Current Favourite Blushers

~ Powder Blushers ~

Swatched From Left to Right:

MAC Merrily - A red with golden shimmer

MAC Pinch O' Peach - A fairly neutral matte pink

NARS Deap Throat - A peachy-pink with shimmer

NARS Torrid - A coral with shimmer

~ Cream Blushers ~

Swatched From Left to Right:

NARS Cactus Flower - A watermelon red with gold shimmer

Topshop Flush - A bright warm pink

MAC Something Special - A soft pinky-peach

Graftobian Raspberry Wine - A rosey-red shade 

Has anyone else tried any of these? Let me know what you think of them or what your recent favourites are! I always love checking out new ones being the blush addict that I am :D

A Little Giveaway

I've gained quite a lot of new followers over the past while and since I've just reached the 500 mark I thought I would do a bit of a giveaway to say merci beaucoup! :D 

There's a few lovely ladies who definitely helped to generate a lot of traffic towards my blog recently and who I'll just give a quick mention to - both The Beauty Bite and Your Style Scout who did very lovely posts about my blog and Lipstick Rules who also featured my blog in one of her posts. So thanks so much again ladies! I've also seen that a few people have very kindly added my blog to their favourite blog and 'link love' lists so I very much appreciate all of you who have done that too!

I'm afraid it's a fairly small giveaway this time since I'm moving to Australia in a couple of months which I need to try and save a few pennies for! I think these are two great products though which I really like myself and hopefully one of you will enjoy them too!......

The Prize:

Topshop Cream Blush in 'Head Over Heels' - A beautiful coral shade (I don't have this colour but I have 'Flush' and I absolutely love the texture of these).

Topshop Lipstick in 'Show Off' - A lovely medium pink. To save me from opening the new lipstick you can see what it looks like in my favourite lipsticks post here and also in my pink eyeshadow tutorial here.

How To Enter:

1. Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect.

2. Leave a message in the comment section and include your e-mail address in it so that I can contact you. Please only comment once.

For Extra Entries:

~ 'Like' my page on Facebook (1 extra entry). Please leave your Facebook name with your e-mail in the comments.
~ Add a link to this giveaway on your blog - either in a post or in the side of your blog (3 extra entries). Please leave the URL in the comments with your e-mail.

The winner will be chosen using random.org. The giveaway is open internationally and will end on 29th July at 11pm Irish time. Good luck and thanks again to everyone for following!

Pink Eyeshadow Tutorial

I'm still on a bit of a quest to stay away from brown eyeshadow all the time so I decided to use a bit of pink today. I don't use these kind of shades enough but I actually really love soft baby pink eyeshadow - it's a great colour for grey eyes in particular. I amped it up a bit here with some mauve and plum and lots of black liner.

~ Products Used ~

Face:

Make Up For Ever HD Foundation #120

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer NW20

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl

MAC Harmony Blush for contouring

MAC Mineralize Blush in Gentle

Make Up For Ever Super Matte Loose Powder

Eyes:

Clinique Quick Eyes Cream Shadow in Starlit Pink

MAC eyeshadows in Seedy Pearl, Shale, Shadowy Lady, 

Vellum & Vanilla

Clinique Cream Liner 

Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara

Elise half lashes

MAC Dirty Blonde Pencil & Omega eyeshadow on brows

Lips:

Topshop Lipstick in Show Off

1. Apply a pink base to the eyelid. I used Clinique's Cream Shadow in Starlit Pink.

2. Use a flat brush like the MAC 242 to press MAC Seedy Pearl eyeshadow onto the lid.

3. Blend MAC Shale eyeshadow into the crease with a 217 brush.

4. Run some of that Shale under the lower lash line using the tip of a flat brush. I used the 242 again.

5. On a slightly pointed brush, apply MAC Shadowy Lady eyeshadow about halfway into the crease and blend some onto the outer corner too. The brush in the photo is by Louise Young but it didn't pack on enough colour so I used the Laura Mercier crease brush after. If you have small eyes you could use a pencil brush for this too.

6. Take some Shadowy Lady underneath the eye too - just on the outer third of the lower lash line.

7. On a small pencil brush like the MAC 219, apply some MAC Vellum eyeshadow onto the tear duct area.

8. Blend an eyeshadow which is a shade lighter than your skin tone under the brow as a highlight and to soften the edges of the crease colour. I used MAC Vanilla on a 222 brush for this.

9. Line the top lash line with a black gel/cream liner and wing it out at the end. You can have a look at my winged liner tutorial here. I used Clinique's Cream Liner on a Louise Young LY24 brush.

10. Apply the gel liner along the waterline. Line the outer third of the lower lash line with the gel liner too and before it has time to dry smudge it out with a q-tip to soften it. I went back and added a bit more Shale eyeshadow under the eye at this point too. Now just apply mascara and add false lashes if you wish. I added some half lashes by Elise. .........That's it!

Please excuse the messy hair in the above photo...I was having some issues with it! It's been quite dry lately so I'm trying to use less heat on it when I can. I think I might get some Moroccanoil to try out but If anyone knows some other really great conditioning products then please do leave your recommendations in the comments! It would be very helpful!

Hope anyone in Canada had a good Canada day on the 1st. Oh and a happy 4th July (tomorrow) to everyone in the US!

Tag ~ I love Lipsticks

1. How many lipsticks do you have?

I won't count. That might mean owning up to an addiction :D

2. What was the first lipstick that you ever bought?

One from The Body Shop when I was about 14 I think! I don't know how I remember that.

