Rimmel 25hr Lasting Finish Foundation and Primer

When it comes to affordable good quality foundations Rimmel never seem to disappoint. I’ve had the Rimmel Lasting Finish 25hr (€9.99) on rotation with my other foundations for the last few months now and I’ve been loving it.

There are 2 types of the Lasting Finish foundation that you can get. The Lasting Finish Nude is a medium coverage foundation and more hydrating on the skin which would suit normal to dry skin. The one that I’ve been loving is the Lasting Finish with Comfort Serum, it’s a full coverage foundation and much better suited to oilier skin as it is more of a semi-matte foundation.

To go with the foundation I use the Lasting Finish Primer (€8.99), it smooths out your skin and fills in pores. It wouldn’t be as good as Benefit Porefessional but it does help your foundation stay on for hours. I’ve tried other primers with the foundation but I found I get the best results out of it with the Lasting Finish primer.

This applies like a dream regardless of what tool I use but I prefer using my Beauty Blender, it gives such a flawless finish and looks like my own skin.

Now I do get quite a bit oily especially around my nose but noting a touch up from the Lasting Finish pressed powder can’t handle and I’m back to normal.

I haven’t tried this for the full 25hrs but I usually wear my foundations 15-16hrs and by the end of the day even if I’m a bit greasy the foundation is pretty much still there.

There are 7 colours to choose from, unfortunately the colours don’t go too dark but for our lovely Irish skin you will definitely find one for you, I use 100 Ivory and it an absolute match for my skin tone. I’m usually an NW15-18 in MAC foundations, so if you are one of those colours 100 Ivory should match you perfectly.

For a foundation under €10 this one will definitely be a repurchase, and seeing as the foundation works best with the primer I’ll have to repurchase that too.

Thanks for Reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

June 2015 Favourites

I haven’t done a monthly favourites post in a while but thought I’d do one this month as I’ve switched things up and have been using a lot of things that I wouldn’t normally use but have fallen in love with in the last few weeks.

My June favourites really reflect the summer mood I’m in, a lot of it is about getting that glow and about hydration.

Back in May I went a lot blonder so to keep my hair from discolouring I bought the Bleach London Silver Shampoo and Conditioner. I’ve tried different purple shampoos in the past to keep the brassiness at bay that haven’t worked but the Bleach London shampoo and conditioner combo are really working for me and my hair hasn’t gone brassy at all.

I used to only use my MAC Fix+ to spray on my brushes to intensify my eyeshadows more but in the last few months I’ve been using it to set my makeup after application. It’s helped get rid of that overly powered look and just helps your makeup settle and on these hot summer days it’s just nice to spritz it on your face to cool down.

I’ve fallen back in love with tanning, I spent the whole winter with not a drop on my skin but once the sun started coming back out I knew I had to put some life back into my skin. I have been loving the Tan Organic Self Tanning Oil. I’ve gotten so many compliments when I wear this and is possibly the most natural looking tan that I’ve used. It really makes you looks like you’ve spent a week on a beach in Spain, it’s gorgeous. I was a bit confused about it when I tried it first, it is an oil so it doesn’t really dry into the skin like a normal tan would so I was a bit scared to put my clothes back on afterwards but it was fine and I didn’t have one streak or build up anywhere.

I got the La Roche Posay Serozinc spray late in June so I’m still trying to figure out if it’s making a difference to my skin but I am loving using it. I spritz it on after I cleanse my face, it’s just so refreshing and leaves your skin matte without it feeling tight or dry. I have oily skin so this is perfect for my skin, I love a matte look.

I am in love with facial oils at the moment. I’ve heard people say that you should use facial oils if you have oily skin but it hasn’t made my skin worse in fact it’s made it a lot better. I apply the Josie Maran Argan oil onto my skin every night and when I wake up my skin is so moisturised, especially around my cheeks and jaw line where I can get very dry.

I’ve neglected my MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle but in the last few weeks I’ve fallen back in love with it. I’ve been using the MAC 188 Duo Fibre brush to apply it, it packs on the product a lot more than any other brush I’ve used. I’m blaming Jaclyn Hill on my obsession with highlighters a mirror.

