Thursday 29 January 2015

American Beauty Haul Part 2: Drugstore!


Hey guys! As promised, here is the drugstore edition of my America haul! If you missed it, you can find the high end edition here.

Like with the high end products, I haven't used most of these yet, as I wanted to come home and take proper photos and stuff first.



I've spoken about the Physicians Formula Mineral Powder Before (review here), and mentioned in one of my posts that I'm just about hitting pan on it, so I picked up two of these in Ulta. I was just going to get one, but some of the Physicians Formula products were going through the scanner and showing really low prices (around $2.50!) so the sales assistant took me back to the stand and told me to pick some more stuff and get the stuff that was going through cheap! In the end I picked up two of these powders, my sister picked up one too, and I picked up the Happy Booster Blush as well.

The Milani Baked Blushes are apparently brilliant, I'd been hearing about them for months on YouTube, and the most recommended shade was always Luminoso, so I picked that up in Walgreens one night. 


I've always heard great things about the Elf Kabuki Brush and the Elf eye brushes, so I picked up the kabuki and a crease brush. The kabuki brush is so incredibly soft! 


I heard about the Jordana Easyliners for Lips through Allura Beauty on YouTube a few months back, and I really loved the look of the brown shades. I used one of these while I was in America (can't remember which one!), underneath a pink toned nude lipstick to tone down the pink a bit. The quality of these are so good, and they're super cheap at only around $2 each! I got the shades Coco Loco and Cabernet. 


Just a few eye products that I've heard great things about (I know, I keep saying that for everything!), I picked up the Elf Eye Primer ($1!), the Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in White, the Milani Liquid Eye Liquid-Like Eye Liner Pencil, the Physicians Formula Eye Booster 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum (what a mouthful!) and some Ardell Lashes.



The Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte Lipsticks launched in the States a few months ago, and for some reason still haven't made their way over to us yet, so I picked one up in the shade Touch Of Spice. Even though Nyx landed on our shores last year, there a some things that haven't made their way over (or at least not in any store near me). The Butter Lipsticks aren't yet available here, so I picked up three, in the shades Hunk, Licorice and Razzle. I don't recall ever seeing the Soft Matte Lip Creams either, so I picked up one in the shade Copenhagen. Lastly, I picked up a Wet n Wild Megalast Lipstick in the shade Mochalicious, which I think is a new shade.


Marshalls is great for cheap Essie and OPI polishes (and designer clothes and shoes too!), and I picked up the OPI Peanuts set for only $6 and an Essie polish for around $5! From Ulta, I got some really unique Sally Hansen glitters, they are so pretty and I don't have anything like them in my collection so I had to have them!  I got one of the Fergie Wet n Wild polishes for around $1 in Walgreens, I loved the chunkier gold glitter pieces in it. Lastly, I got the Sally Hansen Salon Gel Polish top coat, not realising you needed one of those gel lamps to use it. I mistakenly thought it was part of their Miracle Gel line, because I'd heard they'd released a top coat in that line and I just didn't read the packaging until I got home. Silly me!

That's all of the drugstore products I picked up in America! I will be testing these out over the next few weeks, and will have reviews up soon!

Monday 26 January 2015

American Beauty Haul Part 1: High End Makeup




Hey guys!

As some of you may know, I was in Orlando for two weeks with my family. We had a great time, and to be honest I'd love nothing more to still be there! I've a few of photos up on my instragram of our visit to Disney World and Universal Studios too, if anyone wants a look.

So, when we weren't visiting a theme park, we were out shopping. I had been making a list of beauty products I wanted to buy during our trip since we booked the flights back in June/July. Most were from drugstore brands, but I had a few high end products in the list too. I haven't tried any of these out just yet (except for Mac Heroine), but I'll have reviews of stuff up as soon as I have tested them out!



The very first thing I picked up was this Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Blushing Bride. I've been hearing about how great this line of blushes is for months and months, and there was no way I was leaving Sephora without picking one up.



I also picked up the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper that first trip to Sephora as it was, again, something I'd heard being raved about so much.



The next day, we went back to Mall at Millenia and I got to spend longer in Sephora, just looking around at everything. I had planned to get the Sephora Airbrush Foundation too, and so I got matched and picked up the shade Fawn. I did try this one out in the store when I got matched, and I loved the look and feel of it!



I'm still a huge nail polish junkie, and whenever I saw anyone using or raving about the Sephora Formula X polishes, it just used to torture me! I had planned to by the kit, the System, but when I was in the store, I just kinda thought it seemed gimmicky, so I just picked up a single polish instead, which was on sale for $6 (usually they cost $12.50). I got another one in Marshalls too, for $5!



