NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Haul & Review

Hi guys :)

L-R : Monte Carlo, Sydney & Buenos Aires

I have read so many great reviews about the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams so I had to try them out and see if they lived up to the hype! I made an order on their UK website and I received my items last week. I bought other items as well but I wanted to do a review specifically on these lip creams instead of doing a haul on everything! I have been using these everyday for about five days so that I could give an accurate review.. I hope you enjoy and leave any questions you have below :)


#1 Monte Carlo :

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This one is the most opaque and creamiest of all the colours I purchased. When I first swatched it on my hand it was instantly vibrant and really pigmented. I apply these one layer at a time, letting each layer dry before applying the next one. I only needed to apply two coats of this for full opacity and I was really impressed! It gives a really nice, even application and there is no need for a liner as you get quite a precise line with the applicator included. This is a gorgeous colour for autumn and it's very long lasting. I reapplied this three times throughout the day and it stayed put with no smudges, even after eating and drinking! I would give this 9/10 just because it did dry out a tiny bit towards the end of the day but I can't complain when it's such a good price!


#2 Sydney :

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I was most excited for this colour because it reminded of a more wearable version of MAC's Saint Germain lipstick! In reality it reminds me more of Snob by MAC but I still love it :) It is a muted purple-toned pink colour and it is the most moisturising colour of the three that I got. These smell absolutely amazing.. Like really sweet vanilla! I'm so impressed with the colour range of this product that NYX offer. There is a colour to suit every skin tone and every preference! I'm really excited to try all the other colours in this range on different people to see if they love them as much as me :)


#3 Buenos Aires :

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This colour is my favourite colour of the ones I purchased! It is the less pigmented of the three but it is such a unique colour and it is very buildable so that doesn't bother me. I usually have to apply three coats of this but it lasts well throughout the day with the help of a few more applications! Overall, I'm very much impressed by this product. It is long lasting without being drying and the colour selection is great. I will definitely be purchasing more of these in the future and I'm really excited to try out the Butter Gloss too! If anyone has any recommendations on other colours to try please let me know :)


Thank you so much for reading :)

Love Shannon x

MAC haul :)

Hi guys :)

I'm sure nearly all of you will have heard something about the RiRi Hearts MAC Fall Collection by now! Oh my days I was so excited :) I kind of went in just wanting anything because of the packaging but I had a good look at the products and I'm actually really excited about what I purchased! I also got one lipstick from the Retro Matte collection, the original Viva Glam lipstick and a lipstick from their permanent line. Have fun reading and I hope you enjoy :) 

                                  

#1 MAC Lipstick (Flat Out Fabulous) : 

                                    

This is the only lipstick I picked up from the Retro Matte collection. The colour really stood out for me because I love purples but I don't have any really matte purple shades. The other colours in the collection were nice but I have too many similar colours already so I didn't think it was worth buying them just for the finish! 

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The texture of these lipsticks is really nice on the lips. It's has quite a velvet feel and they are not drying at all. This lipstick has quite a blue undertone and it swatches on the hand as more of a fuschia colour but on the lips it's a really nice bright purple/ raspberry colour.. I love it :)

#2 MAC Lipstick (Viva Glam 1) :

                                     

I saw this lipstick swatched in loads of pictures on Instagram and I thought it looked beautiful. It's quite unlike any red that I already own.. I mostly have brights like Rubywoo and Russian Red! I just bought it on impulse because it was at the register but I did want to try it and the proceeds go to a good cause so I thought why not? :) 

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The finish of this lipstick looks quite glossy even though it is a matte finish. This doesn't bother me though because it means that the lipstick isn't drying on the lips! It comes off as a beautiful deep rich red and it will be a beautiful colour for the autumn/ winter months :) 

#3 MAC Lipstick (Diva) : 

                                      

In the bullet this looks very similar in colour to the Viva Glam colour, however, when it's swatches it is a lot more of a plummy brown colour. It is once again a matte finish without being drying but it does come off quite matte on the lips compared with the Viva Glam. 