For a glow over my body I’ve been lovely the Body Shop Honey Bronze Shimmering Dry Oil in No.2 Golden Honey. Firstly the smell is amazing, I can’t put my finger on what it smells like but it lasts all day and smells glorious. With the shimmering flecks of gold in the oil it is more suited to night time but on these sunny days I have popped a bit on my arms and décolletage just to get a bit of that Victoria Secret model glow.

Finally I’ve been loving the Rimmel Get the Glow Highlighter in Notting Hill. It’s a silvery/pinkish cream highlight that I’ve been using three ways. The first way is to apply it lightly all over my face before my foundation, or I’ve been mixing it in with my foundation. Both ways result in an all over healthy summer glow without looking like a lightbulb. The Third way is to apply it before I’ve set my foundation onto the tops on my cheekbones to highlight them, I sometimes go in after with a powder highlight just to give that extra bit of pop.

As you can see my summer loves have all been about having healthy glowing skin, I’m trying to stay away from looking too matte so looking so glowy takes some getting used to without thinking I’m looking oily but it’s working.

What have your June Favourites been? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

Top Ten Budget Friendly Beauty Under €10

Today’s post is all about my top ten beauty products under €10. This was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be and made me realise that a lot of my makeup in my collection costs over €10. The ten I did choose however are pieces that I use quite regularly. A lot of the times when I’m in a rush for work and need to throw something into my makeup bag these are usually the items that get thrown in.

Starting with the base we have the Rimmel Lasting Finish Primer. This is a creamy, slightly iridescent primer that really glues the foundation onto the skin. As I have oily/combination skin this is perfect for it. It leaves the skin silky smooth, as well as helping it stay matte for the rest of the day. This primer comes in at €8.85 and it goes perfectly with the Rimmel Lasting Finish 25hr Foundation.

This foundation is an oily girls dream. This has the quality of a higher end foundation and one that I regularly reach for. It’s a full coverage foundation that goes on evenly and last the whole day. Not only does it have great staying power it is also very mattifying, I very rarely have to powder my nose when I wear this foundation. Coming in at €8.99, it is definitely the best foundation under €10 that I have tried.

There were a few concealers to choose from such as the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer but I chose the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer as I’m loving it at the moment. It gives me the coverage that I need without being too heavy it also has brightening properties to help give you that bright eyed and bushy tailed look. The Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer is €5.49.

I have such a love for Makeup Revolution; they sell amazing products at extremely affordable prices. I chose this blush for the price and the quality. The blushes are so pigmented, one tap is all you need and it gives you so much colour on your cheek. I have only one of these blushes in the shade Sugar but the next time I’m on the Makeup Rev. website I’ll be ordering a few more. They are £1.00 each which I think works out at around €1.40.

The Sleek Face Contour Kit is a firm favourite with a lot of beauty lovers. I have the kit in Light which is perfect for our Irish skin. The kit comes with a bronzer and a highlighter. I get so much use out of this palette. The bronzer is a perfect brown, not too orange or ashy it’s just perfect. With this bronzer I like to build the colour, it’s very pigmented so start I start off small and build it up to my desired colour. The highlighter is really good as well; again a little goes a long way. Sweep this on and you’ll be glowing all day. This is one that all girls should have in their collection, €8.49 each and available in 3 shades.

Another Makeup Revolution favourite is their Dual Ultra Brow Arch and Shape pens. They have two ends, one with a waxy crayon and the other a felt pen. I don’t usually use the felt end but the waxy crayon end is my go to. All I have to do is comb my brows through and then shape them with the crayon. As it’s a coloured wax it keeps any stray hair down as well as filling them in. It literally only takes a few seconds to fill my brows in with this pen, I love it and it’s price at £3.50 which is about €4.90.

When it comes to eye shadows there are many under €10 but a lot of the time they are singles and very rarely palettes. I love the Sleek Palettes which I was going to include on my list but when I went to price them they were over €10, I’m pretty sure the last time I bought them they were €9.99. I then spotted the Collection Eyes Uncovered palette for only €3.99. I had bought it a while back and never tried it but was pleasantly surprised when I did. There are 3 palettes to choose from; I got the Nude Grey palette which is perfect for a smoky eye. There are 2 mattes and 4 metallic, with a mix of bronze, silver and plums. I love this little palette and I’m going to have to get my hands on the other 2, they are really pigmented, easy to blend and last all day.

