Maybelline mini haul :)

Hey guys! 

So recently I was in Boots and decided to take advantage of the great offers in there :) Particularly the 2 for 3 offer in Maybelline :)

I picked up the new Lash sensational Mascara, Flawless Nude dream foundation in Ivory and Instant Age Rewind concealer in Light.

I was really impatient to try these out as I have heard so many different reviews, especially on the foundation. 

The first thing I tried (literally leaving town, in the car :P) was the Lash Sensational Mascara and I love it! It created such a beautiful, natural curl to my lashes and made them appear instantly longer. I was asked was I wearing false lashes at one stage! I would highly recommend this :) 

Secondly I tried the Foundation and unfortunately I wasn't massively impressed. It comes with a small stick applicator in a beautiful shaped bottle. The colour is a bit too dark for me, and it has very poor coverage. I had to mix with another foundation (Revlon Colorstay) just to get a nice coverage. For someone who has a lot of freckles, especially around this time of year, it felt like it was barely there even when I applied loads! It was also very drying :/ However I am going to try it with some different primers and moisturisers to see if I can change my opinion :) 

Last but not least the age rewind concealer :) I actually really like this. It is very light but manages to cover any dark circles, veins or redness. It is very subtle but good. I also love the applicator, a really soft sponge that glides and blends on the skin.

Overall, not my most favourite foundation, but good concealer and mascara :) Maybelline get 2/3 for me this time around!!

Thanks for reading :)

Sandy.S

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I love Spring Things! Tag 2015 :)

Hey everyone!! So I am back with a fun and simple tag for Spring :) I said I would finally do it as the weather has gotten less cold and we saw some sun today so here goes!! 

Name your top 10 spring makeup items ❀

1. Nyx Wicked Dreams Palette

2.Seventeen Pink Power lipstick

3.Nyx HD Concealer

4.Bourjois Volume max Mascara

5.Soap & Glory Smoulder and kohl eyeliner pen

6.Manhattan Cream Compact makeup 

7.Manhattan Soft Compact Powder

8.Isa Dora Bronzing powder

9.Urban Decay Primer Potion

10.Catrice Liquid Liner

Name your top 5 spring blushes ❀

1. MeMeMe Blush me in Coral

2. Nyx Powder Blush in Dusty Rose

3. Catrice Defining blush in Apropos Apricot

4. Max Factor Creme Puff Blush in Lovely Pink

5.Bourjois Round pot blush in Rose Èclat 

What do you look forward to about Spring?❀

The (hopefully) warmer weather, the change in fashion, closer to Summer and of course my Birthday in April :) 

What are some fashion and beauty trends you are going to rock?❀

I am loving the crazy prints in Primark atm, and the shoes, also love the pastel colours :)  For beauty I am loving the natural look :) 

Have you a favourite Spring inspired clothing item?❀

Yes! I have a beautiful dress from Primark that is black and white with flowers on it :) It's perfect for Spring! 

Favorite spring accessories?❀

Scarves, bracelets, statement jewellery, all in bright pastel of course! :) 

Favorite spring scents?❀

Viva la Juicy by Juicy couture or any of the DKNY scents :) 

What is your favourite Spring Flower?❀

The daffodil or daisy :) 

Are you planning anything for this Spring?❀

Not that I am aware of but it is my birthday in April, I will be a big 22 year old (Yay)...(Not!) :D 

Ok guys so that is it!! Feel free to do it yourself as I tag everyone and anyone :) 

Happy Spring <3 !! 

Sandy.S❀

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Recent Favourites

Hey everyone! So I am back with some recent beauty favourites of mine that I just felt I had to share with everyone! 

So first off we have possibly one of the best cleansers I have ever used and I am sure you have heard of it; the Garner Micellar Cleansing Water.

This is without a doubt the best I've ever used and I know I am probably very far behind in only saying this now, but I'm glad I caved it and bought it. At only 4€ for almost half a litre where would you be going wrong?

Nyx Wicked dreams eyeshadow palette

So this palette has 24 shadows, both matte and metallic ranging from beige colours to black and metallic browns, blues, greens and pinks. It only cost me 13€ on sale in a local pharmacy and I had to pick it up! The colours are so pigmented and perfect for daytime or nighttime looks. 

 

Catrice eye liner in Black on track

I love this guy and have kept going back to it time and time again. It was only 3-4€ and lasts so long! Without a doubt it is one of the best I have ever used. Iit comes with a thin brush applicator which I find is more flexible than a felt tip and easier to do that perfect winged line. 

