MAC - Lady Danger

Hello Ladies,

 I'm just going to cut to the chase here, I got it!!! :) :) I have been lusting after Lady Danger for far too long to admit so imagine my sheer joy when the bestest friend in the whole wide world came back from London and presented it to me, I can tell you it sure beats a stick of rock!!! I am in love!

Its the most beautiful orange-toned, matte red shade. It's bold and bright and really makes you stand out in a crowd. I don't think I'd be brave enough to wear it down to the local shop because it does turn heads but it's definitely going out material! The pigmentation is unrivaled, once it's on it does not budge, after a night out of eating, drinking and dancing my lippy was still in place despite me not topping up! I find that most mattes can be quite drying but this actually has a really creamy texture and once the creaminess wears off the colour still remains intense on the lips however it does dry slightly so I'd recommend wearing a small bit of lip balm underneath or maybe a tiny bit of gloss over it once the creaminess wears off.

I'm absolutely smitten with this little beauty (and my best friend of course)! 

Have you tried this? Whats your favourite MAC Lipstick?

Zara

xx

Dainty Doll - Cream Blusher - Orange County Girl

Hello Ladies,

Hope you're all having a nice week! I'm missing the sun bigtime! Hope it's still shining wherever you are! I'm sure you've all heard of the Dainty Doll Makeup range for fair skinned ladies by Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts, I was recently scavenging through my local pharmacy when I came across her cream blushers for just €2.50 which is a huge mark down from the rrp of €15!! It would have been rude not to pick one up so I chose to acquaint myself with her range by snapping up a cream blusher in Orange County Girl.  

It's a gorgeous pink-peach shade with a lovely gold shimmer, I find it perfect for summer as it gives my cheeks a lovely sheen and the fine gold flecks reflect the sunlight (what little we have of it) beautifully! The colours lovely and subtle so it doesn't look OTT on pale skin. Its got a lovely soft, creamy texture that just melts into the skin and blends really easily. It can be worn on bare skin or over foundation, I find it's best applied with clean fingertips.

The compact it comes in it is really heavy duty and would take a lot to break! It clicks close which means there's no fear of it opening in your handbag or makeup and going everywhere. It also has a lovely sized mirror which means its perfect for touch ups on the go. It's definitely travel friendly which is important this time of year for those of us lucky enough to be jetting off somewhere nice! 

Have you tried any of the much hyped about Dainty Doll range? If so are you a fan?

Zara

xx

Mini MUA Haul

Hello Ladies,

Be prepared for a long post!!

I've been reading loads of reviews of MUA products lately and everyone seems to be raving about them so I thought I'd better jump on board and see what all the hype is about. MUA (Makeup Academy) is an English cosmetics brand available at Superdrug or online here. It offers international shipping at very low prices and they always seem to have different offers on. The products themselves are extremely cheap and quite good quality. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised when I recieved my little package and got swatching! So, here's what I got;

Heaven & Earth Eyeshadow Palette

This palette contains 12 neutral shimmery shades. I normally lean towards matte shadows but I do like a bit of shimmer in summer! To be honest despite reading great reviews of this palette I still wasn't convinced that I was going to like it, at a mere €4.68 (£4) I wasn't expecting much from it. When it arrived it looked great in the pan but I was still sceptical right up until I swatched it! I couldn't get over the highly pigmented colours! They're incredibly soft and fine and so easy to blend. The palette also comes with a double ended sponge applicator which I don't use, I prefer to use a brush instead. I do have to admit that there is a small amount of fall out, but nothing a fan brush won't sort out! The range of shades makes this palette great for both day and evening wear and its just amazing for doing a smokey eye! For £4 it's an absolute steal and if you haven't tried it already I urge you to get your mitts on it!

