Essence - Glisten Up

I really like Essence, for such a cheap brand they have some really good quality products. Their Nail Polish selection is great, loads of colours and most of them are only €1.29. 

My most recent purchase from them was their Colour & Go Polish in 'Glisten Up'. It's a sky blue colour with silver glitter and flakes of turquoise glitter. In the bottle it looks beautiful, but unfortunately on the nails it comes out super sheer. The pictures here are of me wearing around 5 coats of it, and it's still quite sheer. 

Because I had to apply so many layers this took ages to dry. It has worn very well though, I've had it on for three days now, with no tip coat and there's no chips. It looks like there is tip wear in the photos but there isn't, it's just very sheer at the tips. 

I reckon this would work really well over a more opaque polish, maybe a dark blue or silver, so that's what I'll be trying next with it. Also I'd love to try it under Crackle polish but I can't, as my Barry M one has totally dried up. Has that happened to anyone else? It's happened to a friend of mine too, and I don't know if we just got a dodgy batch or it it happens frequently. 

I bought this polish in Penneys for €1.29. It's also available in Dunnes and many Pharmacies. 

Has anyone else tried this polish? What are your thoughts? 

MUA, Urban Decay, Barry M and Penney's GILT swatches

Today I swatched the makeup I got in Dublin along with some things I got from Barry M recently. It was starting to get dark as I was doing these, so they're not as good as I'd like, but most of them are quite true to life. 

Oh, also I got my hair cut last week. In these pictures it isn't styled or anything so it looks a bit crap, but maybe tomorrow I'll stick up some pictures of it when it's looking nice. I'm pretty happy with it, I think it suits me better than my long hair and it's much easier to deal with. I can even comb it now! I haven't been able to comb my hair (without losing half the teeth on the comb) in a long time. The left side needs a bit more shaping, and it's a little too long so once I figure out what I want done over there I'll go and get that fixed up. Best of all, my haircut only cost a tenner (!). I went to the Connacht School of Hairdressing in Galway.

First up are the Barry M swatches. I bought Lip Paint in Marshmallow (lp101) and Glitter Eye Crayon in Black (gc6) along with the Crackle Polish I've already blogged about. I got these on 3 for 2 in Boots. They were €6/€7 each. 

I've worn them both and I'm not too impressed to be honest. The eye crayon looks nice but it doesn't wear well, it goes very smudgy and the glitter really spreads around your face. However I've been wearing it as an eyeshadow base under glittery eyeshadows and it works really well like that.

The lipstick isn't really the right colour for me, but it could suit some people. It's very white and pink toned. The texture is ok, but it's a little drying. I'd recommend wearing it over a lipbalm or moisturising primer. It wears fairly well but you will need to reapply after eating or drinking as it fades out in the middle quite easily. 

I'd say I'll get a bit of wear out of this, sheered out a little it doesn't look so harsh. Also I think it would be nice under a coloured lipgloss. 

Next are the Urban Decay products I got in the discount cosmetics shop on O'Connell st and my new eyeliner from Debenhams. 

I wrote the other day about how I couldn't find an Urban Decay counter in Dublin and therefore couldn't buy a new Bourbon liner. (Btw, I'm impressed people actually managed to get through that whole ramble) My mum was in Dublin at the weekend and she was kind enough to pick one up for me. Bourbon is probably my favourite liner ever. Most days when I can't be bothered spending lots of time on my makeup but still want to look presentable I just smudge a little of this around my eyes, throw on a bit of foundation, blusher and mascara and I'm good to go. 

It's the perfect colour for my warm toned skin and sets off my eyes nicely. This liner is available from Debenhams and some Boots and it costs around €15. It's also available in mini form in some of the liner sets.

I had never used an Urban Decay mascara or lipstick before so I was excited to try these. The lipstick is a pinkish red sheen called Gravity. I haven't worn this out yet so I can't speak for the staying power but it applies nicely. In the pictures below it's applied straight from the tube, with no care taken so it does look nicer when applied with a lip brush and blotted. I would recommend a lip liner with this one, I noticed some feathering when I put it on for the swatch. 

