Tuesday 29 December 2015



Current Beauty Favourites
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Well well well, haven't I been an inconsistent blogger lately! Apologies for my extended hiatus but with college, work, Christmas and everything else in between on the go, I found myself with little to no time to devout to my blog :( Today I'm back with a little spiel about some current favourite makeup gems. The past few months I've discovered some great products I'd like to share with you all. Perhaps this post will give you a little inspiration for a fresh New Years Eve look, or simply to add a few new bits to your makeup collection. Bonus points: most are cheap and cheerful! Without further ado, here are my recent finds. Hope you enjoy :) 
 

 
 
First up is a beautiful new addition to my perfume collection, 034 "Oliva" from the perfume bar, Ydentik, situated at 35 Princes Street Cork. I've spoken of my love for this perfume bar before and "Olivia" is another scent that does not fail to impress. Although I will always remain staunchly loyal to my beloved 212 "Fierceness" (an almost exact replica of Abercrombie & Fitch's,"Fierce"), I have been reaching for "Olivia" very frequently over the past few months. To me, it is vaguely reminiscent of Jo Malone's, "Wood, Sage and Sea Salt" in that it has very fresh top notes but has a certain spicey/woody undertone which gives a slight masculine feel, something I adore in a perfume. I have the 35ml bottle, which is the perfect handbag size and affordable at €14.99. If you bring the bottle back, refills are two euro less, an added bonus :) The staff at Ydentik couldn't be more helpful and can even combine scents to help create your perfect perfume.


 Over to a few base favourites now and first up is Garnier's "Moisture Match Illuminating Light Lotion". I loved this moisturiser from first application. It's non-greasy, fast absorbing and with a subtle but beautiful fresh citrus scent. Enriched with SPF 20, Vitamin E and light reflecting pigments, this product claims to make the skin look more radiant and I really feel it does. I usually apply this twice a day, just before bed and again when I wake up. It's light enough to apply under make up and really enhances whatever foundation you use over it. At around eight euro it won't break the bank either!

Over this moisturiser, I have been applying the Bourjois "Radiance Reveal Healthy Mix" foundation in No. 52, "Vanille", which I think may be my favourite foundation of ALL time (bold statement, I know!) It just gives a beautiful, natural look and gorgeous glow whilst providing a flawless medium coverage. It makes you look like you lead a life of eight or more hours sleep every night without fail, practise yoga every morning and live on a diet of kale, quinoa and goji berries, whilst concealing the truth: excessive caffeine consumption, the fact that one too many celebration tins disappeared over Christmas and a sleep deprived reality! As good as this foundation is, I don't agree that it lasts the 16hrs  it claims and if you have oily skin, I don't think it would be a good match as it does come up very dewy. All in all a winner though!

 For an under eye concealer, I've been loving the Maybelline "Eraser Eyes" in the shade "light". This concealer claims to be anti-aging and certainly does deliver great coverage. Unlike my diet, it actually does contains goji berries!




 Coffee and copper have been a recurring theme in my makeup for the past few months and the products above are the main players! Coffee coloured lips seem to be ubiquitous at the moment and Rimmel's "Coffee Shimmer", combined with their "Cappuccino" liner achieve the look perfectly. The latter is a great dupe for Mac's "Styled In Sepia", but for a fraction of the cost! Jumping on the copper bandwagon, Mac's pigment in the colour "Copper Sparkle" certainly unleashes my inner magpie! It can be applied all over the lid, or simply in the centre of the eye and would, in my opinion create the perfect New Years Eve makeup look! For obvious reasons, it's best to do your eyes before your base when working with this product! It does get a tad messy! Tie the coffee/copper theme together by using some of Revlon's Highlighting Palette in the shade 030 "Bronze Glow", which is a great dupe for Bobbi Brown's Shimmer Bricks.





























Another makeup look I've been sporting recently has been Mac's "Heroine" lipstick, a little bit of eyeliner and lashings of mascara! "Heroine" is a bright purple lipstick (as you can see!) and a matte formula, my personal favourite especially if it's a bold colour. It's not actually as scary as it seems in the bullet and looks beautiful on. I've been really liking it lately, especially when I wear it with a light grey turtle neck. What I love about "Heroine" is that it's really versatile; it looks great in winter, but equally I think it would be lovely in summer with a tan and just a white tee shirt.
Being somewhat of an eyeliner newb, I've found that Soap & Glory's "Supercat" eyeliner helps me achieve a semi-presentable cat-eye flick. This cult product stays in place for the whole day and really is a true carbon black. It has a felt-tip style applicator which makes the whole affair a bit easier, although not "foolproof" if like me you're prone to having a bit of an unsteady hand!
For mascara, I've been using  L'Oreal "Miss Manga Punky". A word of warning with this one, it's a bit of a marmite product! The formula is very wet, which can get a tad messy if you don't leave it to dry for a minute or two. What I love about this mascara is the length it gives. It really gives a doll-eyed, wide awake sort of look. Especially when I use it in conjunction with the Maybelline "Lash Sensational Lash Multiplying" mascara it gives such a dramatic effect. I've gotten some lovely compliments lately about my lashes, and "Miss Manga Punky" is certainly the one to thank for that, not my genes!

That's about all for the moment, thank you so much for reading. I hope everybody had a lovely Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year to you all. Thank you to everyone who has supported my little blog since it started. I know I am only a small fish in a very big pond, but I appreciate the support so so much.

Lots of love,
Amy. x