The Lo Down - Today's Simple Makeup Look

Hey Guys and Dolls,

Today I kept my makeup look nice and simple. I used minimal makeup products as I was getting eyelash extensions so I didn't want to wear too much. I will be doing a post about my eyelash extensions soon don't worry but yes they look amazing. I love them!

I didn't put on any mascara for obvious reasons as it would just be coming off once the eyelash extensions were being put on. I went to Araya Beauty in Leopardstown, it's such a relaxing environment and I enjoyed every minute of my treatment. Of course my eyelashes look amazing I really like them alot.

So back to what I wore on my face today. I started off with Flormar Illuminating Primer. If you haven't tried this stuff already it's unreal and leaves your skin glowing which obviously everyone wants from a good primer I know I do. This product cost about €10 which isn't too bad at all. Next up I used Rimmel Match Perfection foundation in the shade Ivory. I'm quite fond of this foundation it has a nice bit of coverage with a natural finish which is exactly what everyone wants right? Sometimes Boots have pretty good deals on Rimmel makeup so definitely keep an eye out. For concealer I used Too Faced Born This Way concealer in the shade Fair. I actually have two shades of this concealer but I do think Fair suits me alot better than Light at this time of year. If you want to see my thoughts on this product you can check out my full review here.

Lastly on my lips I used the new Yves Saint Laurent Tint in Balm which is such a lovely lip product. It's quickly becoming my favourite lip balm, I can't get enough of it at all. It's so hydrating on the lips and perfect for on the go cause your never going to make a mess with this one that's for sure. I actually reviewed this product earlier on today if you want to check it out here.

So that's my makeup look for today, I know pretty simple isn't it? I love these sort of makeup looks for chilled out days when you don't want to be putting too much makeup on.

Laura<3

The Lo Down - Rimmel Insta Fix & Go Primer and Setting Spray

Hey Guys and Dolls,

I'm not one to give a bad review as I hate negativity unless I really genuinely don't enjoy a product.I bought the Rimmel Insta Fix & Go Primer and Setting Spray in Boots a couple of weeks ago and I was expecting really good things. I just couldn't get my head around the scent of this product. Don't get me wrong this could have been an amazing product but yeah the smell isn't so good at all. It smells really strongly of cucumber which some people may like but me not so much.

For €10.99 I was left really disappointed from this product. I'm a huge fan of setting sprays and this could of been so much better. It was such a huge let down as I'm usually a really big fan of Rimmel products.

The spray head also isn't the best, it sprays out too much product which can drown your face and ruin your makeup which isn't good. I don't know what I'm going to do with this product as I'm probably not going to use it. I may give it to someone to see do they get on a bit better.

What is your favourite setting spray?

Laura<3

28 Days of Kisses - Day 16= Rimmel Apocolips Lip Lacquer in Celestial

Today was spent shopping with my Mom and Pops in town. We went in super early this morning before it got super busy, no one likes searching for parking including me. My Mom and I headed to New Look while my Dad went to his favourite book shop, Hodges & Figgis. I think it's way better than Easons too so I always pick up my books there. As a extra birthday gift my Mom picked me up some new clothes in New Look. I love this store and I do get the majority of my wardrobe there. They have some really nice bits at the moment plus it's not too pricey either. For a poor student like myself this is a key decider when buying stuff in shops. After having a good old shop around, we went for dinner in a gorgeous Italian restaurant on George's Street. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the place but they do such amazing food, I love it! I'm always so full after this dinner so I left my new purchases with my parents and I met my boyfriend Paddy to go on a big walk. As I've said in previous posts the weather has been pretty good here the last few days so I didn't want to take it for granted. Who knows next week the rain could be back bucketing down again. After we finished our walk we went to the Savoy to see the new Die Hard movie. I love Bruce Willis, for me he is the King of Action movies. I've seen all the Die Hard movies and I really enjoyed this one too. I'm going to do one of my "A Trip to the Movie" posts soon as I've been to see Flight in the past week too. 

