
Illuminators are all in , the dewy fresh look is the look for the summer mix it in with your foundation or just apply it to the cheekbones and you have it! You want to avoid something that has lots of glitter as its about been shimmery not glittery! High Beam for Benefit is good, they also do Bathina for the body if you want an all over shimmer.

There is some other trends out there but these are my faves and you do not need to be on trend in every trend pick one to suit you and make it your own! You can be on trend but still be yourself!

Weekly Challenges!

2012-01-12T17:03:00.001Z

Quick post today , sometimes I enter into the Makeup Geek Weekly Challenges, every two weeks or so you get an email with the challenge which might be a theme or colors you need to use etc.. I m always trying out makeup, playing out with different looks and whats not a better excuse to show them off for a competition you might even win something! Looks can be as simple or dramatic as you like, it just has to be your own work and not photo-shopped in anyway. So if you want to enter register here http://www.makeupgeek.com/ and then click forum and weekly challenges and post your look. Simple as that!

This challenge we had to use blue , white and silver! I went wild because I love avant garde makeup and if I could wear it out all day I would! Its kind of sea nymph/ ice queen inspired , I am not posting a tutorial on this look because I do not think my readers would want one, but if you do comment below or email me and I'll be happy to do a post on it.

Hygiene In The World of Makeup!

2012-01-11T15:30:00.003Z

When I was in college hygiene was drilled into me and know I'm completely obsessed with it. In my opinion every makeup artist should be! Since starting in this business I have heard some horror stories and seen some also, it was not so long ago a fellow makeup artist commented on Facebook how she had seen another MUA cleaning their brushes with Hand Sanitizer! This sparked outrage between us all and really highlighted to me how some artists have forgotten their basics of their qualifications.

As MUA we take most people's prime possession into our hands, their face. We are committed to provide them with our best service possible in the most hygienic way. If it ever came out that you had caused an ailment to your customer because of unhygienic practices your name would be ruined in the business. So why do some MUA continue to put their career at risk. My only answer can be laziness!

So any MUA's who have lost their hygienic skills or any of my fellow normal readers who want to know what to expect from MUA's continue reading.

1. Hand Sanitizer: Before you start any makeover hands should be sanitised in front of a customer. I personally sanitise up part of my arm as my arm my accidentally rub off a customer. These can be bought in all pharmacy's, supermarkets and even pound shops now and retail for a small bottle around €3. So there's no excuse not too have one. Oh do not use this to clean your brushes it's called Hand Sanitizer for a reason!

2. For products like lipsticks eyeliners concealers etc do not double dip! Scoop the product out on place on the back on a sanitised hand or on a mixing palette. Never place your brush in the product! You can get these in all art and craft stores or from Royal and Langnickel.

3. Mascara wands!!! If you do not use them you have no right to call yourself a makeup artist! From working on counters I have seen so many girls come over and try a mascara with the mascaras own wand I have even seen fellow colleges let them do it! Once they their finished I've thrown the mascara in the bin. There's no way I would put any customer at the risk of an eye infection! Use mascara wands never double dip and if your client happens to use the wand on them selves throw out the mascara, it's cheaper to buy one then all the lost revenue you will have! You can buy these from any pro shop but the cheapest place to buy is eBay. Click here for mascara wands!

4. Clean brushes! After every job I have be it a shoot or a client I come home and deep cleanse my brushes using baby shampoo and baby oil. Check out my blog post here! I have a multitude of brushes and have never had a job where I've used all of them and need more but if I did I always have a bottle of surgical spirits in my kit and can easily disinfect any of my brushes right there and then. Baby shampoo,oil and surgical spirits are widely available and will cost you less then €10.

5.Eyelashes! Never ever use the same eyelashes again, on shoots I have witnessed MUA's removing eyelashes from models and placing them back in their box and back in their kit. My only hope is the threw them out when they got home. This is the same as mascara , putting a clients eye at risk of any ailment is a serious no no, so once eyelashes are used let the model/client keep them or throw them away and buy more. I have already done a blog post on cheap lashes here!

6. Sprays to clean your powder products. I know some makeup artist mix their own spray but if you do not how to do this buy Beauty So Clean Spray. It will disinfect all your powder shadows and blushes etc and stop any nasty bacteria building up.

So fellow MUA's remember your training and how you promised to provide customers with your best service! Hygiene should be at the top at that service.

Elf Haul!

2012-01-10T15:28:00.000Z

So back to makeup, I've had these products over a week now but been caught up in other stuff i.e my hair! I have not blogged about it. If you do not know who E.L.F is well it's an online makeup seller(in the states they do sell in stores) it's literally bargain makeup with prices just starting at €1. With a price tag like this your probably already thinking pure crap, but it's not. Yes I will admit it's very hit and miss but they have products I could not live without! They usually have some sort of sale on every week and every so often do a 50% sale off everything. Just after Christmas they had 50% off Christmas stock so I went to see if there was anything I'd like.

First I grabbed the Matte Nail Polish Top Coat , it instantly turns shiny nail varnish matte with one coat. I will admit feeling my nails after I put this on freaks me out but I love how they look. I got 2 as they were only a €1.

without matte polish

with matte polish

I also got 2 of the Shimmer Eyeliner Pencils not expecting a lot from these I was pleasantly surprised how soft they were. Now there's actually no shimmer in them and if there is it's so minute that you can barely see it. There pretty pigmented as well so I pretty happy with these and I used the purple one in my tutorial yesterday so have a look here!

Swatch of porcelain

My sister wanted a cheap enough foundation so I picked her up the Studio Line Flawless foundation. She has combination skin thats mostly oily so this oil free formula would be perfect. Now in saying that the ingredients have oil in it but most oil free foundation do. It has an SPF 15 in it which is great because she will mostly wear it during the day. This is a full coverage foundation and I found applying it to her is best done with a stippling brush or if you only have a flat foundation brush use a small amount it and spread it all over the face. The shade I got was porcelain which was perfect for her. These were more expensive at €7.50 each I picked up one for my kit also do not know weather I'll use it though I might just give it to my sister when she finishes the her one.

Swatch ivory on left, apricot beige on right

Lastly I got these cover sticks, this was kind of spontaneous buy I wasn't really expecting alot from them but for €1.70 they weren't really gonna be that much of a disappointment if they did not work. I got three one in ivory, apricot beige and this dark skinned one but I have misplaced it! Their ok, they smell like apricots actually which is nice but they do need to be applied with fingers as they need alot of warming up. I do not think I'll be purchasing again but Wayne Goss put up a video last night on how to turn concealers into correctors so I might do that with them.

So that's my haul including p&p I think it came to around 28 euro so was not to bad.

A Little Hiccup!

2012-01-09T14:33:00.001Z

One of the main things about been a blogger is honesty. And when things go wrong we admit it. I promised to take you on this hair journey with me and after having a hiccup I backed out of it yesterday in hope I could fix it and not have to tell you about it. Even if I had of fixed it I probably would be still telling you about this because as mammy's would say honesty is the best policy!

