Best of Beauty Blog Challenge | Make Up Must Haves

Week 3 of the #BOBBlogChallenge already? This week the focus is Make Up Must Haves, those essential items you just can't live without! I also recommend heading over to All The Buzz to check out Samantha's post and to see all the participants in the Challenge!

So I've rounded up the troops and I think I'm left with the following essentials...

First up is the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, not to be confused with the foundation, the serum has a nice light, velvety feel to it. I have mentioned this foundation time and time again on my blog, so instead of boring you, here is a full review. I wear it day and night, I love it!

Next up is the Bobbi Brown Corrector. It's perfect for on the go, it covers under your eyes well, with a tiny hint of highlight. I have my one quite a long time now and I still haven't hit pan, so while it's not super cheap, it definitely is lasting a lot longer than any concealer I have ever owned. To top it all off, it has a little mirror in, which saves me carrying around an extra item in my makeup bag, perfect!

This is definitely my "go to" lipstick. I think it's great for everyday wear, while also having enough colour for nights out too! I'm rarely without this Bourjois Shine Edition Lipstick. So much so, it's almost finished at this stage. Would you believe it'll be the first EVER lipstick I completely used? I usually lose a lipstick or grow bored of it before I could ever possibly reach the end. So I don't think it could come with a stronger endorsement from me! 

I have five of these Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24hr Cream Shadows in total and I love them all. They're great as an eyeshadow themselves, but even more commonly I use them as a base for other shades. I find using these stops all other shadows from budging, even after hours of wear. I also find whenever there is some wear, it's great to have a lasting shade underneath (which is why I have 5 shades, I will try to match the cream shadow base with the colour I am actually wearing).

Finally I have the Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless. I love this mascara for really separating and lengthening my lashes. Then if I want dramatic eyes I will usually layer it with another volumising mascara. It's perfect on its own for everyday wear as well as for nights out!


So that's it for another week, do you own any of these products, what do you think of them?
What are your make up must haves?

Review | Úr Beauty Sponge & Mascara Wands

So I received a little package this week which was kindly sent to me from Úr Makeup*, which is an Irish make up brand created by Nichola Graham, MUA.

After giving the Beauty Sponge and re-usable Mascara Wands a go, I thought I would share my thoughts with you all.

Firstly I used the sponge to apply my usual Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation (which by the way I'm using year round now). 

Initially I felt I had to use a little more foundation than usual, as a small bit got absorbed by the sponge (as is the nature of a sponge, so I wasn't too worried). But then I found my foundation blended incredibly naturally with this sponge and more importantly, it helped me seamlessly cover up the breakouts I'm currently experiencing along my jaw line. Then when applying my concealer, I also used the beauty sponge to blend it all in. While I am a big brush lover and usually shy away from sponges, I feel with continued practice I could get used to this sponge since I was definitely impressed with the finished result!

When it came to mascara I chose the curved wand without doubt I have to say I was in love with the results. It applied the mascara like a dream and the curve really helped with easily gliding the mascara onto the inner and outter corners lashes. It really is one of the best mascara wands I've ever used. Dare I say it, it might even trump my Rimmel Lash Accelerator wand! As the wands are re-usable I gave it a clean afterwards and was impressed with the cleaning capabilities, however it did take me quite a good scrubbing and some time. I think if I needed to use these on a regular basis with lots of different people I would need to invest in a proper cleaning brush to really take off all the product. As a comparison, the one on the left is the wand I used to apply black mascara, after a bit of a clean, this is how the wand looks. I honestly didn't think it would ever be pink again, so it's great to know the wands can handle a good clean.

Overall I am impressed with the sponge and especially the wands (particularly the curved one) and I would certainly recommend them to a friend. I am also excited this is an Irish company as I'm always eager to find Irish make up brands. 

Have you tried the Úr Makeup range yet?

What are your thoughts?