I picked up two of the Two Faced Melted Lipsticks, in the shades Melted Berry and Melted Violet.


I hadn't planned to buy anything from Mac, as I was going to buy what I wanted in Dublin Airport, but Heroine was sold out and the lady at the Mac counter in the airport told me that the Nightmoth pencil was being discontinued. Whenever I mentioned this in the Mac stores in Orlando, I'd be greeted with panic at first, but then assurance that it's not being discontinued. I ended up buying both Heroine and Nightmoth because they worked out a little cheaper than buying from here.


I only bought one high end product on impulse (achievement!), which was the Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in Stalker. My sister was buying one and told me they were great, and that I should pick one up too.

That's all of the higher end stuff I picked up. I bought so many more drugstore products, so stay tuned for that post, coming on Thursday!

Thursday 22 January 2015

Guest Post by Fariha: Dove Hair Nourishing Oil Care Leave-In Spray Review

Hey guys, here's Fariha's second post for this week! You can check out her first post here.

My second favourite treat from December was the Dove Hair Therapy Nourishing Oil Care Leave-In Spray also purchased from Boots. I am really bad for every day care routines for everything but this is something every girl needs! This is a light weight nourishing spray that gives your hair that extra boost of freshness, nourishment and repair!!



Like it says on the bottle it leaves your hair soft and touchable. Most importantly it smells so lovely! You can spray it while your hair is wet or even dry.

My hair is quite heat damaged so in between I love squirting this into my hair then brushing it. I feel it gives my hair that extra dazzle!!
I picked this up at boots for only €2.50 because it was on a special offer! Definitely worth the price :D 

Monday 19 January 2015

Guest Post by Fariha: Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Rapid Moisture Spray Lotion Review

Hey guys! I'm still away on holidays right now, so I asked my friend Fariha to take over for this week, and she has two great posts for you guys! Enjoy, and I'll be back posting next week (stay tuned for my America haul!).

Hi everyone, my name is Fariha. I decided to take over Manal’s page for two posts. Here’s hoping I don’t do a horrible job, apologies if I do because I have never blogged about beauty products before!

So here it goes.  

The first post I will be discussing is the continuous spray by Palmers. Believe it or not, I didn't know spray-on moisturisers were a new trendy thing, until Manal told me otherwise. I was completely content with my Soap & Glory goodies. However I decided to give spray-on moisturisers a try. I couldn't remember what Manal got, and I was in one of those impulse buying moods.

I purchased the Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Rapid Moisture Spray Lotion 200ml from Boots for €7.29. Most likely it is cheaper after the sales in Boots. You can also get this in any big pharmacies.

I used this nearly the whole month of December.
How to use: hold the spray 3 or 4 inches away from the skin and spray in a continuous fashion.

I sprayed mine in the mornings since my skin is relatively dry these days. Within seconds my skin was soft and moisturised. Also this product is great for chocoholics since the scent is a really strong cocoa butter.

For those people who don’t really like the smell of strong chocolate then this product isn't for you but for me the scent is a plus.

One thing I didn't like about it was the rubbing in bit. My hands contain a lot of moisture so I don’t really like touching creams however this dries in quickly.


Overall I really like this product and definitely recommend it, especially to any chocoholics!





Thursday 15 January 2015

Memebox Colorbox #4 Electric Brights


The last of the three color boxes I have is the Electric Brights box! This was, by far, the most disappointing Memebox I have ever gotten. The products were just so lacklustre, and I was expecting this box to be pretty good, you couldn't really go wrong with this theme. Except Memebox did.


1. Vivito Vivace Color Cream Jazz Coral
Memebox says: "This multi-pigment cream comes in a variety of different colors ranging from gold, purple, emerald, green, white and pink to this deep cobalt blue, which can be used as an eyeliner, a shadow and a lip color all in one. The beautiful blue pigment glides on smoothly onto skin with a silky texture, completely waterproof and smudge-proof, and shimmering with subtle pearls and vibrant vividness."
This pigment is really pretty crap. While it is really smooth and glides on nicely, it's not pigmented AT ALL. It's so sheer, and you really have to build it up a lot to get some sort of colour. It;s such a shame too, since the colour in the pot is stunning!


2. Vivito Vivace Color Cream Funky Rock Pink
Memebox says: "Again, one of the Vivace Color Creams in a lovely Funky Rock Pink. This lovely pink color is also a multi-player and can be used as an eyeshadow, a blusher, and a lip color. The creamy pink pigment glides on smoothly onto skin with a silky texture, completely waterproof and smudge-proof, and shimmering with subtle pearls and vibrant vividness."
This one is also pretty useless. It's just the tiniest bit more pigmented than the blue, but you still have to build it up a lot to get the colour.


3. Vivito Blues Shiny Primer
Memebox says: "This Blues Shiny primer coats over skin with a velvet-like veil which preps skin with both moisture boost and natural coverage needed to create the perfect dewy, radiant complecion. I also firms the skin and enhances the lasting power of makeup to follow."
I haven't gotten a chance to properly try this out yet, but I do think this doesn't fit with the theme at all. It's a primer, not exactly something you'd expect in a box promising brightly coloured makeup.


4. Vivito White Angel Chorus Beam
Memebox says: "This White Angel Chorus Beam is your ultimate base for dry, dull skin - containing shimmering pearls for extra-refined glamour and elegance as well as youthful suppleness. It color-corrects an uneven complexion, and will also match your skin color perfectly when used together with your favourite foundation or BB cream."
Another product that doesn't fit in with the theme at all! It's also really sheer, and when you blend it in, it disappears completely.

Overall, this box is just really bad. The two products that fit the theme are not pigmented at all, and then there's two products that just don't belong in the box at all. I think I'm going to be be taking a break from Memebox for a while, and maybe only get the brand boxes like the Etude House or the Tony Moly ones.

Monday 12 January 2015

Memebox Colorbox #6 Pastel Hues


The second of the three Colorboxes I got from Memebox is a pastel themed box. This one was an ok-ish box, nothing to special. I'm finding that the teaser images Memebox uses for all of their boxes don't give any indication whatsoever about what you're getting. Like I said in the Jewel Toned box post, I was expecting the contents of the box to have some resemblance to the theme shown in the picture. I also wish they'd included products from different brands, instead of them all being from one brand.


1. Revecen Moisture Shine Lip Gloss in Apricot Pink
Memebox says: "Enriched with olive oil, this Moisture Shine Lip Gloss in sheer pink and orange shades create delicately glittering and plump lips while leaving lips super moist and supple without being sticky at all."
A nice little lipgloss, it's a pretty natural pink colour, and as promised it's not sticky at all. It's not glittery at all, or leave you with plump looking lips, as Memebox claims. It's a pretty average gloss, nothing too special.


2. Revecen Color Eye Shadow in B167 Pearl Turquoise
Memebox says: "Formulated with various moisturising minerals, Revecen's Color Eye Shadows are highly adhesive, water-proof, smudge-proof and produce rich pigment payoff with a long-lasting silky touch. To be worn alone or blend with complimentary shades."
The shadow is really pigmented, and so smooth and buttery. It blends really well too! The colour is more of a light blue than turquoise when applied though, and I'm not a huge fan of blue shadows, but that's just personal preference. The shadow is great quality!


3. Revecen Perfect Star Powder in #08 Yellow
Memebox says: "Designed with the perfect mix of color and shine, the Perfect Star Powder creates dramatic light-catching effects and brings instant sophistication to any makeup look. Layer it on top of contrasting eye shadow colors to create unique multi-dimensional effects, or use it alone for instant elegance!"
Like the powder in the Jewel Toned box, this is just a really pretty glitter!


4. Revecen Face Control Foundation in #000 Light Yellow
Memebox says: "This unique Face Control Foundation works to cover up skin imperfections and light up dull, darkened skin tone for a more refined, evenly balance, and healthier-looking finish. Plus, it contains natural preservatives such as green tea extracts and magnolia extracts, and thus gentle and suitable for all skin types."
This one's not a great product to be honest. It's difficult to get out of the pan, and is very stiff and isn't very blendable. The colour is weird too, it's way too pale.

As I said earlier, the box is just ok. There's nothing here that wows me, everything is just kind of meh. In terms of the products being pastel colours, Memebox did deliver. But the products themselves were not what you'd expect to get when you read the description of the box.

Thursday 8 January 2015

Memebox Colorbox #5 Jewel Tones


Hey guys! So I recently got three new Memeboxes and, as usual, I'm going to do unboxing posts for each! I got these absolutely ages ago, they were on a 3 for 2 offer so I picked up all three. Each box was $15 and then you had to pay around $6.99 shipping (upgraded to express for no extra cost as part of the offer!), bringing the total up to $36.99 for all three, but I found a coupon on retailmenot and also used some loyalty points to bring the price down a good bit more. I think in the end I paid around $25. Each box contains four full sized products, and the one I'm unboxing today, as you already know from the title, is the Jewel Tones box!


1. Color World Multi Lovely Finger Mousse Lip 704 So Hot Pink
Memebox says: "This lip mousse is a combination of a lipstick, lip gloss, and lip tint. It glides onto lips with a rich pigment payoff and a smooth, non-sticky finish."
It certainly is super pigmented and not sticky in the slightest, but it does transfer! I was under the impression that it would dry kind of matte, but it doesn't.


2. Color World Star Powder 01 White
Memebox says: "Designed with the perfect mix of glitter and shine, Star Powder in Sparkle White creates a dramatic light-catching effect and brings instant sophistication to any makeup look. It coats over skin for a velvety smooth texture, sparkling with glowing elegance. Use it as a highlight, an eyeshadow or a facial & body glitter powder."
This glitter is so pretty, I'm really impressed with it so far!


3. Color World Kiss the Beads Lipgloss 
Memebox says: "A classic gloss that gives an intense shine and moisture from a blend of ceramide, natural essence oil, coenzyme Q10, and squalane. Despite its glossy visual, it's not sticky, long-lasting, and lightweight!"
When I first swatched this on the back of my hand, I thought I wouldn't like it at all. It surprised me though, and I really ended up loving the colour. It's not super pigmented or anything, but it doesn't promise to be either. It is really glossy though, and really light weight! Thankfully, Memebox's claims of it not being sticky are true!


4. Color World Jewelish Stick Shadow 09 Crystal Silver
Memebox says: "Color World's Jewelish Stick Shadow features beautiful shades with a creamy formula to provide an endless spectrum for creating flawless bold eye makeup. Each convenient stick is long-wearing, transfer-proof, and crease-resistant. The color glides smoothly onto lids and blends easily for a rich pigment payoff."
I haven't really had a chance to play around with this one very much yet. It was really nice and creamy, and very pigmented, when I swatched it on my hand. I wish they'd given a different colour though, like an emerald green, as they already covered silver with the glitter.

Overall, it's a nice little box. I do wish they had stuck to the jewel toned theme a little bit better though. I thought we'd be getting some crazy, brightly coloured products in shades like in the promo picture, but half the box was pink and the other half silver.

Monday 5 January 2015

Empties #1


I've been keeping all of my empties safe and sound in a box under my bed for the last few months, and forgot about them until I was writing up my 2014 Favourites post last week!




John Freida Frizz Ease Shampoo and Conditioner: I love these products, they're the first frizz controlling shampoo/conditioner set that I actually think work for me. They leave my hair really soft, and frizz free, especially when used with the curling cream (which I'm almost out of too!).
Will I repurchase? Yes, definitely, once I'm done with the L'Oreal Extraordinary Oil shampoo and conditioner, which I'm currently trying out.



L'Oreal Skin Perfection Advanced Serum: This serum is specifically targeted towards those in their 20's, like myself. It's really hydrating and left my skin feeling silky smooth.
Will I repurchase? I was waiting for it to come on special offer again (full price is around €25, way too expensive), and it finally has! It's half price in Boots at the moment, so I picked one up on Saturday!



Taylor Swift Wonderstruck Perfume: It has taken me years, but I finally finished this perfume! It takes me ages to get through bottles of perfume because I usually forget to use them and I have quite a few too.
Will I repurchase? No, I'm done with this scent, thanks very much! I liked it a lot, but I've had enough of it.



Simple Kind to Skin Replenishing Rich Moisturiser: I really liked this moisturiser when I first started using it, but after getting my Etude House one, I began using it much less. Don't get me wrong, it's a great moisturiser, it does it's job and dries quickly, but I just preferred the Etude House one.
Will I repurchase? Probably not, but you never know!


Etude House Collagen Moistfull Cream: You're probably all sick to death of hearing me talk about this so all I'll say is that I love this stuff because it's so moisturising and doesn't leave me feeling like I dipped my face oil. Full review can be found here.
Will I repurchase? I got one in a Memebox just as this one ran out, so I'm good for now!


Balmi Cube Lip Balm Strawberry: This was part of a raffle prize I won at a blogger meet up back in October, and I was so excited to try it out! It's a nice, moisturising lip balm, but not the best as you have to really lather on a load of it, and it makes your lips really greasy for a while. It smells heavenly though!
Will I repurchase? No, but I'm tempted to buy it for the smell alone!



Essie Good to Go Topcoat: I really liked this when I first got it, but it dried up too quickly. I tried reviving it with a polish thinner, to no avail. It's not exactly cheap, so I was really disappointed when it quickly became too gloopy to use.
Will I repurchase? No


Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub: A life saver for my dry lips, because of this I could wear matte lipsticks without my lips look icky.
Will I repurchase? I bought the Santa Lip Scrub a while ago, and to be honest it's not as good, so I'm trying to use it up quickly so I can go and buy a different one. Maybe I'll go with the mint one next!


Maybelline Volum' Express The Mega Plush Mascara: I don't really have much to say about this mascara, it was just kind of average to be honest.
Will I repurchase? Nope, there are better mascaras out there!

That's all my empties for now!

Thursday 1 January 2015

2014 Favourites!

Happy New Year! I can't believe it's already 2015, I know everyone says this, but the year really flew by!

I haven't done a favourites post since October, and I thought why not just mention all of my favourite products of 2014. Some I have talked about (a lot!) already, some I've never mentioned before!

Skin Care
There's been quite a lot of skin care products I really enjoyed using this year, but these were my absolute favourites.

Etude House Collagen Moistfull Cream: My favourite moisturiser this year, I did a full review of it a few months ago which can be found here. In short though, it's really moisturising and doesn't leave your skin feeling overly greasy for ages. And it smells great too!


Etude House Play Therapy Sleeping Pack: Another product I've talked about before, but very briefly. I got this in a Memebox back in November. My skin was getting extremely dry in early December (around exam time!) and I used this a few when it was getting particularly bad. I'd massage it onto my face at before bed, leave it on overnight, and wash it off in the morning, and it left my skin looking great! Even my sister commented on how amazing my skin was looking! She's got quite dry skin too and she loves this stuff, and is thinking of getting her own!


L'Oreal Skin Perfection Advanced Serum: I picked this up back in November, when it was on special offer for around €15. I loved this stuff, it really hydrated and smoothed out my skin. The only thing I dislike about it is the price, it's currently at €25 and I don't think it's worth that much!


Soap & Glory Hand Food: I'm kind of late to the party on this one. I know everyone's gone and raved about this hand cream years ago, but I only really started using it this year. I picked up two of the mini ones of this and one mini Endless Glove, which is great too but I don't like the smell of it as much, when they were on a 3 for 2 offer in boots a few months ago. I've always got a tube in my handbag, for when my hands need a little pick me up!



Face
Max Factor Skin Luminizer Foundation: I did a full review on this back in November, which can be found here, so I won't talk too much about it here. If you're someone with dry skin, like myself, I'd recommend you try this one, it doesn't stick to dry patches and just looks beautiful on the skin!


Physicians Formula Mineral Powder: Another one that I've done a full review on, found here, this is great to wear on it's own. I've almost hit pan on this, and will be picking up another when I'm in America!



Eyes
Urban Decay Vice 3: I think I started off this year only owning one or two eyeshadow palettes, and I mainly used the Naked 2 for a good while. My collection has grown a lot this year, and one of my favourite palettes this year was the Vice 3. The colour selection is great, there's so many gorgeous jewel toned shades, and the quality is amazing too! I've especially been loving the reds in this palette!



Isehan Kiss Me Heroine Make Mascara: I've mentioned this in my October Favourites post, it's just a really great lengthening mascara and I've been loving it so much the past few months!



Lips
Wet n Wild Megalast Lipsticks in Sugar Plum Fairy and Cherry Bomb: I've talked about these so much already, so if you want to know more about them, I mentioned them in my October Favourites and I also did a full review of Sugar Plum Fairy which can be found here. Sugar Plum Fairy has really become one of my most used lipsticks!



Gerard Cosmetics 1995: This is another one of my go to lipsticks, on me it's that amazing Kylie Jenner nude lip and I just love it so much!



Mac Lip Liner in Soar: When I'm not wearing 1995 or Sugar Plum Fairy, I'm just using Soar. I love this liner so much, on me it's kind of one of those 'your lips but better' shades!



Lush Bubblegum Sugar Scrub: This has been a life saver this year, and I just wish I had discovered it sooner! This stuff made it so that I could wear matte lipsticks comfortably and without my lips feeling and looking like the Sahara!



Nails
Max Factor Gel Lacquer in Radiant Ruby: This whole collection was amazing, but Radiant Ruby was my absolute favourite out of the bunch. I've just really been loving everything red this year, so it's a no-brainer that this would be my favourite! I did a review on this collection a while back, with swatches of every colour, you can check it out here.



Etude House Minnie Mouse Collection: This collection was just so adorable, I thought it made my nails look so cute and really loved wearing it! I'm taking this with me on my upcoming trip to Disney World, it'd be a waste not too! I reviewed these as well, part 1 can be found here and part 2 here



Hair
John Freida Frizz Ease Shampoo, Conditioner and Curling Cream: These just did wonders for my hair! They left my hair so soft, and the cream helped control my frizz so well!




That's all my top beauty products for 2014, I'd love to know what some of your favourites for the year were!