Dupe Tuesday | L'Oreal vs Benefit

Dupe Tuesday
L'Oreal Nude Magique Blur Cream Vs Benefit Porefessional

On my rampage of Boots the other day I was creeping around the L’oreal stand and my eyes lit up when I saw the L’oreal Nude Magique Blur Cream.

It was in the BB cream section and I almost passed it by because it looked the same as the other BB creams, but luckily I noticed NEW on the packaging and that caught my attention. I think it’s only released in Ireland and the UK in the last month.

The Blur Cream contains micro blur technology and promises to instantly give flawless skin by immediately blurring pores, imperfections and refining skin texture. It comes in two colours for either Light to Medium Skin or Medium to Dark Skin, I chose the Light to Medium. It does say you can wear it with or without makeup but both colours end up translucent so I’m not too sure how great it will look unless you have absolutely flawless skin other than a few large pores and as it ends up translucent if you’re in the shop and they only have the darker tube then get it because it won’t make any difference to your skin colour.

(Left) Benefit Porefessional (Right) L'oreal Nude Magique Blur Cream

Just like the Maybelline Baby Skin and Benefit Porefessional they are silicone based. I would rank it in the middle of those two primers as it shares good qualities from both.

I would rival this to the Porefessional, it’s similar in colour, texture and the results are pretty much the exact same for half the price. I have really oily skin and my pores are super large so any primer or any cream that can cover them in is my new BBF (beauty best friend).

On application the cream leaves your skin with that silky silicone feeling, some people like this but I think it just feels a bit greasy and that goes for any silicone based primer I have tried, so I just leave it on my skin for a bit and let the product dry as much as it can into my skin.

I tried it on my MAC, Revlon and Rimmel foundations, and worked well on them all. I’ve heard other reviews saying that it helped their skin stay matte throughout the day, it didn’t have that effect on me but my skin wasn’t any more or less matte than usual.

Basically this for me is gives the exact same results as the Porefessional for a fraction of the cost. If you don’t want to fork over €34 at a Benefit counter then head over to Boots or any good Pharmacy that sells L’oreal because this beaut only costs €14.99.

Love Sarah xoxo

Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Pens | Review

Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Pen

This was the worst nail buy I have had in a looooooooong time!!! It was an absolute impulse buy, I just saw the pictures that they had advertising the pens and thought what I saw was what I was going to get. I suppose there should be some blame on my part for buying a product I didn't know anything about but that's what happens when you’re in boots during a 3 for 2 sale and just put stuff in your basket without thinking.

Firstly I thought what I was buying was a pen with a small brush tip, because to me that’s what the pictures looked like it was but what I got was a hard tip like you would get from a felt tip marker!

When I got home and tried them out, it took me forever to get any product out and when I did it was a pretty miniscule amount.

I wish I could find a picture of the advertisement that I saw in boots when I was buying the pens to show you how I thought it was going to look because it really made it out to be a really flowing varnish with a very easy movable tip.

In the end I was just really disappointed with the pen and in the end I didn’t like them because:

They were too difficult for the product to come out

The colour came out very opaque and for a nail pen I would want something more pigmented

Too expensive, at €8.95 per pen that is just too expensive for myself, especially on something I won’t be using again.

So that’s what I think about these oul pens, I won’t be buying them again and for such a good brand like Sally Hansen I thought they would have been so much better.

Thanks for reading and if you have bought these pens too then let me know what you thought about them.

Love Sarah xoxo

A day at the zoo

Last week I read in the paper that a new baby giraffe had been born at Dublin Zoo, so today I went off the zoo and have a peep of the little fella.

The weather wasn't as good as it had been at the start of the weekend but it only rained a little and luckily didn't start pouring till we left!

I love going to the Zoo it makes me feel like such a big kid and brings back so many memories of school tours and days out during the holidays with my family!

Every time I go to the zoo there is always something new to see or a new layout or enclosure so it's great when you go once or twice a year it doesn't get boring. I have two baby nephews and I’m dying for them to get a little older so I can bring them along and create so many memories with them. I will definitely be getting the yearly pass when they're older.