Going through my collection I found that I only have one eyeliner under €10 and that’s the Maybelline Master Kajal, everything else from gels to liquids where all over €10. You can’t really go wrong with this Kajal; it’s perfect for blending out for that smoked out effect.  I know there are cheaper pencils and other liners but I have none in my collection that I could find, this one is around €8.

Again with mascara I found it hard to find one that I liked and one that was under €10, luckily though the Seventeen Falsifeye HD mascara was there to save the day. I love this mascara for slapping on my eyes when I’m not really doing anything but I still want to look like I’ve made a little effort. The mascara, lifts, separates and holds all day to give you that wide eyed look. At €8.89 it is one of my go to mascaras especially on my “No Makeup” makeup kind of days.

Finally we have lipstick, this was really hard to choose but I really like the Maybelline Color Sensational lipsticks. There are so many to choose from whether you want vivid pinks or 90’s nudes’ there’s so many to choose from. They are really pigmented and not too drying. I’ve a good few in my collection and I’m really hoping they bring their Matte collection over here, I bought some in America last year and they are some of the best matte lipsticks I’ve ever tried. They come in just under €10 at €9.99 a pop.

Added all up this makeup bag comes to €69, I wouldn’t like to think what my usual makeup bag costs or even my whole collection, I think I’d need a good lie down if I did. If you’re on a budget or have a makeup emergency then these would be my top picks for you.

All prices are from Boots or Makeup Revolution websites.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

Kate Moss Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick

The Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish Matte Lipstick in the shade 107 is hands down my favourite red shade of lipstick that I have ever come across in my life.

 

For me it is a perfect deep berry red and it has the bonus of being a matte shade, so it ticks all the boxes for me.

When applied, it is so pigmented that only a small amount is needed but I like to put a good coat or two of it on. It’s a matte lipstick but unlike other mattes like MAC they go on a bit more creamier and you can still rub your lips together without it feeling like you’re rubbing two pieces of dry wood together.

They're long lasting and leave a stain on your lips when it wears off so the colour lasts even longer.

Have you found a red that can rival 107? If so leave a comment down below.

Just a reminder to you all that you have one week left to avail of 25% off Karmisa jewellery.

Just enter the code “karmisasarah” at checkout for 25% off your final bill and remember they offer free shipping worldwide so you have no excuses!

Love Sarah xoxo

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick Review

If you’re a reader of Beauty Blunders than you’ll know that I’m a matte lipstick junkie so when I picked 2 of the newly packaged Rimmel Moisture Renew lipsticks I was really stepping out of my comfort zone.

These lipsticks have been around for a while now and a few months ago they were redesigned and the formula was changed. As this is my first time to wear these lipsticks I can’t compare to the previous formula but from what I hear from other bloggers they do prefer it. They cost €7.79 each in Boots and should roughly be the same price in other pharmacies.

These lipsticks are highly pigmented, the tiniest amount on your lips give a full coverage. They are as the name suggests moisturising which I found a nice change to wearing matte lipsticks all the time. I can only compare it to Vaseline on the lips, especially when you rub your lips together.

The colours last a good while, and leave the lips feeling very nourished.

I bought two of the lipsticks, Amethyst Shimmer and As you like in Victoria, there are 19 shades available altogether. The Amethyst Shimmer is a shimmering pink, I didn’t love this and I probably wouldn’t have bought it if I tested it out on the back of my hand but the sticker on the tube looked like a nice colour. It’s a bit of retro colour so I probably won’t be wearing it too much after. The As you like it Victoria is a lovely dark hot pink. This is a lot more wearable than the other colour and can be worn day and night.

These are lovely lipsticks but I have one or two problems with them, firstly they have a perfume fragrance that I don’t like, it’s a really cheap and has an old smell that I remember my mother’s lipsticks used to smell like when I was a child. Secondly they are so pigmented and moisturising that if you hit off your lips there is a lot of transfer and can smudge really easily which can ruin your makeup. I found that if I only put the thinnest layer on this doesn’t happen as much.

I do like these but I probably won’t be buying too much, while a change is always good I think I’ll be sticking with my matte shades for another while.