The lipstick has a caramel scent which I really like but I'm sure some people will find it overpowering. I like the packaging, it's heavy and feels sturdy. This is on the UD website so I assume it's widely available.

 The mascara is Big Fatty Coloured Mascara in Black Cherry

-The tv's on in the background while I'm writing this, and the Coca Cola Christmas ad just came on! It's the first time I've seen it this year so EXCITEMENT! I'm taking that as a sign that I can now get into the Christmas spirit. Now back to what I was saying...-

Weirdly the mascara and the lipstick are nearly the exact same colour. I've always like the idea of coloured mascaras, but they've never lived up to my expectations. Either they're too pigmented and make me look like I have an eye infection (Barry M Shocking Pink coloured mascara, I'm talking to you) or they're barely pigmented enough to show on my dark lashes. This one hits are fairly good balance. I like it, it shows up as just a hint of a dark cherry colour on the lashes. Only problem with it is it's not a good mascara. Unless you have wonderlashes you will need to wear another mascara under this as it gives no curl or length and only a tiny bit of volume. 

I paid €10 for the two of these, or they're €6 each from the shop I mentioned. 

The M.U.A. products I bought in Superdrug. These are seriously cheap, I think I paid €1.05 per item. I haven't actually used most of these yet so this will be quick. I've also thrown in the GILT eyeshadow I got in Penney's.

I bought three eyeshadows; Shade 18 which is a Matt pink-white, Shade 10 which is a purple Pearl and Shade 12 which is a green-brown Pearl. 

Shade 18 I bought in the hopes it could replace MAC Orb as my eyeshadow for blending out. I use Orb as it's a similar colour to my skin but I've hit the pan on it and would like to find a cheaper alternative. This seems like it will do the job, you can't actually see it in the swatch pictures because it's so similar to the colour of my skin. It's more pink than Orb and I don't know yet how it applied seeing as I haven't worn it yet. The texture seems nice and smooth though. 

Shade 12 is a dark shimmery bluish purple. It's nice, and doesn't seem similar to any other colours I have.

Shade 12 is green with a brown base. This would be a good dupe for MAC Club I think.

Top half of the swatch is over UDPP, bottom half is over Pixie Epoxy.

L-R: Shade 18, 10, 12. You can't see shade 18 due to it being so close to my skincolour

The Penneys GILT Liquid Gold Metallic Cream is the first of the Penneys cosmetics I've tried. I wore it a few days ago and I didn't like it very much. It doesn't show up well on the skin and it doesn't last very long. As an eyeshadow base it works ok but it's not going to become my preferred gold eyeshadow base. It smells plasticy and cheap. It's a pity because I like the packaging and was hoping I'd like the product too. 

I bought the MUA blusher in Shade 3. I haven't worn this yet but it's a good coral colour and the colour payoff seems good. It has a little bit of shimmer so this might have to be a nighttime blusher, I don't like being too much of a glitterbomb in the daylight!

Lastly I got the MUA Liquid Liner in Shade 4, a metallic grey. I love the brush on this, as you can see in the picture it's very thin at the end so it can make a very precise line. I've worn this once and it seems good, it applies smoothly and the colour is nice against my green eyes. It flakes a little if you rub at it.

Ignore the brown line under the liquid liner, it's just the UD liner that I couldn't wipe off

Wait, I lied, that wasn't the last thing. I bought one more product from MUA, the clear mascara. I didn't own clear mascara prior to this so I thought I'd try it since it was so cheap. I've been using it to keep my brows in shape and it's working a treat. Wouldn't advise using it as actual mascara though, it doesn't appear to do anything when I apply it to my lashes.

I think that's everything, I hope this was helpful to someone. Let me know if any of you have tried to products featured here, what did you think of them? Is there any other MUA products I should try? 

