Ta Hun Sure It's Only Penney's: Lip Pencil Edition

Hey Ladies, 

I swear for the last two months I have been on the biggest lipstick binge, as if I need anymore lipsticks... honestly like a hole in the head. But I just can't help myself but thankfully my latest two faves only cost €1.50 each so it's not going to break the bank or leave me feeling guilty.

I swear Penney's is just getting better by the day, the clothes are on trend and the home ware is to die for and their latest beauty range is making headlines everywhere so naturally enough I tottered down to Penney's to see what the fuss was about. I was hearing reports that one of their lip pencils was a dupe for MAC Spice and by golly it is. Think Spice and Soar mixed but for a fraction of the price, sure you wouldn't even get a cup of tea for that much! 

Anyways, the lip liners are part of their new P.S Love range and there are a few colours but I only picked up the nude and the plum. Now if someone said Penney's brought out makeup I would have thought "you get what you pay for" and the quality would be rubbish but surprisingly enough these liners are giving MAC a run for their money, they are far more covetable than the Kylie Jenner effect on Soar earlier this year, these Penney's lip liner have been out of stock for AGES. That's saying something. 

I have been putting them to the test in terms of quality of colour and durability and so far they're doing brilliant. The quality of pigment is opaque so there's no need to have to pile a whole load on and they last quite well. Now, if you're eating you will need to reapply afterwards but so far they've held up really well. Since testing them I couldn't tell you how many compliments I have gotten. In fact preparing for this post I wore the plum shade today (how similar to MAC Rebel is this!) and so many people asked what I had on, one friend of mine actually said "I bet its MAC!" and I said no actually it's Penney's and she was shocked! 

So there you have it and just a side not my favourite thing I love about these pencils is that I can bring them on a night out or away with me and not be afraid to lose them! 

Tell me have you tried any of the Penney's makeup and what did you think?

Back To Basics!

Hey Ladies,

In today's blog post I want to share with you my secret to a flawless smokey eye. MAC Painterly Paint Pot is a staple that you will find in every MUA's kit and to the unsuspecting eye you wouldn't think much of this little thingamabob!

In simple terms its a cream eye shadow with a pink undertone. It can be worn on its own to even out the eye for example, on my days off I pop a little bit on with my ring finger to make my eyes look less tired and prevent my mascara from running. But when it is paired with eye shadow it helps products last twice as long especially if you have oily peepers and it also helps shadows to pop! There is nothing worse that buying a gorgeous deep purple eye shadow and loosing half the colour when its put on an unprepared eye. Eye primers are so essential to a flawless eye look without them it will be no time before your eye shadow has creased and faded away.

 

MAC do a whole shade range of these paint pots but painterly is the most talked about in the YouTube/blog world. Another firm favourite of mine is Groundwork, its a taupe-y shade that you can use to create a simple smokey eye in seconds! Im hoping in the coming month to do more tutorial style posts/videos so you can see these paint pots in action.

Until next time!

Suzie Gets A Shellac!

Hey Ladies,

So recently I decided to treat myself and get a shellac manicure. I had a very hectic week and there is nothing worse than turning up to an important event dressed to impress with chipped nail polish. I popped into the Kate Elizabeth Day Spa in the Omni Shopping Centre in Santry on a whim and luckily they were able to fit me in. I have never tried shellac and I was a little bit hesitant because I have heard mixed reports from people about what state your nails end up after the removal.

After a couple weeks of using OPI Nail Envy nail strengthener I was confident my nails wouldn't be effected too much by the shellac. The process of shellac is so quick and simple and takes no longer than 20-30 minutes depending on if you go in with a polish on like I have, be it shellac or regular enamel. I chose to go for a french manicure something clean and classic. The result was fantastic I really couldn't have asked for a better job and the cost was only €35!

I am a very hands on person so I was expecting it to last about a week before I saw any chips. Rightly so a week in I managed to chip both index fingers. I re-polished it with a basic white just to fill in the gap and after the 14 days of having it on I removed it at home. I have a post coming on that next week to share how I did that! After I removed it I was pleasantly surprised that my nails are still in great condition and aren't snapping like I had feared. Although I did love the shellac I think next time I will go for gellac instead as it is said to be a stronger product which means less chips and also I might go for a coloured nail instead of a french manicure. I found that coming to the last day or two of having it on the white tips started looking a bit grubby.