Now to what I was wearing on my lips today. Rimmel Apocolips Lip Lacquers have been raved about on loads of blogs over the past couple of weeks. I only picked up one shade from the range called Celestial, a really nice rose pink colour which I've been using a lot. It's so wearable and I think it would suit just about anyone. This product is super easy to apply and does last a good while on the lips. That said if you drink a lot like me throughout the day, you may need to touch up. Out of all the shades available Celestial was the only one to really catch my eye when I was in Boots, I just don't think the other shades in the range would do anything for me. How I wish I could rock some fabulous bright lippies! Since then I've seen Luna and Galaxy in a lot of reviews and they both look really nice, hopefully Rimmel will still be on 3 for 2 come payday. Sorry the flash is on in the picture above, I've literally only walked in the door less than a hour ago so it's pitch black out.

Have you jumped onto the Rimmel Apocolips band wagon?

Laura<3

A Few New Bits from Rimmel

With a lot of budget brands bringing out a assortment of new products over the coming month, there's certainly going to something for everyone. One brand that has caught my eye is none other than Rimmel. All the products from their range never cease to impress me. When I was in Boots yesterday I spotted a couple of new products on their stand and I prompted snatched them all up. From past experience their stock usually goes out fast so I didn't want to miss out. I left Boots with three products in total, their Exaggerate Undercover Shadow Primer (€6.59) and two ScandalEyes Eye Shadow Sticks (€5.95). With the latter I decided to go for two neutral shades that I knew I'd get good use out of. I know there was two other options on the stand, a black and a blue shade but I wasn't too keen on either. I wonder will anymore colours be released.

I haven't used the Exaggerate Undercover Shadow Primer yet so I can't comment on how good it is yet. I always use eyeshadow primers just so my eye makeup stays on that little bit longer. I hate nothing more than seeing my eyeshadow crease as I think it just looks messy. I'll keep you posted on this one. On the otherhand I've used the ScandalEyes Shadow Pencils this morning and I love them. The shades I picked up are 002 Bulletproof Beige (as the name would suggest a nice beige) and 003 Bag Girl Bronze (a shimmery chocolate brown). With a soft buttery texture these blend beautifully into the skin and they are amazingly pigmented which you'll be able to see in the swatches. This morning for my work makeup I applied Stila's Smudge Pot in Kitten as a base all over the lid ,on top I used Bulletproof Beige with Bad Girl Bronze in the crease. This is such a quick and easy natural eye look which you know I love. This is also perfect for those early mornings where you want to get your makeup done fast. I only had one small problem with these eyeshadow pencils, when I went to use them this morning there were almost impossible to open. It felt. It felt like the lid was suctioned to the pencil or something. I just thought that was something I'd tell you guys just in case you have the same issue if you buy one. A couple of the eyeshadow pencils at the stand in my Boots were already broken, some shoppers may of been a bit over zealous in getting the product open. Just be warned as you don't want to break one of these before you start using them.

Rimmel have brought out quite a few products all in the one go, us beauty bloggers will be spolied for choice. There's a lot of talk about the new Apocolips and after seeing many reviews with gorgeous swatches I can't wait to check them out. I don't get paid til Friday so hopefully there not sold out by then, I already have my eye on a couple of shades. I have a feeling the three products I mentioned above may of been overlooked as the Apocolips seems to be what everyone is talking about at the moment.I also seen a Rimmel Match Perfection foundation in compact form. I'm not too sure how new this is but I really want to get one myself, I adore the original liquid foundation it's great.

Has anything from Rimmel caught your eye?

Laura<3

What's in my Travel Makeup Bag??

As I'm going away to Barcelona tomorrow I wanted to do this post for you girlies. I love reading other bloggers 'What's in my Bag?' posts cause I find them pretty informative and I admit I'm a little nosey!

As I'm not checking in a bag it leaves me pretty restricted in what I can bring on the plane. There's also the fact I'm going for five days so I doubt I'll be wearing that much makeup. I'll be too busy seeing all the sights that Barcelona has to offer.

I got this bag in Debenhams at the start of the Summer. It was €18 but it was greatly reduced to €9 so course I had to pick it up. I didn't know I was going on holidays but I'm glad I picked it up now.

It opens to show two compartments, one is see through. I really like that feature as it's easier to find things which means I don't have to go pulling everything out. I keep my makeup brushes in the other compartment.

