All About The Base

Hey lovelies, happy Tuesday! Hope the weekend treated you all well and Monday wasn't too bad?
Mine was great, my best friend got engaged recently, so we went out for dinner and caught up on all the gossip,and then went for a couple of drinks afterwards. So it was a nice weekend! I was then off Monday so happy days  :)
I'm back today with a post on my base routine and what products I use to give me the perfect base day to day. If your base isn't right, then obviously the rest of your make up won't be either!
So obviously I cleanse tone and moisturise first, I'm using a Garnier Cleanser and Toner at the minute which are great.Cheap as chips, but make my skin feel really clean and moisturised. For moisturiser I'm using a hydrating serum from Superdrug as I'm always rushing in the morning because I always leave it to the last minute to get up! I will go into more detail about my skincare in another post though.

My first step is always a primer. No matter how much of a rush I'm in I'll always use a primer. The one I'm currently using and Loving is the Rimmel Match Perfection Fix and Perfect Primer. This is a great little primer and it only costs 8.99! Rimmel maintain this is a 5 in 1 product, that has a number of functions including mattifying the skin, and  reducing the size of pores. I don't really notice either of these things, and I've a ridiculously red nose with huge pores. But for me it just makes my foundation last a lot longer than it would otherwise. It's more of cream consistency which I much prefer to the ones that are too silicone like.  I've been using this consistently since the end of December, and I'm almost out, which is a good sign.

For my foundation I've been loving the Rimmel Match Perfection. No other foundation has got a look in since I got this one. I fully intend on doing a blog post on this alone, so keep an eye out for that. It's a medium coverage, which I love because me and full coverage just don't get along. At the same time though it is buildable, so if you're someone who's into fuller coverage you could just build up a couple of layers. It's labelled as a radiance foundation and it is dewy, but a lot of the dewiness is gone once I powder it. For me though the winner for this is the length it lasts. Now seen as I use a primer I would assume that helps, but it lasts throughout the day with no top ups. I put it on in the morning at around 8 45, and when I come home at 6pm it looks more or less the exact same bar a slight shine on my forehead and chin. I find it even lasts relatively OK on my nose, which I find no matter what I use it always slips off my nose first. It's another bargain at 9.99, and comes in a decent amount of shades, so it's worth a try if you want to try a new foundation but don't have a huge budget. My next step then is to do my under eye concealer, and unless I have a whopper of a spot this is the only place I use concealer. I'm lucky enough to have relatively clear skin most of the time, but there is a fair bit of darkness under my eyes.

The concealer I've been using lately is the Catrice Liquid Camoflage Concealer. It's the perfect consistency, it's thick enough to cover my under eye bags  without being cakey and really brightens up the area, and applies nice and smoothly.  I'm yet to find a concealer that doesn't end up looking funny on me by the end of the day, but I think that may be more to do with my powder.  This was only a few euro as well, and it's well worth it.

My last step then is to set everything with a powder, and the one I'm currently using is the MUA Skin Define Hydro Setting Powder. Again this is another product that's cheap as chips but works well. It sets everything into place and makes my make up last a bit longer than it normally would. After a while my forehead does get a bit shiny, but I can deal with it. My only gripe is I find my under eyes get a bit creppy looking, but I'm going to keep trying and testing until I find something to eradicate that.
So that's my every day routine for my base. After this I go on to do my blush and bronzer etc, and I will show you what I use in another post.

What are your current go to base products?
Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

PS Love Make Up Range.

Hey Lovelies,
Hope you're all well and happy! Another Monday done and dusted! Although I can't say much, I was in Liverpool/Birmingham for the weekend and only came back today so my Monday was alright! Anyway, I'm back today to show you a few bit's that I've picked up recently from the Penneys/Primark Beauty Range. Now I'm just going to say that I haven't given any of these a good go yet, I've tried some of the bit's once or twice, so we'll see how they fair out. I'm just letting ye know about them in case ye fancy going out and picking them up! :) I also bought these at different stages, between here and the UK.

Contour and Sculpt Contour Kit: I know, not another contour kit offering! The whole contouring thing seems to have just blown up in 2015, and when I saw this I couldn't not pick it up just to try it out. I haven't been one for the contour phase, as if it's done badly, it just looks like two stripes down the side of your face. This one comes with a contour shade, a bronzer (well at least I think it is), and a highlight.  It also comes with a tiny little brush, alongside a picture to show you where to place each powder.Now, I did try it once, and I have to say I didn't find it very pigmented. But for me that may be a good thing because at least then I can't go overboard. It was a steal at 4 euro, and I'm going to give it a good go before I make up my mind.

Blush Duo: I'm a blush fiend, I have loads and loads, but yet I still go back for more! To be fair, I didn't have anything like this in my collection. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. This is a blush and highlight all in one, and it reminded me very much of the No7 ones  that were released last Summer. This is yet to be tried out, but I'll report back as soon as I do.

CC Sticks: I came across these in Primark in Liverpool the other day and just had to try them. They had 4 different types to do with particular problem areas. I picked up the yellow for under eye circles, the green for redness, and the purple for dullness. I'm not sure if these are available in Ireland yet, but if not I'm sure they'll be along soon. I tried yellow one on Sunday night going for dinner, as we'd been doing a lot of travelling and walking and what not, and a lack of sleep at night between going out, and someone snoring, meant I had fairly bad circles under my eyes. I didn't use a primer as I was being lazy and only had a few minutes to liven up, so I found it a bit dry, but I think with a primer it'd be fine. It really did a good job of cancelling out the darkness under my eyes, I instantly looked more alert and awake! These were again only something like 1 or 2 pounds, sure I couldn't leave them there!

        

Velvet Matte Lip Pencils: These were the things I was most excited to pick up. I've seen plenty of people talking about them so I was mad to give them a go. I picked up two, a Red, and a Brown/Nude,

 which is that kind of colour the one and only Kylie Jenner seems to love! I've tried the brown colour so far, and I've to say, I'm not sure if the colour is for me, but the texture is nice. It's matte without being extremely drying, but I always use a bit of balm because no matter how hard I try my lips are chapped. These remind me a lot of the Maybelline Lip Pencils which I love, which are also comparable (apparently) to the Nars ones. So if they're something you'd be interested in, you may like to try these. 

So ladies. they're some of the bits you can pick up in our favourite shop at the minute. There's a lot more, like foundations, nail polish, eyeshadow, and also brushes, (some of which I've tried and I'll talk about in their very own post soon.) 

Like I said, I'll give everything a good go and if there's anything worthy of it's own blogpost, I'll be sure to do it. Have you lovelies tried any of the Penneys/Primark make up?

What did you think?

Thanks for reading, Alisha xxx

NYX Intense Butter Glosses

Everyone and their Granny know's about NYX Butter Glosses now that they are fairly easy to get a hold of in Ireland. However, I spotted a product that there hasn't been much talk about on the Boots website recently, and decided to give them a try, and they are the Intense Butter Glosses.
These are 7.75 and seen as I liked the original Butter Glosses so much I said I'd give these a go. Word of warning though, these are most definitely NOT for the faint hearted. If you want to know why, then read on!

I picked up two shades to try. Buying these online it was difficult to choose shades, as there wasn't any swatches on the Boots website, and I didn't really spend much time searching through Google for other swatches, I just went with shades that I didn't have anything like in my collection, and also shades that I thought would show a true reflection of pigmentation etc.
So the big question is, what are they like?



Well, the blurb on the website says:
Smother your lips with a silky gloss bursting with color! Our Intense Butter Gloss has the same mouth-watering texture and scent of the original formula with even more color payoff in 12 new delectable shades.