Just a reminder to you all that you have until Sunday to avail of 25% off Karmisa jewellery.

Just enter the code “karmisasarah” at checkout for 25% off your final bill and remember they offer free shipping worldwide so you have no excuses!

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

My Big Boots Haul

I was given a Boots voucher for €50 the other week and yesterday I decided to spend it. At first I didn’t think I was going to spend it all in one go but Sarah being Sarah I managed to spend €74 in total, I don’t even feel like I bought that much but I must have, but because I only really spent €24 I don't feel too bad.

In this post I’ll just be showing you what I bought and I’ll be doing a few posts from this haul over the next few weeks.

Here's what I bought: 

I bought 2 Collection Lasting Gel Colour polishes, these are €3.99 each but if you bought 2 you got them for €6.50. I got them in Raspberry 7 and Vixen Red 3. I’ve tried the Models Own gel effect nail polishes and didn’t think they were worth the money so I’m hoping these will be worth the price if not more.

 I got 2 of the Rimmel Moisture Renew lipsticks, I’ve never bought these before but I liked the colours that were on offer. These where €7.95 each and had an offer of buy one get the second half price. I chose 260 Amethyst Shimmer and 360 As You Want Victoria. I don’t think these are new but I do think they have just redesigned the packaging, but seeing as I’ve never tried them before they’re new for me.

Boots have finally started to fit permanent Sleek Makeup stands in their stores, it used to be that you could only get them in the Liffey Valley Boots but they are now in Dundrum and Jervis Centre too. I’ve a good few products from them already so I just picked up the Matte Me Gloss in 431 Fandango Purple as I haven’t tried the matte glosses before and the colour really caught my eye. The Glosses cost €6.49 each.

I love my volumising mascaras especially ones that are super affordable so I’m dying to try this Seventeen Falsifeye HD mascara. It promises “lash by lash separation, corner to corner volume and length for HD Impact” so I’m hoping it does exactly what it says on the tin (or at least box). Because it’s only new it has an introductory offer of €5.98, after it will cost €8.89 so if it lives up to the hype you still get bang for your buck. Silly Sarah was too excited though and just grabbed the first box she saw and ended up getting it in Brown/Black so it will be interesting to see what the colour is like when I get it out if the box.

Another mascara and another piece from Collection. This is the Colour Lash – All Day Wear Colour mascara, as the name suggests it’s a coloured mascara and I bought it in blue as you do. I’m not sure where I’m going to wear it but it only cost €2.69 so I’m not too worried if I only wear it a few times.

Bourjois where doing a 3 for 2 offer plus a free pair of glasses, I bought 2 of the Rouge Edition Velvet Matte lippies (€10.49 each) and one the new Color Boost Glossy Finish Lipsticks (€10.99). I’ve already bought one of the Rouge Edition Velvet Matte Lipsticks a month or so ago and I’ve wanted to buy more since, they have recently brought out a few more colours in the range that are a bit more darker than the ones they had on offer first. I chose 7 Nude-ist and 8 Grand Cru, I do love the darker colours. The Color Boost intrigued me, it says on the lipstick “comfort & Hydration with SPF15 for 10Hrs” it also says its waterproof and that’s the seller for me, I  can’t wait to see if this is true or not. I’ve a feeling the free glasses won’t suit my face but I haven’t tried them on yet but as my dad says “if it’s free, take it”.

I went over to the Soap and Glory stand to look at the new blush sticks that they have but wasn’t impressed by them, I looked around the rest of the stand to see if anything caught my eye (of course something did, I’m a makeup magpie). I picked up the Archery Brow Tint and Precision Pencil (€13.00), I’ve never seen a brow pencil like this, it has a tinted pen that you’re supposed to fill and shade your brow with and the pencil you use to shape your brows, it sounds very intriguing to me and it’ll be a bit different to what I’m used too. €13.00 seems a bit much for a drugstore brow pencil so it better do the business.

Finally I bought two Barry M polishes from their Aquarium Collection. They’re two toned which I don’t think I have any polishes that are two toned and I have a lot of polishes so I needed to get one for my collection. I got one two toned polish in 417 Arabian and a glitter polish in 412 Mermaid and they both complement each other. This was another multi saver offer of buy one get the second half price and they’re €5.99 each.

