Review | Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot

I hope everyone has been enjoying this love weather we're having, especially since it's probably going to be our summer! Today I bring you a review of a product I have recently fallen in love with. It's certainly by no means new to the market and I've heard plenty of bloggers talk about it for the last year (I have been meaning to pick it up for ages). It's the Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot.

What can I say, it was love at first sight. As always with Soap & Glory, the packaging is very chic. But more important is the content. Initially I was a little apprehensive since it describes itself as a mattifying powder as someone who suffers with dehydrated and sometimes dry skin, I usually avoid matt products. However I was pleasantly surprised. I find it sets my makeup nicely but without leaving that caked-on-powder look. At a glance you would not necessarily see I was wearing any powder, it is incredibly natural looking. Which is a major factor for me. My go to pressed powder before this was Bobbi Brown Sheer Finish Pressed Powder (€35), yet I find this one much better and the price tag is certainly more suitable coming in at €15.

This product also comes with a mirror which is added bonus. I know most compacts do, but it's definitely a pain when they don't (Rimmel pressed powders for instance, do not). So despite having sometimes dry skin I do find (especially in the summer months) I can get a little shiny on my t-zone, so I find this product really helps combat that and helps my foundation stay in place.

 

I have been using this product for weeks now and you can still make out the word powder in the product, it seems it is going to last me quite a while. As the name suggests, I blot it onto the face, which I think leads to using less powder at a time. So I should really get my money's worth with this product.


Have you tried One Heck of a Blot before?
What's your favourite powder?

Review | Úr Beauty Sponge & Mascara Wands

So I received a little package this week which was kindly sent to me from Úr Makeup*, which is an Irish make up brand created by Nichola Graham, MUA.

After giving the Beauty Sponge and re-usable Mascara Wands a go, I thought I would share my thoughts with you all.

Firstly I used the sponge to apply my usual Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation (which by the way I'm using year round now). 

Initially I felt I had to use a little more foundation than usual, as a small bit got absorbed by the sponge (as is the nature of a sponge, so I wasn't too worried). But then I found my foundation blended incredibly naturally with this sponge and more importantly, it helped me seamlessly cover up the breakouts I'm currently experiencing along my jaw line. Then when applying my concealer, I also used the beauty sponge to blend it all in. While I am a big brush lover and usually shy away from sponges, I feel with continued practice I could get used to this sponge since I was definitely impressed with the finished result!

When it came to mascara I chose the curved wand without doubt I have to say I was in love with the results. It applied the mascara like a dream and the curve really helped with easily gliding the mascara onto the inner and outter corners lashes. It really is one of the best mascara wands I've ever used. Dare I say it, it might even trump my Rimmel Lash Accelerator wand! As the wands are re-usable I gave it a clean afterwards and was impressed with the cleaning capabilities, however it did take me quite a good scrubbing and some time. I think if I needed to use these on a regular basis with lots of different people I would need to invest in a proper cleaning brush to really take off all the product. As a comparison, the one on the left is the wand I used to apply black mascara, after a bit of a clean, this is how the wand looks. I honestly didn't think it would ever be pink again, so it's great to know the wands can handle a good clean.

Overall I am impressed with the sponge and especially the wands (particularly the curved one) and I would certainly recommend them to a friend. I am also excited this is an Irish company as I'm always eager to find Irish make up brands. 

Have you tried the Úr Makeup range yet?

What are your thoughts?

Blogtober #5 | Travel Log: Prague

For something different for Day 5 of #Blogtober, I thought I would highlight one of my favourite cities that I have ever visited... Prague! Below I have chronicled my trip in photographs. It is such a pretty place and everything is so reasonably priced. I would definitely recommend this city to everyone (although for anyone who struggles with getting around, beware there is quite a lot of hills). Once you get into the city, you don't even really need to use public transport, most of the main attractions are within walking distance. Which of course is great if you have a limited amount of time or are only on a city break!

Everything is so quaint and the architecture is beautiful, so without too much more rambling, here are some pictures from my time there...

The stalls around the place sold some great quirky items...

And if you're a fan of beer, there are definitely some interesting ones to try in the Czech Republic...

Have you ever visited Prague?
What is your favourite city for a weekend break?

