I have been finding some old but great products recently, while also discovering some not-so-good products, that I wanted to share with you. I think it's kind-of important that you equally know what I'm loving and what I'm disappointed with, so hence this blogpost!!
MAC Cream Colour Base: HUSH
With this lovely sunshine we've been having as of late, I've wanted to add some 'glow' into my Spring makeup look so I decided to root through my makeup and find an oldie-but-a-goodie, that I'd completely neglected!! I bought this Cream Colour Base a couple of years ago and love using it. It adds a lovely amount of 'glow' to your shin, if dabbed on the tops of your cheekbones and up onto the eyebrow bone.
I gently tap my ring finger into the cream, which is solid to touch, and then gently tap my finger on my cheekbones to blend the product in, after my foundation. It adds a lovely hint of a peach-pink colour, which saves me adding any blusher!
Giorgio Armani Sí Intense Perfume*
This is my FAVOURITE perfume of all time I think! I just love it so much and I've been wearing it for so long now, over a year I think! So many people comment on my perfume when I'm wearing this, it's such a distinctive smell. It's quite a deep, intense smell and I recommend you smell a sample of it. It's available at Boots, Arnotts and Brown Thomas etc. If you find it too 'intense' as the name suggests, they have a original Sí perfume which is less intense, which you may like.
Giorgio Armani have also released a new addition to the Sí family, called Sí Eau de Toilette, which comes in a lighter pink coloured bottle. It's only just been released and it has similar notes to it, as the Sí Intense but just a lighter, fresher feel. It may be just what you're looking for!
NIVEA Invisible Anti-Perspirant
I know this is a little bit random but I've been wearing lots of black and white clothes lately (LOVING monochrome at the minute) and I've always been worried about deodorant marks being left on my good white shirt or dress, or even worse on your black clothing. So I decided to pick up this deodorant from Nivea and I'm very impressed! I've had no yellow marks left on my white clothes or no white marks on my black clothes. It's a great relief to know that you won't have any marks left on your clothes, so this is a recent love of mine!
Lancome Grandiose Mascara*
I'm sure you've heard me rave about this mascara on many occasions and this favourite has not changed in the last year I don't think. I use this mascara everyday and it's definitely worth investing in! It is a high-end mascara and costs €30 from Brown Thomas but if you want some great length, volume and definition to your lashes, treat yourself!
LUSH Mint Julips Lip Scrub*
I love to use this lip scrub about once or twice a week on my lips. I find it best to use it in the shower, as it's easier to clean away any excess. This product smells like it says on the tin I suppose! It smells exactly like After Eight mints, so tempting to lick it off your lips (even though you actually can as it's just made up of sugar and essential oils)!! I find that if I'm applying a lip gloss or lipstick most days and then moisturising my lips in between and at night-time, the dead skin cells on your lips can gather and 'clump' on your lipstick, making it then appear 'flaky'.
If this happens to you, then this is the dead skin cells on your lips, that basically need to be exfoliated or removed. Now you can use (and I often do) just a simple 'soft' toothbrush and 'dry brush' your lips, which will help. But this is a great product which does the same job, but better. You're left with beautifully soft, delicious lips!! This also retails at £5.50 and lasts for about 6-9 months!
Maybelline ColourSensational Lipstick: 842 Rosewood Pearl
I think I bought this lipstick over a year ago and have recently only decided to use it and I've fallen in love. I spotted Anna Saccone (from The SacconeJolys) wearing it in some of her vlogs and I decided to purchase it. It costs approx. €8 and is really a beautiful bronzy/pearly nude. I've been wearing it everyday recently and it adds a glow to your skin. With a bit of HUSH from MAC on my cheekbones and this lipstick, your skin appears fresh and dewy.
In the bullet, it looks like a browny-nude but there is a lovely amount of shimmer in the lipstick and I recommend you swatch it in your local drugstore to see the true colour.
Penneys/Primark Wayfarer Sunglasses
I picked up these sunglasses about 3 weeks ago in Penneys, just as the new Spring/Summer collections came into the stores. These cost
ONLY €3.00 and are an absolute
BARGAIN! They are an absolute steal and a great dupe for many high-end designer sunglasses. I have been wearing these at every given opportunity recently, with the lovely sunshine we've been having. If you're near a Primary/Penneys have a look at their wide range of sunglasses for Summer and see if there are any that you fancy. Pick them up before they're gone!!
