The Lo Down - Gosh Primer Plus Bases

Hey Guys and Dolls,

I hope you enjoyed the first post in my Lo Down series yesterday as you could probably tell I have a soft spot for the Too Faced Sweet Peach palette. Today I'm talking about two primers that have stolen my heart. As I have quite oily/combination skin I do like a good primer to hold my makeup in place so I do like to look out for new ones on the market when I'm out shopping.

As soon as I bought these two beauts I knew I had to feature them on my blog. There such amazing value as supposedly the brand is being pulled from Irish pharmacies. The primers usually cost €14.99/€16.00 and I purchased them at a whopper discount so they both came down to €3.50/€4.00 which is an amazing steal I was beyond thrilled and over the moon.

The Illuminating Skin Perfector and Hydrating Blur Protect Rejuvenating Base are one of the best primers I've tried in a while. My favourite primer out of the two is the Hydrating one. It's a light consistency which is quite moisturising, amazing for under makeup. The other primer is illuminating so it does just what it says on the tin and gives a nice peachy glow. 

As the products are 30ml, they are also travel friendly and fit perfectly into my everyday makeup bag which is full of my favourites which is a plus. 

I've bought two other products in the sale which I will feature at a later date but definitely during this series. With the prices these products are at now you really can't go wrong at all. The pharmacy I bought them from is Lloyd's pharmacy in Leopardstown but I'm sure you would be able to pick them up in other branches throughout the country soo Happy Shopping.

What's your favourite primer? I'd love to hear your recommendations?

Laura<3

New lovely launches from Gosh Cosmetics!

 Back in my secondary school days Gosh Cosmetics was always a brand that I was drawn in by. I must of had nearly all their lipglosses at one stage and I was forever dragging my Mum into every shop I seen their stand in. I was given the chance to try two new products from the brand so of course being a big fan already I was pretty excited.

First up of the new releases is their CC Cream Illuminating Foundation. Straight off the bat I'm in love with this stuff!! Working at 9am every morning means I want a makeup routine that's quick and easy, needless to say this CC Cream fits in perfectly. I apply this all over my skin with finished off with a light dusting of Soap & Glory's One Heck Of A Blot and Benefit's Hervana blush and I'm ready to take on the world! This CC cream just gives you a gorgeous natural health glow! Even though this CC cream is described as being light coverage, it still fades out all my skin imperfections. For someone like me who may not have been jumping on the CC cream band wagon initially, I'd definitely consider giving this one a shot. The shade I was sent to review was '03 Sand' which wouldn't be the perfect match for my skin but with a little bit tan this would be perfect for me. I can definitely see myself using this alot over the Summer as a replacement for my heavier foundations. It's nice and light which will be great under the harsh lights in work and of course on the beach on sunny days. At €13.99 I do believe this is money well spent as a little definitely goes a long way. I'm considering even going into McCabes myself and picking it up in a lighter shade on payday.

Next up we have the Gosh Prime n' Refresh Illuminating Eye Roll-On, another product that is a handy addition to anyones makeup bag. I some times tend to neglect eye creams in my everyday routine but now that I'm 24 I definitely think their a welcome addition. Not that I have loads of fine lines yet but it's better to start using them earlier then later. I love putting this under my eyes before I go to work if I'm feeling a bit on the sleepy side of things. It works perfectly beneath my under eye concealer and definitely makes me look a little fresher if that's even possible at 7am on a weekday morning. Even though this is quite a small tube I know I'll get a quite a while out of it. I wouldn't go as far as saying that I've seen it instantly tighten my under eye area but it definitely leaves them looking brighter which in turn makes me look wide awake and ready for the day ahead.

What are your favourites from Gosh Cosmetics?

Laura<3

17 Instant Glow Tanning Range

17 Cosmetics launched a new tanning range that really caught my eye recently. I think my local Boots just got ther products in as they had no stand for anything.

 There was so much to choose from, I finally decided on these two products.

First up there's the Instant Glow Bronzing Powder for Face and Body. I had a Gosh Sun Powder like this last year, which I unfortunately broke. The difference between the two products was the price, Gosh's offering was €20 while this cost me €7.49. Not bad at all! The powder is described as a "animal print maxi bronzer" as it's covered in leopard print. The shimmer design on the product is a overspray and comes off after one use. For people that don't like glitter in bronzers, I found that underneath the overspray there was hardly any (almost matte). I also buy bronzers that are always way too dark for me, this shade was perfect. A big thing that I hate about this product is the chalkiness, like it's the worst I've probably seen. You can see in the picture above how bad it is! After two swipes of a brush, that is the amount you get. This factor alone is why I won't be purchasing this product again.

Instant Glow Gold Bronze Shimmer Brick is so beautiful. I've never tried a Bobbi Brown Shimmer brick but I presume this is a cheaper alternative. Straightforward to use, you swirl all four of the shades over your cheekbones and woola your left with a gorgeous glow. Each of the four shades in the brick would make great eyeshadows as they are also very pigmented. I just don't know how well they'll work as shadows after I swirl them altogether. 17 Instant Gold Bronze Shimmer Brick cost €6.59 which in my opinion was a bargain. I seen that it's also available in Pink Bronze shade, I'm going to pick that up on my next visit to Boots.

 Both prices are very reasonable so I can definitely see myself buying more from this range. I have my eye on the bronzing rocks. Only weird thing I seen with both products is that it says "Wash Off" on the front (common sense don't you think?).

Will you be purchasing anything out of 17's new range?

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

Mini Make Up Haul

I just went shopping today so I just thought I'd mention some of the products I purchased, cause some of the products I have used before and some I haven't so maybe I'll do a review in a few days when I've tried out the products.

So, on to the haul, the first product I picked up was Revlon Colorburst Lip Gloss in 004 Pink Ice. I am real fan of light pink glosses in general and I've never tried Revlons'.I thought I'd give their new offering a try as it is one of there new range of lipglosses and I liked the packaging as the lid looks like patent leather and looks different to any brand I've seen before. The lipgloss is described as a weightless gloss makes lips pop with 5times more shine than patent leather hence the packaging. I shall definitely do a review on this product just to let you know how I found it.


The next product I picked up was the new No7 Extreme Length Sensitive Mascara.I've always been a big fan of N07 products I live by there Essential Moisture Night Cream as I always feel like my face is so refreshed and hydrated the next morning and I've used various mascaras and
lipglosses(which are always really good).

Back to the product, this mascara is a sensitive version of a Extreme Length, which have been made for people with sensitive eyes and is recommended for contact lens user. The mascara is enriched with Almond and Jojoba oils and helps prevent irritation. I thought I'd try this out as my eyes do tend to water sometimes even due to weather and because i highly rate No7 products and I always like to give their new products a go.


At this time in Boots also when you buy No7 Extreme Length Sensitive Mascara you get a So Simple Eye Duo free. The eyeshadows are two neutral colours beige and cream come in a silver compact which is super cute and is small so is perfect for your handbag.



And last but not least I bought a Gosh Cosmetics Giant Sun Powder in shade 001 which I've bought before I love to use it on my cheeks for contouring as it's just the right shade. I always go back to cause its a really good size bronzer and lasts for so long.

So I hope you found something in this mini haul that you might try out.

Laura<3