First off we'll look at the packaging. It's the same little tube that the original Butter Glosses come in, with the colour of the product being the colour that the packaging is also. The only difference is that the lid is silver as opposed to being the same colour as the tube like the original Butter Gloss. You get 8mls of product, which I think is plenty, as really, who uses up a full lip product?
The smell is just as amazing as the original too. That really creamy vanilla scent, I just can't get enough of it, I always have to take it out to smell it every so often!
The Intense Butter Gloss is most definitely intense, for something that's deemed as a gloss, it is extremely pigmented! One swipe of these is sufficient to cover the lips, and it's so easy to make a mistake with these, but slow and steady wins the race with these, so taking your time and concentrating on applying it is key here, and possibly using a lipliner too.
To me these are comparable to a liquid lipstick, just without the horrible dryness that comes alongside most of these. I don't think the texture is quite the same as the Butter Glosses, don't get me wrong it's comfortable, but it doesn't feel exactly the same on the lips.
Longevity wise, I've put this on around 9am, had lunch around 1/1.15, and still have colour on my lips in the afternoon. It has a  strong shine when first applied, and this does last a decent length of time also. It doesn't wear off funny either leaving you with those funny rings, which we all hate don't we ladies!
I picked up the shades Spice Cake and  Toasted Marshmallow. Spice Cake is a deep berry colour, almost a purple. And Marshmallow is more of a nude/brown with a hint of purple. Both of these colours are lovely, but not for the faint hearted. There's a couple of nude shades online that I'd love to try, just to see are they comparable in pigmentation and longevity.

                                                                          Spice Cake

Toasted Marshmallow

                                Toasted Marshmallow on top, Spice Cake on bottom in artifical light

Toasted Marshmallow top, Spice Cake bottom in Natural Light

I love these, and am very glad I picked them up. But as I said, for those of you who just like a sheer slick of colour, these may not be for you.
For anyone curious, you can pick these up on the Boots website.
Have you tried the Intense Butter Glosses?
Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

2015 Beauty Favourites

Howdy all!
I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year. Did anyone get up to anything exciting for it? We're finally getting back to normality after all festivities, so to ease us back in to reality I decided to do my top picks of 2015!
No matter how hard I tried to cull my make up buying habits in the last year, it just didn't work out, but I like to console myself with the fact that I could be spending my money on worse things! :)
So on we go! Just a head's up, I really only picked the things that I was obsessed with this year. There's so much stuff I love, but didn't feel I used it enough or long enough to justify putting it in here!

 Catrice Ultimate Shine Lipstick In A Rose Garden: This was my favourite lipstick this year, signs by that I've used a fair whack of it. It's the perfect every day lip colour. It's a nude but not so pale that it washes me out, it's just a shade or two darker than my natural lip colour and I just love it! The formula is beautiful too. Nice and moisturising with a good colour pay off.  I will definitely be getting a new one when this runs out.

Soap And Glory Solar Powder Bronzer: I never used to be a bronzer person really until 2015. I found a lot of them to be orange looking on me, and just didn't' look right. This one however is great. It has two shades in it, a bronzing shade which isn't too orange, and a nice highlight shade. I swirl the two together with a big fluffy brush and apply to the high points of my face and it just adds a nice glow to my face. Again this is something that I'm close to running out of, so I may repurchase at some point when I've used some of the other million bronzers I have.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer: I've tried numourous concealers in 2015, and while most of them were good, I found that nothing compared to the wake me up for disguising my under eye circles! It's light, but yet still brightens up under the eyes and makes me look fresher and more awake. The foundation is also a great foundation too if  you're on the hunt for a bargain foundation! Unfortunately I don't have a recent one of these to photograph but I'll add in a picture from another source so you know what it looks like!

Max Factor Creme Puff Blushes: It took me ages to get around to trying these, and they were much hyped about by bloggers all over, and I can see why. They're soft and creamy, easy to blend and just beautiful on the skin. I only have one shade in this, and I think it's lovely pink, and it just adds a gorgeous pop of colour to my cheeks, with an ever so slight highlight too. It actually reminds me of my much loved Benefit Dandelion blush!