After my first bleaching that had some slight miscommunication problems ,most of my roots came out perfect and my ends of my hair came out pretty ginger! Not a good look! I bleached again to get rid of some roots that was missed and to try lift this brassyness. Again roots all perfect now but I was still gingery as you can see.

Luckily enough my hair was still in amazing condition even after stripping and two bleachings. I was told by professionals that my purple toner that I was putting in my hair anyway would hopefully cancel out my brassy bits , something to do with the color wheel and them been opposite sides. So I tried this, my roots are exactly the silver purple ombre I was looking for (so the hunt is kind of over) but the brassy bits are now more of a strawberry blonde as you can see.

After a few hours of wallowing in my self pity, I came to the conclusion that it can be fixed and I will fix it. So in honor of my multicoloured hair I decided to do a tropical burst color tutorial for you today.

1. Apply foundation and concealer as normal and set with powder.

2. Apply a peachy blusher to cheeks, I used an eyeshadow but Benefit coralista will do.
3. Draw a cut crease using a purple eyeliner I used the purple shimmer eyeliner from elf. Using a similar color eyeshadow, blend the crease upwards to create the shape you want.
4. On the lid in the inner corner half apply a yellowish gold, I used one from my 120 palette.
5. On the outer half of the lid apply a strong orange, again from my 120 palette and blend with yellow in middle. The orange must follow the shape of the purple.
6. For a highlight I used Vanilla Ice from frontcover under the brow and blended with the purple.
7. Using a black gel liner create a flick and line the lower water line.
8. Apply mascara to upper and lower lashes. Fill in eyebrows with a dark brown or color that suits your hair.
9. For lips I just used a tiny bit of concealer and added gloss.

A Beautiful Color of ....Erm Ginger!

2012-01-07T15:36:00.001Z

So this is stripped hair, not a look you want to be walking out of the house with! This is not my natural color before you even think it, when you strip your hair your removing the color build up from years of dyeing your hair. Why it goes ginger I am not to sure.

So to strip your hair use one full sachet of Efassor mixed with 60ml of 30vol creme peroxide. Mix well and apply to hair. Apply to the darker bits first. Do not apply to roots or any hair regrowth as it will not remove this color and can be damaging to new hair.

*Disclaimer* I am literally blogging about what I am doing and I am not telling you that you should do this. Stripping hair is very harsh and can cause damage to hair , avoid doing so if you have brittle or damaged hair. Please if you want to strip your hair talk to a professional first.

So anyway onto the makeup, not so much an everyday wearable look. Really I was just kind of making fun of my gingerish and playing with colors.

1.Apply foundation and concealer as normal and set with powder
2. Contour the cheek bones and apply a light pink blush on balls of cheeks apply highlighter over this.
3. Apply a eyeshadow similar to skin tone all over lid and under lash line.
4. Apply light brown into the socket line and blend upwards, using a pencil brush apply a dark brown over this and blend upwards.
5. On the lip apply a red/orange copper color, I used one from my 120 palette but M.A.C 'coppering' would work also. Blend the edges of the copper into the dark brown.
6. Apply a small amount of Barry M pigment 44 to centre of lid and blend to add some dimension.
7. Using a black gel liner to create flick apply a thin line in inside corner and gradually getting thicker as you move to outside corner. Line upper and lower waterline with black also Apply mascara to upper and lower lashes.
8. Using pencil brush apply a shimmery gold to under the lashline and in the inside corner of eye.
9. Line lips with a bronze lip liner( I used one from Avon called bronzer which also has a lipgloss and lipstick attached to it. Fill in the outer edges of lips also and blend with clean lip brush. Using the Barry M pigment 44 mixed with clear gloss I applied this all over lip.

The Hunt for a Silver Purple Ombre!

2012-01-06T18:49:00.001Z

I am a women on a mission, late last night when I have nothing better to do but think I decided I was bored with my hair. When I was in school I had this feeling nearly every two weeks and changed my hair to every color imaginable. Even green, which happen by accident. I have been very good last few years and over last 4 years I have only gone from brown to purplish. So I decided I was allowed give into my cravings for change.

The first thing that came to mind was a Viva Adonis post where one of their friends died their tips of their hair purple, though it suited her I have a bob cut and knew I would just ridiculous if I did it to mine. But she mentioned a purple ombre so I went in search of what an ombre was. I fell in love instantly with a silver purple ombre and that was it I had to have it.

At the moment I'm dark brown with a purple tone off it I use XXLLive in Cyber. So getting this to literally white hair would be a challenge and a bloody expensive one in the hairdressers. I am pretty good with hair and so is my mam I also have a few family members who are hairdressers if I need some help. I also did a lot of research online and watched countless hours of YouTube videos on girls who did this as well. So today I popped into Sally Salon Services in Wexford and picked up everything I need for this mission.

I got Efassor a hair colorant remover/stripper, 30 vol Creme Peroxide , Blue Bleach Powder , Purple Haze Paintbox and Blue Frosting Silver Shampoo. I got the Aussie 3minute miracle deep treatment in Sam McCauley Chemist. As after and during the mission my hair will need some TLC! All these came to just under 40 euro but bear in mind I did get trade discount in Sallys.

I am hoping this will take about 4 days to complete and I will be taking you on this journey also. Everyday I will be posting a look of the day to match my hair and details on what I did.

So how to achieve this look
1. I applied foundation and concealer as normal. ( Revlon Color Stay in Ivory and Maybelline 24hr concealer)
2. Set with Rimmel Clear Complexion Powder in Transparent.
3. Filled in brows with dark brown Eye shadow.
4. Contoured using Inglot AMC Powder in 17
5. I patted Vanilla Ice from Front Cover all over lid up to crease.
6. Using a soft lilac eyeshadow from my 120 palette from Ebay, using a pencil brush I applied this to the crease and blended.
7. Using the soft lilac I created the winged out eye shadow with the pencil brush.
8. Using a dark purple( cadbury purple) I applied this over the lilac and blended.
9. Using the pencil brush again I applied the purple under my lower lash line 3/4 of the way in .
10. Apply mascara to upper or lower lashes.
11. Mix the cadbury purple eyeshadow with clear gloss and apply to lips.

Boohoo.com

2012-01-05T14:48:00.001Z

As you already know I did not go mad in the sales, I usually do not I just hate the whole searching rails for clothes and the whole mess shops get into. This is why I love Internet shopping, no rails, no screaming children and no getting over heated in over crowded shops. So the first sale I checked out on Stephens day was boohoo.com, a Northern Ireland Company who were all over the TV before Christmas. I did not need anything I was really just having a gawp and seeing if I could pick up a bargain.

Before I get on to what I bought I just want to say boohoo.com have excellent customer service. I was doing the order around 9 o clock at night and encountered a problem when I tried to add the shoes to my cart some funny message about value was coming up. I decided to write on boohoo Facebook page and got an instant reply to say they will pass it on and would be dealt with in the morning. Happy that I got the reply but I was a bit worried they might be gone by the morning. Well twenty minutes later they replied again and it had been fixed and I could now place my order. How good was that! They also had a Christmas delivery notice telling you if you order on this day then your order will be delivered on this day. They said my order would arrive on the third of January and it arrived on the third! So I really must commend them on their excellent customer service.