Face


Too Faced Primed & Poreless Primer (sample)
Garenier 2 in 1 Tinted Eye Roll-on

Korres Wild Rose Foundation SPF 20 in WRF1

Smashbox Blush Rush in Everlasting

The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzer in 03 Medium Matte
Sonia Kashuk Concealer Palette

Eyes


MAC Paintpot in Painterly
MAC Double Feature Duo in 5
Revlon Custom Eyes Palette in Naturally Glamorous
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil Duo in Whiskey & Zero (Naked Palette)
Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara (sample) in Excessive Black

Lips


'Lasting Finish By Kate' Lipstick in 03
MAC Lustre Lipstick in Quiet Please
EOS Lipbalm in Honeysuckle Honeydew (not pictured)

Brushes
Sigma F80
Make Up Store 357
Make Up Store 340
MAC 129SE
MAC 239
MAC 217

Looking through the stuff that I'm bringing it doesn't seem like too much. This is mostly makeup that I would use on a regular basis. I like how I still have extra space in this bag, knowing me I'll be making a few purchases when I'm away.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Talk to you girlies when I get back from my holiday.

Laura<3

Weekly Round Up #7

Here what's I got up to last week...

Monday I got these lovely goodies from Vivo Cosmetics. This brand has just launched in Tesco stores in the UK. I've seen great reviews on their products so far. I'm looking forward to trying them out for myself. I'll have a review up on these products when I get back from my holidays.

Tuesday As it's my boyfriend's 23rd birthday this month I knew I had to get him something special. As well as getting him some other bits I also got tickets for Batman Live in The 02. The ads for this show on Tv look amazing so I'm rather excited about going. It looks like Cirque De Soleil style show with Batman in it.

Wednesday I purchased one of the Rimmel 'Kate Moss Collection' Lippies in Boots. All the lipsticks looked great from vibrant to neutral shades there was so much choice. I ended up going for shade no3 which is a neutral shade (swatched below). It seemed to be one of the more popular ones as they were nearly all out of it in two stores.

Saturday My sister moved into her first apartment which is very exciting. I went to see the place and it looked amazing. I can see myself spending loads of time over there. My nephew seems to love it too as it's so big and he has plenty of room to run around in.

The rest of my week was taken up with running small errands that I needed to get done before my holiday. I'm going to Barcelona tomorrow, the last week has flew by and of course I can't wait to go now. I will definitely take plenty of pictures while I'm them so expect a post when I get back.

What did you get up to during last week?

Laura<3

Beauty Swap with Lauren A.K.A Budget Beauty Queen

A while back Lauren and I did a beauty swap. Recently my room has been done up so I didn't get a chance to do a post on our swap. Thankfully it got finished this week. Now there is nothing stopping me from showing you the goodies Lauren sent me.The swap itself came about when Lauren asked me to do a guest post on her blog. We got chatting about doing a swap, which of course I was totally excited about. If you haven't checked out Lauren's blog "Budget Beauty Queen", I shall leave the link here. I love her blog especially her reviews and monthly favourite posts they are very informative. At the moment Lauren is running a blog series which shows bloggers writing posts on there holy grail product. Definitely worth having a look at!

About 2 weeks ago I received my goodies from Lauren. Here are the lovely products she sent me.....

Beauty UK Nail Polish in Electric Blue & Turquoise Shim

2 True Cheek 'n' Lip Tint & Pink Light Up Pocket Mirror       

 MUA Lipstick in 11, MUA Eye Dust in 2 & 6, MUA Blusher in 4

Rimmel Eyeshadow in Stir It Up

MUA Eyeshadow Palette in Dusk Til Dawn

 Sleek Sunset Palette

Wow I love all the gorgeous products Lauren sent me. Thank you so much! I really can't wait to try out everything. With work and everything I haven't had a chance to use much yet. The MUA and Sleek palette are fabulous and I'm sure I'll create so many great looks with them. I actually haven't used any MUA or Sleek products before. Of course I'm really looking forward to trying them out. I've heard such good things from other beauty bloggers.

If you want to have a look at what I got Lauren, you can check it out here!!


