ESthetics: Summer Faves 2015

Hello beautiful earthlings!
This is a first "fave" post I have and I decided to post my beauty related summer favourites on the first day of September! By the way, hello September and hello Autumn! Also, hello to my fellow Autumn babies!
The products I would be mentioning in this post are the products that I continually used during the summer months that I have tried, tested and loved. So shall we start?

So let's start talking about SKINCARE! Skincare excites me as much as make-up or probably even more.
Bioré Ice Cleanser is one of the face cleansers I swear by.  I particularly love using this cleanser during the hot summer months as it leaves a very cooling sensation on the skin after rinsing.  I used this cleanser when I was on my vacation in Asia. This product helps me skin fight the blemishes and it leaves my skin soft and smooth!  It does have a scent when applied on the skin.  I am not bothered by it but others may.  The scent does not linger on the skin that long though.
Etude House's Wonder Pore toner was one of the products that I regret buying late in the summer months.  I did not get to use this until I got back in Ireland.  But I have been using it non-stop ever since.  It claims that it has 10 benefits which includes minimising pores. I honestly see a little difference in my pores but the reason why it is in my summer faves is that it leaves a cooling and fresh sensation on your skin when used.

The next product I regret buying late in the summer months is the Body Shop's Seaweed Mattifying day cream.  I already purchased this when I was already back in Ireland.  I heard good things about this from beauty Youtuber Saaammage couple years ago.
I have been religiously using the Body Shop's Aloe Vera moisturizers for years (almost 10 years!) and it is my HG moisturizer since it works well with my sensitive skin.  I have noticed for the past 2 years, my skin has gotten oilier around the T-Zone area during the summer months and it bothered me a lot.  I decided to get the Seaweed moisturizer and I love it.

The Seaweed moisturizer is not a cream based.  It is more like a gel type moisturizer that turns clear when applied on the face.  The first time I used it, I felt a tingly sensation on my face which scared me because I thought my skin would react badly to it.
Fortunately, my skin did not react badly.  I guess it was just not used to the moisturizer.  I like how it helps my skin's sebum in control and I don't get that much shiny as I used to.  I'd say that this keeps my face matte for about 6 hours.  Others claim that it keeps them matte the entire day but my sunscreen is on the oilier side of things that promotes sebum build up.  The only downside is that this is quite expensive almost €18 for a tub of 50 ml. 

The photo above includes the face make-up that I have loved during the summer months.  I brought these products with me during my vacation and worked really well.
I really enjoyed using Benefit's Porefessional primer as it kept my base make-up last longer and reduced the appearance of my pores around my nose and cheek area.
I love Benefit's Hoola bronzer for a little contouring of my face.  I love how the undertone is brown and not orange since I am not a fan of orange-y bronzers.
I was going to buy Maybelline's Instant Age Rewind before I left for my vacation since I heard from my sister Nikki that it works really well. I was on the hunt for it and it was sold out everywhere in the city. So I decided to just get the Fit Me Concealer.  I love it!  The coverage is really good and covers my dark circles really well.  The shade also suited my skin tone.
The powder I used to set my make-up with was ELF's HD powder.  I noticed that it does not really help with oil control so I got Rimmel's Stay Matte powder.  It claims to mattify the skin for about 5 hours.  I honestly think that it helps my skin matte for about 4 hours.  The downside with this powder was that it did not come with a puff.  I bought a separate powder puff and just keep it in the packaging to keep things easy.
Sleek's blush in Rose Gold is a good dupe for Nars's Orgasm blush.  I love how it is so flattering on my skin and I always use it even if summer has just gone by.  The blush is coral in colour with gold flexes.  The flexes does not accentuate my pores whatsoever that's why I love it!

Here are the swatches of the products mentioned above.  Rimmel's Stay Matte pressed powder did not show up that much on my skin since it does not really have that much colour to it.

I forgot to include Etude House's Proof 10 primer in this photo.  It is my HG eye primer.  It keeps my eye make-up last all day long even if I would shed a few tears here and there.  I used the primer for my cousin's wedding and I definitely teared up a bit when I saw her walking down the aisle.  And my makeup did not budge at all!

I got the K-Palette 1 Day Lash Perm Volume Curl mascara as part of a set that includes the liquid liner.  The mascara claims to be volumizing and curling as well.  To be honest, I have tried better mascara in terms of volumizing but I love how this mascara does not smudge in my eyes even without the use of eyelid primer.  Despite that, I love how this mascara keeps my lash curled and does not leave a very spidery/clumpy lash effect.

