L’Oréal 24hr Infallible Matte foundation and primer

In one of my recent Boots sprees I picked up the L’Oréal 24hr Infallible Matte foundation and primer. To say I have fallen in love is an understatement; the only time I haven’t worn it was when I was having makeup free days or when I was sick with the chicken pox.

Let’s start with the primer, it’s a silicone based primer, a real rival for the Smashbox primer and half the price. I haven’t used the primer with any other foundations but paired with this L’Oréal 24hr Infallible Matte foundation it makes the foundation last all day. Combined with the foundation it also diminishes pores which I have a big problem with.

On application the primer has a gel consistency that you will find with most silicone based primers but when worked into the skin it goes slightly liquid. It dries super-fast and helps the foundation glide on to your skin. It doesn’t leave the skin feeling sticky or with a greasy film that you can get with some silicone type primers, your skin will just feel super soft.

As a foundation it ticks all the boxes for me. I’m pretty oily so I’m always drawn to anything matte. There are only 6 colours in the range, so if your skin tone is in any way dark than unfortunately the foundation doesn’t cater for you but if you’re a typical pale Irish girl like me or anywhere up to olive toned skin than you will definitely find the perfect shade for yourself. I chose 11 Vanilla, it’s somewhere between NW15 and NW20 from MAC and on the pinkish side of the spectrum.

I haven’t tried it on my face for 24hrs but on a normal day my makeup will be on from 7am to 11pm and it’s pretty much perfect by the time I come to take it off. No foundation will ever stop me from getting an oily t-zone but I feel like I only need to powder my nose once during the day, maybe twice if I’m going out after work.

I’m just over a horrible bout of chicken pox which has left my skin with a lot of red marks and scars, it was only in the last week or so that I realised how full coverage the foundation is. The picture below I’m wearing the L’Oréal foundation as well as MAC select cover up concealer. I’ve been feeling pretty insecure about how my skin looks at the moment so the combination has made me feel normal again.

As my skin my skin has had a tough time of it recently it has become drier so on my drier days I spritz a bit of MAC Fix+ onto my face and it takes the dryness away.  I also find it best to apply with my Beauty Blender, I’ve tried it with my other brushes but found using a damp beauty blender gets the right coverage that I need.

As affordable foundations and primers go the L’Oréal Infallible Matte range wins hands down, it rivals a lot of high end equivalents and for half the price. At the moment it is on a 3for2 offer in Boots for €12.29. If you love matte foundations and are on the oilier side of life then you need to get your hands on it.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

Met Gala 2015

I love the Met Gala Ball it never fails to disappoint in the fashion stakes. This year’s theme was Chinese White Tie which stumped a lot of attendees on the red carpet.

A lot of people played it safe but there is always the odd few that go the extra mile.

 

The person I was most looking forward to was Kim Kardashian, she had a gorgeous Roberto Cavalli gown that showed off her skin, accentuated her curves (not that hard though) and was inspired by a previous Met Gala gown worn by Cher many years ago. She wasn’t the only one to show off some skin, Beyonce and JLO had similar gowns but in the battle of skin I definitely think Mrs. Kardashian West won. JLO is usually so on point for me but her makeup just ruined the whole look for me and all I want to know from Beyonce is who made your shoes and when will Penneys be doing copies.

 

Rihanna is always out there and if it was any other red carpet her dress, in my opinion, would have been panned. Artistically it is a masterpiece; the dress by Guo Pei was made by one person and took two years to make, but the overall thought when I see it is “Big Bird”.

 

If you didn’t know yesterday (4^th of May) was Star Wars day, I have a feeling that Anne Hathaway is a big fan or looking for a part in the new movies because she looked more Jedi than Chinese, I’m not really impressed by this Ralph Lauren number at all.

 

Mary Kate and Ashley usually look spot on but on the Met Gala red carpet they looked like they took inspiration from Morticia Adams rather than Chinese fashion. A bit too gothy for me.

Katy Perry wearing Moschino was just a fashion nightmare. I really can’t find anything positive to say about this dress. This was a major miss for me. Madonna wore a similar dress by the same designer which was much nicer, and a big improvement from her outfit last year.

I actually really liked Miley Cyrus’s dress, designed by Alexander Wang; this got the thumbs up from me. Unfortunately her hair and makeup didn’t complete the look for me.

Finally Kate Hudson, Chrissy Teigan and Jennifer Lawrence all got on my best dressed lists. These girls are always on point; whoever their stylists are they deserve all the money they get because they really know what they’re doing.

What do you guys think? Is there anyone I missed out that should have been noted for either best or worst dressed? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

#PaintYourNailsForNepal

I’m sitting here in Ireland watching the devastation that has resulted in Saturdays 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal, my heart is breaking and I’m thinking to myself what can I do? So I got out my phone and donated €5.00 to UNICEF, it’s not much but it’s something, just think if we all donated even a euro what a difference it could make.

After donating I went on twitter and noticed the “Paint your nails for Bruce” hashtag. I’m all for supporting a man who has I’m sure had a difficult time coming out to the entire world as transgender but really this man has the love and support of his own family and friends in his Malibu mansion but really there are more important things to be doing than painting our nails for Bruce Jenner.

After I aired my views on twitter I got a tweet from @Ungulae, she said what about painting our nails for Nepal and donating.

I remember all the donation campaigns from the last year, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and the Breast Cancer Awareness Makeup Free Selfie. These campaigns raised so much money so quickly, most in part to the ease of donating, all it took was a simple text and a posting a picture or video on social media.