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I really like this colour as a really dark vampy lipstick for autumn! I had All Fired Up from the Retro Matte collection on my list but it was so similar to Diva and the finish of this lipstick was so much nicer I ended up not getting All Fired Up. I'm planning on wearing this with Nightmoth lipliner and I can't wait to see what it looks like :) 

#4 RiRi Hearts MAC Cream Colour Base (Diamonds) : 

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This was the first thing that I decided to buy from the collection.. I was so surprised by how nice it was! It looks almost wet on the skin because it's so glossy. I love the gold shimmer rather than a pink shimmer because I really don't like pink highlighters on my face! I'm surprisingly very impressed with this product and I'm so happy that I got my hands on it :) Also can we please take a moment to appreciate this AMAZING packaging?! I'm in love :)

#5 RiRi Hearts MAC Blusher (Bad Girl Gone Good) : 

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I loved this colour as soon as I saw it! I've been wanting a dark tan coloured blusher for absolutely ages but I couldn't find one that I really liked without buying an actual bronzer. This is really pigmented and would look great on all skin tones! I thought that a lot of the collection was more tailored towards darker skin tones but I'm very pale and this looks really nice and glory on my skin without looking orange. I'm really excited to have this in my collection and I'm sure I'll get great use out of it :) 

#6 RiRi Hearts MAC Lipstick (Talk That Talk) : 

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This was the only thing that I really wanted from the collection before I got to the store! It is such a gorgeous dark plum colour and it's really moisturising on the lips. It is a Retro Matte finish and it lasts really well in the lips. It looks scarily dark in the bullet but it comes off a lot more sheer in comparison with most other MAC lipsticks. I'm so happy with this product :) 

Thank you so much for reading guys! Like always comment any questions below :) 

Love Shannon x

Makeup Brush Haul :)

Hi guys :)

I recently discovered the website cloud10beauty.com and after eyeing up way too many things I decided to place an order! I have been lusting after some Sigma brushes for about two years now but it's just too expensive for the postage from the US.. So when I saw that cloud10 sold Sigma I was very excited! 

The items are very reasonably priced and the range of products is excellent! The main brands that I was excited to see were Kardashian Beauty, Sigma and Sleek Makeup. They have a points system which gives you money off future purchases and you get 200 points for just signing up.. With free delivery over €50 I just couldn't resist! I was almost shocked when my packaged arrived on Friday morning (I placed my order on Wednesday night!) and I was so impressed with the postage service. I thought I would get some brushes to begin with and then maybe order some more products in the future! Enjoy :) 

#1 Sigma Round Top Kabuki F82 :

I have seen so many Youtubers and Bloggers give this brush a great review so this was number one on my Wishlist! I have used it twice already and I love it so far. It is so dense and it blends makeup very nicely without absorbing all of the product. I might do an in depth review on this in the future but for now I'm very pleased :) 

#2 Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge :

I was so excited when I saw this product on the website.. I've wanted a Beauty Blender for so long so I thought I would give this a try and see if the sponge application lives up to the hype! I liked the look of the interesting shape and is think this was the item I was most excited to try. I have tried this once so far and I wasn't crazy about the application it gave. I wet the sponge before I used it but it gave quite a sheer application and I felt like it absorbed almost all of my foundation! I did like the shape for getting into corners and I loved the way it blended in my concealer. So for now I have mixed views but hopefully I'll find a way to work with this sponge :)

#3 Sigma Small Tapered Blending E45 : 

Oh my goodness.. I have used this brush twice and I already know that it's going to be one of my favourites! I will definitely be ordering more of these next time I make a purchase from the website. It is amazing for getting right into the crease and giving a precise blend. I am so impressed with this brush! 

