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Wednesday 20 April 2016

Givenchy Glamour On The Go 3-Step Makeup Palette

One of my lovely sisters gave me this swoon worthy Givenchy palette for Christmas and although it could easily fit in with the other stunning beauty products I own but don't touch for fear of ruining, I'm clearly stating here and now that this shall and will be used and loved, rather than vanquish in an overflowing make up drawer.


I don't own any Givenchy (I have many moons ago but none at present), so this is a great re-introduction to the brand. As implied by the name, there are three steps to the palette; eyes, cheeks and lips. 
Each level has its own mirror, which is super handy and aside from that, the packaging is glorious; glossy black with the Givenchy logo and a gold bar on the side to release and secure the levels to each other.


Level one features Le Prisme Visage Mat in 84 Beige Mousseline; a super soft, finely milled powder that could either be used as a bronzer or as a face powder, depending on your skin tone. As I'm freakishly pale, I choose bronzer! Generally you could keep applying this and it won't look orange or over the top, it's a beautifully subtle glow that leaves you looking radiant. It's lovely. 
Le Prisme Blush is that soft pale pink below it and reminds me a bit of Dandelion from Benefit. It's pretty and suitable for a low key look.

Givenchy Glamour On The Go 3-Step Makeup Palette

Level 2 is Le Prisme Yeux and has some of the most pigmented eye shadows I've ever seen! The three outer shades are quite pearlescent so are probably better suited for night time looks while the four core shades are perfect for my blue eyes- I love those burgundy, bronze, and gold hues and all of these can be mixed and matched for different effects.
I will of course be throwing out that double sided sponge applicator. I've fab brushes for that!

Givenchy Glamour On The Go 3-Step Makeup Palette

Lastly then there's a dinky little Magic Khôl eye liner pencil in black. Next to it is the Noir Couture mascara in Black Satin (veeery fancy looking brush on this fella, fyi). This is a 4-in-1 for volume, length, curl and care. And of course, an Ultra Shiny Colour Plumping Effect gloss in Capricious Pink
These three are all stupidly cute, like make up for a doll. 

Truth be told, I am disinclined to use any of these for fear of ruining the set but that then would be silly...eep!

Monday 18 April 2016

Chloé Love Story | Review

When I was growing up, my mum loved the original Chloé perfume. You know the one; heady, musky, 80's. Of course, because she loved it, I loved it too. That was until the new Chloé perfume came out some ten years ago. I fell for that big time, and only one sniff in!
Since then, Himself has bought me almost every version of it, which has worked out super well for me, as you can imagine. Aside from the always slightly awkward moment when someone asks what I'm wearing and I have to answer "uhhh…Chloé", of course. 
Yeah cause that doesn't make me look like an egomaniac at all. 
So, when the latest instalment came out last year, Love Story, I once again found myself smitten by its beautiful packaging (based on the love padlocks on the Pont des Arts in Paris) and of course, its stunning scent.

Chloé Love Story

That scent by the way is a romantic play on the original fresh floral
This time it opens with orange flower oil designed to mimic the  "intoxicating flush of new love". At the heart of the fragrance, you'll find a seductive hit of stephanotis jasmine- used in wedding bouquets, with a final note of cedarwood, creating a sensual, strong and complex base.

That's the official blurb. I would describe it (using my own less fancy words) as a sophisticated, fresh and feminine white floral that lasts well and is more grown up than I was expecting. While its cousin Chloé is quite powdery (one of the things I really love about it actually), this is a lot less so but still has that classic quality of its forbearer (yeah I know, how can you be a cousin AND a forbearer but sure look..)

Chloé Love Story

So, this beauty is ideal for the following; daytime, work (as it won't irritate your co-workers olfactory senses like you can be full sure 1980's Chloé did, am I right Ma?!), days when the sun is shining and a cool Summery breeze lifts your hair and catches your perfume in the air (ooh la la!), weddings and as a bridal perfume and otherwise just general life. 
Everyone wants to smell incredibly lovely and this is a great way to achieve that.
That accompanying lotion in the top photo by the way? Gorgeous!


C'est ça! Have you tried Love Story? 
Are you a Chloé fan? (again, the perfume, not me. I know you love me.)
To the comments!
XX



*This post is not sponsored. Its contents were not sent for review and as always all opinions expressed here are my own, unless otherwise stated.


Monday 4 April 2016

Skincare Updates!