3. Which is your newest lipstick?

Topshop 'Show Off'

4. What is your favourite lipstick brand?

I like MAC for their huge variety of colours and finishes. Another favourite is Chanel since I don't think their lipsticks can be beaten in terms of texture.

5. Favourite Pink?

I don't wear true pink lipsticks too much. I recently picked up Topshop 'Show Off' lipstick though and I've been liking it a lot so I think that has to be my new favourite pink.

6. Favourite Nude?

I don't actually wear nude lipstick much anymore but I used to wear MAC Patisserie a lot which is a great natural shade. I tend to use this a lot on other people too.

7. Favourite Peach/Coral?

It has to be MAC Vegas Volt which is a fantastic bright coral. This looks great when it's sheered out a bit too so that becomes a slightly softer coral shade.

8. Favourite Red?

Well since red is my favourite lipstick colour I couldn't pick just one! So the three that I love are: Chanel Rouge Allure in Flamboyante, Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Monte Carlo and MAC 'MAC Red'.

9. Favourite Hot Pink?

Dior Addict Lipstick in Collection. It looks red in the tube but it goes on as a hot pink.

10. Favourite Brown?

Hmmm.....we've moved on from the 90's I think! :D

11. Favourite Rosewood?

Chanel Rouge Coco in Organdi Rose. This is a lovely rosey shade which is great for a very natural look. My photos don't do it much justice I'm afraid!

12. Favourite Plum?

MAC Plumful. I like this one in winter especially.

13. Other Favourite Lipsticks?

MAC Hibiscus (limited edition), Chanel Rouge Coco in Orchidee, Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Heartbreaker, MAC Milan Mode, MAC Lustering and MAC Media (not one I'd wear on myself too much but I really love dark vampy lipstick shades and this one is beautiful for those that can pull it off!).

14. Favourite Lipglosses?

NYX Round Lipgloss in Doll Pink, MAC Lipglass in Hot House (limited edition), Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Petulant, MAC Ample Pink Plushglass and MAC Love Nectar Lustreglass (looks lovely over coral lipsticks).

I wasn't tagged by anyone - I just thought I would do it anyway. I tag anyone who would like to do this!

Some Exciting New Goodies!

A few bits that I've picked up over the past couple of weeks which I thought I'd share with you.....

Make Up For Ever Face & Body Foundation

 Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer

As I mentioned in my must-have products for summer post, Make Up For Ever's Face & Body is one of my favourite summer foundations. I've worn it for the past two summers so I had to pick up another bottle for this year! I got shade #20 since I've been wearing a bit of false tan. I also picked up Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer because I'm a big fan of the Healthy Mix foundation and thought the concealer looked quite promising too. I got #52 which is the same shade as the foundation I have. I've used this a few times now to cover dark circles and minor redness and so far so good...I've no complaints!

Kiko Milano & Topshop Nail Polish

I was in Rome at the weekend and we came across a Kiko Milano shop one of the days where I picked up a couple of their nail polishes. I'd only briefly heard of this brand before but I thought the nail polishes looked quite impressive and they had a huge range of shades! I got #'s 313 (hot pink) and 332 (purple). They were also a huge bargain at €2.50 each! I also bought a Topshop nail polish before I left in the shade Celestial which is a gorgeous cornflower blue. I love Topshop nail polishes - they always have great colours, they're opaque in two coats and are very easy to apply! Swatches below are all two coats. 

Topshop Celestial

Kiko Milano 332 & 313

MAC Hibiscus Lipstick (Surf Baby Collection)

Dior Addict Lipstick 578 Diorkiss

I went into MAC about a week ago to have a look at the new Surf Baby Collection. I wasn't exactly bowled over by anything in the collection except for one of the lipsticks called Hibiscus. I've been looking for the perfect orange-red lipstick for a month or so now and I think I've found it with this one! It's a cremesheen formula but it also has a tiny bit of a subtle gold shimmer running through it. I also bought another one of the Dior Addict lipsticks in the airport on my way back from Rome since they were significantly cheaper than they are here. I got the shade Diorkiss which is a lovely medium pink colour. I'm really loving the formula of these Dior lipsticks!

MAC Hibiscus

Dior Addict Diorkiss

RMK Ingenious Powder Eyes Eyeshadow ME-02 Metallic Gold 

I've been eyeing this RMK eyeshadow for ages now but since we don't have the brand in Ireland I was waiting to get it on my next trip to London. However I recently found out that ASOS stock RMK now so of course I had to order it! I also had a 20% discount code which I was very happy about since these are quite pricey! ME-02 is a very light gold/champagne colour and it's extremely metallic. I think it will be great in the inner corner or as a wash over the lids with some black eyeliner. I love the packaging too!

NARS Cream Blush in Cactus Flower

MAC Cremeblend Blush in Something Special 

I've recently had a complete 180 when it comes to cream blush. I used to really dislike it but since realising that they're not all a sticky, gloopy mess I now can't get enough of the stuff! When placing my ASOS order for the RMK eyeshadow I also ordered NARS Cactus Flower Cream Blush. It's a beautiful watermelon colour with some gold shimmer running through it. It may look a bit scary in the pan but it's softer when it's applied and you can sheer it out or build it up as much as you want. I think it's a great summery colour and can see it working on most skin tones. I also got one of the MAC Cremeblend Blushes when I was in there last week. The shade I got is called Something Special and is a light peachy-pink colour. Neither one of these is sticky - they're both very smooth and easy to apply. So far I really like them!

NARS Cactus Flower, MAC Something Special

Well that's it for all my new purchases. If you've tried any of these let me know what you think of them!