So here’s what I think we should all do:

1)      Paint our nails – be it a simple colour or nail design you choose

2)      Donate to a charity of your choice helping those in Nepal (e.g. UNICEF, Red Cross)

3)      Post on Facebook or Twitter with #PaintYourNailsForNepal

4)      Tag your friends 

If you would like to donate to Oxfam Ireland you can text NEPAL to 57500 - €2.50 will be taken of which €1.90 will go direct to Nepal.

If you would like to donate to UNICEF Ireland text CHILD to 50300 - €4.00 will be taken and donated to the victims of the earthquake.

I know I can count on you guys to do the right thing and I’d love to see this trending.

Love Sarah xoxo

Max Factor Masterpiece Glamour Extensions 3-in-1 Volumising Mascara | Review

Last year I went a little crazy buying mascara whenever I could, I’ve calmed down this year though I’m happy to say. I’ve given a lot of the unused ones to friends and have thrown out a lot of the older ones so my collection doesn’t look too chaotic right now.

I usually have 2-3 mascaras on rotation at a time but since getting the Max Factor Glamour Extensions 3-in-1 Volumising Mascara it has literally been the only thing I have used.

Firstly I love the packaging it’s very sleek with black and gold art deco designs on the outside. The wand itself is pure perfection; it’s a plastic want that is tapered at the bottom and larger on top. The bristles are short which I think is key to volumising your lashes as it helps coat and separate.

I’d compare this to the They’re Real mascara from Benefit but ten times better. The length it gives never drops, it doesn’t smudge, it’s pretty water proof but easy to remove and its super black. I’ll also add that it’s gym proof, it’s the only drop of makeup that survives my workouts and no matter how many times I rub my face with the towel my lashes look just as perfect as when I started.

Usually I would have a different mascara for night time but this one is good for day and night and I don’t feel the need to put any falsies on when I wear it. The more layers you put on the more volume you’ll get if you want that falsie look.

This will definitely be a repurchase; I’ve never had a mascara that was so defining, lengthening, volumising, blacker than black and most importantly clump free.

It retails for €13.99 and if you pop into Boots they have a 3for2 on at the moment!

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

Irish Beauty Show 2015

Last Sunday I went to the Irish Beauty Show in the RDS, it’s a beauty junkies dream. This year however was so busy; we had to queue about 5 minutes to get in which wasn’t too bad but last year I just strolled right on in. Once inside it was a little overwhelming. There where people everywhere and so much to see that it was hard to know where to start.

I didn’t have much of a plan going in and didn’t know what I wanted to buy, coupled with the crowds resulted in not buying much at all.

I tried to get to the Crown Brush and Blank Canvas stands but there was no way of getting near them at all. Other than those stands I just ended up browsing. I wanted to try some things from Paese so I picked up some shadows which were really affordable. I then queued up for the CND stand to get some Vinylux polish. I could have done a lot worse but I ended up buying about 10 polishes!

 

I haven’t tried the Paese shadows yet but from just swatching them I’m really impressed, I wish had bought more.

 

The CND stand was a bit mental; you were given a brochure to tick of which colours you wanted while you were in the queue and then where given a ticket to collect your purchases.

I only copped it after leaving that I was given a Shellac polish instead of the cuticle remover. I have no idea what to do with it, I’ll have to buy a shellac base coat and top coat and borrow my friend’s lamp if I want to use it.

All in all I wasn’t overly impressed with the day. A lot of the stands where repetitive and it was so busy that there was no way of being able to have a proper look at everything.

Butterfly Queen - Vinylux

Did you go to the show this year?? Tell me what you thought of it!

I’ll be reviewing the items I bought in future posts so keep an eye out.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

Kim Kardashian's Blonde Ambition

Kim Kardashian has stepped out in Paris today with a new do. The reality star is now sporting platinum blonde hair.

Will she keep it or is it just for Paris Fashion Week? Only time will tell but leave your comments below and let me know what you think of it.

Do blondes have more fun? I certainly think so!

Love Sarah xoxo

REN Instant Firming Beauty Shot

At 26 wrinkles aren’t top of my list of worries but since turning 25 I have become more aware that I’m not getting any younger and I should probably start to take up a few measures so that I don’t start getting any wrinkles. I feel like I’m quite blessed with my genes though, on both sides of my family none of my aunts or uncles are full of deep wrinkles even my nan didn’t have a huge amount of them so fingers crossed in the future the genes will do me good.

Back in January I attended the launch of the REN Instant Firming Beauty Shot and have been giving it a go since. It’s an anti-wrinkle gel serum that contains Hyaluronic Acid as well as other natural anti-wrinkle ingredients.

I use 3 drops on my skin morning and night, on both cheeks and my forehead and then massage into the skin. The serum dries immediately and has a gorgeous rose scent which at night I find that it’s a smell that isn’t too obnoxious and really helps me get into the sleep zone and relax.

I found the serum to smooth and plump my skin, I can really see a difference after I use it. My skin only feels firmer when the serum is applied but in their studies some women felt the firmness for a few hours after application. I apply this day and night before my moisturiser and found that my makeup lasts longer when I wear it. What I love about this serum is that you can apply it over your makeup, I only put a drop onto my fingers and then press and dab it into my skin, it gives your skin and makeup that extra boost especially around the 4 o’clock zone when you’re brain as well as your skin is hitting the wall!

This is on the pricey side but if you’re thinking of getting a good serum that actually works then I would go for it. The RRP is €48 and is available in Cloud10 and I’m sure where ever you see REN products it will be front and centre.

I always find it hard to review skin care products but as this I could see this one work immediately I found it easy to tell you about it and the good thing with constant use your skin will get firmer and lifted with use.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo