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!

Cocoa brown: Dark 1 Hour Tan

Well I caved I ended up buying the Dark Cocoa Brown. I have said previously that the Original 1 hour tan was dark enough for me so that's why I wasn't going to buy it, but with the sunny days after appearing I felt like having that little extra darkness. 

I'm currently a Cocoa Brown junkie and love everything Cocoa Brown. When I’m prepping for my tan I always use the Tough Stuff exfoliator (I use it nearly every time I’m in the shower which stops any dramas if I ever have to do a last minute tan). I love this exfoliator, it’s so easy just to grab it in the shower because it’s in a tube, but you can use any exfoliator that you want, I love the Soap and Glory ones too. It’s also important to use any exfoliant when you shower after you have applied your tan to create an even tan and avoid patches; it’s also great to get rid of any mistakes you might have made during tanning application.

Left: Before application, Right: After application

So normally I would use one of my Soap and Glory moisturisers but when I’m tanning I always use the Cocoa Brown Chocolate Whip. It looks like chocolate pudding and smells like it too but when you rub it in it goes white and dries in really quickly. A word of warning though, a little goes a long way with this stuff; it’s as if the amount doubles when you start rubbing it in so go easy and add more if you need to. I use the Chocolate Whip before application and I use it for the full week that I have my tan on. As far as I’m aware using any oil free lotions will prevent any of the dreaded streaking.

When it comes to the actual Darker 1 Hour Tan it is so much darker, if you’re really pasty I wouldn’t recommend it, it might look a bit cray otherwise.

I always put a bit of Vaseline around my elbows, in between my fingers and around my wrists or anywhere that the skin is a bit drier.

On application you can see the tan come up instantly, I’d try and buff it in as much as possible and as quickly as possible. I’ve noticed that if you leave it for any longer than a few seconds it will dry in so buff, buff, buff!!

I noticed that when I put it on it did take a bit longer than usual to dry, and it was still slightly tacky after a while, but that didn’t have any effect on how it turned out.

You could leave it on for an hour but I always leave it on for a full night before washing it off, the longer the better with this stuff.

Left: after application, Right: A day after application 

Overall the result was really good and any streaking was up to my bad application (for some reason I completely missed my fingers). It was a lot darker than the other tan, it still looked natural though which can be hard when you have a darker tan, luckily you do look brown and not orange which is always a bonus! 

If you like your tans dark and are fed up like me having to layer it on the get the New Dark 1 Hour Tan! You can get your tanning mitts on all Cocoa Brown products in all good chemists and Pennys/Primark.

Love Sarah xoxo

Facebook Competition

Good Morning Girl's!!!

I finally have a picture up of the goodies that you can win on my Facebook competition. 

If you haven't entered yet just click the link and like, share and don't forget to follow as well :)

You can win the new Cocoa Brown Travel Set, the Oh So Special Sleek Palette and a little nail polish set from the PS Love Beauty range from Penny's.

Enter Here :)

March favourites

Hey Guys, I've been sorely lacking in the posts recently, it’s been a hectic week or so and hopefully I’ll be able to put up one or two posts extra this week.

So these are my March favourites, some of these products I purchased in February but I got the full use out of them for the whole of March and looking back over them they are all super affordable, I don't think I spent more than €10 on each of the products.

Starting off we have the Schwarzkopf Essence Ultime shampoo and conditioner created by Claudia Schiffer. They have a few different types of shampoos in this range; I got mine in Diamond Color which is for coloured and highlighted hair. Firstly it smells amazing, I can't put my finger on it but its noting like I've had in other hair products so that's bonus number one. The shampoo lathers so much, I also think that if it doesn’t lather then it’s not a proper shampoo, usually if I have one that doesn’t lather my hair always gets greasier quicker.

Now for my favourite part of this pair is the fact that it makes your hair super soft and it doesn’t knot at all. The knots just fall out even before you've put a comb through your hair.

I chose the shampoo and conditioner as over the years I’ve gone from blonde to brown to Cheryl Cole red to brown and back to blonde so my hair has been pretty damaged over the years and also with winter and being around heaters all the time my hair has dried out big time but the Essence Ultime shampoo and conditioner has brought life into my locks. I definitely recommend it if you have coloured hair.

This is my surprise favourite of the month which is the Rimmel BB cream matte foundation. I bought this in a 3 for 2 offer at Boots with a few other Rimmel products including their Stay Matte mouse foundation. I first tried the Stay Matte foundation and I really didn’t like it, you can see my review on that in one of my previous posts. But this foundation is really good, I’m not sure if the BB cream has any effect on the skin and it isn’t the most mattifying of foundations and they do have only 3 colours to choose from but apart from that I have fallen in love with it and have been using this foundation more than my MAC and the way my skin has been recently it's looking a lot nicer on my skin than the MAC has been. After using it for the month and getting to know it, I found that applying it with my fingers rather than using my brushes makes the application much better. The light colour is a shade or too darker than my pale Irish skin but I’ve managed to make it work for me with a super amount of blending.