Blusher - Shade 5

This is a gorgeous peachy-coral blush with a very subtle gold shimmer. I love my coral blushes and this one is no different! Its a soft, finely milled powder blush which blends easily to give a beautiful warm glow to the cheeks leaving a lovely healthy sheen. It looks slightly orangey in the pan and I was a bit nervous about putting it on my face but I can honestly say that once applied the colour is gorgeous! It's quite well pigmented , one swipe of the my brush across the palette does the job for me but it can be easily built up to give more of a pop of colour to the cheeks too. At only €1.17/ £1 (!!!) I think I'm going to have to pick up the other 5 shades too!!

Lipsticks - Shade 3 & Shade 14

Shade 3 is a fab hot pink colour with blue undertones and an extremely slight silver shimmer and Shade 14 is a natural, nude colour perfect for daywear. First and foremost the thing I love most about these lipsticks is the fact that theres a little pot of lipstick that can be unscrewed from the end to be used with a lip brush, that way you don't mess your lipstick up! I love it! The formula of the lipsticks is gorgeously smooth, buttery, they  apply really easily without dragging or bleeding. I find that the longevity of shade 3 is greater than that of shade 14 as it sort of stains yours lips but both are good! The best part is yet to come, these too only cost €1.17/ £1 each!!! MUA where have you been all my life?!!

Sheer Finish Lipgloss - Happy Days

I'm not usually a gloss kinda girl as I hate my hair sticking to my lips when it's windy but thats not a problem when we get our 2 weeks of summer in Ireland!! This gloss is a lovely sheer pinky-coral shade with a hint of shimmer. When applied the colour is very subtle but it gives a high gloss finish which I like. It has a fruity scent and flavour which personally I like although some may not. I find that its slightly sticky on my lips but I'm yet to find a gloss that's not and saying that it's not nearly as bad as some others I've had! I really like it and it's also part of their £1/ €1.17 range!

Extreme Felt Eyeliner - Black

I have quite mixed feelings about this, the applicator is fantastic, its the perfect shape and size and has a lovely thin point so application is really easy however it's not quite as black as it could be. I find in order to get it opaque jet black I have to go over the line twice, maybe even 3 times but once that's done is does stay in place. I cant really complain because it only cost €1.17/£1 but I don't think I'll be buying it again.

MUA Nail Polish

Just by looking at these polishes it's clear that they're meant to be Essie dupes so at €1.17/£1 each I had to pick up not one but four! I got them in Pistachio Ice Cream, Natural Days, Ameretto Crush and Bright Coral. Pistachio Ice Cream is a lovely pastel green shade, Natural Days is a soft pastel baby pink, Ameretto Crush is a dusky deep pink, and well Bright Coral is a bright coral (they weren't too imaginative with that one!). Now, I wasn't expecting Essie quality with these but they're not too far behind! After 2 coats the polish is fully opaque and with a top coat is lasts me 4 days chip free (which is very good for me). They've also gotten new brushes, I was reading before that some people has problems with streaking but these apply really evenly for me. I'm impressed with them and will definitely be buying more!

So there you have it! My little haul and I have to say I'm very impressed! Considering the price the majority of these products are great quality and I will definitely be trying more of the range! Are you a fan of MUA?

Zara

xx

Revlon CustomEyes - 005 Gold Spun

Hello Ladies,

Hope you're all well, sorry for my lack of posting but did you see the weather?! I've accepted the fact that that is our summer over, the joys of living in Ireland! Hope you're all making the most of your summer and lapping up the sun! So, now that the rains back prepare to be bombarded with posts that have been building up for the past couple of weeks!

The first thing that I just have to share with you is this Revlon CustomEyes Eyeshadow & Liner in 005 Gold Spun, which is available here for a mere €2.50 from the ever-amazing Cara Pharmacy! They have a RRP of roughly €9 so this really is a bargain and a half! While on there you should check out all their other great bargains!

The palette consists of 4 eyeshadows and a cake eyeliner, and is available in 4 different shades, I chose Gold Spun as I thought it was the most wearable, I go for a neutral eye most days so this has gotten quite a lot of use! It consists of one satin finish base shadow in a light brown shade and 3 shimmer shadows in gold, white and dark brown along with a matte black cake eyeliner. It comes with a double ended sponge applicator, one end is narrower for applying the eyeliner. If you're familiar with my blog you'll know how I feel about sponge applicators so I prefer to use brushes to apply it and I like to use a damp, thin angled brush to apply the liner.

