Bobbi Brown Gel Sparkle Shadow & Liner

This little pot is something that I bought with my Christmas vouchers. I used to really love cream eyeshadows, and since doing a huge makeup clear out a few months ago I only have one cream eyeshadow left in my collection! So I wanted to add to it. I wanted something kind of neutral, but sparkly too. I was looking at MAC Paint Pots but they seemed more metallic than sparkly. If there are any nice shades I should check out, do let me know.

Anyway, while browsing I ended up looking at Bobbi Brown eyeshadows, and with "sparkle" in the name, this one caught my eye. I looked at a few reviews and swatches, and finally decided to order the shade "Smokey Topaz".

When it arrived I was a little taken aback by how small the little pot actually is. It contains 4 grams of product (compared to 5g in a MAC paint pot). I know it is called "Shadow and Liner" but to me the design of the pot is more geared towards using it as a liner. I don't intend on doing that (I only use black liner) and I always apply my cream shadows using just my fingers. So the small jar opening is a little disappointing for me.

Swatch time! What I actually really like about this product is that it is very sparkly and not shimmery or glittery. That is exactly what I wanted.

Smokey Topaz is not the colour I expected it to be. I expected it to be more of a bronze but to me it's more like a pewter type shade, but still it is perfect for everyday wear. 

The shadow is very easy to apply. I just use my ring finger and then blend out the edges with a fluffy brush. It definitely is very easy to apply and I have had no problems! Wear time is really good, the Bobbi Brown website states up to 12 hours wear. I definitely got a good 8-10 hours wear time before it started creasing on me (and that was after using a primer as well). 

I think it looks fantastic all over the lid on its own, a bit of eyeliner and plenty of mascara! Sometimes I blend a darker eyeshadow into my crease for a bit of definition. But it's one of those quick, easy to apply eyeshadows for fuss-free make up! Especially in the sun light it looks incredibly sparkly for that little something "extra".

I haven't experimented using this as an eyeliner yet. I'm not sure how it would look to be honest because the shade isn't too deep.  I'm sure it would apply really well though as the texture of this gel is so smooth.

The Gel Sparkle Shadow & Liners cost £20 which honestly is quite expensive for me. There are 5 shades available, and they all look lovely. But I wouldn't mind trying different cream shadows from other brands. If you have any recommendations please let me know (particularly MAC paint pots!).

Do you like the look of this product?

Festive Make Up!

It's that time of year again! Christmas parties will soon be coming up and I happened to take some photos one day when I was playing around with make up, and I thought it might be an appropriate look for a Christmas do.

I used some old favourites as well as new products - I was really dying to try out the Tanya Burr eyelashes and I got a gold Stargazer glitter too that I wanted to play around with!

Firstly I put Half Baked from the Naked palette all over the lid with a bit of Darkhorse in the crease.

I added some of the glitter on top of the eyeshadow and some lashes - I am a fake lash novice so I only put on a couple of individuals on the outside of my lashes.

I used the Clarins Extra Comfort foundation (I love this foundation!) subtle contouring with the Chanel bronzer and golden highlight with the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick (Apricot). Clarins Soft Peach blush and a Clarins Lip Balm Crayon in Sweet Cherry - I didn't want too much lip action since the eyes are so glittery!

It's a lot more make up than I would usually wear but I thought I would try something different! I had been wanting to experiment with glitters for a while and the festive season is the perfect time to do so!

Hope you liked this look! Tell me what make up you like to wear around Christmas!

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick - "Apricot"

Highlighters are not a staple part of my make up routine. However, while recently browsing in Arnotts, I walked past this and actually backtracked to get a closer look. Those colours, wow! I couldn't get enough of this! The lovely sales lady at Bobbi Brown (her name was Jen) let me see how this looked on, and showed me how best to use it. I was absolutely sold. They are not cheap at €42 a go, but I know this will last me years!

These colours are just ideal to me! This shimmer brick "Apricot" is from the new Nectar and Nude collection. I love it.

 The individual shades

and blended together

I think it is the nicest flush of peach/gold, it's shimmery without being a total glitterball. I have also used the lighter colours to highlight the inner corners of my eyes. I guess you could use the whole palette as shimmery eyeshadows, but I have not tried it myself. 

This is my first foray into the world of Bobbi Brown. This is definitely a luxury brand. The packaging of the shimmer brick is so sturdy, it is quite large too with a decent sized mirror in the compact. I would be afraid to travel with this incase something happened to it! 

I really love how this looks on me and has totally changed my opinion with regards to highlighting products. The other shades in the shimmer bricks look absolutely amazing too, but I really love peaches  and corals, so for me it was love at first sight with "Apricot"!