Keep an eye out for the "Shellac Removal" post coming on Monday if you want my best tricks on removing shellac hassle free.
Love,
S

Check out my name on the receipt its so hilarious!

Makeup Tutorial - Glittering Gold

Hey Ladies,

I have filmed my first makeup tutorial, so now we won't have picture heavy posts and I can show you my makeup looks in more detail. At the recent blogger meet up (which I will soon have a post on) we went to Inglot Jervis Street for a makeup demonstration. The makeup artist Jessica did the mot amazing glittery smokey eye so naturally I had to buy the products and share what I learned with you!

I have included my video in this post but I would be really appreciative if you took the time to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Hopefully this is the first video of many!

Love,
S

Everyday Natural Make-Up

Hey Ladies,
The makeup you wear on a day to a day basis should be natural and only enhance your natural beauty. I wear a bit more than you should for an everyday makeup but sure its my everyday makeup, I like to go a bit heavier  on the liner and lashes. This look is the same as most of my brown eye makeup looks but it is just lighter and I also incorporated a bit of glitter to this look from the middle shadow of my Golden/Rust/Walnut Bronze palette from NYX which you can see here.

In natural light...

With flash.....

Face
Foundation: MUFE- HD Foundation
Concealer: Kryolan-Supra Color
Powder: Mac- Mineralised Skin Finish Light
Blush: Mac- Peachykeen
Contour: Mac- Harmony

Eyes
Base: Mac- Painterly Paint Pot
Shadows: Mac- Woodwinked Cork, Ground Brown, Carbon
                NYX- Golden/Rust/Walnut Bronze Palette
                Inglot- Matte White
Gel Liner: Essence- Midnight in Paris
Eyeliner: Urban Decay- 24/7 Liner Zero
Mascara: Maybelline- One By One

Brows
Shadows: Mac- Ground Brown, Carbon

Lips
Lipstick: Mac- Petting Pink Lip Conditioner

Love,

S

De-Potting Lipsticks

Hey Ladies,
If you are a budding make-up artist student or do freelance artist this tip may be of great help to you. If like me you bring all your make-up to a job/shoot/class it gets very very heavy and you have a bazillion things in your bag. So, to cut down on some of the un-necessary packaging and to create less of a weight I have de-potted my lipsticks. I bought this little plastic palette from Muji and it only cost around 4euro. I keep two of these in my collection, one for MAC lipsticks and one for other lipsticks like Rimmel, Barry M etc.

 To depot your lipsticks you will need either a butter knife or a spatula, that has been disinfected. You will also need your container that has also been disinfected.

  Begin by cutting into the lipstick with the knife/spatula to remove the top. Once it has come away from the tube, drop the bullet into the container as you will need your spatula.

 Then, if you know MAC lipsticks they always have a load of product in the end of the tube that goes to waste if you don't know its there. So taking your spatula, dig the spatula down a side of the tube, then turn the spatula a little bit to the left to scoop out the product, it should just slide out. Then put it in the container with the rest of the bullet and smooth it down with the spatula.

 If there is any more lipstick left in the tube just scoop it out with your spatula.

 Then once that is done, take a label and write the name of the lipstick under neath the container so you know what it is. My sister is going to get me nice labels printed in work so I just use a piece of masking tape for now until the palette is full.

I find this tip really useful because your lipsticks are kept hygienically in a container that is easily transportable and super easy to clean. I am thinking about melting all of the lipsticks down so they don't move around, if I do I'll do a post on it!

Look out for an up coming post on what to do with those empty MAC containers.

Love,
S

Twiggy Inspired

Hey Ladies,
Here's a look I did in my course a couple of weeks ago. The model is my friend Amanda who is also attending the course. This look is inspired by Twiggy and Edie Sedgwick, in class we had to do an era look on each other and I love this look. I toned it down quite a bit on Amanda as she has hooded eye lids and it is quite had to she detailed shadows. I will also include a before picture to show you the difference the look gives, I suited this look to her face by giving her more of a shape to her brows and added enough liner in the correct direction to open her eyes up and elongate them more. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Love,
S