Now I have the oiliest skin in the world and hate to have even a little bit of shine and at the beginning of using the foundation I was touching my skin up with powder a lot but after buying a mattifying powder it has worked perfectly with the foundation. The foundation does last throughout the day and it doesn’t dry out the skin I suppose that’s part of the BB cream in it. It’s a great little foundation, although it isn’t properly matte but I’ve found a way for it to work for me. It’s super cheap and great for days when you don’t want to waste the good stuff.

Just to add on, it’s a sheer makeup and not too buildable and it’s not the best if you want to contour with powders but as long as you just wear it as a normal makeup with a simple bit of blush then your good to go!

I was out one night and had forgotten to powder my face so I asked a friend if she had any, she handed me an Essence loose powder and after hours of dancing my skin was perfect. I was on a mission I went to every Penny's possible but they didn’t have it, but I kept seeing the same one only in a compact. I gave up and bought the compact. It works the exact same though, its translucent powder and really mattes the skin for hours. 

My final makeup March favourite is the Scandaleyes Rockin' Curves from Rimmel, I've done a blog post already on this one so you can read more of it on their. This was only launched a month or so ago but it has taken precedence over my other mascaras this month. What I love about this is the wand, it's a curved wand which I had never seen before and in one swipe it gets every lash and the tip gets every little bottom lash. It doesn’t clump and it stays on all day without losing any height. 

So this isn’t anything to do with makeup but I am in love with these two songs. All of me by John Legend and Magic by Coldplay, both of them are constantly on replay the last few weeks. I usually don't love Coldplay but I love this one and listening to John Legend got me listening to his Love in the Future album. I hope he comes to Dublin this year!

Only a small bit of March Favourites but I haven’t been allowed to spend that much this month.

Thanks for reading

Love Sarah xoxo

NYC Big Bold Volume Vs Yves Saint Laurent Babydoll

Can you tell the difference?

I'm a sucker for makeup dupes; any way I can get the same result from a cheaper product than spending a fortune on a high end one is always a good thing!

Both of these I bought after seeing reviews from other bloggers - So Sue Me and Casey Holmes.

 I bought the YSL Babydoll during the sales in Debenhams for €32.50 which came with a small bottle of YSL Instant Eye Makeup Remover. When I watched Casey Holmes on YouTube test it out I knew I had to have it. When I used it first the results where instantaneous, the wand is so fine and doesn't have that much product on it, so I didn't think it was going to do much but the lashes became separated, coated evenly and  gave huge amount of volume. It lasts all day as well so you won't be needing to top it up later in the day and when it comes to taking it off you'll need industrial grade eye makeup remover (No joke this stuff isn't budging).

I'm an avid reader of the So Sue Me blog and when I saw her rave about the NYC Big Bold Volume Mascara I just had to see what all the fuss was about. I bought mine in Pennys, I think you can get it in some chemists also. This was a lot cheaper than the YSL mascara coming in at only €3.49. The wand is very similar to the Babydoll wand but holds more product. It can get a bit clumpy on application but going over your lashes a few times helps make them more separated.  

YSL Babydoll (left), NYC Big Bold (right) 

After using both mascaras for a few weeks I noted that they both gave very similar results, so one day I wore both mascaras, one on each eye. Honestly I couldn't really tell the difference and half way through the day I completely forgot which one was which. 

I did a little survey as well and asked all my friends could they tell the difference and the results were pretty much split down the middle.

I did get better compliments on the lashes that had the YSL on them though, with some people saying that I looked like I had false lashes on.

Overall I preferred the NYC mascara, I probably won't be buying the YSL again unless it's on offer and really it's purely for the fact that I get pretty much the exact same result from the NYC than the YSL for a fraction of the cost.

Love Sarah xoxo

Pennys/Primark P.S Love Beauty - Part 2

This is Part 2 of my Pennys/Primark P.S Love Beauty range post, this time it's about my favourite subject - LIPs!!!! 

Now some people say I have an "out of control" addiction to lipstick and any lip product in general but I choose to ignore them all and continue to buy on a regular basis (OK so maybe it's a little excessive) but when I saw these Penny's lipsticks for only 2 euro each I had to pick up all the ones I could get my hands on. 

So I got 8 of them - 5 lipsticks, 2 lip gloss crayons and a lip stain pen. I'm so impressed by the quality of these products i'm still shocked that they're from Penny's. 