In the end I ordered this multicoloured skater dress and a pair of yellow platform stilettos further down.

Skater dresses are everywhere at the moment available in every colour, I always taught they were nice but were too long for me. I am extremely short and long dresses make me seem shorter. So when I saw this dress and saw the reviews that people said it was really short I knew it would be perfect length for me. I admit it's not my colours at all ,I had to force myself to buy it but I need to stir clear of black clothes. I do need them for work but the fact is I live in black and I only inject colours in shoes and accessories so I decided I needed buy a colourful dress. When it arrived I was a little unsure but my sister instantly told me it looked great and it was only because I just do not wear much colour. I have yet to wear it out but I am waiting for the right occasion. Oh yea it was only €14 bargain!

The truth is I am a complete shoeaholic I have over 70 pairs and it's forever growing. Some are over loved like my black and white office shoes and some are unworn the right occasion has not come up yet and I have some that I can not even walk in but I just have to have them. I can not go shopping without buying shoes even if it's just flats. So when I saw these and saw the price I fell in love!

At €8 how could you go wrong, yellow may not be for everyone but I love shoes in every colour. Pair these with a black blazer and black skinnies instantly changes the whole outfit and adds some attitude! Some of you may ask what's the hole at the top of the top for ? Really I have no idea their kind of peep toe but not ,maybe it's for ventilation ? The hole does not put me off them at all their still beautiful to me and give me the height to get over the 5ft mark so happy days.

There is still time to shop in their sale as there is 4 days left so see if you can grab a bargain like I did!
www.boohoo.com

A New Way To Do Nails!!

2012-01-04T12:54:00.001Z

Well I think it's new and I only found out about it this week so it is new to me. Introducing Water Marbling!

I love nail varnish but believe me I am the worst person at painting nails, actually no my friend and fellow MUA Amy is so I am the second worst. We just were not blessed wit stay within the lines ability and usually spend more time cleaning around our nails then painting them. So I was thrilled when I saw this post on another blogsite.

After watching this video I was mesmerised and knew I had to try it for myself. And in my opinion I did not do half bad for my first attempt. I did not achieve the perfect swirl most of them did not achieve the swirl at all but practice makes perfect and I am happy with them. I followed the video but there was some thing she did not mention to do so here's how I achieved these nails:

1. Paint nails white all over I just used the white from my Boots french manicure set.
2. Wrap all fingers in tape as shown in video you will not be able to do it after you do each nail it will just get too messy.
3. Only use an old glass or your mam will kill you ha ha!
4. Use warm water if it's too cold it will not work.
5. When your nails are dry or nearly dry that's when you can begin.
6. Always drop the darker color in first( I used Avon's Nailwear Pro in Midnight Plum) for some reason white does not spread well unless there's another color in the glass.
7. Once all your circles are done make your swirl and place your nail in flat on top of the water and the submerge it in hold there for 1 min and and then remove nail varnish circle from around the finger.
8. Take out of the water it may or may not b dry so do not touch for a few minutes.
9. You can use the same water for every nail!
10. Once all nails are dry then use a top coat, I used E.L.F matte polish to give them a matte look.

So there you go, really it's not that hard and I only watched the video once to know how to achieve the look, so anyone can do it!

Straight after

The morning after with top coat

Not swirly at all but I still like them

One of my favorite nails

Some Surprise Finds!

2012-01-03T20:24:00.001Z

Today has been a good day, not only did my E.L.F and Boohoo.com deliveries arrive but I found some things I had forgotten about. I have recently moved back into my family home after much reluctance but the cost of living is too high for a country in recession! I moved back into my old room which is literally full to the brim of things from my teenage years. Silly momentum's that should have gone in the bin years ago but really I have a little bit of a hoarding problem and I stupidly keep things and refuse to throw them out. I used to never throw out receipts that finally had to stop a year or two ago. As well as these momentum's was my mountain of bags and shoes that I had either left here after a visit or forgot I had even bought! I also had clothes since I was 15 clogging up my wardrobe thinking maybe I would wear them again or keeping them for my fat days! With all the stuff I brought back from my old place and my new Christmas additions I knew something had 2 change. So yesterday I began my conquest to conquer my hoarding! After giving 40bags and a black sack of mostly unworn clothes to Chernobyl Ireland and 2 sacks of absolute crap gone in the bin I am still not finished but it is mostly just organising and I have taken alot of tea breaks (i.e checking fb,blogging and escaping the house all day just to get away from the mess).

But during all this cleaning I have come across makeup I had taught was lost forever, brushes I taught had disappeared off the face of the earth as well as clothes I do not even remember buying! The best thing I had to have found was my Benefit Celebutante box, this Christmas just past it was the Tattle Tell All box. I had taught I had left this in England where I used to live and only had the benetint,highbeam and lip gloss from it. So I was delighted when I found it and realised I had never used the Dallas bronzer in it! Anyone who uses Benefits blushers and bronzer boxes will know they last forever this palette has a quarter of what's in a Dallas box so I should get some good use out of it and saves me 33.50 for a little bit longer. It also had their leggy and dandy brandy eye shadows in it as well as their lipstick 'no competition' a deep red color. So with a little spray of Beauty So Clean Sanitizer Mist these will be disinfected and ready to use again. Happy days!

L'oreal Studio Secrets Primer

2012-01-02T12:07:00.001Z

Just before Christmas I popped into Boots in Dundrum to pick up some much needed essentials for Christmas. I primarily went in to buy Revlon Colorstay foundation as my Inglot one had ran out. In blogs and vlog land this foundation has been raved about by everyone so I had to try it out. So over to the Revlon stand I went and was trilled to see if you bought €20 of Revlon products you got a box of goodies free this included a mascara lip gloss and nail polish. Now there was no boxes in sight apart from the tester one, so before I bought something I did not need from Revlon ( Colorstay is €17.50) I asked one of the sales assistant was there any boxes left. After about 10 minutes of waiting she reappeared to tell me there was none left and she was sorry. I said it was fine and not to worry and carried on with my shopping. Standing in the deodorant section she reappeared again and handed me a L'oreal box of goodies proclaiming it was better. It was only when I had left the shop I realised that I never picked up the other Revlon product and had only spent 17.50 not the 20 euro I was supposed to spend. Did I go back? I did in my .....

The box contained a a full size lipstick, eyeliner and blusher/bronzer/highlighter trio. As well as samples of youth genetics moisturiser, samples of their new triple resist shampoo and conditioner and their new studio secrets primer. The sales assistant was right this box was much better! I dished out the moistuiser to my mam and popped the makeup in my kit. The one thing I did use on my face was the primer and I am in love!