Catrice Made to Stay Highlighter pen in EYE NEED!

I picked this up randomly and am so glad that I did! It is a beautiful white gold pen that you place on the inner corner of your eye to brighten up the area, it can also be used as a base for a white or similar white gold or gold colour on your eyes. One little dab of this and your eyes brighten immediately! 

Rimmel Hide The Blush concealer

I bought this impulsively as I wanted to try it out when doing my contouring and I was very happy with it, I bought it in 001 Ivory and it is yellow based, perfect for my rosy red cheeks. Because it is a stick it is easily applicable and stays throughout the day. 

Nyx Concealer wand in Cw01 Porceleine

I am crazy about this concealer! It is more liquid based than anything else and comes with a wand applicator but is so creamy and light and covers any blemishes instantly! Again I would highly recommend this for contouring as it is easily blendable and brightens the skin. 

Nyx Round Lipstick in Chic Red

I love Nyx lipsticks because they are some of the most long lasting and moistening lipsticks ever used. I use this with a nyx lip liner in Plum and it creates a great base to keep it there, through eating, drinking, kissing ;) whatever it may be. Chic red is a beautiful fuchsia red colour and perfect for those of you not wanting to go too dramatic with a vibrant red, this is more of a fuchsia colour. 

Nyx Jumbo lip pencil in 727 Vanilla Ice

This colour is not one I would usually go for and when buying it I actually thought it was a jumbo eye pencil! But it is a beautiful metallic coffee colour and really moisturises and brightens up the lips. 

Urban Decay Eye Eyeshadow Priming Potion in Sin

This is without a doubt my favourite base for doing a dramatic eye Makeup. It is the exact same as the Urban Decay eye shadow Sin, so if you like that eyeshadow I would advise puttig this on before it and it really brightens the eyes! 

Ok so guys, that is everything on my recent favourites :) I also recently bought the Ultimate Blends Shampoo in Honey Treasures for dry brittle hair and I cannot wait to try them! I love anything honey based :P !!

I will be back soon with some more tips and tricks :) !! 

Thank you as ever for reading!! 

Sandy.S

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Spring Trends :) What's coming our way

Hey Guys :) 

So, I have been browsing the Spring/Summer Makeup trends that have been hitting the catwalk recently on Cosmo magazine. Preparing myself for bright pinks and reds, I was surprised and a little bit off to be honest! 

I have seen a crazy amount of winged eyeshadow in dusky browns and golds ,even bright and dark purple! simple winged liner, green, pink and orange eye liner with a dramatic wing, in both eye line and water line! Twiggy inspired mascara (slightly clumped together lashes) bleached brows to heavy dark brows and completely natural looks with slight contouring! 

Personally I do like to keep my looks as simple as possible, favouring a smokey eye, lashes, liner and either nude or pink lips :) I find it very challenging to step out of my comfort zone, even though I know some of these looks would actually suit me or my family and friends! 

In fairness Ireland has only recently discovered the Kylie Jenner look! (God bless lip liner!) Even though we are one of the closest countries in Europe to America, why does it seem that we are so late in trends or adapting them. I sincerely doubt I am going to see some of my neighbours shopping in town with bleached eyebrows or Tiffany Blue eyeliner! We seem to have a look that we depend on and don't change. I for one know many that have adapted the 80's blue eyes and red lips and don't change it! Fair play to them I say!

SO, as part of my new challenge with my new "Streaky Face Blogs" I am going to try out some of these looks and hopefully give some inspiration to people that read them to step out of the comfort zone and have bright blue and peach eyeliner all over Ireland!:P (jokes) 

I just hope that it will give people the chance to see that the usual liner and lippy look you wear to work or on a night out might not be the only look that suits :) 

Watch this space ;) 

Here are some examples of Spring Summer Trends for 2015 :) 

Thanks for reading :D if you feel like trying any of these out, do, and let me know :) 

Sandy.S

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Smokey eyes :) How to:

Hi Everyone :) I'm really sorry about my delay in writing posts but I am back now and promise to be better with writing these :) 

So I have been trying out some looks with the eyeshadow palettes I have and I have decided to show you all how I create my smokey eye look as I have gotten so many compliments on them recently :)

It is quite tricky, but one little genius tip I will share with you is this...

Yes, sellotape! 