The Body Shop Virgin Mojito Body Butter: It took me until 2015 to try a body butter from the Body Shop, how bad is that! But I'm so glad it was this one, I've been using it non stop through the winter, which is random given it's a summery scent, but I don't care because it smells divine! It smells exactly like a mojito, minty, fresh, and citrusy! I've been trying to repurchase it but because it's on offer on the website it's out of stock! :(
























Rimmel Instant Tan Mousse: I think this may have been my ultimate stand out product for 2015. I've tried numerous tan's in my time, but this one is the winner for me hands down. It's a tinted mousse, and it's really easy to apply and dries practically instantly. It's a fool proof product to use, and this comes from someone who always used to make some sort of mistake with tan, but this one you could nearly use it with your eyes closed!

Catrice Even Skin Tone Foundation: I've really gotten in to Catrice foundations in 2015. This one and the Nude Illusion are definitely my two favourite foundations hands down. This particular one does a great job of reducing redness and also is meant to visibly reduce pigmentation marks after continous daily use for 12 weeks. I don't really have much pigmentation, I do have dark marks on the outer area of my eye, but I can't say whether I've noticed a difference or not. But I just love it for how much of a difference it makes to the redness of my skin, which I have a lot of! It's a medium to full coverage foundation, but doesn't look cakey which is always a good thing! Cleary my blogging skills are a little rusty as I forgot to photograph this, so I grabbed a picture from the Catrice website, so at least you'll know what the bottle looks like if you decide to purchase! (Which you should) :P

Photo from www.catrice.eu

Garnier Micellar Solution: This is the best stuff since sliced bread! It's just the easiest thing to remove make up quickly, and we all know how hard that can be. I've used a couple of the different types for various skin types, but the one for normal skin wins hands down all the time! Again, another product I forgot to photograph, but I think everyone knows what this looks like anyway!

So ladies, they are my top picks for 2015. I could have kept going, as I do have lots of make up, but as I said  before these are by the far the things that really impressed me in 2015. Other things that I haven't mentioned this time round will more than likely be mentioned at some point on the blog!
How about you lovelies?
What were your faves?
Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

Soap And Glory Favourites

Hey lads and lassies, hope you've all recovered from the dreaded Monday Blues, it's almost done and dusted thank the lord!
I'm back today with a post that I honestly don't know how I haven't done it before this, because the brand is genuinely one of my favourites, for both make up and body care.
If you haven't guessed by the name of the title, it's the extremely popular Soap And Glory. Renowned for their cute and quirky packaging, and their fabulous bath and body care more so, I thought I'd give you an insight today into some of my favourite products from the brand.
So let's get cracking!

Sugar Crush Body Scrub: I love absolutely all of the the Sugar Crush range, because it smells DIVINE, but in particular the body scrub. Some scrubs don't do a lot for me except leave an oily residue on my skin, but this actually does something. It's ingredients include smashed brown sugar, sweet lime, almond oil and macadamia grains, so while the sugar and the macadamia grains provide a good scrub, the almond oil make sure it isn't too drying. But the smell of this, my good god! If you're into citrus scents and/or sweet smells, then check this out. It smells gorgeous, kind of like a mojito but a bit sweeter! This is 11.29.

Photo from www.boots.ie

Whipped Clean Shower Butter: So this is a shower wash, but Soap And Glory say it's a wash/butter all in one, so if  you're in a rush, you could get away without moisturising. as it's made up of 25 percent moisturising oils and butters, including sweet almond oil, grape seed oils, macadamia nut oil, and cocoa and Shea butters. For me it's not enough to get away without a moisturiser after, but I've just gotten used to always using one so for someone not partial to moisturising frequently this could be a winner. It's a lot thicker than a normal shower wash, it's more of a cream consistency than a lot of other washes I've used. But I love it, particularly in the winter if I want to feel a lot more moisturised, as my skin tends to get very dry in the colder weather, particularly around my elbows, and also the scent to me is a lot more suited to colder weather, as it smells like pistachio, almond, and sweet vanilla! This is 9.99.