Laura<3

A Shopaholic's Journey #5- Collective Haul

As you all know I'm going to Barcelona in a little bit over a month. I have to say I'm very excited about going. After hearing loads of your tales about Barcelona, from shopping to must see places, I can't wait til September finally arrives. Going on holidays always means that I have to commence a shopping ban almost immediately. Which means I won't have a 'A Shopaholic's Journey' post until the middle of September. I'm sure I'll buy lots in Barcelona so there will be a post as soon as I come back. I've heard Sephora is in Barcelona so I'm super excited about going there as it seems like makeup heaven!! If there is any Sephora brand products you recommend...leave a comment below. I would love know your fave products from Sephora.

So this post as you probably guessed from the title is going to be a collective haul. It's going to feature some bits and bobs I picked up in the last few weeks. Before I realised I was going on holidays.

Let's get started!!

The Body Shop celebrated it's 30th Anniversary and for 2 days they had 30% off all products. I went in to have a mooch around and I came out with two products.

Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder

This product has become quite a cult product for The Body Shop. It has such a big fan base among beauty bloggers. Of course I had to see what all the fuss was about. I bought my bronzing powder in shade 03 which is medium matte. I really like this product so far for contouring and to add a nice subtle glow. I would love to get more stuff from this collection. What products have you used from Honey Bronze?

Illuminating Face Base 

I had my eye on this product for a while. The packaging was designed by students at the University of Arts London and London College of Fashion. I have to say I really like the design they came up with. It's something different than what The Body Shop has come out with before. I sadly haven't used this product yet. The sales assistant told me it's good to use as a highlighter and leaves the skin looking radiant. I'm really looking forward to putting this product to the test.

I love getting bargains as much as the next person. When I see special offers I usually take advantage of them as sometimes they can be too good to be missed. I love finding affordable brands. Sometimes I feel people look over these as they don't think there as good as top end brands. This is usually not the case, I sometimes find certain products to be better. 

Catrice Crystal Clear Gloss Stick in Tigerlily and Bird Of Paradise

The two products above cost €8.50. I know amazing,eh?? They are so lovely and not drying in the slightest.  They leave your lips with a lovely sheer colour as they are tinted gloss sticks. These two products are a part of Catrice's latest collect, Papagena and are limited edition. Get them while you can.

Neutrogena Multi-Defence Gentle Purifying Wipes.

This is my second pack of these wipes. They are from Neutrogena's Multi-Defence range which was made to protect your skin against different environmental elements. They remove my makeup without leaving my face dry like some wipes have been known to do. Multi-Defence Gentle Purifying wipes are for all skin types and include 25 wipes.

Garnier 2-in-1 Tinted Eye Roll-On 

This product has been mentioned alot around the blogosphere and I've heard good things. I bought mine in the shade for fair skin tones. There are 2 shades to choose from. As well as reducing the look of fatigue this roll-on can also be used as an under eye concealer. This product was on a special offer so instead of paying €14.99, I only had to fork out €7.50. Bargain!

Gosh Velvet Touch Line Perfector Primer
I recently ran out of my much love Lancome La Base Pro. I bought this as it was a fairly reasonable price at €10.99. I always have to use a primer. I have oily skin so my makeup would slide off without it. I will let you know my thoughts when I've used it for a while.

Rimmel Vinyl Max  Lipgloss in Excess
This was such good value at €3.75. I've never used Rimmel lipgloss. The wand is huge, they are the same size as the MAC Wonder Woman lipglosses. Definitely worth trying out!

Essence Gel Liner in Midnight in Paris
Again a product I've hard such good things about. I've been using this gel liner alot. It is as good as any higher end liner in my opinion. It's also as cheap as chips.

As I'm going away in a little less the month. I have started to pick up some travel size products. I don't like leaving things til the last minute so I've started to get some bits now just to be prepared. I bought the following products in Boots as they have such a good range of travel sizes.

• Toni & Guy Straight & Protect Shampoo
• Toni & Guy Straight & Protect Conditioner
• Toni & Guy Iron-It Heat Defence Spray

 

• Soap & Glory Scrub 'Em And Leave 'Em Body Buff
• Soap & Glory The Daily Smooth Body Butter

I haven't tried any of the mini products above as I'm keeping them up for my holidays. I will let you know how I get on with them when I get back. That brings me to the end of my haul post. I hope you girls enjoyed it.

Have you used any the products mentioned?? How did you find them??

Laura<3