RIMMEL SCANDALEYES EYE SHADOW STICKS IN NEW SHADES

I'm all about the no fuss, quick swipe and go product.  I really like the concept of stick/crayon eye shadows, colour them on, blend with fingers and go.  Although the highend brands offer all different colours, shades and finishes, the highstreet has been a little slower on the uptake.  Much to my delight last week I spotted new shades had been added to the Rimmel Scandaleyes eye shadow stick range.  Previously bullet proof beige and bad girl bronze were the only two shades that were up my street.

TAUPE EYES

Lately I have been drawn to taupe eye shadow.  Taupe can be described as a greyish brown with a cool undertone, I usually go for more bronze brown shades with a warm undertone.  However I have been enjoying the way in which the cool undertones in it bring out the blue in my eyes.

MINI BEAUTY HAUL

Apologies that I haven't posted here in more than a week.  Life getting in the way but hopefully I'm back into the swing of things now.  I managed to pick up a few beauty items that have been doing the rounds of the blogging kingdom and give them a whirl.

TRAVEL MAKE-UP BAG WEEKEND AWAY

This is what I took away with me for a weekend away with my family.  I took my beloved Paul & Joe 'filofax' style make up bag with me, it is just so pretty, but it is a bit bulky for handbag use so I don't get as much use out of it as I would have liked.  We weren't going to do much while we were away except go for dinner one evening.  This make up bag covers the everyday simple make up look, with a few bits to make it a little more sophisticated for the evening.

ST. TROPEZ GRADUAL TAN

Now that spring is here, I decided to start getting my legs ready for when the weather gets warmer.  Although I love beauty, I can be quite lazy when it comes to the more time consuming tasks, like body moisturising, and Lord knows I need it.  The skin on my legs is so dry, my doctor once commented on them and prescribed me a medical grade moisturiser for them, when I went in with a sore throat!  As for fake tan I have had a few disasters in the past and I tend to steer clear of the stuff, no matter how jealous I am of the people who can apply it properly.  It is just not a talent which I posses!

ALL WHITE EVERYTHING

Since the sun has come out again, there is a touch of spring in the air and it has started to creep onto my nails.  I usually go for dark nails come whatever season, but now I'm all about white  nails.  Finding the right consistency in a white polish has proven quite tricky.  A couple that I tried were too thick and took too long to dry.  One was too thin and the results were a little streaky and patchy.  As in the story of Goldielocks and the three bears ''one was just right''.  Black nail polish throws up similar issues, which I posted about here.  This time though Rimmel wasn't the answer.

NEW BEAUTY RELEASES

Images from Ojon.com, loreal-paris.co.uk, narscosmetics.eu, glamour.com

Here are some of the new releases that have caught my eye.  It's going to take every ounce of my strength not to rush out and but these, so for now I can merely admire them from afar.  Very far away because if I see any of these in the flesh I'll end up buying them.

WET N WILD HAUL

I have been dying to get my hands on some of the Wet n Wild offerings since I heard they were coming to Dunnes Stores back in January.  I went in a few times to avail, until yesterday.  They had everything in stock as well jackpot.  I wanted everything, but I settled for the bits above.  

TARTE HAS LANDED!

Images from QVC.co.uk

If you haven't heard of US cosmetics brand Tarte by now I'd be surprised.  Once only available in the US, Tarte has finally launched in UK and Ireland through QVC, and not a moment too soon either.  Recently Sephora.com has started shipping to the UK, which also means to Ireland thanks to Parcel Motel.

THE BODY SHOP SCRUMPTIOUS CLEANSING BUTTER

The cleansing balm trend is one that shows no sign of slowing down.  The two most talked about must be the Eve Lom and Emma Hardy versions.  I haven't tried the Eve Lom version, but I will join the chorus singing Emma Hardys praise.  At €40 it isn't cheap.  I've been looking for a cheaper balm cleanser for everyday makeup removal.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE APPLICATION MAKES... JOUER MATTE MOISTURE TINT

This base did the rounds of the blogging kingdom quite awhile back.  Since it had matte in it's name, I had to buy it.  I had high hopes for this base, as it was beloved by seemingly everyone in the blogging kingdom.  When I initially got this I was using the Real Techniques Buffing brush to apply it, and almost immediately I felt it was a shade too dark for me.  

MARCH FAVOURITES

This favourites has a bit of everything makeup, skincare, and beauty tools.  On the skincare front I've been using The Body Shop Scrumptious Cleansing Butter, which is their version of a balm cleanser, and it's great.  I have even been using it instead of the Emma Hardy Amazingness face to remove my makeup and its been doing a damn good job.  

ZOEVA BRUSHES

I decided to pick up a few of these brushes after hearing Lily Pebbles talk about them.  I wanted to try another budget brush brand (try saying that five times fast!) other than Real Techniques.  I picked up four, a kabuki foundation brush, a slanted cheek brush and two different size face definer brushes.

URBAN DECAY: THE ULTIMATE 'BUILD YOUR OWN QUAD' SYSTEM?

Urban Decay have brought out their version of 'build your own quad' and this one does not disappoint.  As with most Urban Decay products the packaging is cool and funky, if a little bulky.  The main attraction of this quad for me is the ease at which the pans can be put in and then switched out again. The colour combination can be changed in this quad for the season/occasion/trip.  The beauty of this palette is I only need to bring this one and it can be whatever I need it to be.

KEVYN AUCOIN SCULPTING POWDER

This did the rounds of the blogging kingdom last year, receiving universal praise.  I am pretty new to (and pretty awful at) contouring, but this was even said to be foolproof!  Before breaking this baby open, I was quite happy with using the NYX blusher in taupe, which I whole heartily recommend.  This is in a different league however.

FREE WITH PURCHASE LA ROCHE POSAY TRAVEL ESSENTIALS

Free with purchase are the three word every beauty lover wants to hear.  This latest offering from La Roche Posay, which I received when I repurchased their Hydraphase Light moisturiser, is pretty good, it got me quite excited on the way home!

CLARINS PALETTE ECLAT

I picked this gorgeous palette up at Christmas time in one of my local chemists on a whim basically.  It was reduced from €37 to about €19, which is why it originally caught my eye.  I'm absolutely delighted I bought this.

RECENT PURCHASES

Here are a few bits that I've picked up over the past few weeks.  A few of these I have tried already so I'll give my first impressions.

BENEFIT GIMMIE BROW

I have only had this a few days but I wanted to put out this review because this is a great product.  At first I was a little sceptical, as it promised fuller brows, and I wasn't sure how exactly Benefit was going to come through on this promise.

FOREVER REPURCHASED: SKINCARE

These are the products that I've tried and tested on recommendations from the blogging kingdom.  The only one I tried on whim and loved was the Ren Clear Calm 3 clarifying clay cleanser.  Most of the products are pretty hyped up, however I am pretty hard to please.  My skin is oily and blemish prone in the centre of my face with crater-like pores, while dehydrated and tight around the edges

L'OREAL TRUE MATCH FOUNDATION

I have been on the hunt for an everyday drugstore/high-street foundation for a long time.  Laura Mercier Luminous silk is my all time favourite foundation but at about €50 a tube, its too expensive to wear daily.  When I was younger I tried a

I HEART DRUGSTORE MAKEUP TAG

This is a really old tag but I thought it would be good to do and pay homage to the great drugstore make up out there.  Drugstore makeup is good clean fun, for me it means I can try out the latest trends in the beauty world without paying the earth, and suffering from buyers remorse

KIKO STICK EYESHADOWS

I had seen a few different bloggers talk about these and compare them to the Laura Mercier Caviar stick eye shadows.  I thought they would be a good for a swipe and go product.  At €6.90 each I couldn't resist

FEBUARY FAVOURITES

Kiko Eyebrow Designer:  I only got this at the start if the month but I have used it everyday this month.  I have dedicated an entire post to it here.  The applicator is really interesting two brushes

Empties

Here are some of the empties out of my bag of rubbish that I've been storing away like a mad hamster.  I need to throw it away so here's a start.

Haul Time

So this happened.  I have read so much about the new Smashbox Full exposure palette it had to be mine.  All the blogs that had it featured had beautiful

Want. Need?! Moschino iPhone case

Seriously, how cute is this iPhone case?  I know this is from last year but I've only just seen it (how did that happen) and it's love.  I'm loving all

The Makeup Brushes I use the most

Make up brushes can be a bit daunting.  There are lots of different brands, doing different brushes, with different types of fibres, in different shapes and sizes that do different jobs in very different price ranges.

Blush for beginners

For a long time I could not understand blusher.  Too many times I had seen it over applied and it looked daunting.  I have quite a lot of redness

Kiko Eyebrow Designer

I only got this a week ago but already it's love.  I was sceptical about the "eyebrow designer" claim as I thought it would be just another clear mascara.  However the claims

Super Facialist Una Brennan Vitamin C+ Skin Renew Cleansing Oil

Facial oils are a new discovery for me.  The blogging world went gaga a few months back over the Nude cleansing oil.  At £28.00 ish I didn't fancy investing that

Question: if all your make up disappeared what would you repurchase?

This question has been doing the rounds for a bit and I thought it would be a good way of deciding what make up products are essential to me.  Having a make up

Quick Fix Facials

When I picked this up in TK Maxx I had never heard of this brand.  The promise of brightening at reasonable price sucked me in.  When I got home

A little Kiko

Here are a few things I picked up from kikocosmetics.eu. Sorry about the bad lighting in the picture, the sun was not playing ball at all this morning.

Spend vs Save Mac 217 & No 7 blend and contour

The Mac 217 eyeshadow brush is a cult classic.  It is spoken about by everyone from professional make up artists to beauty bloggers.  It has been proclaimed

Topshop Sale

I picked up a jacket almost identical to this in the Topshop sale recently (it could actually be this jacket but I didn't see it in the sale section online today). Reduced from €88 to €30. What a bargain.

How I wash my make up brushes

Brush cleaning is boring but nessicary. If you have make up brushes and your putting them onto your face they need to be washed frequently (which to me means occasionally when I get a mad fit to). Since today

Soap & Glory Powders

Powders are something that Soap & Glory do really well. I realised this when all the face powders I was using on a daily basis were Soap & Glory. So here is a little

Bargain Buy Under €5: Essence Express Dry Drops

Hello hello. Today I am bringing you a manicure and nail art essential for under a fiver. I constantly struggle with waiting

Rimmel Rave (for under €5 too!)

A good black nail polish is hard to come by. If the consistency is too thin it will not dry true black and instead will be an off grey colour. If the consistency is too thick

"Simple" everyday make up

I put the quotation marks around simple because really there is quite a few bits of make up here! It ain't easy to achieve simplicity! These are the products I use

Things I'm currently loving...

Le Roche Possay Hyrdaphase Intense Moisturiser at €22.00

As recommended by amodelrecommends and it does not disappoint! I have been using it day and night for a few days now and I love it.