The pigmentation of this product really surprised me considering how cheaply I picked it up! It's got great colour pay off and doesn't fade or crease. The shadows are extremely soft and blend really easily. The cake eye liner when applied with a damp brush is jet black and stays in place all day without crumbling.

I really can't recommend this highly enough, given the price tag there's no reason why you shouldn't buy it (I'm a bit of an enabler aren't I?) !! 

Have your tried any of the CustomEyes Palettes? What do you think of them?

Zara

xx

Eye Found My Holy Grails!!

Hello Ladies,

Hope you're all keeping well! You'll have to excuse my awful pun! I'm a little bit of an eyeliner junkie but saying that I'm quite fussy about it! I hate  when you look in the mirror at the end of the day to be greeted with smudged panda eyes and black flecks all over your face, totally not the look we were going for! In the past few months I've been lucky enough to come across not 1 but 3 amazing eyeliners that do exactly what I want them to do and stay exactly where I tell them to! It would be selfish of me to keep them a secret so I thought I'd better share! So, without further ado,  here they are!! Apologies for the picture heavy post!

Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner 24Hr

This gel eyeliner is simply amazing! It's got such a silky smooth gel formula that it just glides on effortlessly. A lot of gel liners can tend to be a tad dry and drag on they eyelid a bit when being applied but the consistency of this is flawless. It comes with a brush too which is great quality and gives great application, It dries quite quickly which means it doesn't transfer when you blink which is always a huge bonus with gels. It claims to stay put for 24 hours and while I haven't put this to the test it has lasted all day and into the early hours of the morning without budging! I absolutely love this and I'd strongly recommend it to any gel liner virgins out there as it's just so easy to apply!

No.7 Stay Precise Felt Tip Eyeliner

This has become my daily go to eyeliner, it's just so handy to apply and lasts all day. I find that a lot of felt tip products such as eyeliners and lip stains tend to dry out quite fast and I always end up feeling hard done by but I've been using this for months and it's still just as good as the day I got it! I wouldn't usually go for No.7 products (don't ask me why) but they had this on offer in Boot's and I took a chance on it and picked it up and I'm so glad that I did! I love liquid eyeliners but find that a lot of the applicators that come with them are to be honest a bit rubbish so for me this eyeliner is in a league of its own! One sweep and wallah it's done! The shape of the pen makes it so easy to do flicks too, something that quite a lot of people struggle with!

 Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner

Now where to start with this little beauty?! It really is a miracle! Eyeliner that doesn't run down your face if you have a cry or get caught in the rain! I was a bit sceptical at first because I always find that if I apply eyeliner to my tear shelf it always seems to run away and end up under my lashline and I thought that this one would probably be the same. I was elated when it lasted me a whole day without moving so much as a millimeter! Its the 1st pencil eyeliner I've ever had that has stayed in place on my lower lashline for an entire day and without the need to reapply too might I add!! Hat's off to you Rimmel! :)

Here are some pic's of these amazing products in action!! Please excuse the dodgy photo editing, I'm still coming to terms with all this technological stuff! haha!

                                                                                

                         

Have you tried any of these? What's your holy grail eyeliner?

Zara

xx

Would You Rather?

Hello Ladies,

I've seen this tag floating around a lot lately and thought I'd join in! I stole this from TheImperfectBeautyQueen! I've loved reading other peoples answers so here are mine! :)

Would You Rather? Beauty Edition

Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and lipglosses or lose all of your palettes and eyeshadows?

If it was a life or death situation and I really had to choose then I'd have to say goodbye to my palettes and eyeshadows, even the thought upsets me! I look really strange without mascara, It would be a struggle to live without it!

Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again?