Blogtober #12 | Autumnal/Wintery Eye MakeUp

Welcome one and all to day 12 of Blogtober. This is a very simple little post on what colours I'm currently enjoying wearing on my eyes for this time of year. It's probably not very surprising, but I am of course utilising my NAKED 1 palette from Urban Decay. It's nothing ground breaking, but since there are so many shades in this palette, I try make the most of it using it as a shadow, liner and brow filler.

I have listed the specific shades used below:

Brows: Naked
Lids: Sidecar
Crease/Under Eye: Darkhorse
Inner Corner: Virgin
Mascara: Maybelline The Rocket Volume (Waterproof)


What are some of your favourites shades and products for Autumn/Winter?

Mascara Collection

Today's post is all about the mascaras that I currently have on the go. From looking at what I use, I have realised I use all high street/drug store brands. I have never been one for high end mascaras, I guess I don't tend to rate mascara as important as some of my other beauty products.

Here is the current selection of mascaras that are making their way into my make up back over the last couple of months.

I have come to find I use them all at different times and depending on what I'm doing. Some are better for day time/office wear, while others are my preferred options for going out. Sometimes I also like to combine two different types. In terms of subtle day wear I personally think the Max Factor Falsh Lash Effect (5th mascara) is the best (which is in complete contrast to what the name suggests). If I have been wearing this Max Factor for the day in work and I want more dramatic eyes for the evening, I bring Rimmell Lash Accelerator with me (last mascara), a layer of this on top of the Max Factor mascara is perfect. When it comes to a more dramatic look for going out on the town, I reach for the Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless (1st mascara). I feel even one layer is sufficient, but two layers makes it even more dramatic.

I have shown all the various wand types below to give you a feel for each mascara.

What mascaras are you currently using?
What brands would you recommend for day time and night time looks?

Summer Series | Holiday Essentials

Okay apologies are in order. There has been a massive delay between my last post and this one. July seemed to pass me by in a flash. Granted it's now August, but until schools are back, it always still feels like summer, so I have the final post in my Summer Series, you can find post one here and post two here.

So the reason my July was so jam-packed was mostly due to holidays. This year I decided to do a series of small trips and as a result my make-up bag needed to stay light. So I'm going to share with you what made the cut.

Since I spent some time travelling around Ireland as well as the UK, airport security was also a factor. Keeping it basic was key (full details of products below).

I made sure to keep it really minimal, I left out things like primer, eye lash curlers, extra brushes, brought no more than one of each type of product.I brought the two essential brushes (and the NAKED palette comes with one), I figured anything else could be blended with fingers. I guess my main piece of advice, even if you think you need everything, there's surely a couple more things you can cut out. I know personally when I'm away on holidays, I just want to spend the minimal amount of time on getting ready as there is so much to go out and enjoy and experience. I even know some days I won't want to wear make up. So I really factor this into my final choices. Essentially a good rule of thumb is: no more than one of anything. I find the biggest thing that will weigh you down is have three different mascaras and five types of lip gloss. Choose the bare essentials and your back will thank you for it, when you don't have to lug it all around from city to city.

I teamed my make up collection with the a couple of nail varnishes (again look for cheats like using the same polish for your base coat and top coat). I kept it bright, summery and simple.

So the running theme is basic and minimal. What are you holiday essentials that you can't live without? Do you pack light or do you pack everything, including the kitchen sink?

Face
Make Up For Ever Face & Body Liquid Make Up (#20)
NARS Creamy Concealer (Custard)
Bobbi Brown Sheer Finish Pressed Powder (Pale Yellow)
Bourjois Blush (48 Ashes of Roses)

Brushes
Real Techniques Expert Face Brush
Real Techniques Powder Brush

Eyes
NAKED Palette (No. 1)
Essence Eye Liner Pen (Black)
Maybelline The Rocket Volume Mascara (Waterproof - Black)

Lips
Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer (Big Bang)
Make Up For Ever Rough Artist Natural Lipstick (N22 Pink Peach)

Nails
Essie Top Coat (No Chips Ahead)
Rimmel Salon Pro - Kate Collection (Purple Rain)
Models Own Splash Collection (Pink Paradise)