Photo from www.soapandglory.com

Solar Powder Bronzer: Myself and bronzing product's have never really seen eye to eye. Anything I've tried has always just left me looking orange. I got this in a gift set in the January sales a couple of year's ago (good old half price in Boots) and eventually I took it out of the box and gave it a go. Since then I've been hooked, so much so I've hit pan fairly hard! It contains two shades, and there's a bit of overspray on the SG, but after a sweep of the brush that disappears, so need to worry about being a glitterball. I tend to sweep my brush in the two colours, and apply it to the points of my face where the sun would naturally hit (if it ever shone in Ireland), so the forehead, cheekbones and a small bit on my nose. I just love how it makes my face look, it gives me a nice healthy glow. Now that the Autumn is coming fast and hard though I may have to put this away again and attempt to give contouring a go, again! This is 15 euro.

Photo from www.soapandglory.com

The Righteous Butter: This is probably the most well known of all Soap And Glory's body butters. It has the typical smell that the brand is known for, it's a really musky but yet floral feminine scent. The body butter itself is thick and luxurious, and I honestly feel so much better after using it. I also love how if I put it on at night after having a shower, the next morning I can still smell it off my pyjamas, the scent lingers that long. This costs 14 euro.

Photo from www.soapandglory.com

Thick And Fast Mascara: I'm not too fussy or demanding when it comes to mascara. To me really it's main use is to darken my lashes as they're so fair. So after that volume or thickness aren't really things I look for, so I was genuinely surprised when I actually really fell for this mascara. It gives me thicker, longer, fluttery to the point that they're almost false, lashes. I haven't used it in a while as I've always had a fair few mascara's on the go, and I like this one so much I don't want to open it and then forget about it as they say you should ideally throw out an open mascara after 6 months, and I ain't going throwing out any of these! The price is 13.50.

Photo from www.soapandglory.com

Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Shine Lacquer: When I tried this first I was petrified it was going to be like the Lip Glosses from the same line that had a plumping effect and stung the bejaysus out of them. But thankfully with this lacquer it's not the case. It's just a really lovely highly pigmented lip colour, that applies really easily thanks to the flattened doe foot applicator. It has a real high shine, but once the shine goes there is still some colour left, and I don't find it too drying on the lips. It's not too expensive either at 9.50.

Photo from www.boots.ie

Apologies for not actually taking my own pictures, but all my Soap And Glory bit's are so well loved they aren't in the best of shape! But I have put the names of where I got the pictures under the products.
I honestly could keep going on for ages, but the post would be ridiculously long then. There are so many products from the brand that there's always something new to try! I know some of  these products seem expensive enough for drugstore product's, but more often than not they're on offer in Boot's, so it's worth a look at the website or in store!

Have you tried any Soap and Glory bits?
What are your faves?
Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

Top 4 Netflix picks!

Hello lovelies,
I'm back again with a different type of post, nothing related to make up or beauty, but instead what I watch on Netflix! There's so much on there that it can be hard to pin down something to watch, so I thought I'd give you a little guide to my favourite shows/movies on there!

1 Once Upon A Time: This is probably the main reason I signed up to Netflix. The likes of Zoella and Tanya Burr were raving about it in favourites videos, so I figured I'd give it a go! And I'm obsessed! I'm currently on Season 3 Episode 10 and there's another 2 and a half seasons for me to watch on Netflix so I'm in no rush. :) It revolves around a little village called Storybrooke and a boy called Henry who goes to look for his birth mother to break a curse. I know it sounds childish, especially when you see the amount of fairy tale characters that make an appearance, but it's far from it, in fact it can be very dark and dangerous in some episodes, so really not for children! There are some famous faces in there too, Robert Carlisle and Jamie Dornan to name a couple! ;)

photo from www.amazon.com

2: Suits: Ok, so this one is on the scene a good while now, and chances are you've probably watched it already, but I've only gotten into it the last while now! It's based in a high flying New York solicitors firm, and a young man called Mike Ross who, even though he has no law qualifications still manages to bag himself a job in the firm. This is one that appeals to a broad enough audience, as me and my boyfriend watch it together, and he loves it. Once Upon a Time is possibly one just for the girls ;)

picture from www.youtube.com

3: Grace and Frankie: This was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. It's a Netflix original series, and I watched the whole thing in a matter of days it was that funny. It's about two couples in their late 60's early 70's (I think), who are complete opposites personality wise,   and I won't ruin the plot, but trust me, it's definitely worth a watch!