I took loads of photos but here are a few of my faves, I hope you enjoy and I recommend heading to the Zoo over the summer it's such a great day out :)

Love Sarah xoxo

The new baby Rothschild Giraffe born on the 7th of May

April Favourites

Well it's half way through the month so I suppose you could say I’m a bit late with this one but here are my April favourites (about time says you!)

I'm going to start off with the first product I have ever bought from Wet n Wild! They were only introduced to us in Ireland at the start of the year and every time I went to buy something from the stands in Pennys they had swarms of girls around them, it wasn't until I went to a Wet n Wild bloggers brunch a few weeks ago that I went out and bought this lipstick (I figured I better be wearing something from the line if I’m going to an event), it’s their Megalast Lipcolor and they are a matte lipstick and stay on for so long.

I'll be doing a review on these lipsticks soon enough so I won't mention too much on them other than the fact that the colour stays on for so long and that I have been wearing this colour for most of last month. I bought mine in 907c Mauve Outta Here, It's a lovely pinkie berry colour and even though its spring time I love darker tones.

Wet n Wild Mega Last Lip Color

I was queuing up in Boots in Jervis Centre one day and they had a little box of Benefit samples for €12. I love getting little sample sized products, for one, I love to use these when I’m going on holidays and two because I have never used the Benefit Porefessional *covers face in shame*. 

Benefit Stay Don't Stray

Out of the little box I have been using the Stay Don't Stray and the Porefessional most. The stay don't stray is a primer for concealer and eye shadow. I've been loving this for my dark circles and blemishes, it's a coloured primer with such a great coverage and colour that I've been using it as a concealer under my foundation.

Benefit Porefessional

I've been using the Porefessional everyday now and I will most definitely be going out to buy the larger tubes. I have terrible oily skin so my pores are gigantic, the Porefessional fills in every pore and doesn't clog them. It is going to become one of my staple makeup bag pieces! 

Soap and Glory Smooch Operator

I have had this bad boy at my desk since Christmas and use it every now and then, but it the last few weeks my lips have been getting chapped really so I popped this beauty on my lips and the hard skin instantly melted away and I had the softest moistest lips, I am using this daily now and my lips are thanking me.

Clinique Cheek Pop Blush in Plum Pop

Every blogger and their mother have this blusher by now, I got mine in March but have been using it nearly everyday in April. I got mine in Plum Pop. I love this colour, its a bright pink but goes on sheer and is build-able if you want a a stronger colour. They are €20 dollars each and I would have bought more but this is the last one they had in the store and I haven't seen them in any other clinique counter. 

Plum Pop

Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan Dark

And finally we have the holy grail in tanning, I love love love Cocoa Brown. The new darker shade is my favourite colour, it has everything you want in a tan. If you've been living under a rock and you have never heard of Cocoa Brown or have never bought a bottle then I implore you to go out and buy has many as you can! I love this so much I don't think I'd buy another brand in my life!!

So that's my very very late April faves! Enjoy this amazing day and remember to put some SPF on cos no one likes to look like a lobster :)

Love Sarah xoxo

Urban Decay Electric Palette Dupe

I’m always on the lookout for a bargain and I especially love finding a cheaper product that will give me the same effect as a more expensive brand.

A few weeks back Urban Decay launched their new Electric Palette, now it’s completely different to all any of the other palettes they have brought out. The colours are bright and bold and probably not everyone’s cup of tea but they are such a welcome to see bright colours especially with the summer finally starting to knock on our doors!

The palette contains 5 matte shades and 5 shimmers and comes with a double ended brush as well. Like most Urban Decay palettes the price does some damage to your purse with a cost of €45 (in Debenhams right now with 10% of).

But if you don’t want to fork over that much money, especially on a palette that has a lot of colours that you won’t necessarily use on an everyday basis then why try out Sleek I Divine palettes.

I Candy

Acid

Ultra Matte V1

These palettes range between €14.39 and 9.99 and you can’t really get better than that. They have 3 palettes – Ultra Matte V1, I Candy and the one that is most like the Urban Decay Palette the I Divine Acid.