If I ever found it tricky to do a smokey eye before I would just use sellotape! Fortunately over time I have gotten used to doing them and can do without it now, but this is what I used at the beginning :) All you have to do is this, apply some sort of base over your eye, be it a paint pot, coloured primer or concealer to hid the veins and redness (if you have it), then get a piece of sellotape about 4 or 5 cm long, and place it just under where you either want your eyeshadow to stop, or eyeliner to go. If you are using it for eyeliner place it under the eye and join it up so that it is as if you were continuing on from your water line. You can even use it on your cheeks for contour! But I find it the best for doing smokey eyes, even just until you get used to doing them yourself. I also advise doing it before you apply your foundation as any fall off can be easily wiped off and foundation applied. 

So after I apply my sellotape I apply my eyeshadows. You can choose any colour/colours you like, depending on what you would like to go for. Usually I will use 3 or 4, sometimes 2 if it's only a simple look :) Normally I go for browns, golds and pinks, even black if very dramatic :) 

I start by applying the brightest colour to the inner corner of my eye and tear duct, usually a white or cream as it will reflect the light and make my eyes appear brighter :) I will use this colour again for under my brows. 

Next I will usually get a metallic or shiny based colour to apply on the middle of the eye or 2/3 part :) The reason for this is, the middle part of the eye is the part where the eyeball moves the most and catches the light,  therefore placing a glitter based shadow on that part of the eye will catch the light and give your eyes a more appealing look. I will pat this colour down, rather than brushing it as patting it down will leave more product on that part. 

On the third part of the eye and the crease I will place a darker colour, usually a dark matte colour, void of any glitter, a brown, black or even a dark purple or pink. I will then blend the three colours together using a thicker blending brush. You may notice the outer corner has lightened a bit, if so go back in with the dark colour and blend into the crease with either a small blending brush, or crease brush. 

I will then get the colour I used for the inner tear duct and place that under my brows and blend it into the eyeshadow over the crease so there are no thick lines of shadow, everything looks more natural and professional. 

 After this I go in with my liquid liner(you can use a pen or gel, whichever you prefer) and line the top of the eyes, the lashes to get rid of any shadow on them, and then the waterline just over the sticky tape. You can have it any length or any thickness you prefer (that's what she said :P ).

I will then line the water line with some black liner, if you have small eyes then avoid this or perhaps use white instead to make your eyes appear bigger. I then apply the darker shadow used under the lower lashes and either join that to the liner or just leave it under the lashes, depending on the look. Sometimes I like to use a sort of ombre effect under the eyes, of the shadows I have used previously. Again, that is completely up to you, it just helps to dramatize the look. 

If you wish to apply the lashes, first use an eyelash curler, one coat of mascara and then stick them on. I use my eylure adhesive glue, place it on them and leave it to dry for a couple of seconds, then apply the lashes (You have to do this as it will make the lash glue tacky, and therefore stickier and easier to apply) Once you have applied them how you want them, line over them once more with liner and apply some extra coats of mascara to make them blend into your lashes. 

After this apply your foundation, etc and get ready for your day out/work/coffee date/night out :)

I will include some pictures of looks I like to do and I hope this helped :) 

                                         

  

 

For any products I use, I usually leave a list of products under my Makeup Looks on my facebook page :) 

Thanks for reading and happy blending!! :D

Sandy.S

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My (much needed) updated essential items list :)

Hi everyone :)  Now I know I haven't done one of these in so so long but anyway here I am :) 

So to begin with, how I'm going to do this is by going by different items for different parts of the face and body :) I will start with...

Eye products  

OK, so the eyes are the windows to the soul right? Or the nipples to the face as I was once told lol :P So for entrancing possible partners women have been using make-up products for thousands of years to snare a mate, we still do to this day(although some women need to seriously rethink the blue shadow red lipstick look, ughhh)  so eye products are very important! I have always been told my eyes are very majestic looking (I was actually told this before, not just blowing my own trumpet) and are my best feature. I like to make sure they look the best of my overall look :) The products I use are as follows:

For my eyebrows I use a spooly brush and a kit by Seventeen called Brows that :) For my eye shadow and lids I use the Naked Palette 3 by Urban Decay it's beautiful :) I also use Bourjois volumizer mascara, rimmel kohl liner and essence waterproof liquid liner, all in black :) and thats my general eye product list :D

Lip Products  For the lips, I don't use much, simply lipsticks or a lip balm :) I am currently loving Rimmel colour rush lip balms in 710 Drive me nude and Seventeen's pink power ! 

General Face  For my face I use alot of products so I'm going to narrow it down to moisturisers, foundations, concealers, powders and bronzers/blushers.