photo from imdb.com

4: Miranda: This is an oldie, but a goodie. Miranda Harte is a well known British comedian, and I laughed out loud during every show. I was disgusted there was only one series! It's based around her love life (or lack of), and her joke shop. I can't say enough good things about it, I had to go searching the Internet afterwards for more series to watch!

So they are  my recommendations for Netflix at the minute, obviously as I watch more these will change, so I may do one every few month's or so.
What do ye like to watch?

Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

MUA Skin Define Hydro Primer

Hi Ladies,
I hope you all had a great weekend, the weeks are just flying by! Today I'm back with a super affordable budget buy that will put a smile back on your face, especially in the run up to Christmas.
I was over to visit my brother a few week's ago in Liverpool, so as per usual when I visit the UK, I popped into Superdrug. Don't get me wrong, I love Boots, but I love Superdrug for the brand's that you can only order online here in Ireland, them mostly being MUA and Make Up Revolution. In the two stores I went to, both Make Up Revolution stands were crowded, so I stuck with good old MUA. I've tried a good few products from MUA, and for the most part I've been impressed, (until I picked up an under eye radiance concealer that's just made up of glitter, not a good look). So when I saw the new Skin Define Hydro range from the brand, I'd no bother in picking up a few bit's to try. I picked up the setting powder, which so far I've no complaint's about, but the thing that's really impressed me is the Hydro Primer. I've only been using it for a week so far, but let me tell you, it's love!

From the website and the packaging itself MUA say the primer is

A fresh and hydrating primer in a lightweight gel formula. The soothing aqua base leaves skin refreshed and smooth allowing for even makeup application. The hydro primer has a self-repairing system, designed to reduce the appearance of fine lines and prime your face for a smooth complexion. 

So first off, the packaging. It comes in a neat plastic tub, which is fine. Packaging as I've said before isn't a huge issue for me as long as the product inside lives up to it's claims. So I'll just skip right ahead on to the product itself. 
It's the most unusual consistency that I've ever used in a primer. I'm mostly used to silicone based primers, and some that are cream but yet still feel like silicone, but this one is just like jelly. To be honest it remind me very much of an extremely high end primer that people raved about on the blogging scene a while back, but I never tried it so I can't compare the two. It's just such an unusual texture! Even when I put my finger in it makes a little dent in the product, but it's not too long before the primer smooths over again! 
When I apply it to my skin it has a very cooling hydrating effect. It dries in fairly quickly too, which is a big thumbs up for me, because I'm always rushing in the mornings! 
But, the big thing is, does it work? I think so.
It definitely does hydrate the skin, as for reducing the appearance of fine lines, I can't say as I thankfully don't have too many yet, but it definitely does a good job of priming the skin. And although it's not marketed as a primer that makes your base last longer, I find it does. My nose is  the first place that my make up disappears from, thanks to a combination of having a very shiney red nose, along with very very obvious pores. But this primer seems to hold it a bit longer than usual! 
Overall I'm very impressed with this primer. I've tried quite a few of them, and I do have a particular favourite from No 7, but it's just so expensive for the amount you get that I can't justify repurchasing it just yet. 
This one was just 5 pounds, I'm not sure what exactly that is in euro, but obviously it's no that expensive, and I only use a little at a time so I think it will last a fair while! :)

You can pick up MUA product's online HERE, or from Superdrug stores. 

Do any of you lovely ladies have any favourite primers?
Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx