Gem's November Favourites!

Cannot believe it is the start of December, mine and probably most people's favourite time of year!


However, I am here to talk about last months beauty offerings that I could not keep out of my make-up bag, shower, hand-bag... you get the idea :)

First off is a bit of a splurge item

It is the Jouer Matte Moisture Tint. I purchased this off www.cultbeauty.co.uk. It was 30 pound which is equal to about 36 euro, you do get 50 ml of product though which is a pretty decent size. This product is oil free which is perfect for my oily skin and also has an SPF of 15. It has nearly a gel like consistency. It has a decent amount of coverage for a tinted moisturiser and goes on smoothly with hands or a brush, depending on how much time you have. I find it stays on my skin well (with powder) throughout the day. I purchased the shade linen. My shade in MAC would be NC20.

My next fave is the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer.
                                                 
I feel I am late to the party on this one, as I know many people have tried and loved this product. I bought it on a whim on my lunch break in the local chemist (6.99 euro) and it can be found in most chemists and Boots. It has a doe foot applicator, which isn't my favourite way to use it from a cleanliness point of view, I usually decant onto the back of my hand and use a brush to apply it. I love using this under my eyes. I find it creamy and very easy to blend and does a good job of covering my lovely bags of a morning. I use the shade 010 Ivory.
   
The Real Techniques Expert Face Brush is another one of my favourites this month.

 This brush is great when you are in a rush (which I always am). I use it for primer, base and concealer. It's big enough to get your base done quickly but small enough to blend concealer under your eyes and anywhere else you might need it. It is a dense brush too so it doesn't swallow up all the product. I think I might have to buy a back up. It retails in Boots for approx 13 Euro.


As the festive season is fast approaching I had to add in my favourite red lipstick of the moment, however it doesn't have to be Christmas to rock a red lip :)

I was a complete sucker and bought RiRi Woo in the rose gold packaging (22 Euro) from www.brownthomas.com It is a a beautiful matt red that's not too drying on the lips if you give them a good scrub and a good coat of lip balm before hand. It makes your teeth looks whiter which is an added bonus! It can be used straight from the bullet for a full on red lip or if you want a toned down effect apply a small amount to your lips and rub in with your finger for a more diffused but still beautiful look.

Something that I cannot keep out of my shower at the minute:

 The Nivea In Shower Body Moisturiser.
Here is a full review of this product if you want to check it out on our blog.
You can get this in most chemists and supermarkets and if you're lucky Boots  have it on special alot, for about 4 Euro It usually retails for about 6 Euro for the large size!
I have oily skin. I am in my late 20's and still get zits on my face, like a 16 year old. My body however gives me mixed messages, some of it wants to be oily, some of it likes to be dry. The Nivea In Shower Moisturiser helps my bipolar skin. You use on wet skin in the shower after washing and all that good stuff. You lather it on,wash it off and then dry as normal. I then use normal moisturiser on the parts of my body that need it more!

Finally, these have been a fave of mine this month (since I only bought them this month :) )

                                                                             
They are House of Harlow Sunburst Button Earrings. I bought mine from www.shopbop.com. They cost me around 25 Euro with tax and shipping which I thought was pretty reasonable.They are a medium disc earrings designed by Nicole Richie (daughter of Lionel), with faux leather inside the sunburst. I've had my eye on them ever since I saw Heart from http://www.youtube.com/user/ThatsHeart on Youtube rocking them.They are really good quality, can be worn casually but for me I think they will be kept for special occasions.

So these are some of my loves from the month gone by. Hopefully you'll enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Thanks and enjoy all of the Christmas build up :)

Gemma
 xxx                                                                                                                                                                           

Sarah G Cosmetic Product Review

Sarah Mc Gough is the creator and owner of Sarah G Cosmetics. She is Irish born, living in the UK. I have been a fan of Sarah as a makeup artist for awhile now and have lusted after her products for ages.  So I decided to treat myself after my exams to some of her products. I emailed Sarah and asked which she thought was the most popular products and she very promptly replied to say that "The Face Kit" was by far the most popular and also her mascara and lipsticks were great sellers. So I decided to give them all a go.
Shipping was very fast so I got my products in no time and was dying to try them out. I have them several weeks now but really wanted to give them a thorough testing before I let you all know my thoughts on them. 

Let me start with my favourite, "The Face Kit". It is a really cute little black compact that contains four eyeshadows, a bronzer and a blush. The four shadows are all shimmery and come in the following colours, a champagne colour, a yellow gold, a dark brown with a goldish shimmer and a beautiful charcoal grey. The bronzer is matte which to me is an essential for contouring and the blush is the most amazing shimmery pinkish coral colour. The compact also consists of a large mirror (the full size of the compact) and some brushes which if I am honest I threw away because I don't like the little brushes that come with compacts, I would much rather more product than brushes because I could sell brushes at this stage, but I am sure others would definitely find them useful.