Blogtober #3 | Review: Maybelline Cream Gel Eye Shadow

On to day 3 of #Blogtober already, this post is a review of Maybelline's Colour Tattoo 24hr Creme Gel Eyeshadows.

On and on Bronze, Pink Gold, Permanent Taupe

Immortal Charcoal, Timeless Black

There are some brighter shades available in this range, however I chose the most neutral, wearable colours available. Spoiler alert: these shadows are amazing! I would recommend them to anyone and everyone. They rival MAC's paint pots or Make Up For Ever's Aqua Shadows. They go on quite wet, you can buff them in with a fluffy brush (I recommend a MAC 217 brush) and hey presto they dry quite fast. You are then set for the day as they don't budge.

The best part is you can wear them as your eye shadow or you can wear them as a base for any of your other shadows. I especially think you can really buff the On and on Bronze or Pink Gold in and they are the perfect base for any colour shadow on top.

You can pick these up in any Drugstore/Pharmacy, they retail at approximately €7.50 each. Which is an absolute bargain when you consider how much the MAC/Make Up For Ever equivalent go for.

Have you tried any of these Colour Tattoo Eye Shadows from Maybelline?
What are your favourite cream eye shadows?

Review: Benefit peek-a-bright eyes

I am a really big fan of using different shades on my eyes to accentuate them. I like it when eyes are made to be the main feature of your face! As far as I'm concerned, they're built for it, who doesn't want all the focus on them?

So while I know this product isn't brand new, it's relatively new to my collection, so I thought I would review it. I thought it would be a perfect addition, as it has all the shadows I need to create a full look for my eyes!

As you can see I have made quite the dent and have used it quite a number of times, to really get a feel for the product. The set contains:

- eye bright (for the corner of your eyes)
- base shadow
- contour shadow (for the crease of your eyes and to use as a liner)
- highlight shadow (for the main colour of the eye)
- concealer brush (for the eye bright)
- contour brush/liner brush

In theory, this set is great, gives you all the basics you need and to be honest, while I prefer a gold/brown colour combo for this type of look, I was really drawn to the convenience of having everything (including brushes) in one place! Unfortunately however that is where my fascination ended. It goes on okay and is very easy to use and the brushes are fine for what you are doing. However the big problem is, it does not last. I am not even talking for the day, it does not last past a few hours.

The colours are very neutral and for a day time subtle look, that is perfect. You do not however want something that becomes too subtle, in that it fades over (such a short) time. I also found that the pigmentation of the shadows was not great. Overall I was very underwhelmed with this product from Benefit.

Pros: Convenient set, attractive packaging
Cons: It does not last, pigmentation is poor

In summary, would I re-purchase this product? Definitely not. It is not worth the money at all. I know plenty of lower end brands that last significantly longer than this and will revert to them in future.

Have you tried the peek-a-bright eyes set? Let me know know what you thought.

Have you any suggestions for an all-in-one eye set?

Review: Sally Hansen - Complete Salon Manicure

With pastel shades reappearing now that the summer is here, I decided to try Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Jaded.

The first time I tried it I wasn't overly impressed, I am rather used to one layer nail varnishes that you pop on and go. With this particular polish, that does not work however. Once you paint onto your nail for the first time and you go over the nail again (to ensure you covered all areas) I find the second layer sweeps up the first layer. In addition to this if you try to overcome this by using a slightly thicker first layer, the polish slides to the side of your nail and dries in a lump around the side of your nail or on your finger.

However on my second attempt with a bit more time, I put on two thin layers and was suitably impressed. I like the colour, the finish and the general appearance of the polish. You would however definitely need to allow it extra time to really dry in. I would not recommend doing anything too manual for quite some time afterwards, since even after it appears dry, due to the nature of the product it's liable to get imprints/indentations.

Sally Hansen claim for this particular brand that it has "7 Benefits of a Salon Manicure in 1 Bottle". It does appear thick and sturdy on the nail, giving it a salon looking finish that is sometimes missing with other brands of nail polish. All in all I would definitely recommend this nail polish.

The shade is also great as it can go with almost any colour whether you're choosing to wear pastel shades or dark colours. Neon and pastel mixing is also a popular trend which is emerging this summer. For the more daring polish wearers, you could really embrace this and accent your ring finger perhaps with a neon shade (this polish is also available in "Back to Fuchsia").

What do you think? What are your favourite shades for Summer 2013?