Firstly we have the 5 lipsticks, now not all the packaging is the same some have black lids and some are clear, the clear packaging reminded me a little of the Topshop Makeup design which makes it more expensive than it actually is. I loved the look of all the colours on me except for the nude brown, but nudes have never ever look good on me. I think it's because my lips are naturally very red so putting any nude brown on me makes me look very washed out. 

Now none of the colours in the range have names on them which I do miss, especially as I bought two red shades in the lipsticks - one with a black lid and one with a clear lid. I did in the end after much scrutiny find out that they where different, the lipstick with the black lid is a bit more of a pillar box red and the lipstick with the clear lid is more of a pinky red. 

The surprise favourite was the purple lipstick, which on first glance looks like a really dark purple (I thought it was going to make me look a bit grunge) but when tested it's actually very wearable, so much so I've worn it into work a few times.

None of the colours give either a matte look of an overly shiny lip, the balance is perfect. The darker red and purple when worn off leave a stain on your lips which I personally love and overall the lipsticks do last for some time - obviously after eating and drinking they do fade.

Onto the moisturising lip gloss crayons and when they say moisturising they really are. I can't remember if there are any other colours than these two, I suppose i'll have to go back to Penny's to test :) 

We have a light baby pink that has a little glitter in it which you might think your going to look like a 12 year old but it actually works and isn't too in your face. You can feel the glitter between your lips when you rub them together but lets just think of it as exfoliating on the go. The second is a hot pink, which is a bit more creamy than the other gloss and has a great pigment on it but isn't so over the top that your left looking like Barbie.

Finally we have the lip stain stick, the only other time I have bought a lips stain stick was with MaxFactor and it wasn't the best (that's me putting it very nicely), so I wasn't expecting much from this but I was surprised by it. It really does what it says on the package and does stain your lips for a good part of the day but it did leave them a bit dry so I would recommend putting a clear gloss or lip balm on top.

And I think that's it, overall I love everything about this new Pennys/Primark range, it's such a delight to see affordable makeup that looks and feels like it should be more expensive. I definitely recommend these products both from this post and my previous review on the new P.S Love Beauty range that I've tested out, I've missed out on a few bits especially the nail polishes so I might have another post in the future on them just keep your eye's peeled.

Thanks for reading guys, don't forget to like, subscribe, share, follow and everything in between, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Love Sarah xoxo

Pennys/Primark - P.S Love Beauty part 1

When it comes to affordability Pennys/Primark is the Queen of it. Just this month Penny's have launched a new makeup range P.S Love Beauty and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. I picked up a few things and tested them out this is only part 1 of my P.S Love Beauty blog post as there is so much to show I had to divide it up. 

Starting off we have this little eye shadow palette at €3.50, it's a great deal for 10 little shadows. The outside packaging is very pretty but when you take it out of the box its pretty plain, but it's whats on the inside that counts isn't it. 

When I saw it first I thought the colours where very similar to the original Urban Decay Naked palette, especially the dark blue at the beginning of the palette. It comes with a little eyeshadow wand which is handy but the tip broke after a few minutes of using it and I could'nt get it back into the stick, I probably wouldn't have used it anyway.

 

As you can see from the swatches on my arm they don't come up to well but they are build-able so just keep at it and they will come up, i'd also recommend using an eyelid primer or a good long wear concealer just to keep everything in place and make the colour stick and last a bit longer. 

I also got some shadow sticks (€1.50 each), I could only get my hands on the Purple and Cocoa (I think that's what its called I don't have it in front of me), they also have a gold one but they had none available in the Penny's that I was in. I havnt done a look with them yet but I was impressed by the look of them. The purple is really metallic and the Cocoa is less metallic but has a bit of sparkle to it, they looked great when I swatched them and they seem to stay on for a long time without budging!

I'm saving the best till last with this one, they call it a blusher but it is a gorgeous bronze highlighter (€2) that can double as an eyeshadow. I just cant explain how much I love this product, you all need to go out and get it. If you use a light amount of product on the tops of your cheekbones it will give you a lovely glowing highlight and using your prefered eyeshadow brush it will be great on your lids and seeing as bronzed golden eye looks are all they rage for spring/summer i'd recommend popping down to your local Pennys/Primark and getting your hands on this beauty!!

So this is just some of the products that caught my eye from the new P.S Love Beauty collection, the only thing that I don't love is that there are no names on the colours except for the eyeshadow sticks but other than that I can't really fault it, the range goes from €1.50 and the most I paid for one item was €3.50. You can find out more information at http://www.primark.com/whats-new/article/358,ps-love-beauty-range-new-at-primark.

Have a good weekend guys, 

Love Sarah xoxo