Essence Multi Action Mascara Quick Review

I'm not sure if I have weird lashes or bad luck with mascara but I've never found one that's wowed me. I've tried all the ones people rave about; Diorshow, Bad Gal, Masterpiece Max, The Colossal... the list goes on. The best one I've used yet is Bourjois Volume Glamour but it's very messy to apply. The worst I've used is probably Bourjois 1001 lashes. 

This Essence mascara promised a false lash effect, which it does not deliver. Ok for €3 I wasn't expecting too much, but I've seen so many people rave about it on blogs.

It's an ok mascara. It has a regular, tapered brush and it makes me lashes look slighly longer and thicker. Like most cheap mascaras it smells awful. It's a very dry mascara which is good in that it won't make a mess, but bad in that it doesn't hold a curl. 

One very strange thing I found about this mascara is that it disappears. Have you ever fallen asleep in your mascara? Or forgotten you were wearing it and rubbed your eye? You know how it smudges all over the place and looks like crap? That doesn't happen with this. One night I fell asleep with it on and when I woke up the next morning I had none of those tell tale smudges. Thinking it maybe just had very good staying power I broke out the eye makeup remover and cleaned my lashes, but there was no mascara on them. It was very weird. 

Here's a before and after picture (excuse the smudges under my eyes, I didn't take my eyeliner off properly. 

You can see that it makes my lashes look a little longer and thicker, but it's not working any miracles. I would rebuy this for a festival or something where I wanted a cheap and cheerful mascara that I wouldn't care about losing but otherwise I won't be repurchasing. 

This costs €2.99 from Essence. 

Any suggestions of mascaras for me to try next?

Kryolan Aquacolour Review and Swatches

You might have noticed in my Halloween post I used Kryolan Aquacolours. I bought this palette last week after eyeing it up for a while. I figured I couldn't let Halloween go past without buying it and I needed most of the colours in it anyway so I decided to go for it instead of buying individual facepaints. 

I'm really impressed by it. The colours are mega pigmented, smooth and creamy and just glide on. It was a little tricky at the start getting the water to facepaint ratio right but once I got the hang of it it was easy. 

The paints all come in individual pots with covers. The covers are nice because they stop accidental colour mixing. Also the pots detach from the palette so I assume you could swap them around with other palettes if you like.

The colour selection is great. By mixing colours you could make nearly any colour you want from this. Here's some swatches. 

The black isn't really glittery, I must have gotten some gold mixed in.

I think the gold is my favourite, it's so metallic and shiny. 

Pros:

Good colour selection

Versatile. They can be used as facepaints, eyeshadow bases, blush, lipstick... anywhere really. 

Great colour payoff

They come in a sturdy metal box. None of that cardboard rubbish that disintigrates. 

Can be applied sheer or very opaque depending on how much water you use.

There's plenty of choice, you can get 6, 12 or 24 colour palettes or buy the colours individually. 

Very good value, this palette was only €25 for 12 colours, which is just over €2 per colour. 

They smell amazing! A little like baby powder. 

They don't budge. I wore these to work on Saturday night for an 8 hour shift in a hot sweaty pub and I had no creasing, no smudging or fading. 

Cons:

The pink and blue stained my eyes slightly. That being said my eyemakeup remover is fairly rubbish, so I'm sure a decent one would remove them entirely. 

If you dislike dramatic makeup these are probably not for you. 

Kryolan products can be difficult to find. I stumbled upon these at a local chemist, they were in a Special Effects makeup section. 

 Overall I really reccomend Aquacolours. I can see mine getting loads of use, especially as eyeshadow bases. Looking at the different palettes I think this one might be the best to begin with, as it has all the basic colours. I'd go with the palettes over the individual colours as you get a nice selection and they're all kept together so if you tend to lose things like I do you'll be less likely to misplace them. 

I bought my palette from O'Beirns Pharmacy in Galway for €24.99. If you'd like to buy them online check out Shrinkle's Ebay shop

Burt's Bees Cleanser and Exfoliator Review

I thought I'd do a quick review on the face products I'm using at the moment. 

I'm a big fan of Burt's Bees products and I like almost all of them, so I've been using their cleanser for the past 3 years or so and more recently I've begun to use their exfoliater. 

Image from backyardgardner.com because my tube is old and wouldn't make for a great picture

So this is the cleanser I use, the Soap Bark and Chamomile Deep Cleansing Cream. I absolutely love it. It makes my skin feel clean, soft and doesn't leave it dry or oily or anything.

Pros:

It smells AMAZING. It reminds me a little of sherbert or something. 

It gives a nice tingly sensation on your face which I love, but some people might find slightly uncomfortable.

It removes makeup reasonably well.

The cap is on the bottom so no shaking it trying to get product out.

It's 97% natural. Now I'm not too fussed about using natural products, but for me it's a plus if a product I love doesn't have too many nasties in it. 

It lasts a long time. I've been going through a bottle every 9-10 months.

It's good for clearing pores.

Not tested on animals, which is always a plus.

Cons:

It's not great for removing eye makeup. I use it if I'm only wearing very light eye makeup but anything heavy and I have to break out an eye makeup remover. Also whatever gives it the nice tingly effect stings if it gets in your eyes. 

It doesn't foam. I prefer that it doesn't foam, because foaming is usually caused by SLS which I try to avoid as much as I can. However if you like a foaming wash this may not be ideal for you. 

Overall I definitely recommend this, it's great. 

I assume this is easy to find everywhere, here's it available in healthfood shops and chemists and retails for around €13 for a 6oz tube. I get mine from Evergreen who have a website here from which you can buy this product if you're in Europe.

Picture from thedailyobsession.net

I bought this Peach and Willowbark Deep Pore Scrub around a month ago. I needed a new exfoliator and I saw this on clearance in a chemist so I bought it. I'm quite unimpressed with it. 

Pros:

It smells nice

After using it my face feels quite soft

On my neck it works well

Not tested on animals

98% natural

Cons:

The Exfoliating bits are so scratchy!!  Apparently it's "finely ground peach stones" but there's nothing finely ground about it. They're big, sharp bit's of peach stone and they're uncomfortable on my face. 

It doesn't go far at all, you need to use an awful lot of it in each go. 

My face feels quite dry after I use it.

I don't recommend this at all. I'll probably use it to exfoliate my neck and arms but it's way too harsh for my face.

I paid €7 for this, but I think it's around €12 full price.

Essence 'Clear and Matt' Review

Firstly today I want to talk about a foundation. I usually use Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect which I ran out of a few weeks ago. Being a little low on funds I decided to try an Essence foundation. I first swatched the 'Stay All Day' foundation because it came in the same bottle as my Bourjois one and I thought they might be similar. Unfortunately the lightest shade was way to dark for me. I actually meant to buy the 'Soft & Natural' one but somehow ended up with 'Clear & Matt'. 

My first impression of Clear & Matt was that it smelled disgusting, kind of plasticy. The packaging is rubbish, the lid comes loose quite easily so it could be a disaster if you like to keep your foundation in your bag. When I swatched the foundation it looked far too dark on my hand but once I put it on my face and blended it out it looked fine. It did take a lot of blending though to get rid of the tidemarks, my usual Bourjois foundation on the other hand, needs only light blending in and never gives me tidemarks. 

Even though the foundation looks fine when I apply it, as the day wears on I find it turns more orange somehow. It feels horrible on my skin, really drying and it's made my chin breakout. I never, ever get spots so a foundation that causes them is bad! 

I usually like Essence but this product gets a definite thumbs down from me.

17 Review and Swatches

I love expensive brands like MAC and Urban Decay but being a student who only works at weekends I can't afford them very often. So I'm always on the look out for cheaper brands that are as good as the expensive ones. One of my favourite cheap brands is 17, sold in Boots. Their products seems to always be under €10 and  a lot of them are €5 or less.