To me this a complete dupe to Benefits Porefessional. From the feeling to how it's sits on your skin to how it looks and works. The only difference is the color but both go on transparent. Porefessional is an oily girls must have primer. And has had rave reviews in fashion magazines and blogs and continues to be one of Benefits top sellers each week. Studio Secrets primer does everything porefessional does. It leaves your skin with a velvet like texture, minimises the appearance of pores and prolongs the wear of your foundation. It feels light on your skin so does not feel you have extra layers on, my foundation sat perfectly on top of it all day and after my initial powdering in the morning to set my makeup, I never needed to powder again during the day , shiny free and matte all day just the way I liked it! I got 3 applications out of this sample and I was very sad to see it go I knew I had to get some more. Did I remember when I went shopping the other day? Nope totally forgot, after superdrug did not have the palettes I wanted the rest of my makeup went out the window I even forgot to pick up more mascara and have been scraping the last out of my Maybelline Falsies for the last few days now! I have a list though for Thursday and I will not leave until I have everything on the list and this primer is number 1! Price I am not too sure on but I am sure it's under €20 which is a big difference to Benefits €33.50. If you have oily skin I would defiantly recommend this primer, you never know boots mite still have some testers so pop in and ask and try it out for yourself!

Fake eyelashes!!!

2012-01-01T15:26:00.000Z

Just a quick post today!! Fake eyelashes some of you will love them , some will hate them and some of you will just be fed up with trying to get them on!! If your like me you will love them, weather you only wear them on special occasions or everyday you have to admit sometimes they can be a bit pricey for only wearing them once. Yes you can take good care of them and reuse them but I tend to take mine off and I either lose them or put them in my purse ( do not ask!) and they get ruined anyway. Frankly I do not mind because I have well over a hundred pairs and they only cost me less then 20 euro. I was frankly sick of paying 7 euro upwards for lashes, I have ones from Makeup Forever that I paid 20 euro for and I have yet to wear them , so I went in search for cheaper ones. And I found them here Ebay, you get 60 pairs of lashes in 6 styles for approx 7.02 they can take up to 3 weeks to arrive but they're worth the wait for that price. There's no p&p fee so makes it even better!! These are everyday natural looking lashes but some of them have nice designs that open up your eye.

If your looking for more dramatic lashes Ebay do them also but you will pay more for them. You can also get individual lashes in all lenghts and sizes. Oh before I forget the glue in with these are crap and I have no idea what the sticks are for, so stick with duo glue! Just remember when shopping on ebay be careful only use top rated sellers and always use paypal!!

A Little Splurge!

2011-12-31T20:22:00.001Z

When I say little I do actually mean it little I spent less then 50 euro. Why?? Well 1. I was only in Wexford, not the greatest selection of shops. 2. Superdrug did not have the makeup I wanted and 3. I waiting to go on my big makeup haul in Inglot and Brown Thomas next week. So here's what I got:

This picture does not do this jumper justice. Unfortunately not on sale but I did manage to get it down to €24.30 with my student discount(which runs out in feb :( ) This monochrome jumper is so cosy and perfect over jeans and leggings for a casual chic look. Pair it with a heeled boot and your ready for drinks with the girlies on a Friday night. Oh I got it in New Look in the AX Paris section.

Next I got a few little bargains in Penneys/Primark. I picked up this gorg red satchel for €6 reduced from 13. I know their going out of fashion, frankly I do not car and I think their perfect for nights out. Clutches are well too annoying for me I can not dance hold my drink and socialise holding a clutch and the whole under the arm thing I can not do. See I talk with my hands as well as my wrists and my whole arms and so I have to have one arm free to chat with so satchels are my thing. Also I can fit my shoes in here as well as other night out necessities. I may be a city girl but I have some culchie habits!

Next I got this emerald and gold ring for €1, it looks black in the picture but it is emerald green. I am not a huge fan of jewellery I had tattoos before I had my ears pierced at 19, but I do like costumy jewellery when I am dressing up. I do agree jewellery can make an outfit! And it's also great to put in my
Kit for shoots.

I also got this cute peacock feathered clip for €1 also again great to have in my kit and I think it would make a cute broach on a black dress. I did have a fab pair of feather peacock earrings during the summer but I pulled them apart and used them for eyebrows in one of my shoots. Check it out HERE!

I also got two string tops in Penneys for €3 I usually pay €7 for one black one. So this was a great buy! I usually wear these under my chiffon tops if it's cold or cardigans.

Finally I got some black flats for €2, I get new black flats every month it does not matter where I buy them and how much I spend them I just over wear them because of work and I wear them in all weather also that they just fall apart. So I get Penneys ones now their cheap and they go with everything. What more could I want.

I will be doing a few haul blogs this week because of a few online deliveries so hope you do not mind and you like them as much as my other posts!

Favourite Things

2011-12-30T16:08:00.001Z

Breaking News!!! Just as I was about to post this I got an email off Sigma Brushes, their giving you 10% off until the 31st of January. These are high quality brushes and do not cost a fortune , I will be doing a blog post soon as soon as my new set arrive!! Click on link below and use the code 0112XJML
Click here to visit www.sigmabeauty.com

Here's a list of a few of my favourite things I could not live with out (beauty related)

1: Crown B8 angle liner brush. I love my gel liner but I love my brush I apply it with more! I picked this brush up at the Beauty Show in RDS in October for 3 euro. Best 3 euro ever spent , it gives smooth lines, creates perfect flicks and it has not lost it shape even though sometimes I admit I have mistreated it and let liner build and build up on it. I will defiantly be picking up another 6 of these in March.

2: My first blog was on Kate Moss Rimmel Lipstick, where I raved about shade number 1 . I am still raving, it's my favourite red shade next to M.A.C Russian Red. It is highly pigmented and longevity is amazing. As long as I do not eat or kiss boys I do not need to top it up!

3: Revlon Colorstay Foundation in Ivory. I have finally admitted to myself that I am pale and according to Mac I am a C1/NC15. It has been hard since I admitted it to find a foundation that suits my skin tone and does not burn a hole in my pocket. I am still waiting for my Mac pro card until I get it I am refusing to pay full price. I saw other bloggers raving about Colorstay and how it was a M.A.C dupe. I decided to give it a try and I have not looked back since. It gives me great coverage and suits my skin tone perfectly and is perfect for my combination skin.

4: Inglot Contour Palette , Inglot is my favourite makeup, I have not really blogged about it much because I am waiting to do a big haul in a few weeks. Anyway this is amazing I have this one since August and use it everyday and have only just reached the pan of my powder this week. For 25 euro these are a steel you get your all over face powder as well as your contouring powder or your can just get two face powders. The great staff will help you pick the right shades if your not to sure and once your finished just bring back in your palette and they will refill it with the same shades.

5: Water, not a beauty product you say but to me it is I do not think my skin would be half as good as it is if I did not drink half as much water as I do. Maybe it's because I am a pieces and were supposedly water loving, well I can not swim and not a huge fan of sailing or fishing but I do love water. I know it's hard for some people to drink 8 glasses a day and I have heard people say when I drink lots of water my skin breaks out , well this is true but your body is just flushing out it's excess oils. Once this is done your skin will love you and you will love your skin!

