My New York Haul

Where to begin.. New York was amazing! My time over there was a unreal from start to finish. First of all I got engaged, am hello when did I become a full blown adult? We did some amazing activities while there so I might do a blog post on what to do in NY if ye want. Of course I couldn't go to times square and not do some shopping. I went to Sephora (obvs), Deciem/The ordinary shop in Soho, Blue Mercury a lovely cosmetics shop off Times Square and Target. So here are all of the beauty bits I got on my trip.

Sephora

I saw so many "Instagram" brands in Sephora and as much as I wanted to buy the lot, I couldn't justify spending $50 dollars on a face wash. So I bought some Sephora own brand products which were reasonably priced. The first item I got was the Sephora Rose Lip Balm. Look at that packaging.. I mean how cute is that. They had them in loads of flavours like, coconut, kiwi and honey, but I am a granny at heart and I love me aul rose scents. It cost $6.

The second Sephora product I bought was the Skin Detox Bubble Mask. They had a few types but after all the pigging out I did in NY I need a detox. I have never had a bubble mask before but I have seen so many people use them and they look gas. I will post pics to see if they bubble much. This also cost $6

Deciem

If you haven't seen or heard of Deciem or The Ordinary where have you been? The brand has literally blown up over the past 2 years. They're known for their cheap cosmetics, skimping on the fancy packaging to give you fine ingredients at a lower price. I knew going over that I wanted to visit their store, so after visitng Carrie Bradshaws apartment we went to Soho to give it a look. My first purchase from there was the Salicylic Acid 2% solution. A lot of people with blemish prone skin rave about this and since I’m still a pizza face currently I need buckets of this. This cost about $5.

The next thing I got was the vitamin c suspension 23% + HA spheres 2%... basically a vitamin c cream. I wanted to have vitamin c in my routine as it’s great for pigmentation and anti aging, and I’m not getting any younger! I paid around $6 for it. I forgot my receipts so everything is in or around the price. (I’m such a bad blogger!)

The last thing I bought In Deciem was the AHA/BHA Peeling Solution. This is a Chemical peel for the face. It’s for exfoliation. Again I bought this because of Instagram, I’m such a sheep following the herd I know! You put it on your face for 10 mins and wash off. With all these products I bought you need to hydrate your skin and apply SPF the next day as they are acids and can compromise your skin. I think this was about $10. I will review each product on my Instagram after a few weeks use.

Blue Mercury

I’ve never heard of this shop before but I’m glad I found it as it was a cute little Cosmetics shop that was very cheap. Think of a shop like Sephora but not as expensive. My main reason for going there was for Dermalogica’s Special Cleansing Gel. So after doing my college course and working with Dermalogica I wanted to convert most of my skincare to the brand. I chose this Cleanser as it’s suitable for oily skin. It cost $38 for 250ml. It’s the cheapest I found for Dermalogica products.

I also bought Mario Badescu facial spray. I heard great things from this brand but never bought anything because I couldn’t be arsed ordering online, like I hate ordering things online. It’s the waiting I hate the most! This spray was only $7 and it smells like rose! It’s great to freshen up your face!

Target

I think I went to Target everyday while I was in NY. Think TK Maxx and a supermarket mixed together and thats Target. While I was there I ran out of my trusty foundation so I had to purchase a new one over there. I couldn't find my Rimmel one so I went for the ELF Cosmetics Acne Fighting Foundation. I have used it already and have a first impressions on my instagram if you want to see what I thought of it. It cost $7.

So this isn't skincare I know but I always said if I go to America I am buying Crest Whitening Toothpaste. American's are known for their white teeth and a lot of them recommend Crest. I bought a single tube and loved it so I came back for a double pack which cost $6. I wanted to buy the whitening strips but they were $60.. maybe next time.

I hope you enjoyed my haul as much as I enjoyed shopping it. Stay tuned for reviews of all these products and if you have any questions about any products just drop me a message!

Byeeeeeeeee :)

My "no makeup" make up look

Hey guys! So as some of you may know I am now working back with makeup. I am so happy as it's my passion, I mean who wouldn't be happy when they get to play with makeup everyday. I wear a full face of makeup everyday on the counter and I'm starting to not like my skin without any. So on my days off I go for my "no makeup" look. Its just a makeup look that evens out my skin tone and hides any blemishes without looking like I have any makeup on. This look would be perfect for someone wanting a more natural look or for any guy wanting to wear makeup but afraid to go whole hog. I'm actually going to have a blog post out soon about men and makeup and how we still are afraid to admit we wear makeup, especially on rural Ireland. So for this blog I'll have a step by step with pics on what I do. I did try to film little clips instead of pics but me nerves are shot from trying to deal with technology. Enough with the ranting!!

Before

Step 1: Prep and Prime.

So firstly my skin is cleansed and moisturised. Moisturised skin makes the foundation look less caked and it sits well on the skin. For primer I used the Benefit Porefessional. I love this primer as it fills in my pores lovely and gives my skin a nice silky base to put my foundation on. It retails for €34 but all I use is a pea size amount. I focus it on my nose and t-zone as they're most oily. You can get cheaper alternatives but you pay for what you get when it comes to makeup.

Step 2: Conceal.

Concealer is everyones best friend! I used it for my under eye dark circles and to cover any blemishes. A lot of people conceal after foundation but I do it before on this makeup look because sometimes if you conceal after foundation every where you put it is highlighted from the rest of your face and we ain't trying to highlight anything here. I used the Collection lasting perfection concealer. This is so cheap at €5.79 in boots. I buff this into the skin with a damp beauty sponge.

Step 3: Foundation.

Now this is the most important part. You need to find a foundation that suits your skin type that is light to medium coverage. I'm loving the Rimmel match perfection foundation as it's medium coverage and it's the perfect shade for me. It retails for €10.49 in boots. On days where I'm going for this look I sheer it out by only using 1 pump for my whole face and buffing it in with my damp beauty sponge. The damp sponge helps spread the product more evenly.

Step 4: Set it in place.

Use a powder to lock the foundation into place and to keep you matte. Using a translucent powder would be perfect as it adds no extra colour to your face. I use my bourjois healthy balance powder as it's the exact same colour as my foundation and it's perfect for keeping my skin oil free. I lightly pat it onto my skin with a fluffy powder brush. This ensures I'm not moving the foundation about.

Step 5 Brows (optional).

Men can get away without doing this step if they want. I always do my brows no matter what. Instead of craving out my brows like I normally do, for this look I'm using a brow gel for a more natural look. I'm using Benefits Gimme Brow. I love this as unlike most other brow gel it distributes the right amount of product on my brows. It retails for €26 but essence do a cheap one for a couple of Euro. I get a clean spoolie and brush my brow hairs in the way I want them to go, then I get my gimme brow and apply the product focusing on the middle to end part of my brow. When I feel like I have only a small bit of product left I do the front of my brow. You don't want the front of your brows to be too blocky, it ruins the no makeup illusion!! And just like that we are done!!

After

So that is how I do my no makeup look. I know most if you know how to do this but this is for anyone starting out with makeup or my fellow fellas out there who need a helping hand. Hope you enjoy and I'll be back soon!

Byeeeeeeee :)