My first MAC purchases! Gleam & Trax Eyeshadows

Nobody sells MAC near where I live. While I was shopping in Dublin recently, I couldn't stop my curiosity walking past the MAC shop. I just had to go in and see what all the fuss is about.

I swatched a few of their eyeshadows, and I really fell in love with these two. They certainly do have an impressive selection of shades! I am kind of a sucker for shimmery shades too. Anyway, here is a closer look..

This is Gleam, a beautiful shimmery champagne colour. I can see pink tones in it too.

And here is Trax. I found this one a little hard to photograph in order to show its true beauty! As you can see it is a gorgeous purple with gold shimmer.

These eyeshadows are silky smooth, I absolutely love the formula and the pigmentation. Trust me, they look so much more beautiful in real life!
Well I couldn't wait to try these shadows out. I used Gleam all over my eyelid and Trax in the crease. I think these two shades look well together. They applied well and blended like a dream.

I have fallen in love with these two eyeshadows. As I have said before, I had never tried MAC products before, I had only heard about their products from reading blogs and on Youtube tutorials. I had heard that their eyeshadows were great, and I am certainly not disappointed. I do hope to expand my collection and I will definitely pick up another few MAC products next time too!

Lancome Bi-Facil Eye Make Up Remover

I was absolutely delighted to get my hands on this lovely product! You might remember this came as part of a free gift that I got in Debenhams. I really needed an eye make up remover so it was great to get this one!

You can see that it has two layers, an oil layer and a water layer. You have to turn the bottle upside down to mix them together before using it. When you shake the bottle, it looks really foamy but it doesn't come out like this. It looks really cool in the bottle!

I just put a small amount on a cotton pad. It has a lovely scent, I can definitely smell rose in it, it reminds me of Turkish Delight! One good swipe with a cotton pad and your entire eye make up is removed. I am serious! Previously I had been using Garnier eye make up remover which I liked, but you can tell the difference with this one, being a high end brand. It is far more effective and I can assure you, you only need to use one little squirt per eye to remove all of your eye make up. It is fab, and hopefully this bottle will last me a long time! I am not sure if I will be able to afford this eye make up remover, but I promise you, it would be worth every penny as it is so good!

Lancome Blush Subtil Palette - Nectar Lace

Lately I have been loving Lancome products. I thought this palette was just absolutely beautiful, and I know it was a little pricey at €38 but I knew I would love it and get a lot of use out of it. I have kind of been looking out for a nice contour kit for a while.

It is quite a petite little palette, very sleek in it's design. It has a nice sized mirror and I noticed it does not come with an applicator. Oh well, more room for the actual products! The contour, blush and highlight are all simply stunning, I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like them.

The contour shade is perfect for me as it is quite light. But what attracted me to this palette mostly is the blush. It is the most beautiful coral colour with gold shimmer. Here are the swatches...

L-R Highlight, Blush, Contour

And here is how it looks on...

I absolutely adore this. It was quite difficult to capture how glowy and shimmery it is. It was especially apparent in the sunlight. I think this is a gorgeous palette to use especially at this time of year. 

This palette only comes in two shades, I believe the other shade had a light pink (matte) blush and a slightly darker contour shade. I thought the Nectar Lace palette was slightly more unique and eye-catching. 

I think I am becoming addicted to Lancome! Let me know what you think of this palette! 

Revlon Baby Stick - Pink Passion

 I kind of have been searching for a while to find a nice cream blush. I thought these looked very cute!

 They come in three shades, the other two shades are more peach/baby pink - colours I normally favour over this deep pink. But hooray for testers - the lighter shades have NO pigmentation whatsoever! I tried this shade Pink Passion, and it is not as cerise pink when applied.

 These Baby Sticks can be used on your cheeks and on your lips. I personally would not like to use them on both, just my preference. The formula has a kind of waxy feel to it.

And this is how it looks on. I put one good swipe over my cheeks and blended out the edges with my fingers. I think it looks really nice, it has quite a soft finish and looks quite natural. I think this is so handy to use as part of my everyday make up, it takes almost no time at all to apply!

However I wouldn't really rate Revlon Baby Sticks too highly. The paler shades do not show up at all, which is a shame as I would have preferred them. It feels a little bit sticky. The tube is a little bit too fat if you want to use on your lips. I don't think I would be repurchasing this one. They are £6.99 each. However, I will use away at this one. It is handy to have.

Has anyone else tried these? What do you think?

Crazy Polish Lady - Hakuna Matata

I had heard of the Crazy Polish Lady through a few other bloggers. These polishes are hand-made by the lovely Sofia from Portugal. I fell in love when I saw the swatches of "Hakuna Matata" - I also thought the name alone was brilliant! This one is from Sofia's second collection, which are obviously inspired by Disney movies. 

Look how stunning this polish is!

This is a perfect Summer shade. I love the glitter particles throughout the polish. The consistency is really nice and fluid. I used two coats. It also lasted me a good 3/4 days with no chipping. I love this because it is so unique and I have never seen anything like it available in shops. These polishes are brilliant! You can contact Sofia on the Crazy Polish Lady Facebook page or on her blog. The polishes are €6.00 each plus shipping. You won't be disappointed!

Lancome Hypnose -VS- Hypnose Star

I bought the full sized version of Lancome Hypnose Star, and in addition also got a sample of the original Hypnose. I thought it would be really fun to compare them.

The packaging of all the Lancome mascaras are incredible. They are so sleek and elegant looking. I especially love the Hypnose Star.

 This mascara comes in a beautiful curved tube. I love the glittery end of it, it just looks so glam!

The wand itself is very tapered at the end. One thing I noticed about both these mascaras is that they smell quite odd, kind of reminds me of permanent marker.

The original Hypnose has more plain packaging, but it still looks very elegant. This sample size is so cute, perfect for taking in my handbag!

This wand looks a lot more fuller. It is slightly curved in the middle. Here you can see them side by side -

So, now you can see the difference, lets see how they look on!

This is me with no mascara on at all.

This is Hypnose Star

And this is the original Hypnose

Side by side comparison

To be quite honest I do not see much difference at all. The Hypnose Star was a lot easier to apply, the wand is just so brilliant to work with. The original Hypnose took a few coats before I got the volume that I wanted. The original Hypnose was a lot "dryer" than the Hypnose Star. They are both brilliant mascaras though. 

I think if you are buying any Lancome mascara you cannot really go wrong. I would definitely purchase the full sized original Hypnose, but I am so excited to use my Hypnose Star. Plus the glittery tube looks class! 

Nails Inc- Life's a Peach - Instyle Magazine Freebie

This is the June 2013 issue of InStyle magazine. I don't usually buy these sort of magazines, but I do know sometimes there are some great freebies with them, and this was one that I couldn't pass up. I have always wanted to try a Nails Inc polish! There are three colours to choose from with this magazine, and I chose "Life's a Peach".

This polish is actually a full size bottle worth £11.00. Not bad considering the magazine cost less than £4.00!

I love how this polish looks on. It is quite nice to apply, however I have the same problem with all pale colours in that I tend to brush on too much and it turns gloopy on the nail. I have applied three thin layers here and I am really happy with it! I have been wearing a lot of bright colours lately but I don't really have any neutral/nude shades in my collection. This one may be my new favourite!