Too Faced Born This Way Foundation

Lately I have kind of had an obsession with Too Faced. I never really knew anything about the brand other than I thought their products were way too expensive! That all changed when back last summer I got the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette which for me is the mother of all eyeshadow palettes and the best money I'd ever spent!

Anyway I had watched numerous YouTube reviews on this foundation and was dying to try it for myself. I do love a good full coverage foundation. My lovely friend Danielle (AKA Lilliwhiterose) very kindly sent me her bottle as she felt this shade was too dark on her.

So this is the shade Vanilla, and it's definitely quite deep as vanilla shades go. I have included a comparison photo with MAC Pro Longwear NW15 so you can see the difference. Too Faced's Vanilla is a good couple of shades deeper and rather yellow toned. But I have quite a neutral skin tone and I can make it work. It also matches perfectly when I have a layer of Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan on!

So this is labelled as an "undetectable medium to full coverage foundation". Infused with coconut water, alpine rose and hyaluronic acid. So it's great for us dry skinned gals. It's oil free also so I imagine this would work on pretty much all skin types?

Anyway, one pump of this is enough to cover my entire face and neck. I use the Real Techniques sponge to apply generally. It blends really smoothly and evenly, and although it feels incredibly lightweight the coverage is fantastic. I personally would only wear one light layer of this for fear of it looking caked on if I applied any more.

It wears really well on me and still looks nice and fresh at the end of the day. The finish is more of a Demi matte I would say.

I've really been enjoying this foundation and it has been my base of choice over the Winter. The bottle is very cute as well, it looks very fancy on my dressing table!

Once again I'm really quite impressed with Too Faced though I do think this foundation is rather on the expensive side, £29 on the Debenhams website. If you're willing to splurge on it I say check it out!

Autumn face featuring MAC, Too Faced, Illamasqua & more

Hi guys, long time no see right? I took a little blogging hiatus for a couple of weeks. Just finding it really difficult to blog at the moment! I just haven't been struck with inspiration by anything in a while. But lately the nice Autumn weather we are having has made me think more about my make up and what fits this season. Everything I used is pictured above, and I will list them for you too.

MAC Prep & Prime Skin Base Visage

Clarins Instant Smooth Line Correcting Concentrate

MAC Pro Longwear Foundation (NW15)

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer (NW15)

MAC Paint Pot (Painterly)

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette (shades Creme Brûlée, Haute Chocolate, Semi Sweet, White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate)

MAC Blacktrack gel eyeliner

Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes mascara

Maybelline Brow Drama

Illamasqua Cream Blush (shade Dixie)

MAC lipstick (Velvet Teddy)

I am really loving the MAC Pro Longwear foundation. I think it was the beginning of Spring when I got it, and I couldn't really wear it because my skin at the time was so dry, and it really emphasised any dry patches. Also at that time of year I would wear a bit of fake tan and NW15 was just way too pale. But I am finding that my skin is a lot better, and it is just the right shade for me for when I am rocking my au natural paler skin! 

Also the Pro Longwear concealer is just freakin' amazing, it covers absolutely everything and it isn't too heavy for wearing under your eyes. Though I will say the NW15 in this concealer is really very white, naturally concealers come up lighter than foundation shades but it's something to bear in mind if you were looking into buying this.

I whipped out Velvet Teddy lipstick again, even though I am not sure brown toned nudes suit me but I just adore the matte lipsticks from MAC, they are perfect and I think really great to wear at this time of year.

OK I won't bore you with more talk of the Chocolate Bar palette (aka the palette that changed my life!) but lately I have been loving creating just very simple looks with this, I went for a golden bronze look today and I really love how it turned out.

What make up are you wearing this autumn? 

Best of Summer Beauty 2015

I am sorry to be posting this! But to me, Summer is well and truly over! Finito! I am now preparing myself for Autumn - my favourite season. But, here are some things that I either discovered over the summer or got great use out of.

First off I will start with sun cream. I bought this Vichy sun cream when I was in France. I don't know if it is sold in Ireland or not? But it comes in aerosol form, which was so handy on holiday, I just sprayed myself with it and didn't bother rubbing it in (saved me from the dreaded sticky hands usually associated with sun cream). It is SPF 50 too. It was absolutely brilliant to use and was amazing to use on the go. Definitely the best sun cream I have ever tried! It was so hot and sunny when I was in France but my skin was so well protected, I came home as pale as I went!