Hoping something caught your eye in this post and if you see anything that catches your eye and you want me to do a post about it before another product then leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading :)

Love Sarah

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

Rita Ora Nail Collection for Rimmel

I'm a big fan of Rimmel, I have been since I was a young girl, not so much of Rita Ora especially since she's been cast as Mia in 50 Shades (still won't stop me seeing the movie though), so when I heard they were bringing out a nail collection together I was interested to see what they would come up with. Rita has collaborated with many great artists since she came on the scene but I think creating a nail collection with Rimmel is the best collaboration yet.

In this collection there are 12 Shades altogether (€4.99 each)

 Lose your lingerie - a pastel pink

Raw as night - a hot pink

Don't be shy - Barbie pink

Let's get nude - a lovely little nude

Midnight rendezvous - a dark purple

Hot White Love - plain and simple white but so on trend

Blindfold me blue - a sea blue

Pillow talk - a pastel blue

Do not disturb - a sea green

Breakfast in bed - a pastel green

Rita rouge - Pillar box red

Orgasm - (the rudeness) an orange

She also has 10 shades of Colour Rush lipsticks but I have enough lipsticks so I decided not to get the lippy, although I have enough nail varnishes too but they really excited me!! 

I bought mine in Boots; they had a 3 for 2 offer so I got six of the following:

Midnight Rendezvous

Rita Rouge

Raw As Night

Hot White Love

Do Not Disturb

All of the above where given a single coat and they dried really fast. My favourite of the ones I bought where:

Rita Rouge - After trying it out it's a gorgeous burgundy red, I love colours like that on my nails and lips

Hot White Love - It's a brilliant white, but you will need to give a perfect application on the nails to get the perfect manicure. This one will be great with a tan.

Raw As Night - This is a really light bright red, when I applied it to my first few nails I didn't think I was going to like it but it definitely grew on me, I usually love dark reds so this one surprised me.

I love all the colours and I can't wait to get the rest in the range. They are so affordable and I love how they actually dry quickly, I hate when some polishes claim to dry quickly and really don't. I've only ever bought one or two of the Rimmel polishes years ago so I couldn't remember if they where good or not, but I'm pleased to say that they are amazing and I will be buying them in the future!

If you don't believe me you will need to try it for yourself!

Love Sarah xoxo

Rimmel Scandaleyes Rockin' Curves Mascara | Review

The new mascara love of my life!! 

This is the latest in the Scandaleyes collection for Rimmel and boy is it a goody. It's a bargain at only €7.65 (I got mine in Boots). Everything about this mascara ticked the boxes for me and then some. 

Firstly the packaging has a textured snake skin effect which I've never seen before, not on a drugstore product anyway, and the tubes are in the same shape as the other Scandaleyes products.

When it comes to the wand it's AWESOME!!!! It's a curved wand, my first mascara with a curved wand ever and I don't know how I've survived without one. When I first tried it I was a bit like "Whoa what’s going on here", but I soon got the hang of it. One swipe of the wand and it gets literally every single lash; usually I’ll have to go from one side of my lashes to the other to get the same amount of coverage but not with this beauty as it perfectly hugs the lash line to get maximum coverage. I've only in the last year started putting mascara on my bottom lashes and the tip of the wand is amazing for getting at those little ones, whether it's made for it or not the tip is absolutely perfect for bottom lashes.

Now I don't know if it's the wand or if it's the mascara in the tube but there are no clumps what so ever, like none at all!! Each lash is separated perfectly and gives great volume too. It's also great long wearing mascara, by the time I’m going to bed I’m usually a hot panda looking mess but not anymore as my eyes look just as good as they did when I first put it on. As you can see in the photo's below it looks like I just put a fresh coat on, but this is just before I went to bed after a good 15 hours of wear!

After 15 hours of wear

This is so far is my star buy of the year, definitely in my February Favourites and I have a feeling I'll be buying this one again! I've finally found a product that does what it promise in their description. So do yourself a favour, get out there and buy this mascara, you will be thanking me when you do.

Before (No make up at all)

After (Full face of makeup)

Enjoy your day!

Love Sarah xoxo