Alluring Aquatic - Blush Review

Hi lovelies!

 Last week I made a sneaky stop at my local mac to see what products from the alluring aquatic collection they still had left and I was lucky enough jt pick up this bad boy. This extra dimension blus is absolutely amazing, as a blush it's a deep, dark red/purple colour and I'm absolutely infatuated. I'm notorious for just destroying the pretty designs of the product because I want to get as much product as I can so unfortunately it doesn't look as great as it did at the start but I'm not bothered in the slightest. I've started using this on my eyes as well and it is absolutely phenomenal, I really hope they release more from this collection as I would love to get my hands on a backup of this. 

I also purchased a lipstick from this collection which I'll feature in an upcoming favourite lipstick post.

All in all I've been super impressed by this collection and I can't wait to get my hands on some more of these products!

hope you're all well and happy and filled with sunshine

much love,

nic

xx

Cray Cray for Colourburst

Hi Cuties!

I finally caved and bought the Revlon Colourburst Matte Lipstick Pencil Thingy- and it's official, I'm in love. These are absolutely amazing and definitely live up to the rave reviews. They are super long lasting and moisturising it honestly doesn't feel like I'm wearing lipstick at all. I wore this colour out for dinner last night and 6/7 drinks later my pout game was still on point.

Something that really bugs me though is the colour selection, I badly want to buy more of these but I've swatched all of them and the only one I liked was 'sultry.' The rest of the colours were not appealing to me and to be honest it's the only thing holding me back from buying the whole collection.

I really hope that Revlon sees the value in this formula and expands on the colour range because I would be on that like a rash.

In other news - my youtube channel is officially live & sporting a brown smoky eye grwm so please please go check that out here 

Hope that you're all feeling happy & healthy.

Much love,

Nic xx

Everyday Base Routine

Everyday Base Routine

 Hi Cuties!

Thought I would show you all my everyday products that I pretty much use despite which foundation I'm using or look I'm trying to achieve. 

• Garnier Moisture Match Moisturiser ; for dry to very dry skin - This stuff is an absoloute godsend. I think it retails for about $8 and it lasts for so dang long i highly reccomend trying this out especially if you have those problem dry patches that foundation seems to settle in. 
• Smashbox Photo Finish Colour Correcting Primer - I really do love this for everyday priming just to minimise the redness that i get once i take all my makeup off, it does feel a little oily though so I've made a point to never use it just by itself as the finish isn't super great. 
• Mac Base Luminere Prep & Primer - Holiest of grails. This is so legit. Please go and buy it, spoil your skin with this heavenly primer as it is my favourite thing in the world and I am super keen to start up a fan club for this primer. 
• Neutrogena Makeup Removing Cleansing Wipes - I've pretty much tried every makeup wipe under the sun but these have been my go-to for about 6 weeks now. They stay super moist and don't dry out as I've found a whole lot others to do. Fair warning though, if youre removing your lipstick wipe the product off of your lips immediately after you've taken the lipstick off because it tastes like death. 

These are the products that I use every day and am loving, if you have any more suggestions of fantastic products let me know and I'll be sure to try them out.

Much Love,

Nic 

xx

All Drugstore Errythang

Hi Cuties!

A lot of my drugstore products tend to get overlooked on a day-to-day basis as once I find something I stick to it and at the moment a majority of those products are high-end so I thought I'd show you some drug-store products I'm really enjoying. I did cheat a little as I only have high end setting powders and blushes but apart from that is all drugstore errythang. Let me know if you want any more info on any of the products i mention here and I'll be sure to do that 

Garnier Moisture Match Moisturiser

I'm absoloutely obsessing over this lately - I  have normal to dry skin that I treat as dry/very dry and this stuff is honestly such a godsend. A little goes a super long way and it's become an essential part of my morning routine 

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Primer

I bought this today as I realised I didn't own a single drug-store primer and it's honestly one of the strangest damn things I've ever put on my face. When I squeeze it out of the tube and rub it into my skin it looks like I've just experienced the worst fake tan known to man but the second I pop some foundation over the top it works magic. I don't know how it works, but I'm excited to try it with some more foundations to see how it will hold up in the long run. 

Rimmel Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation

If I'm being honest, matte finish foundations scare the bajeezus out of me. I've rigorously avoided them ever since 2010 saw the eruption of 'sc3ne kids' with cake-faced matte foundation and thick black eyeliner. I understand that's not how it looks and this stuff looks amazing on other people but the fear still remains. Anyways I decided to put on my big girl pants, toughen up and buy a matte foundation. The rimmel stay matte foundation has some amazing reviews from the girls I follow on instagram and I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't super cakey or drying and did leave quite a nice finish on my face. I'm not completely sold yet but I'll give it a few more try's and see how I feel.