I have a love-hate relationship with Benefit's They're Real mascara.  There would be those days that I love how it looks on my lashes but there would also be those days that I dislike it due to the clumpiness it leaves my sparse lashes that it looked very unflattering.
You're probably wondering how did this get in my favourites? Well, I like how this does not smudge like the mascara I have mentioned before this.  I still yet have to master how to use this properly so I'd get that consistent lash look that I like.  I don't really think that this helps much with volume but I think it lengthens the lashes well and holds curls.

K-Palette 1 Day Tattoo Eyeliner has recently become one of my HG liquid liners.  This does not need the help of a primer. It stays put where it should be for a minimum of 8 hours. I have worn this to work and I did not have to worry about smudging and budging.

I love how thin the brush is that can help create thin lines that is close to the lashes.  It is also easy to use for thicker lines with no problems whatsoever.

Clio's Pen Liner in Kill Black is the other HG liquid liner I was talking about.  I love the formula of this liner.  The pigmentation is amazing!

This eyeliner does not also smudge! I wore this to work without primer and lasted me the entire day without transfer or smudging.  It claims to be waterproof but there was a time that I walked in the rain with this eyeliner, and I got transfer from my upper lids. (I have one extremely hooded eyelids that makes eyeliner-ing quite difficult). I don't know why that happened so I will be testing this liquid liner further and I will have a full review on this eyeliner soon so look out for that!
Since this is a pen liquid liner, I found that application could be a little difficult especially if I wanted a sharp winged liner. I should try the brush version and maybe I'd like it even more than this.

Here are the swatches of the liquid eyeliners mentioned.   Clio's pigmentation is better than K-Palette's but K-Palette's application is easier than Clio's.  If they had a baby, it would have the perfect combination ever!

This Wet N Wild lipstick in Coral-ine is my favourite coral/orange lipstick! I used it all the time during the summer months.

It can be used as a statement colour but I mostly used it as a stain. I'd dab it in the inner part of my lips for that gradient effect that is a popular Korean make-up trend.  This lipstick is highly pigmented and does not leave the lips dry. I highly recommend it plus it is really affordable!

I also forgot to include Clean & Clear's Oil Control Film in my cover photo but this was my summer saviour!  It still is whenever my T-zone would get extremely oily.

The oil control film I got was in Pink Grapefruit and the film has a grapefruit scent to it.  I actually like the scent and I am not bothered by it.  I love how it absorbs the excess sebum on my skin and leaves it a little fresher than it was.
I bought this when I was in Singapore for SGD 5 for a twin pack.  I cannot seem to find this in Ireland but if you know any place that sells this, let me know in the comments below!

So that's it for my Summer Faves of 2015! I hope you enjoyed reading this post.  If you have any questions with the products I have mentioned, don't hesitate to ask!
I am now working on day 3 of our stay in Singapore which is basically staying in Universal Studios the entire day! I'll see you there!
Peace & Love!

GRWM: Make Up (Part 1)

Hello beautiful earthlings! It was such a beautiful day out the other day that I decided to doll up a little.  This "Get Ready With Me"/GRWM post is going to be split into two: Makeup and OOTD. I decided to do this blogspot since I was planning to review a quad that I have. So I told myself that it would not hurt if I just do my whole makeup routine that day. Beware that this is another photo-filled post!

This is me with no make-up on whatsoever. I have just watched my face and moisturize.  (Excuse my messy background. I cleaned our room the next day I took the photos)

I use Etude House Precious Mineral Bright Fit BB Cream as my base almost every time that I wear makeup. BB creams are lightweight compared to foundations which I prefer. I just dispense half a pump onto my finger and put dots across my face that needs coverage. I would normally put it across my forehead, my nose, dark circles and a bit on the cheeks and chin.  I would dispense just a tiny bit more if I needed more to cover my dark circles or problematic spots.  I would just use my clean fingers to blend the product onto my face since the warmth helps the BB cream blend well and it's faster and more convenient than using a brush in my opinion. I would let set the BB cream with ELF's HD powder using ELF's complexion brush. (I would link the products down below since I will list all of them out.)

I don't know if there is a difference but I prefer using just a bit of BB cream to cover imperfections rather than caking everything on.  I dislike the feeling of caked up make-up so yeah.

I use Etude House Drawing Eyebrow Auto Pencil to define my weak-game-brows.

Like every other beauty guru out there, defining the eyebrows does give more umph one's look.  I just fill them according to how my eyebrows are groomed.  But honestly, the shape differs every time I fill them in.  I try to not fill them in so harshly since no one likes sharpie eyebrows (well I do not personally like them but if you sport the look, good on you! :D)

I used ELF's eye primer to prime my eyes to keep my eyeshadow and eyeliner last longer.   This primer does an okay job.  It does not make my eye make-up last longer as my Etude House eye primer though.