A Resolution I Can Keep!

2011-12-29T16:26:00.001Z

New year resolutions we all make them , we all give up on them too! I have spent many a year vowing to get fit in January or go on a detox or save more money. By day two I am pigging out on the left over roses tin and spending all my money in the sales! So I decided this year to make a resolution about something I already do but can be a bit lazy about.

My skin care regime, I do really try to look after my skin as best I can as I feel having good skin makes you feel better because I know if I wake up in the morning with a blemish I am already annoyed over my face before I even put makeup on and that dampens your mood for the rest of the day. The problem I have though is laziness , by the time I am going to bed I am wrecked from a long day of work or if I am on a rare night out the skincare regime goes out the window by the time I hit my bed. So my plan is not to change anything just to continue what I am doing just make sure I do it every night and morning even when I am feeling lazy.

So my regime:
Morning: I first wash my face with Soap and Glory's Face Soap and Clarity 3 in 1 Daily Detox Vitamin C Facial Wash. This a great foaming facial wash that has tiny exfoliating beads . It is a non drying formula, so it's good for dry skin and combination.
I follow this up by using Simple Kind To Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser. This contains Vit B5 that softens and smooths the skin while Vit E moisturises to improve skin conditions. It also contains Glycerin and Borage Seed Oil. Light moisturisers are great for the day as they dry easily and do not leave a residue on the skin which can change the way foundations go on. I leave this to dry while I brush my teeth and by the time I am finished it has absorbed into my skin and I am ready to apply my makeup.

Morning Regime

Night-time:
I begin by taking off my makeup with Simple Kind To Skin Purifying Cleansing Lotion. I apply a small amount on a cleansing pad and spread it on another pad and use the two on my face removing all my makeup apart from my eyes.
I then apply Simple Kind To Skin Eye Makeup Remover to cleansing pad and remove my eye makeup. Mascara and eyeliner can be very hard to remove so it's good to have an eye makeup remover so you do not wake up with panda eyes!
I move onto Simple Kind to Skin Soothing Facial Toner, this helps to even out skin tone as well as closing pores that have been open from cleansing.
I finally finish with the Simple Kind To Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser. I have combination skin which has its dry days and oily days so I prefer to use a light moisturiser all the time as heavy moisturiser can trigger my oiliness to increase. But if you have dry skin defiantly use a heavy moisturiser on the night like Simple Kind To Skin Replenishing Rich Moisturiser.

Night-time Regime

Skincare does not just stop with the face your body is also included. Before I get dressed I use Soap and Glory's The Righteous Butter with Shea butter and aloe vera. This is an all over body moisturiser for dry skin. It leaves you with velvet feeling skin. I also use Soap and Glory's Heel Genius Foot Cream and Hand Food which help keep my hands and feet smooth and stop them from drying out. Which happens a lot from been on my feet all day and using hand sanitizer.

Body Regime

There are a few other products that I use though out the week. I use Soap and Glory's Pulp Fiction Body Scrub. Exfoliation should be part of every one's regime. Normal skin or oily should exfoliate once a week and dry skin twice a week. No more exfoliation is need and over exfoliation can damage skin as after you remove the dead skin layer your then removing new skin.

When I need to remove makeup during the day if I am applying more for the evening. I remove my makeup with Simple Kind To Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes apart from on my eyes ,never use wipes on eyes your skin is very sensitive here and wipes can be very harsh on them.

Once a week I also use Avon's Clearskin Blackhead Clearing Deep Treatment Mask. I suffer from blackheads around my nose and chin so I find using a mask once a week help keeps these to a minimum.

Weekly Regime

So this is my resolution to follow my skincare regime to a T weather I am tired or just lazy. So girls do not make crazy resolutions this year if you doubt you can keep them. Change something small or improve something you already do!

Click here to visit Avon
Click here to visit Soap and Glory
Click here to visit Simple
Click here to visit www.sigmabeauty.com

Sparkle for the New Year

2011-12-28T17:19:00.001Z

This elegant atomiser has to be the best present I could have bought myself this Christmas. Selfish I know but before I had even bought any Christmas presents for family and friends I dashed into The Body Shop on Grafton Street to pick myself up some sparkle!

The Sparkler is part of the limited edition The Joy of Sparkle winter range. I got the boudoir pink but it also comes in enchanted gold which is great for tanned complexions. These little atomiser give you a multidimensional shimmer due to the clever combination of different size glitters and pearls. This mist can be used as a highlight or all over body shimmer. I have even sprayed it my hair and clothes for that extra bit of sparkle.

To use just hold the atomiser around 10cm away for the area and spray. That's it no rubbing or anything simples! The only bad thing about it is it is limited edition , I am already dreading it running out so I can only hope they will bring it back out. But if they do not one of the beautiful sales assistants advised me to fill it up wit perfume when it's empty. Great idea!

These retail around 19 euro(I am not to sure because I got a discount) get them while you can girls because unfortunately they will not be around forever!

2011-12-25T00:53:00.001Z

Girls just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. And to apologise for not blogging lately I was doing some Christmas temp work for Benefit Cosmetics. I had a great time working for them and all the Benebabe girls in Dundrum House of Fraser were FAB!! Loads of new blog posts will be up from the 28th and I will be doing some giveaways in the new year swell. So keep reading and have an amazing Christmas and I hope sanity brings you some amazing beauty products! Xxxx

I Can Not Live Without This!!

2011-12-14T13:09:00.001Z

I first discovered Batiste when I was in Secondary School so a long time ago and forever since I have never been without a bottle. It is literally my best friend, I use it at least once a week and it has never let me down. If you do not know what Batiste is Where Have You Been???

Batiste is a dry shampoo spray, not only does it absorb the oil from your hair but it also give your hair a bit of a boost. Ever wash your hair on Monday and you wake up Tuesday morning and its greasy. Your not the only one it happens I find my hair goes like that when I play with my hair alot or I am in a smokey room or after a night out. I refuse to wash my hair everyday because

1. Its a vibrant color and washing it alot strips the color
2. My hair gets dry when its washed to much
3. I have not got the pennies to buy more shampoo and conditioner twice as much as I already do
4. I can not be bothered takes to long to wash dry and style it and I am a busy women!!!

So this is where Batiste comes in handy at only €3.50 a can and really available everywhere( even ALDI now!)
its a steal and last a good while too depending on how much you use it. Over the years its grown as a brand and now includes sprays especially designed for brunettes, blonde's and light browns which is great because sometimes if I was in a rush some of the white spray I missed would still b noticeable in my hair and with the brunette spray now I never have that problem.

They have just launched a gold shimmer spray here in Ireland which not only cleans your hair but gives it a gold shimmer which is great for Christmas. Truthfully I do not know weather this one is for me as I would only spray this is my roots and would rather not have people know I used Batiste so having some gold shopping around my roots would be a sure giveaway! But each to their own!

If you do not own a can of Batiste go get one now you can even buy a travel size for your handbag for €1.50!