#4 Sigma Performance Blending E36 : 

This brush is a lot smaller in real life than I expected it to be! It is not very dense and it has hardly any bristles. However, it is excellent for precise blending like under the eyes! I don't know if I would buy another one of these brushes but I'm pleased to have this one in my collection :) 

#5 Sigma Duo Fibre Powder/ Blush F15 : 

I was attracted to this brush because of it's shape. I love applying blusher with a duo fibre brush and I was really interested by this rounded tip one! I used this today and it it was so perfect for blusher.. It is the perfect size to apply to the whole apple of the cheek while giving a diffused, blended look! I don't think I would use this for powder because it wouldn't give enough coverage for me but I would definitely recommend it for blusher :) 

Thank you so much for reading :) 

Love Shannon x

Makeup Wishlist/ To buy list :)

Hi guys :) 

I've recently been making a list of products that I really want for myself and my make up kit. I thought I'd share them with you all and see if you had any thoughts :) Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on these soon.. I've wanted some of them for years! Enjoy :) 

#1 MAC Blusher (Frankly Scarlett) :

I heard Tanya Burr or "pixi2woo" talk about this in a few of her videos and I thought it looked so amazing on the skin! I have read some reviews and they're all positive so I'm looking forward to having this in my collection! 

#2 Sigma Synthetic Kabuki Kit : 

Once again, I have heard and read so many reviews on these brushes and it's clear that people love them! These look like a more dense version of the Real Techniques 'Buffing Brush' (which I LOVE!) so I'm really excited to try them out. I want to get the full set of the larger brushes so I can try out the different shapes because I don't own anything like them already! 

#3 The Original Beauty Blender : 

I follow them on Instagram, I look up reviews almost everyday, I NEED one of these! I'm so interested in trying a sponge to apply make up instead of a trusty old brush. Nobody has a bad thing to say about this product! I've wanted a Beauty Blender for about six months now but it's just so hard to get my hands on one in Ireland :(

#4 Make Up Forever Flash Palette :

I have wanted this for absolutely ages.. Almost two years I think! It just seems to be so versatile and I've heard that the staying power is excellent. The reason I have put off buying this is because of the price. It's just a lot of money to pay for one product but one day I will give in!

#5 Lime Crime Babette Lipstick :

I don't own any Lime Crime lipsticks but this will definitely be my first purchase! This seems to be one of the most popular colours and it looks quite unique. Looking at swatches of these lipsticks, they look very opaque. Hopefully I'll be able to do a review soon :)

Thank you so much for reading! If you have any recommendations of some drugstore products please leave them below :) 

Love Shannon x

[instagram : @shannonbowes]

Review : Beauty Uk High Brow

Hi guys :)

I decided to do a review on this brow definition kit after using it for about two weeks. I bought it in Superdrug for £3.99 (I think!). I'm not sure if it's available worldwide though.. I'm sorry!

I really like this product.  I've been lusting after the HD brows kit for about three years now but I just can't seem to get my hands on it :( So when I heard about this I had to give it a try! 

I was watching a video thepersianbabe had on YouTube and when she compared it to the HD brows I couldn't get to the drugstore quick enough! The kit comes with three brow powders, a wax, a tweezers and a double ended brush (one side is angled and the other is squared). 

Light brown powder : 

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I love the brow powders. The formula is quite creamy and not powdery at all. The lightest colour is the least pigmented of all three colours. I love using this to fill in the front of my brows because it makes it so easy to create an ombré effect. 

Medium brown powder : 

I'm most impressed with this colour! I usually find that all drugstore matte brown colours are very warm and they tend to make the eyebrows look quite red but this one is definitely more cool toned. I use this powder to fill in the rest of my eyebrow. It's very easy to work with and it has great pigmentation. 

Dark brown powder : 

This is the most pigmented powder in the whole kit. It's very dark brown - almost black in colour. I sometimes use this to outline the arch of the brow but only when I wear a full face of makeup as it makes the eyebrows look too harsh. 

I love the range of shades that come with this kit and I think it's amazing value for money. I don't have any other kits like this so I can't compare but I definitely recommend giving it a try! I think this will be a firm favourite for a long time :) Thank you so much for reading! 

Love Shannon x

[Instagram : @shannonbowes]