I used Catrice's 040 Never Let Me Go eyeshadow quad for my eye make-up as well as the tools I used.  I used brush 1 to pat the peachy colour all over my lids.  Using the second brush in the photo from Oriflame, I used that to pack the cool brown eyeshadow onto my crease and blended it to soften out the look.  I used brush 3 to sweep the dark brown onto my lower lash line.

Using Maybelline's brown gel liner, I lined my eyes.  I figured to use a brown eyeliner for that "sweet, innocent, natural" look since brown eyeliner is less harsh than black.

I curled my lashes with Etude House's eyelash curler and coated my lashes with the mascara from collection. It is a meh mascara to be honest.  I have tried something better.

This is the finished eye make-up look.

I used a peachy/an almost orange blush to celebrate spring arriving here in Dublin.  The blush is more orange-y in person than in the photo due to my bad lighting.

I lightly applied the blush to the apples of my cheeks using ELF's blush brush.

I dabbed Rimmel's Kate Matte lipstick in the inner part of my lips to give me that ombre lip colour/"just bitten lips" effect.

Excuse my hair for getting in the way! Haha

And here's the finished look!  The BB cream that I wore oxidized a bit also the lighting made my face look orangey than usual in my opinion. It's very simple and easy to do.  I don't have an "everyday make-up" routine since I like to change my look every time.  I normally wear just eyeliner on days when I feel extra lazy and even then, my eyeliner shape differs each time. Here are the products that I used for this look:

1. Etude House Precious Mineral Bright Fit BB Cream in W13 (I have a feeling that EH has discontinued this line as I cannot find it anywhere anymore)
2. ELF High Definition Powder in Sheer
3. Rimmel Kate Matte lipstick in Vibrant Coral 110
4. Collection 2000 Supersize mascara (for volume) in Brown/Black
5. Catrice Absolute Eye Colour Quad in 040 Never Let Me Go
6. Etude House Drawing Eyebrow auto pencil in Dark Gray
7. Catrice Defining Blush in Love and Peach
8. ELF Studio Eyeshadow Primer in Sheer
9. Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner in Brown
10. ELF Studio Complexion Brush
11. ELF Studio Blush Brush
12. ELF Studio Small Precision Brush
13. Oriflame Blending Brush
14. ELF Essential Eyeshadow Brush
15. Maybelline Eyeliner Brush (this was included when you purchase the gel liner)
16. Etude House Eyelash Curler

I know I should have linked ELF's UK website instead of the US site but according to their Facebook page, they are renovating their wesbite to improve their service.  When I was going through the site, they only showed three items in their tools section.

So this wraps up Part 1 of my GRWM post.  I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed making it.  It was just really time consuming take photos of the products you use and the make-up process! I salute those who does these kind of posts regularly!

Disclaimer: I am not paid by any of the brands mentioned in this post. I purchased them with my own money.

Peace & Love!

Boots Makeup Haul: Sleek Makeup, Collection, Rimmel and No7

Makeup goodies I got from Boots

Here's my first every haul post! So I ordered a couple of makeup items from Boots and I got it delivered at my chosen Boots store. My experience with their online shopping and store delivery was GREAT! I ordered three Sleek Makeup palettes and a blush on Monday and I got an confirmation e-mail that I would be receiving my order on Thursday (which is today) if things would go well. I'm glad that I got it today and it was so hassle free! 

Here are some photos of the parcel and the inside of it:

This is the parcel I got from the store. It has my name on it and I had to cover it for privacy reasons

This what it looked like when I opened it.

Inside the parcel, there was the items that I ordered and a sheet with my order details and also instructions on how you can return the products if you want. The only thing that kinda disappointed me was that only two palettes were in bubble wrap and the other palette and the blush were just at the side without any bubble wrap. My OCD kicked in and I was scared that if I'd open them that they'd have cracked but fortunately they were all in tack. So I guess it wasn't a big deal.

So here are the products that I ordered:
Sleek Original palette, Sleek Au Naturel palette, Sleek Oh So Special and Sleek blush in Rose Gold

I also did some makeup shopping with my sister in the store since I had a 100 points coupon.

(L-R) No7's eye contour brush, Collection's Work the Colour in Purple Eye Palette
and Rimmel's Scandal Eyes Waterproof Gel Eyeliner

I have own a couple of No7's eye contour brush and I love it but I gave one to my sister and I happened to lost mine. The Collection eyeshadow palette is a gift to my sister. Hopefully she'll allow me to swatch them.

I'll be reviewing/swatching these products hopefully soon!

Have a good day! <3