120 Eyeshadow Pallette - Do not get ripped off!

2011-12-12T15:05:00.000Z

Most have you have probably seen these palettes before, they can vary in colors. I have one very similar to this and the truth is I could never live without it. It has all the mattes I could ever need and has some great colors that I would have never used before if I had not bought one. Its a palette I always have in my kit and I feel lost when I forget it.

So how much did I pay for mine, well I would have got it at the beauty show for €25 but I passed on it, I could buy the smaller 88 version from coastal scents for €15, I could get it from them sellers on Facebook who try to pass them off as real M.A.C for a ridiculous €45 upwards. I paid only €9 on Ebay and that included my p&p. Now I have heard what people say about the eye shadows from china and they contain this and that, but girls all these palettes come from the one place and are all made from the same ingredients. Ive had mine for six months and use it everyday, I have never had a problem with them and have used them on my clients and they have never had any reactions to them.

These are all manufactured in China and sold on to retailers or company's who print their own logo on them and sell them for a higher price. Their also sold to these fake dealers who are costing the cosmetics industries millions of $/£/€ a year. They are printed with the fake M.A.C logo and sold to these alleged real M.A.C sellers on Facebook.

M.A.C never have and never will produce a palette like this, M.A.C never have and never will sell on Facebook. But I will come back to this on another blog post as its a much bigger issue then this palette.

Anyway this palette is great and you will not regret buying it, but do not pay for a logo!

A Few Little Stocking Fillers- Part 3

2011-12-07T12:20:00.001Z

This Isadora Holiday Gift Pack is only €15 great for your young daughters or nieces that you need to buy for or even us big girls that love having creative nails. The pack contains Wonder Nail in Gold Sparkles, a black graffiti top coat and also a 4ml clear base/top coat and all come in this cute leopard print clutch.

Isadora nail polishes usually retail at €7.50 so this is really good value for money. This set is available in Debenhams and chemists nationwide.

A Few Little Stocking Fillers- Part 2

2011-12-06T20:51:00.001Z

Front Cover have been doing Christmas sets for Boots for the last few years now and I have always made sure to pick one up for friends and myself, as their great value for money and highly pigmented with a wide selection on colors. This year they have released a wide range of Christmas sets ranging from nails to lips to this full everything in one kit as shown above.

This is defiantly the set I have on my list to Santa not only does it contain 13 eye shadows and 6 lip glosses it also has 2 loose pigments and 2 blushes as well as shadowline a liquid that turns eye shadows into eyeliners. It does not stop there it contains 6 makeup brushes, mini eyelash curler, mascara and a double pencil sharpener. All you could need in all the one place and all for €47 that's less then €1.50 an item. But you better be quick these are already sold out online and will easily sell out in stores the sooner it gets to Christmas !

A Few Little Stocking Fillers- Part 1

2011-12-06T12:15:00.001Z

I will be posting a few Christmas sets that I consider good value for money and great little stocking fillers. My first set is Benefits I'm Glam Therefore I am Christmas set.

Benefit are doing two €39.50 Christmas sets this year this one above and Tattle Tell All which more concentrates on the lips. This set is great because it gives you everything you need to create an evening look. So what does it include, firstly it includes a mini Girl Meets Pearl, a great highlighter for the night. Pearl in color it has pink and gold undertones wear under foundation or over this will give you that illuminating glow that we love on a night out. Glamming face powder is a limited edition blusher similar to their sugarbomb blusher but with out the peach and soft plum colours. This is a great blusher as its buildable where you can go as subtle or pink as you like. It also has four eye shadows that you will need to create a great evening smokey eye or just use the first two for a subtle sexy day look. These limited edition colors are Icy Lilac, Posh Amethyst, Pink Fancy and Precious Pewter all are very pigmented! It also contains a mini Bad Lash mascara in black which is great for creating them sexy luscious lashes and Life On The A List ultra shine lip gloss for a full sexy pout!! It also contains your blusher brush and a double ended sponge applicator.

So you see this set is great for creating a full evening look and can be used also to create a subtle day look either. The set is small so its great for fitting into your handbag on a night out or in your suitcase for travel on one those weekend aways. All Benefit sets come with instruction manual on how to apply their makeup to create the ultimate Benefit look, so their also suited for teenagers just starting out in makeup and need a little guidance.

I'm Glam, Therefore I am sets are available from all Benefit counters and online at Benefit get them quick though as their selling out fast!!

The Heel Condom-The Only Reusable Condom!!

2011-11-28T16:39:00.000Z

OK something different for today readers, not only do I have a makeup obsession I also have a shoe and bag one. I am always on the look out for a pair of amazing shoes and I think my whole shoe collection has cost more then my entire wardrobe. On my last count I have around 80 pairs of shoes from flats to sandals to heels to skyscrapers that I have yet to master how to walk in!Unfortunately I do not always have the money to be going out and spending €50 plus on a fab pair of shoes, so when I came across this site I was delighted.

Introducing The Heel Condom , yes that is its name its all to do with publicity and to get people talking about them and it has certainly done that. Created by 24 year old entrepreneur Sandrysabel Ortiz, these beautiful designs have already been mentioned in magazines Glamour, In Style and many more as well as numerous online blogs. Just like other Fashion Houses they create a new collection each season and there is literally a condom for everyone.

Ranging in price from $10(in sale album) to $40 in the new collection($40= €30 $10=€7.50) and postage to Ireland is only $12(€9) these are very reasonable. There is two styles to these first there was the Panty style- The evolutionary condom that fit all heel types weather their thin or thick, high or low. Secondly there was the Condom style- the original condom that protects and decorates the heel, made to fit heels ranging from 2-5 inches. Some of the ribbon design condoms can be worn in many different ways - Check it out here! Another great feature of them is that they can be cleaned , I have often got a mark of one of my favorite pairs of shoes and they have never been the same afterwards.

Most of these condoms can go with every color of shoes, so every time you walk out the door you can be walking out in a new pair of shoes with out burning a hole in your pocket! These condoms would also be great over a pair of Penney's €10 heels. So which condom will you choose ??

Stock lists:
www.theheelcondoms.com
www.Prettypinktoes.co.uk
www.glamfoxx.com

This Winters Chapped Lips Saviour!!

2011-11-27T13:56:00.000Z

Ireland has been getting colder lately and the talk of the dreaded snow is among us!! My friends and family seem to be dropping like flies with colds and flu's, luckily (fingers, toes and everything else crossed) I am still sniffle free! The one thing I do suffer from though is chapped lips. For years I used to leave the lips sticks and glosses behind and carry a tube of Vaseline in my pocket dosing my lips every hour trying to get rid of the flaky skin. It was only this year I was told that Vaseline does not work it actually dries them out more!! So I went in search of a new product and alas I found one!!!

On one of many random shopping trips with my beautiful friend Noelle, she told me about an article she read in one of the many fashion magazines about a exfoliating scrub for the lips and that u did not need to carry a lip balm around all day with you. The minute she said LUSH made it I knew it would be Divine!!. So we popped into LUSH on College Green in search of this wonder potion.