Also I bought the Clarins facial sun cream and it was great to use, it wasn't sticky or greasy at all and I was able to put my make up on over top of it. It smells amazing too. I used a La Roche Posay one last year and I really wasn't that fussed on it. I thought the Clarins one was miles better!

OK, I promise I won't ramble on about this but the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette has to be my star buy of the summer! The eyeshadows are bloody brilliant, beautiful shades and there is something in there for every occasion. I have been wearing this non-stop, every day since I got it! I just think it is so cute too, it looks (and smells) just like a giant chocolate bar! Perfect for a chocoholic like me.

I am kind of embarrassed to say that only over the summer I discovered MAC lipsticks! I know, I know, I am such a crap blogger! I already have 3 of them and definitely want to add more to my collection. I used to be such a big gloss/lip balm girl and I always thought lipsticks were too high maintenance for me to wear every day, but MAC lipsticks really are something else! I can't get enough of them!

Everyone has a summer scent I am sure, and this year mine is Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt. I got this in Dublin airport before I jetted off to France so this scent just brings me right back to my holiday. I couldn't even describe it to you, but it is just so fresh and lovely.

An oldie but a goodie, I just love the Illamasqua cream blush in the shade Dixie. I actually have this blush nearly 2 years and probably is my most used blush, but somehow over Summer I have rekindled my love for it. It's just the perfect colour for me and no matter if you use it in the most intense summer heat, it stays in place all day.

Another new (to me) MAC product was the Studio Careblend powder. I have never used a powder as good as this! It's so soft and is very forgiving on my dry skin. Sometimes all I need is to wear a tinted moisturiser but I always set it with this powder and it's great for taking down the shine. Somehow it makes your skin look pretty flawless too!

And last but not least is the famous Nuxe lip balm. When I first got this, I was impressed but I perhaps didn't think it was worthy of all the hype. Turns out, I was wrong! I cannot go a day without using this. Actually this lip balm goes hand in hand with the MAC lipsticks I was using. I cannot put any lip product on now without a good layer of this lip balm. Plus it was a saviour in hot weather when my lips felt really dehydrated. I'm nearly out of this pot but I will go straight out and buy another when it runs out!

So while I had a great time going on holiday in July, the Irish weather is really getting me in the mood for Autumn!

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette

I am so so excited about this palette! I haven't been this much in love with a make up product in a while.
I had watched many a Youtube tutorial using this palette and while I always thought it looked beautiful, I wasn't that interested in it because I personally thought it was a little too expensive for me when I hadn't heard much about the brand Too Faced before. But, when a Too Faced stand popped up in Debenhams and I got to swatch it for myself, it was true love at first sight. I thought about it and thought about it and finally bought the palette in Sephora when I was on holiday in France. You know when you can't get a make up product off your mind that it is true love!

I love how there is a great selection of shades, and while they are neutral colours they are by no means "nude". Which is good for me because that is exactly what I want in a palette! There is a good selection of blending shades and highlights, and amazing eye popping shimmery shades. Also I like how out of the 16 shadows, only 5 of them are matte. I much prefer a shimmery metallic shadow over a matte!

The shadows themselves are like nothing I have ever tried. They are incredibly pigmented and so soft and easy to work with. I am getting on a lot better with this palette than I ever did with the Urban Decay Naked palette!

Also I should mention - these eyeshadows smell like chocolate! When you open the palette you are greeted with the unmistakable scent of chocolate, as these eyeshadows are actually made with cocoa powder…it's wonderful! It makes me crave chocolate so bad though!  Also the names of the shadows are so cute, when people ask what you have on your eyes and you say "marzipan, hazelnut and milk chocolate!"

 Left to right - Gilded Ganache, White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Black Forest Truffle, Triple Fudge

 Salted Caramel, Marzipan, Semi Sweet, Strawberry Bon Bon, Candied Violet, Amaretto

Hazelnut, Creme Brûlée, Haute Chocolate, Cherry Cordial, Champagne Truffle

There are so many different looks you can create with this palette, from very basic daytime looks to dramatic evening looks. I have really had a lot of fun playing around with this palette and I actually am excited to use it when I get up in the mornings (sad, right?!). I have been wearing this palette every day which is a big deal for me because I don't usually bother wearing eyeshadow for just going to work. So that tells you how much I love using this palette!