Giorgio Armani Ecstacy Lip Lacquer Shade 502 Boudoir Review

Hi Everyone!
Hope you all are well :)

Yesterday marked the launch of the Ecstacy Lip Lacquer range from Giorgio Armani. I received this product prior to the release date and have been putting it through its paces over the last week or there about. First off the press imagery that accompanied the product, simply stunning. I've tucked it away in a drawer that contains my makeup books and other clippings that I have collected over the years. If I am ever feeling stuck in a rut or uninspired its the first drawer I reach for. That aside, lets get on to the actual product itself!

For me, the packaging alone gets a solid 10/10. I like how subtle the design is, the brand name isn't largely printed on the packaging instead the Armani logo is situated at the opening of the tube. I love the sleekness of the tube also. Each tube is black but the black fades gradually into the colour of the product that is contained inside. 

There are an impressive eighteen shades in the collection in total. Ten intense lacquered/varnish shades and eight shades that have a metallic finish to them. I own shade '502 Boudoir' which is one of the metallic shades in the line. I'm not a huge fan of lip products that contain tonnes of shimmer or that have the wet look finish to them so I wasn't sure if this was going to be my cup of tea.

I swatched it on my hand before I applied it to my lips and I was blown away by the pigmentation alone. This pink/rose toned shade is so vibrant and gives off such a lovely sheen.

As I'm tilting my hand towards the light now, you can see the glittery particles a little better. I don't think my photos do the product justice, the shine is extreme and there are lots of different tones running throughout the glitter, mainly gold though.

After I had taken my product shots for this blog post I went to remove the lip lacquer off of my hand. I used a makeup wipe and the above photo was the end result, it didn't budge. The lip lacquer is a gloss-stain hybrid, as a result to remove the product you will need an oil based makeup remover. After I had swatched it on my hand I felt this product could be promising so I tested it on my lips next!

This product is buildable due to its formula, most of the times that I wore this lip lacquer I just applied two layers and that was enough for me. If you apply one layer it will give you a light stain, the more layers you apply the more glossy the lips will appear. The doe foot applicator has a slight curve to it making the product a little easier to apply which is always a good thing. Even though its a glossy product its not really sticky, it just has an ever so slight tacky texture but it isn't uncomfortable. In fact quite the opposite really, its very comfortable on the lips and isn't drying in the slightest. Another thing I noted was that it doesn't have a scent, which will be a big plus for some of you out there.

I'm not keen on the metallic finish. I find the particles separate and clump together on the lips. If you click on the above photo and enlarge it you might be able to see where the lacquer has clumped on the top lip. The particles stick together and I just find that this gives the lips a bit of a patchy appearance. I do love the formula though, the lip lacquer is extremely long lasting and it doesn't suck the moisture out of your lips. The lips stay nice and glossy throughout the day lasting a solid 7 hours with eating and drinking. 

As this is a Giorgio Armani product it does come at a price, the Ecstacy Lip Lacquers retail at €31.50 each. Really the only thing I don't like about this product is the fact that its a metallic finish, I'm just not keen on the glitter particles in the lacquer. I'd absolutely love if this came in a matte finish because the formulation of the product is fantastic, even the varnish/lacquer shades sound a bit more promising! But unfortunately, I'm not a fan of their metallic range.

The Ecstacy Lip Lacquer range is exclusively available from Brown Thomas Dublin, Cork or Limerick or from www.brownthomas.com, which you can find a direct link to here.

Chat soon!

Eimear x

Urban Decay Matte Revolution Lipstick After Dark

Hi Everyone!
Hope you all are well :)

I recently had a look back on the posts that I've written and I noticed I've only reviewed a lipstick once a year since I started my little blogging adventure. I had never realised this before and its strange because I have drawers filled with every kind of lip product that you can think of! In light of this, today marks the day that the annual lipstick post is no more. Expect plenty of lipstick, lipliner, lip lacquer, lipgloss, lip treatment reviews for the foreseeable haha!

First up today I have this gorgeous Urban Decay Matte Revolution Lipstick in the shade 'After Dark' to show you all. I was sent this to try out maybe a couple of months ago or so now. I had never tried an Urban Decay lip product before so I was curious to see how this product would perform.

Starting with the packaging as always, the Matte Revolution Lipstick range is contained within this pearlescent black casing with the brand name etched onto the body of the case. There is a sticker on the base of the lipstick that clearly shows the colour of the product contained inside. This is helpful for those of you out there like myself that have a tonne of lipsticks to their name. Storing the lipstick with the label facing upward makes it easy to pick out among the sea of lipsticks currently in my collection. 

I'm not one to only wear certain colours depending on the Season, if I like a shade i'll wear it all year round regardless of what time of the year it is. I know everyone isn't like that though. After Dark is a gorgeous berry pink shade, perfect for those of you that enjoy wearing something a little darker for the Autumn/Winter months.

I suffer from dry lips all year round and due to this, prepping the lips prior to the application of a matte lipstick is essential. I exfoliate my lips, apply the La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume, leave that to work its magic for about half an hour and then I blot away the excess product. 

The range is marketed as a matte lipstick range but when I swatched the colour on the back of my hand I thought otherwise. It's definitely not fully matte, its quite creamy so I would say its more true to a satin finish.

I always line and fill in my lips with a lip liner before I apply any lipstick but when I'm trialling a lip product I skip that step in order to get a true feeling for how the product performs. I did find that the shape of the lipstick bullet actually made it quite easy for me to shape my lips. The lipstick itself glides onto the lips with ease and is highly pigmented.

On the day that the before and after pictures were taken, I applied the lip colour at 8am and I didn't remove the lipstick until 8pm that evening.  

Just applied: 8am

End of day: 8pm

Just applied: 8am

End of day: 8pm

Now, I don't know about you but I think thats pretty impressive. There is no denying that the lasting power of this lipstick is fantastic. I couldn't believe the wear time and along with that the lipstick felt very comfortable on the lips it wasn't drying in the slightest. Naturally I was eating and drinking during the day, I noticed that the lipstick did transfer onto cups but it didn't smear or bleed throughout the day. 

12 hours later the lipstick still looks pretty good. Yes, it has faded but it has left behind a nice even stain to the lips which sometimes isn't the case if you don't fill your lips in entirely with a lip liner before applying a lipstick.

Overall, I can't recommend this product enough. There are numerous other shades in the range so if this particular shade doesn't tickle your fancy, don't worry there are plenty of others to chose from. The Urban Decay Matte Revolution Lipsticks will set you back €19 a pop and I think they are worth every penny.

Urban Decay is available from Debenhams; debenhams.ie. For a direct link to the range you can click here. Also available from House of Fraser.

Have you tried out any of the lipsticks from the range?

Let me know!

Chat soon,

Eimear x

Retro Pin Up Makeup

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all are well :)

Sorry there was no tutorial on Wednesday, I'm still sick at the moment and I wasn't able to record one. Todays tutorial is in collaboration with Gosh cosmetics, I created this really nice retro pin up style makeup look.

Its one of my go to makeup looks when I'm in a hurry, once you get the hang of the winged liner its very quick and easy to do! 

Products Used

Face

Gosh X-Ceptional Wear Foundation '11 Porcelain'

Gosh Click n Conceal Concealer '04 Anti Redness'

Gosh Natural Blush Box '36 Rose Whisper'

Gosh Bronzing Powder 'Natural Glow 02'

Lips

Gosh Waterproof Velvet Touch Lip Liner 'Simply Red'

Gosh Velvet Touch Lipstick 'Lambada'

Eyebrows

Gosh Eyebrow Kit

Eyes

Gosh Matte Duo '001 Brown Base'

Gosh Matte Duo '002 Melting Pale'

Gosh Matte Duo '003 Darn n Dusty'

Gosh New Intense Eyeliner 'Black'

Gosh Growth Mascara 

If you would like to see how I created this look then just click on the play button below :) Hope you enjoy!

Eimear x

Festive Fun: Christmas Party Makeup

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all are well :)

Today I bring to you the very first of my Christmas makeup tutorials for the party season. Once December is upon us then I will decorate my YouTube background for the tutorials! I just couldn't bring myself to do it in....

 November

am I a grinch? oops!

Recently I popped into the Body Shop to check out their Christmas range and I came across the most beautiful eyeshadow palette, I just had to pick it up!

The shadows are simply perfect for the party season, anyone who is a fan of neutrals will get use out of it all year round...I know I will! 

Beside where the eyeshadow palettes were stocked there was a couple of red lipsticks on display, you can never have enough red lipsticks so I bought that too! No Christmas look is complete without a pop of red, right? :)

4 Step Smoky Eye: Smoky Brown

I will have a full review up of the palette once I play around with it a bit more but so far I adore it! Here is the look I created recently :)

The colours are so flattering on all eye colours in particular blue and the shimmer off the shadows is something gorgeous!

To finish off the look I used '101 Colour Crush' from the Body Shop. Its such a beautiful glossy shade of red and the staying power is fantastic, I can't fault it!

If you would like to see how I created this look then just click on the play button below :) Hope you guys enjoy!

Eimear x

Purple Rain Makeup Tutorial

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all are well :)

Exams are looming so this might be the last tutorial I have up for the next couple of weeks......wait.

Who am I kidding?

I'd rather do anything than sit down and study.

I usually record more tutorials around exam time purely to avoid study haha fail!

Anyway, today I came up with this makeup look :)

I suppose some would consider it more of a gothic makeup look, I'm not really sure what I was going for but I like the end result!

Products Used:

Eyes

Avon Eyeshadow Primer

Inglot Matte 352 (cream shade)

Inglot Matte 357 (light brown)

Sleek MakeUp 681 'Fantasy' Eye Dust

Inglot Matte 63 (black)

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Pencil 'Empire'

Mally Beauty Volumizing Mascara

Hard Candy Ginormous Length Volumizing Mascara

Face

Avon Ideal Flawless Foundation 'Classic Ivory'

Blank Canvas Cosmetics Contour Palette #1

Sleek MakeUp Contour Kit 'Light'

Inglot Blush Amc 63

Lips

Inglot Soft Precision Lip Liner 61

I cannot get the other lipsticks out of the palette to tell you the numbers of them :( If anyone knows how to get them out without wrecking the lipsticks please let me know! I've tried scissors, tweezers, knifes etc!

If you want to see how I created this makeup look then just click on the play button below!

Thanks a million for tuning in :)

I'll see you in my next post!

Eimear x

Nyx Vlogger of the Month: Simple Smokey Eyes with a Statement Lip

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all are well :)

As I said in the video this is the final tutorial as part of the 

Nyx Vlogger of the Month...and what a month its been!

I've received nothing but brilliant feedback I'm so delighted you all enjoyed the reviews and the last tutorial too :)

 I really appreciate all of your lovely comments!

I decided to do a Simple Smokey with a Statement Lip.

I've realised I rarely wear bold lip colours in my tutorials, which is a bit silly seeing as I love a vampy lip!

Also I realise I do a lot of colourful eye makeup looks which may not suit everyone so I decided on doing a simple smokey eye but paired it with the bold lip so I'd be satisfying all of my subscribers :)

Unfortunately the weather has been quite bad here in Ireland, no surprise there! So I do apologise for the lighting in this video, its a little off.

This was my third attempt at recording this tutorial.

That along with the fact that I didn't actually get time to snap any pictures of the finished look. I just had time to finish recording the tutorial before it got dark :(

The products I used today were:

Eyes

Nyx Jumbo Pencil 'Milk'

Nyx Makeup Artist Kit

Nyx Satin Finish Black Liner BEL03

Mally Volumizing Mascara Duo

Face

Avon Ideal Flawless Foundation

Blank Canvas Cosmetics 6 Contour/Blush Palette: Face Powder

Nyx Makeup Artist Kit: Bronzer and Highlighter

Lips

Nyx Retractable Lip Liner MPL16 Plum

Nyx Makeup Artist Kit: Plum Lip Colour

Click on the play button below if you would like to see the tutorial :)

Thanks for tuning in guys!

Eimear x

Eos Lip Balm Review

After longing over these lip balms for yonks, I have finally got my hands on them!

This month my Mams friend was coming to visit from America and told me she would pick me some makeup to bring over. Obviously I said yes! So along with the foundations, brushes, eyeshadows etc I asked her to pick me up a couple of Eos Lip Balms. The two I chose were:

• Eos 'Sweet Mint' Lip Balm (right)
• Eos 'Summer Fruits' Lip Balm (left)

I am a huge fan of anything that smells good. Perfume, candles, lip balms you name it. If it smells good i'll have it, and these lip balms smell absolutely devine!

I could smell the 'Sweet Mint' lip balm before I even unscrewed the top. Now due to this I do feel that some people might find it a little overpowering. But because I love mint flavoured/scented things it isn't a problem for me, I love it! If you want a lipbalm with a hint of flavour I'd definitely recommend the Summer Fruits lip balm, the smell/flavour is alot more subtle.

The consistency of the lip balms is really nice, they glide smoothly over the lips. I often have very dry lips which is annoying for a makeup artist. I love to wear a bold matte lip and when I have dry lips I simply cant. The lipstick seeps into the cracks on my lips and its not a good look by any means!

So its important for me to find a lip balm which is very moisturising. The Eos lip balms are just that. After applying the Sweet Mint lip balm my lips are left feeling cool and refreshed. I have noticed that there is a difference between the two lip balms. I'm really unsure as to why the formula is different?

I find that the 'Summer Fruits' lip balm can feel a little waxy on the lips. Which is why I tend to reach more for the 'Sweet Mint' lip balm.

The lip balm is long lasting I may have to apply a couple of times throughout the day. But that is a given with eating, drinking etc. Overall it smells good and tastes good too! :)

The packaging is absolutely adorable, not your standard lip balm packaging. This was the first reason I was drawn to the lip balm, I love the unique egg shaped packaging! Its very easy to find in my handbag too, I don't have to root around for ages to find it. Big plus there! The only thing is that it gets grubby quite easily. More so the Sweet Mint lip balm, as it is a pale turquoise shade.

I don't feel that the packaging is too bulky. I'm actually glad it is a little larger than other lip balms as I constantly forget to take them out of my pocket and they end up taking a spin in the washing machine :( 

I'm glad my Eos Lip Balms wont have to suffer this fate haha!

Price wise, as I said my mams friend brought me the lip balms over from America.

They were $2.96 each. Up until recently you could not buy these lip balms in Ireland. An Irish Beauty website called Beauty Emporium now stocks the lip balms. They retail at €6.25c each. 

You can purchase them from Beauty Emporium here.

Have you tried any of the Eos Lip Balms? If so, let me know your favourites! :)

Overall

Pros

• Smells Nice
• Long Lasting
• Unique Packaging
• Quite Moisturizing

Cons

• 'Summer Fruits' has a waxy consistency  
• Packaging gets dirty easily