The wonderful LUSH store assistant pointed us in the right direction as we looked like two lost puppy's in search of a bone. This lip scrub comes in 3 flavours Bubblegum, Sweet Lips and my favorite Mint Julips. All handmade and made from natural ingredients. These scrubs main ingredient is sugar so their edible and its kind of hard to resist having a little taste! They taste as delish as they smell!!!

These little jars work out around €7 but last a life time. All u need is a pea size amount each morning to scrub into your lips each morning, after giving them a good scrub just wash off the scrub and then apply your favorite lip balm. By the time your finished applying the rest of your makeup your lips should be flake free and nicely moisturized so you can apply your favorite lippy. So girls and boys forget about those previous years chapped lips and say hello to kissable lips all year around!!

First Makeup Tutorial-Smokey and Nude

2011-11-26T21:54:00.001Z

Sorry for the lack of of posts over the last few days but I've been away on training and had no Internet. As promised, I have done a makeup tutorial post I really did not know what look I was going for when I sat down to do this so seen as its Saturday I decided to do something for the weekend!

I went for a firm favorite with us Irish girls , the Smokey Eye. Since Kim Kardashian has braced our television screen her signature smokey eye has become a must for the Saturday nights makeup regime.I added a flick just for a little twist and a few individual lashes at the edge of my lashes to open my eye up more

I went with a nude lip as this look is really about the eyes and I did not want to take away from it. So I just with a nude lip and a pink gloss in the center.

So here's how I achieved the look and the products I used:

1. I applied Rimmel Match Perfection in shade 100 Ivory with a flat head foundation brush. €11.95

2.I used Maybelline 24hrs Concealer in fair under my eye and a tiny bit on my lid and any other blemishes or marks around my face.I applied this with my fingers as I believe concealer works better warmed up with your fingers. €8.95

3. I sealed my foundation Rimmels Clear Complexion Pressed Powder in shade 021 transparent.I applied this with a big powder brush.€5.95

4. I contour my face with no.17 pressed powder from Inglot Freedom System with an angled powder brush.This is firm favorite of mine, but at the start I was really scared of it at the start as it is pretty dark but a little goes along way with this and good blending is needed. €26 (for 2 powders and palette)

5. I used an orange color from a 120 eyeshadow palette I got from Ebay. The color would be a peachy orange ( column 3 row4). I only dabbed my angled powder brush in this color once as I only wanted a natural flush of color and not umpa lumpa cheeks! Around €9 price varies.

6. Next I filled in my eyebrows with the brown out of the Catrice duo palette HELP! I'm Stranded. Using a an angled brow brush. Not too sure on price but you can get Catrice from Penney/Primark and pharmacy nationwide.

7. Again I used the Catrice duo palette but i used the gold shimmer on my eyelid with a flat eyeshadow brush for packing the color on my eyelid.

8. I applied this light brown color in the socket line and blended 3/4 of the way in and upwards with tapered blending brush. Also using a a pencil brush I applied this under my eye.

9. Using the black in the bottom right hand corner of the palette I applied this into the socket line and blended.

10. To do the flick I used Maybelline Gel Liner in black, using a thin angled eyeliner I started in the corner of eye with a thin line to the outer edge of the eye. Then using the point on the angled brush I created the point on the flick and joined the flick to the liner. I created a thick flick but you can do it as thin or as thick as you like.€10.95

11. For mascara I used Maybelline Falsies in black on top and bottom lashes. I applied 3 12mm individual lashes to the edge of my lashes to open up my eye. These lashes were also from Ebay . Mascara €8.90 Lashes €1.95 for box of about 40 lashes.

12. As a highlight I used Vanilla Ice from Frontcover Eye Spy palette box from Christmas 2009 range. Frontcover release a Christmas palette every year and this highlight is always the first shadow and appears in it every year sometimes with a different name. I applied this on my brow bone in the corner of my eye and on my cheek bones. Palette €47

13.On my lips I used Natural Nymph from ELF mineral lipstick range and Maybelline lip gloss in Freshly sliced. Lipstick €4.00 Lip gloss not to sure as I got it free with other Maybelline purchase.

Hope you enjoyed my tutorial!!! xx
X6K8THBB3UK3

Cleaning Brushes 101

2011-11-22T17:25:00.001Z

The dreaded brush clean, we all have to do it but its one of those things we just keep pushing to the side.We make excuses of it takes to long, we do not know how to clean them and they do not dry for when you need them the next day.Not cleaning our brushes can have major effects on our skin, you may have a religious skin care regime and a healthy diet but yet you get them dreaded spots, did you ever consider its you brushes??Not only does color build up but dead skin cells, oil and bacteria build up on them too.

If your a daily brush user I would definatly suggest cleaning them once a week, depending on how many you use depends on how long it takes. Here I have just a small portion of my brushes(18) and it took me max about 15 to clean so really its not time consuming. Drying time depends on the brush and where the brush is left to dry. Smaller brushes take only about an hour where big brushes take about up to 12 hours. So your brushes can be drying while you sleep and be ready for you in the morning. The best place to dry them is in the warmest place of your house i.e the kitchen or sitting room, I would not suggest the bathroom as it never gets really warm and can be damp. So how do you clean them, well its simple you just need two inexpensive items:

Most people would only need the to use the baby shampoo, but if you use gel eyeliner or really pigmented lipsticks you would know their a nightmare to clean with just shampoo! So lets begin:

1. Squirt a pea size amount of shampoo in your hand, run the the brush under the hot water and rub into the the shampoo until it becomes lathered, now rinse your hand NOT THE BRUSH under the water. This will save you from wasting the shampoo. rub the brush in the palm of your hand again until it lathers up and rinse your hand again repeat this another two times and then rinse the brush. Depending on how dirty the brush is depends on how often you need to reapeat this step.

2. For hard to remove makeup i.e gel liner( especially bomb proof inglot gel liner), pigmented lipstick and really dirty brushes, baby oil is the only way to bypass spending ages on trying to get them clean. After completing step one, pour some baby oil in a bowl and dip the brush in the oil the makeup should just dispearse from the brush. Reapeat step one again.

3.Once all the brushes are cleaned make sure to squeeze them of excess water and place them on some kitchen towel and leave them to dry, as I said above dry them in a warm place and also out of reach of children!! Also if you use short handled kabuki brushes place them upside down or else they wont dry the water will just remain in the handle.(Yes their my lovely pjs in the pictured this was just before bed!)

So thats it its not to hard or time consuming and could even be done through the breaks of X Factor on a sunday night.

As a MUA I can not do this in between clients so I disinfect my brushes with surgical spirits I buy a big bottle in boots and put it in a small spray bottle that I carry around in my kit. Before I move on to another client I would spray some tissue with the surgical spirits and rub my brush into the tissue until no more color comes off the brush.This gives you disinfected brushes and your not putting your client at harm. This is also a good tip if you are prone to spots or cold sores, you should disinfect you foundation brush, concealer and lip brush after every use if you do not have time to wash them this will help with healing and prevent further spreading.