These are a great classical twist on the classic wayfarer shape and would suit most face shapes!
Penneys/Primary Oval Sunglasses
While in Penneys I also picked up these funky oval sunglasses as I thought they'd be really cute for the upcoming summer festivals. I think these are a real style statement and with these, you can simply glam up any outfit! I can't wait to pair these with some loose curls, a headband, and a top and some denim shorts. At only €1.50, these are another great bargain, worth grabbing if you see them.
Olivia Burton Nude Rose Gold Watch
I got this as a Christmas present last year and it's been on my arm ever since. I love big faced watches and the hint of rose gold on the face is just beautiful. I feel this watch is a real classic and will hopefully last me for some time. I've had many compliments on the watch and I love pairing it with a simple gold bangle or just on it's own.
A little hint** If you're looking to buy this one
HERE from ASOS, keep an eye on their page for when they've 20% off, and you'll get the watch for only about €80!
LOATHES:
Eylure Lashes: Cheryl 'Girls Night'*
I was sent these lashes from Eylure recently and unfortunately I have to say that I'm not too keen on these particular ones called 'Girls Night'. I applied these on a recent night out, and didn't really see any effect of the lashes. I found no great difference, none at all really unfortunately. I am a lover of the regular line of lashes from Eylure and a lover of Cheryl, but these range of lashes just don't do it for me! I love the packaging and the lash glue is great also but these particular lashes would not be ones I would recommend.
They are slightly darker and thicker on the outer edge of the lashes but after I applied some mascara with these on, I found and saw little or no difference in my lashes! I left them on for the night anyway but was a little disappointed with them. They cost €8.50 in Boots but I would recommend you checking out my post a while back, for a more detailed post on some of the lashes from Eylure that I
DO recommend
HERE.
Benefit they're REAL push-up liner*
This eyeliner has been raved and ranted about for some time now but I've been very disappointed with this product, if I'm honest. This gel liner pen claims to 'hug your lashes' when applying. At first it was strange to use and definitely takes some time to get used to. After several uses it did get a bit easier to apply but overall I was still spending considerably longer applying my eyeliner when using this. Not really ideal for when you're in a rush! I also found it hard to achieve an even flick on both eyes with it.
I also found that when I'd go to use it the next time, there would be some product left in the nib of the eyeliner, which would be in a clump and dried slightly. I made the mistake of directly applying the eyeliner on many occasions and ruining my eye makeup with a lump of eyeliner coming out first. When I finally remembered to check it each time, and clean the remaining eyeliner left, I'd probably spent 2-3 minutes doing this. Also, if you manage to get some on your fingers when cleaning it, it is very tough to get off right there and then! Again, another minute or so has ticked on! I usually use a face wipe to correct any mistakes I make when applying eyeliner but I found it hard to clean any mistakes I made with a wipe with this product. It often smudged and I found myself scrubbing it all off on more than one occasion. On a positive note, it was not as hard to remove at the end of the day with my trusty Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish. I think I'll be sticking to my trusty liquid liner from Rimmel in the future.
Lancome Hypnose Eyeshadow Palette: Drama Eyes Parisian Lights*
This beauty arrived through the postbox a few weeks back and I couldn't stop admiring it. It is so well packaged in a lovely gold palette with a great sized mirror inside. It also provides a sticker which has a little tutorial on where to apply each eyeshadow, to create a smokey-eye. It also has 2 mini magnets on the packaging, so it closes very smoothly and won't open easily if you're out and about.
Unfortunately I didn't find the quality of the eyeshadows that great for the price of the palette. I was disappointed by the lack of colour pay-off. I even tried to intensify the look, by wetting the brush on application, but I was still left disappointed with the intensity of the colour.
There are some lovely colours in the palette. A lovely gold-bronze colour, and a rose-gold colour, but they didn't come out as bright as they appeared in the palette. I tried adding more colour to help but to no avail. I nearly felt that it looked like I had little or no eyeshadow on. I also found the two brushes that came with the palette practically useless! The double ended brush I didn't like and the other mini blending brush didn't really blend out my eyeshadow very well. Unfortunately this was a disappointment from Lancome.
So these are some products that I've been both loving and loathing so far this year! Let me know if you like these sort of blogposts!
Have you ever tried any of these products? How did you get on? Do you fancy trying out any of these? Let me know your thoughts below in the comments section, or on Twitter (@SarahWhelehan). I love reading your comments!
Sarah
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