For a moisturiser I am currently adoring the Garnier Moisture match hydrating cream in Dry to very dry skin. I absoloutely love this, it's so moisturising and refreshing and smells good too! For a primer I then use either Rimmel Stay matte primer in 003 or else Nivea express hydration primer. Sometimes I use both depending on where I'm going or how dull and dry my skin is! To cleanse my skin I simply use baby wipes, anything else is too severe on my sensitive skin. All of these products come in a range to suit your skin type so they are very recommendable!

Next is Foundations, god knows I have tried an abundance of these since I was a teenager! I have yet to find the holy grail of foundations for me in one single bottle, at the moment it's a mixture of about three!! So my list is

Max Factor Pan Stick (really) in True Beige

Revlon colourstay in Ivory

Maybelline Superstay better skin in Nude

Bourjois healthy mix in Beige

Elizabeth Arden Flawless Finish Porcelain Beige

Revlon Photoready compact makeup in Ivory

I know what you're thinking, wow that's alot, but that's literally just what I have in one of my travel bags!

I have to mix and match some of these depending on what I am doing or where I'm going, I obviously use the darker colours for my nights out with tan and the lighter ones for day wear. The ones I am most impressed with are Maybelline superstay and the Elizabeth Arden. I am least impressed with the Revlon foundations unless both are mixed with another. 

 Concealers are very simple, I only use two :) I use Seventeen phwoar paint concealer it's amazing and covers everything! Likewise with the Catrice Light reflecting concealer in Porcelain.

Next on the list is Powders, blushers and bronzers. For my general everyday use of powder is the Max Factor Creme puff powder in Candle glow. For bronzer I use two products, Bourjois Bronzing powder and Honolulu bronzer by W7. For blusher I use an essence Blush stick in pretty in pink.

 So guys apart from all this, all I can talk about really is the Ultimate Blends shampoo that I ADORE it is amazing!! It's unbelievable nourishing and brightens up any dull head of hair :) As well as that the Cocoa brown tan for legs and the mousse are my must need product for going out! The tan is so natural and lasts forever! 

Thank you so much guys for reading, hope you all enjoyed :) Feel free to leave any comments about your own essential items :) 

Lots of love..

Sandy. S

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I HEART SPRING TAG!!

Hey everyone! So sorry it's been forever since I posted anything, I've been working alot lately and I am currently off sick so I have a few moments to myself to write this for you :) 

The 'I heart Spring' Tag :) 

I will answer the questions and afterwards leave a list for anybody to do for themselves :) 

Thanks for reading!! <3 

1. Favourite Spring Nail Polish? 

My favourite has to be... the Penneys P.s range, and my favourite is the neon orange colour! I love this :)

It,s very different and really stands out :) 

I wore it on a night out, with a similar coloured bag, gold jewellery and a khaki green shirt dress. Sounds unusual but it worked!

Must have lip colour this Spring?

My favourite lip colour is actually something I haven't bought yet but I'm dying to ! Its Kate Moss's new Spring collection for Rimmel London. It's in the shade 020 and I just love it! 

My favourite Spring dress? 

Has to be this new dress I'm ordering off boohoo! So pretttttty :)

Favourite Spring flower?

I have to say I love when the Evening Primroses come out or the wild roses, love the smell of them!

Favourite scarf/Spring accessory?

This is a tough one! haha, ummm I'd have to say my wooly white scarf I bought from Penneys a month or so ago, because it's still freezing here :( 

What Spring trends are you most excited about this year?

I love the colours! It means Summer is coming, slowly, but getting there haha! I love seeing the change in dark winter colours to bright pastels in both makeup and fashion! Oh and seeing the colourful beach wedges come back in fashion :)

Favourite Spring candle?

I went through a massive candle obsession last summer, I have to say I haven't really bought much candles since but I love good old fashioned vanilla, it reminds me of holidays for some reason :) You can use a vanilla candle for every season really, that's what I love about it.

Favourite body spray/perfume for Spring?

Juicy couture Viva la Juicy, my favourite :) 

What is Spring like where you live?

Extremely temperamental, you could have a lovely clear sky one minute, get ready to go for a walk down by the pier or whatever and next thing you know you hear about red warnings on the radio for a massive storm approaching. You just can't tell what way it will be :(

Favourite thing about Spring?

It means my birthday is soon! haha 13th of April :)

Are you a Spring cleaner?

hahaha...haha...ha

Any plans for an upcoming holiday?

Not much! might be going for a small break away soon! 

That's it guys and gals! 

Hope you enjoyed reading and thank you again :)

Lots of lovage,

Sandy.S

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