I hope this post will encourage you to clean your brushes as not only does it help your skin but helps with the longevity of your brush.
Brushes shown in this post are a mixture of LA Makeup, Inglot, No.7 and Crown

ColorSensational, a Sensational Let Down!!!

2011-11-20T22:37:00.000Z

I recently picked up the new Maybelline ColorSensational Lip stain for free when I bought other Maybelline products. I have always liked the idea of lip stains, and I am a regular user of Benefit Benetint under my red lipsticks. So when I saw this I taught great a lip stain in a range of colors , it would be great for my clients who are looking for long wearing color on their lips.

Boy it was a complete let down! If I had of been spending my own money on it I would have done my regular checks on them in store, which would include checking the applicator, pigmentation and texture. So when I got home first thing I realised was I would never use this on a client. The felt tip applicator is one of the most unhygienic applicators I have seen since they put brushes on foundation bottles. At least they can be slightly cleaned by running hot water, this applicator can not be cleaned at all. If I did want to use this on customers I would have to break off the lid and put it in another container. Really I am not that bothered! I decided I would use it on myself. Oh I forgot to mention I got number 350 in Blushing.

After the whole application diabolical I noticed the smell and I can not lie it smells DIVINE!! The smell of berries actually over powered the whole room but unfortunately it does not make you lips smell divine , does not make them smell of anything. Color wise I was happy enough blushing is a deep pink verging on purple and looking great under light pink glosses, it gave an extra bit dept to my everyday lip color. There is one thing that makes me stay loyal to Benetint , the fact its smudge proof or as other people like to call it kiss proof ! It stays on no matter what your up to! That's the whole purpose of lip stains! Rating the longevity of Colorsensational on a scale of one to ten is a big fat 0! It last max about 2 hours , not what I would label a lip stain at all.

I bought this 2 weeks ago now and have used it about 4 times and now I can no longer use it! I have already mentioned about the applicator well not only is it unhygienic it has now completely dried up and I can only get a dribble of color out of it. I really had high hopes for this product as I do like other Maybelline products and I could see me using it in my kit, but this is defiantly one for Maybelline to go back to the drawing board on and for us to leave on the shelf. I would love to know if any of you had bought one and had a similar or different experience to mine.

Brushes a must have or complete waste of money!!!

2011-11-19T14:11:00.000Z

Many a times I have asked by friends do I really need to use brushes, my answer is always yes!!! But do you need a gazillion no not at all! My friends would see my ever growing brush belt when I am applying their makeup of a Saturday night and every week the same question is 'What do you use them all for?'. Truth is I only would use max about 9 on one face at a time , the reason I have so many is their duplicated I have about 2 of every brush some I have about 6 of some brushes.

So your question now is 'Do I buy a brush set?' again my answer is no! If the only persons makeup your applying is your own then you defiantly do not need a 42 piece brush, you will never use all the brushes and some of them you might not even know what to use them for! Though they do look all shiny and new and us girls been like magpies can't resist do we really need to burn that big hole of €295 in our pocket or our boyfriends this Christmas. So how many do you need, well my answer will be 5, just 5 no more no less!

1: Foundation brush, the type of brush you use is totally up to you- types available are kabuki, flat head, stippling.
2: Angled blusher brush, this can be used to apply powder contour and blush
3:Blending eye brush, this is a must have you will never achieve the perfect smokey eye without one!
4: Angled eye brush, this can be used to apply the perfect cat eye flick with gel eyeliner or if your an eyebrow girl then this will be your saviour for creating that structured brow
5: Flat eye brush, perfect for packing on the color before you use your blending brush in the socket line!

In my opinion these are all the brushes you will need to create that flawless look and save you them much needed pennies! It also means that you can get your boyfriend to spend the rest of the money he would spend on the brush set on some fab makeup for your collection. Around this time of year many makeup counters are doing some fab small brush set and most of them come under the €50 mark. Though some of them do not carry all the brushes listed in my 5 must haves so here's my list of brushes that you can buy individually:

Foundation brush: Mac 187, Mac 130,Mac 188, Mac 190,Inglot 27TG, Inglot 21T,Crown C406, Crown C404, Crown SS003, Crown SS009

Angled blusher brush: Mac 168, Inglot 3P,Crown C104, Crown BK04, Crown B04, Crown SS013

Blending eye brush: Mac 217, Mac 224, Inglot 4SS, Inglot 6SS, Crown BK30, Crown BK38, Crown C200,Crown C429, No.7 Eye contour brush( buy for free with No.7 Boots Voucher)

Angled eye brush:Mac 208, Mac 263, Inglot 31T, Inglot 17TL, Crown B08, Crown BK45, Crown C207

Flat eye brush: Mac 249, Mac 239, Mac 242, Inglot 28PO, Inglot 29PO, Inglot 16PP, Crown BK39, Crown C202, Crown C417

Mac available in Brown Thomas Grafton Street and BT2 Dundrum
Inglot available in Jervis Shopping Center, Dundrum Town Center, Liffey Valley, Blanchardstown Shopping Center and Cresent Shopping Centre Limerick.
Crown available at http://www.crownbrush.co.uk/

Kate Moss first Lipstick for Rimmel London

2011-11-19T01:51:00.000Z

It's hard to believe Kate Moss and Rimmel London have been working together for ten years. It's hard to believe Kate Moss is 37 years old actually!! To mark their decade anniversary Kate and Rimmel have joined together once more and launched Kate's debut lipstick collection. Available in 7 shades in a sleek black packaging with Kate's signature in red, shows that this range is aimed at all ages and pockets. Ranging from 4.95 -7.95 depending on where you buy it, I believe its a total bargain!

I recently went out and purchased shades 01 and 05 for my makeup kit, but me been me I could not resist trying it on myself. 01 of course is a deep red a staple color on Kate Moss lips.This is defiantly a blue tone. 05 is a bright pink shade. Both have a tiny bit of shimmer to them probably from the black diamond ingredient according to Rimmel gives them incredible new levels of light reflective elements. Smell wise (yes I smell all makeup and hopefully I am not the only one) slight fruity smell off them but have that normal lipstick smell otherwise.

I wore shade 01 all day today and the only time I had to retouch it was after eating , I did not use lip liner or lip stain under the lipstick and even after eating all the color had not been removed from my lips which I was rather impressed with! The color went completely matt after application so if your looking for a moisturising lipstick this is not for you! I was really impressed with the depth of color and felt it really suited my skin color(though I do not really like to admit it I am pretty pale I would wear NC15 for you Mac lovers!!). I swatched the 05 shade on my hand and I am afraid to say I do not think this color is for me, I used to love wearing pink lippies and glosses when I was younger but I feel now when I wear them now I look younger!! So I think this is one I will save for my clients and I will have to buy another 01 for my clients as I will be keeping this one for myself! On my next haul I will defiantly be picking up shade 03 and 04 , 03 been the nude and 04 been the purple which I hear is a dupe to Mac Cyber but I have not judged for myself yet so I will keep you informed.

xMegan-Rosex