They obviously won’t be as good quality as the Urban Decay palette but if you use the right tools then I think you’ll get nearly just as good a look as you would with the Electric Palette.

So if you want to get the look but not have to fork out scores of money then head over to Sleek and choose your favourite palette.

You can get them at www.sleek.com or try your local Boots, I know the only one boots in my area that does them is Boots Liffey Vally, I've tried other boots around South Dublin but you can't find them anywhere.

Met Gala 2014

Met Gala 2014 Round-up

I know I'm about a week late with this but with being away and having my laptop crash on me it's better late than never :) and with the JayZ vs Solange fracas popping up in the press today well that’s just freshened everyone’s minds about the fab and not so fab dresses that where on the Met Gala red carpet.

So lets get started:

Best Dressed Couple

Starting off with the best dressed couple and their where a lot of contenders for this one but my absolute favourite where Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds both wearing Gucci and looked like the perfect couple on the night! 

Love!!

These are just a few of my faves from the night and I think they appear in many favourite list also, I won't show all the gowns just a selected few:

Blake Lively in Custom Made Gucci, such a lovely dress very old hollywood and suited her perfectly

Charlize Theron in Dior Couture, she wore a stunning white dress with black detail that gave her a gorgeous silhouette 

SJP the co-chair of the Met Gala wore a custom made Oscar De La Renta, her hair was a bit mad for me, it reminded me a bit of something you'd see Dracula wearing but apart from that the dress was stunning and there's not too many times you can wear a ball gown like that

Rihanna wore Custom Stella Mc Cartney, Rihanna was part of Stella's "girls" - Rihanna, Cara Delevigne, Reese Whiterspoon and Kate Bosworth

Kim K redeemed herself this year in a stunning royal blue/purple number designed by Lanvin, we all remember her disaster from last year but then it's not as easy to dress up like that when your pregnant.

Rosie Huntington Whiteley stunned in this Balmain number, its like gladiator gone ghetto. It wasnt exactly in keeping with the white tie theme but I just loved it.

Ana Kendrick wore J.Medel showing off her midriff which was popular on the Met carpet last week as well as the black and white them that many chose!

Meh

This is my Meh pile, these are the ones that I didn't love and that I didn't truely hate!

Beyonce in Givenchy Haute Couture, she looked like she was going to a raunchy funeral in my opinion. 99.9% of the time she does get it right but I think that this just proves Beyonce is human too and can have her bad wardrobe days also.

Diane Kruger in Boss, this is proper meh and the more I think about the more I think I should put it in the pile below. So her makeup was gorgeous but the dress was just soooooo boring, half sequined/ half flowy and the cut around her arms just didn't look good at all!

Kristen Dunst wearing Rodarte, I think the only thing that won me over with this one was the fact that she had the Death Star from Star Wars on her dress and if you don't know already I am a proper geek, but other than that the dress is really a lot of nothing!

Zoe Saldana wearing Michael Kors, well I love Michael Kors but this was just a puffy mess really in my opinion.

Maggie Gyllenhaal in Valentino, it looked like something from a hippy commune or San Fransico in the 70's, either way it's pretty retro and I don't know what it was about it but I liked it.

Lily Allen wearing Chanel, there's not much I can say about this really, it's just nice. It's neither amazing nor crap it's just nice.

What Where you thinking

Alexa Chung in a 80's/90's prom style Nina Ricci dress, honestly this is just a hot mess,she is stunning and so quirky that I hoped for something better!

Rita Ora in Donna Karen, the dress was ok but the added sleeve and the hooker shoes where just a disaster

 

Kate Upton in Dolce And Gabbana. Kate Upton is just stunning and I'd give anything to have a body like hers but even the most stunning of people need to know how to dress for their shape and this really didn't suit her, although I don't think the fact that she was dressed for the OK Corral really helped either! This is what happens when you have a lot of YES people in your entourage!

Katie Holmes in Marchesa well I guess Suri picked this one out because the dress is just like Belle's from Beauty and the Beast the only thing is that Belle made this look good

  So that's my little round up of the Met Gala Ball 2014

If you think I missed anyone major or have your own thoughts let me know :)

Love Sarah xoxo

NYC Expert Last Lip Color | Review

If you haven’t copped it already I love my lippy! Every girl needs a bit of lipstick in their lives and for me a bit of lipstick will always make me feel more confident and top a look off.

Anytime I go into Penny’s I always make a b-line for makeup section and always manage to find something to buy and when there is so much choice and such bargains it’s hard not to walk away with bags of makeup.

For the last few weeks I had seen on Instagram a load of posts from a girl who had bought the NYC Expert Last Lip Color lipsticks, the swatches really caught my eye and usually when something catches my eye I have to go straight out and get whatever it is!

When I went to the stand in Penny’s they had some but not all of the collection, I think there are 15-20 colours in total, so I picked four of my favourites. I failed to mention that these lipsticks are €2.49, I’m surprised that I only came away with 4 colours, but it did look like a lot of the colours where very similar.

Red Rapture

Now these guys claim to last up to 6 hours which I think is pushing it, at most I would say 2-4 hours and that’s without doing too much eating or drinking, but when they’re that cheap I don’t think that really matters. The good thing is that they unlike a lot of lipsticks that say that they are long lasting they don’t dry out the lip, they do say that they are moisturising but not totally moisturising. 

Purple Crush

On application the colours go on pretty heavy and a lot of the time you have to pat any excess off with some tissue, but I don't like to feel a lot of product on my lips so each to their own, but this works for me.

Air Kiss

The colour payoff is really good for such a cheap product with some of the lipsticks beings just as pigmented as highly coloured as brands like MAC. The only problem I have with them is the smell, it's a sweet berry but it reminds me of the smell from makeup I had when I was a kid.

Blue Rose

I think that I’m a bit late in the game with these ones I think they’ve been out in Ireland for nearly a year but only out in the states a few months, hence my Instagram timeline being filled with swatches from the collection the last few months. Go out and get these guys, especially if you want to try out a few colours this summer that you might not usually try as they are so cheap, if you don't think it works for you its not like you have broken the bank!

Aussie Blog Awards 2014

When it comes to the blogging world I'm the new kid on the block! 

Starting in February I never thought I'd have created such a good following already. I'm learning as I go along, meeting some great bloggers and lovers of beauty along the way and have no plans on stopping!

That being said I would really love for you all to nominate myself for the Most Aussome Newcomer Award in the 2014 Aussie Blog Awards. Just follow the link and instructions below.

Enter Here :)

Bad Neighbours | Review

So I had a great review of the Bad Neighbours movie starring Seth Rogan, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron and Dave Franco and then my computer froze and I had to restart it before I got to save my review so forgive me as this is now going to be a lot shorter version of what I had written!

The movie is a slapstick comedy about a 30 something couple who have moved into a quiet neighbourhood and have recently had a new baby girl. All is blissful in their suburban life until a fraternity move in next door. They try to act cool when they welcome the frat house into the neighbourhood and attempt to get them to be quiet by offering them weed. 

Everything is fine until they call the cops on them about the noise and the officer rats them out. Thus ensues a film of major hilarity including, near exploding boobs, condom eating babies and a didlo fight between Efron and Green that is hilarious and disturbing and a lot of penis jokes in general.

I do have one qualm about the movie and that is not enough topless Zac Efron and probably too much of Seth Green. 

I came away from this movie quoting my fave lines, and really wanting to go out because the soundtrack will really get you in the mood. If you do not laugh during this movie there is something seriously wrong with you. I can't remember the last time there has been such a good comedy out, it seems that there has been nothing but serious movies out in the last few months, this will definitely cheer you up and get you in the party mood. 

Do yourselves a favour this weekend and go see this movie, if it's a laugh you want then you won’t be disappointed!

Love Sarah xoxo

I went to the movie thanks to Universal pictures and got to go to the 'frat style' after party in lost society, where I got my face painted with UV paint, we got glow sticks and there was beer pong