I used "The Face Kit" on the eyes here and also the bronzer and a very small amount of the blush on the cheeks!

I love the choice of colours in this palette. I feel they would be perfect for a simple day look or for a more sophisticated night time smoky eye look. The only thing I did find missing from the palette was a matte brown shade for the crease but me being one for experimenting I used the matte bronzer in the crease as a blending matte shade and it works so well. I actually love the colour as it has a slight reddish tone off it with really compliments my eye colour (you can see this colour in the picture above, just slightly blended over the dark brown shade to add transition from dark to light). The pigmentation of the eyeshadows is amazing. They have fantastic colour pay off and are so creamy to touch and blend effortlessly. The shade I love most is the champagne shade which I love for highlighting under the brow bone and in the inner corner of my eyes. I also adore this for highlighting my cheek bones. These eyeshadows definitely give the more expensive, overpriced brands a run for their money. The bronzer is the perfect shade, its great for contouring but is equally as nice for adding a bronzed glow to the face without looking in any way orange! I am definitely going to have to see if this comes in a full size because I am mad about this product and would love it as a separate compact. And the blush.....what can I say, its just a really pretty, just pinched colour that adds a luminosity to the cheeks. 

TOP left bronzer, right blush. MIDDLE all shadows in order as above and BOTTOM is the charcoal used with damp brush as liner.

I would suggest using an eye shadow primer with these shadows to ensure that they last all day. I have had no issues with them not lasting but I always recommend using a primer with shadows that are very soft in texture as they tend to crease easier on the eyes. The charcoal colour tends to be a little more chalky than the others so a primer will sort this out, also I found wetting this colour works very well as an eyeliner. This "Face Kit" can be purchased for £25 or €29.72 which is amazing value for what you get in this kit.

In my eyes this palette is perfect for travel or for putting in your handbag as you have everything you need for a daytime or evening eye look. You have a bronzer, a blush and a  facial highlighter (the lightest of the eyeshadows)....if you took this on your holidays you would have your eyes, and face completely sorted. All you would need is foundation, powder, lipstick and mascara and any other little extras you might want to bring along with you. 

My next purchase was one of the lipsticks in the shade "107 Pink Lady". This is in my eyes the perfect pink shade of lipstick. I adore Mac's Creme Cup and Chatter Box lipsticks but I find one too light and one too deep sometimes for everyday wear. Pink Lady by Sarah G Cosmetics is a mix of both of these shades. Its not too pale and not too bright, its a very wearable and pretty pink shade. The formulation is creamy and has a lovely sheen to it again making it very easy to wear. Its a very opaque colour which is great because the colour that's in the tube is what you will get on your lips, nothing worse than a lipstick that looks good in the packaging but not as nice on the lips. I would recommend to use a very light coat of balm before applying this as it tends to dry my lips ever so slightly but on the plus side the dryness allows the product to last much longer on your lips than non drying formulations. Sarah G lipsticks are £8 or €9.51.

Sarah G Cosmetics Lipstick Shade 107 "Pink Lady"

I also purchased the "Superlash" Macara in black. I love big wands on mascara as I think they give great volume and this wand is right up my alley. The only problem with this is that its very hard to get in the inner corners of the lashes and also the bottom lashes but I have mastered a technique. When I first got this mascara I found it was very wet and kind of hard to work with because it seemed to clump on the second coat because it was so wet. So I decided to leave it for a few days and go back to it and when I went back to it I was very happy to find that it dried out slightly and now it is much easier to use and I love using it now. The wand really helps add volume to the lashes and it gives great length too when you build it up. It clumps a very small bit but nothing that cannot be sorted by brushing the lashes through with a lash comb. I really like that this mascara is black black and so adds depth and drama to your lashes. A great buy in my eyes! This mascara is £12 or €14.27. 

Sarah G Cosmetics Superlash Mascara in Black

I did also get some glitters and glitter fix but I haven't really used this much but plan to use them alot in the Autumn/Winter so I will be sure to let you all know what I think of them. 

Overall I am very happy with my purchases and I even included "The Face Kit" in my August Favourites as really thats the only thing I reached for when doing my eyes, contouring and cheeks for the month of August...that must say something in itself. All products can be purchased from Sarah's online store or you can visit Sarah G Cosmetics on Facebook. Sarah is so professional and so helpful so if you have any questions for her be sure to ask. She is also a makeup artist in the UK so if you are following my blog from there be sure to check her out the next time you need your makeup done professionally.

I am really excited to see what else Sarah has to offer and will definitely let you all know of any future purchases. 

Have a wonderful day and Love to you all xxxx