I was tagged on Snapchat to do a video of my skincare, which I did and aside from realising how many products I actually have (in fairness, the majority were sent to me for review), I also figured out that I hadn't in fact reviewed these fellas yet:


 Organic Surge Brightening Hot Cloth Cleanser*
I really like the Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser (try saying that three times quickly) so I was intrigued to try out this fella as it has lots of nice ingredients like damask rose oil, Shea butter and orange peel oil that combined, are designed to moisturise and brighten the skin. It's super easy to use too; massage onto dry skin to loosen your make-up, dampen a muslin cloth with warm water and wipe off. This even removes my eye make-up and overall my skin is left feeling clean and soft, with no tightness or dryness.


Josie Maran Argan Oil Light
This was a free gift with purchase (purchase of MANY things) in Sephora last year and I chose this as my gift because I'm all out of a facial oil and had heard great things. Because this is a featherweight version of the well known moisturising Argan oil, it can be used under make up as it has a semi-matte finish, although I choose to just use it at night time after moisturiser. So far, I'm loving it; it feels so lovely on- there's no greasiness but there is soft skin so it's really the best of both worlds. I would 100% buy a large version the next time I see it!


Olay Total Effects 7 in-one Feather Weight Moisturiser*
This is a light, anti-ageing moisturiser that has Vitamin B3, B5 and E to give you seven signs of younger looking skin. If you're interested those are; moisturises, reduces appearance of wrinkles, restores firmness, brightens, evens tone, smoothes texture and refines the look of pores. 
All of that aside, I love this, yes love because it sinks in immediately and my skin is quenched. My make up applies beautifully over it and it has an SPF of 15 so basically it has everything I look for in a day moisturiser. Love it. I will be buying this again for sure.


Organic Surge Comforting Hand & Nail Cream*
Another excellent product from Organic Surge and one of my favourites from them. Himself and I use a hand cream every night for our super dry skin (we both work in hospitals so use a lot of alcohol hand gel etc)and so I like to think we're hand cream aficionados at this stage. If we both like one then you can be sure it's good. We're about half way through this fella and we'll definitely be buying more. This is lavender scented which generally I'm not a huge fan of but it's great for last thing at night, lavender being an aid to sleep and there's also geranium essential oils, vitamin E, Shea butter and cocoa butter in there too so you'd best believe it's working on our chapped hands! Oh and it's suitable for those who are eczema prone!

 
Fresh Black Tea Firming Overnight Mask
I am obsessed with overnight face masks lately. I also got this in Sephora and although it was pricey (sure look, money spent in dollars isn't real money anyway) because I'd done a good bit of research about it online beforehand and there was a lot of praise! 
It contains a complex of black tea ferment and black tea extract, blackberry leaf and lychee seed extracts, all designed to help improve your skins elasticity, firm it up while you sleep while peptides defy the signs of gravity. You heard; IT CAN DEFY GRAVITY!!! 
There's also Hyaluronic acid for moisture and Belle de Nuit extract (nature's nocturnal flower) to help soothe and rebalance skin. Sorry, I had to give you the blurb for that one cause there's so much going on in there! All you really need to know is it feels amazing and smells unbelievale (like a delicate tea with flowers floating in it) 
Obsessed.


Ren Instant Brightening Beauty Shot Eye Lift*
This gel-serum is designed to get to work instantly- something I've personally never experienced from an eye cream/serum before. I pat a tiny amount in (I've a feeling I'll have this little bottle forever), and I can feel a tightening, slightly tingly warm sensation. I haven't used this over a long enough period of time to be able to say categorically that it has sorted out my eye bags but if it carries on as it's going I'll be delighted! Over time it is supposed to dramatically reduce dark circles, puffiness and the appearance of fine lines. Currently my main issue is dark bags, they're the first thing on my face that gives away my age (shakes fist at eye bags) and I do genuinely think this has helped. It can be used over your make-up, topped up throughout the day, so I may well start doing that as well, every little bit helps!


Garnier Ultimate Blends Restoring Lotion 
I tried a free sample of this in a magazine recently and although I'm not a fan of honey, I loved how intensely moisturising this is on my super dry skin and actually, the scent is really good! Even though it's rich, it does sink in quickly so it has everything I like in a body moisturiser and I love that it's in a pump bottle too. Plus it was only around six euro something! Bargain-tastic!


Even as I was typing this I started using some products from Eucerin specifically for my dry skin and I forgot to mention my Ren 1 minute Facial in this lot too so expect more skincare from me soon!

Have you tried any of these?
What did you think?
To the comments!
XX

*This post contains products that were sent to me to review. I was not paid to do so and all of the opinions expressed here are my own. 
Organic Surge is new to Ireland, not tested on animals and now available in Allcare pharmacies in Dublin, Cork, Kildare and Louth.