Definitely never be able to cut it again! I'm terrified of getting a trim let alone having it all cut off! I've met too many scissor happy hairdressers in my life!

Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek?

I like both but I do prefer coral, I love the way it looks with a tan. 

If you had €1000 to spend, Would you rather buy clothes or makeup?

This is not a fair question!! I'd probably have to pick makeup though, fashion changes so much that I'd probably get more use from makeup than clothes.

Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner, or eyeliner as lipstick?

Yeeesh!! I'd rather do neither but if I had to I'd pick lipstick as eyeliner, you can get black & brown lipstick so it wouldn't be as bad as walking around with black lips!

Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora?

As I live in Ireland I can't order from Sephora but if I could I would!! There's more to choose from!

Would you rather only use one eyeshadow color or one lip color for the rest of your life?
One eyeshadow, I usually wear pretty neutral eyeshadow and I could live with that but I like to experiment with different colour lipsticks quite a bit.

Would you rather wear winter clothes in summer or summer clothes in winter?

Winter clothes in summer, I wouldn't dare wear summer clothes in winter, it's freezing over here in winter and I don't like the sound of pneumonia too much!

Would you rather dark nails or bright nails all year round?
I love bright nails! I love how they add a little pop of colour to an outfit.

Would you rather give up your favorite lip product or your favorite eye product?
Probably my favourite lip product.. maybe..hmmm..

Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a pony tail or a messy bun?

Messy buns all the way! You can have a messy bun simple looking or glam it up a bit so it'd suit more occasions!

Would your rather never being able to paint your nails again or never use lipgloss?

Never use lipgloss, I could still use lipstick right? I hate my nails being bare!

Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all? or sharpie them in everyday?

Oh gawwd!! I'd have to try and sharpie them in.. dear god! 

Would you rather live without makeup or nail polish?

I'd have to go without nail polish, as much as I'd miss it I'd miss my makeup a whole lot more!

I'll admit that was a painful thought process! 

Zara

xx

Benefit - Fine One One

Hello Ladies,

I have to say I'm very excited today. My local Benefit stand is celebrating it's 2nd Birthday today. They're throwing a party to celebrate and they're treating their customers to mini facials, make up demos, discounts, goodie bags, prizes and bubbly and nibbles!! :) I'm going along to that tonight with the lovely Danielle from The Imperfect Beauty Queen. So you can expect a post on how that went in the next few days! So in keeping with that I thought why not review Fine One One!

Fine One One is a relatively new product from Benefit, It's a cream based blusher, highlighter and lip colour in one. It combines 3 shades, pink champagne, sheer watermelon and soft coral to give a beautifully sheer, glowy pop of colour. It's so easy to apply, you just swipe it from the apple of your cheek up towards your temple and blend. It gives a lovely dewy natural finish and can be layered up for a brighter look. I think its the perfect summer blush, it looks so pretty when the sun catches it and you can see the subtle shimmer. I'm a lover of a nice coral blush and this definitely serves to impress!  

It's applied on a bare face or over foundation (before powder). I always use powder to set my makeup and I was a bit apprehensive when applying powder over this as I thought it might take away from the lovely sheen but it didn't at all. I've been using the highlighter on my brow bones as well and it does a wonderful job of enhancing them. When used as a lip colour it gives a gorgeous rosy tint that lasts for hours and I was surprised by how moisturising it felt on my lips. It has such a lovely creamy formula, it just glides onto the skin and blends effortlessly.

One swipe.

Blended.

I initially considered Fine One One quite pricey at €34 for 0.28oz's but a little really goes a long way and and with the twist-up applicator you only really use what you need to so overall I think it's a good value product and it will last me a long time. 

I couldn't possibly review this product without mentioning the insanely fabulous packaging!  Even the box it came in was so pretty that it nearly killed me to open it! The rose gold packaging alone had me sold before I'd even tried the product! I don't think I'll be able to throw this out even after I finish the product! I think I may have problems! 

Have you tried this yet? What did you think? 

Zara

xx