Revlon Age Defying Targeted Dark Spot Concealer

I may get shot down for this but I've recently retired my MAC prolongwear concealaer to my 'meh' drawer, I'm finding that no matter what I do it always seems to crease under my eyes and separates on my cheeks like nobodies business. I tried this at my local priceline today and I'm so in love. It's a beautiful light shade which is perfect to brighten up my under eye area and its got such wonderful coverage. If you're chasing a new concealer definitely give this one a go. 

Nyx Matte Bronzer (Medium)

Picked this baby up in Canada and it's beaten out my Stila bronzer as my go-to. It has 0 shimmer or glitter so it's fantastic for a natural finish and blends out so easily. Definitely one of my favourite Nyx purchases to date. 

Wet n Wild Coloricon Eyeshadow Palette

This is such a ridiculously wonderful palette especially considering that it cost me about $4. The colours are beautiful and pigmented and blend out like a dream. I don't own a lot of drugstore eyeshadow but I have this neutral one and a coloured one so I think I'm pretty much sorted for the time being anyways. 

Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil (Milk)

This isn't my favourite eyeshadow base in the world however my MAC paint pot was out of bounds for this look so it got the job done and helped my shadows stay a bit more pigmented

Rimmel Glameyes Liquid Liner

This is ok for the price, the brush is pretty flimsy and it's quite hard to draw a real straight line but it did just fine for this look

Revlon Brow Fantasy

This handy little pencil and gel combo is actually so phenomenal, I really wasn't expecting anything amazing but I've recently fallen in love with a lot of Revlon products so I'm definitely looking to expand on my lil collection. 

Revlon Colourburst Lip Balm (Sultry)

 I really didn't see the fuss with these when they first came out as i assumed like most balms the pigmentation would be god awful but this actually blew my mind. The matte finish is amazing, the colour is awesome and they feel so moisturising and great on the lips. Love love love this.

I did whip out my mac mineralise blush and studio finish powder as I didn't have any drugstore alternatives but all in all I was really happy with the look and I may have to experiment with a few more matte products in the future.

Hope you're all well and happy and sunshine-y

much love, Nic

xx

how-to for glowy full coverage skin

Hi Cuties!

I personally am not a frequent rocker of the full-coverage face, I usually for for a sheer to medium coverage foundation that is enough to brighten my face up and cover any problem areas however I do acknowledge that lots of people do opt for a full coverage look and still want that 'glowy' look so I'm going to give you a little how-to on how I achieved the full coverage dewy makeup look below.

ta-da! please excuse how sleepy i look this was after a night of about 2 hours sleep so definitely was not at my peak of bushy-tailed and bright-eyed-ness

full coverage dewy makeup look tutorial 

• It's super important to always start with a good base for your foundation. I have normal skin and my biggest problem are my problem pores but I treat my skin as if it were dry as I love to keep my skin feeling fresh and hydrated. For my primer I am currently loving the MAC natural radiance illuminating base. (when you go into MAC there are two types of this, one with sparkles and one without, I use the one without sparkles.) I pump two or three squirts of the product onto my fingers and then rub this in all over my face, if i feel that some areas are dryer then others I will apply some more as I go. 
• I then took the Revlon nearly naked foundation in colour 220 natural tan which is the darkest colour they stock (I think) and drew thin lines in the hollows of my cheeks, under of my chin, sides of my jaw, sides of my nose and top of my forehead using my fingers. I used the Real Techniques buffing brush to buff this product into my skin using small circular motions. 
• Using Benefit high-beam liquid highlighter I drew a thick line on the top of my cheeks, middle of my chin, top of my brow bone, middle of the forehead, down the centre of my nose and on the peak of my top lip. I then blended this out with my fingers as I wasn't super concerned about keeping the product in the exact place as i did want an all over dewy glow. 

please note that after i applied each product with my fingers i was cleaning my hand after so that I didn't cross-contaminate my products. 

• I took my L'oreal true match LUMI healthy luminous foundation in colour porcelain/light ivory and dabbed little circles of the product all over my face before stippling them into the skin with my Napoleon Perdis complexion perfection stippling brush 23s using a circular motion to avoid ending up with streaky lines all over my face
• Once i was happy with the amount of coverage i took my Nyx matte bronzer for face and body in colour medium and my Real Techniques contour brush and very lightly applied this in the hollows of my cheeks over where I had previously contoured with my liquid foundation. This bronzer is super pigmented so you really only need to start out with a tiny amount and then you can build from there should you choose. Using my Real Techniques duo fibre face brush i then rigorously blended this out as I am not generally a fan of harsh lines and tend to lean towards a more natural/airbrushed look. 
• To highlight and assist in creating the super dewy look I was aiming for I took my MAC mineralise skin finish pressed powder in colour soft & gentle with my Real Techniques setting brush and lightly applied this over where i had previously applied my liquid highlight. Once again this is a very pigmented product so you only need to get a tiny bit on your brush and you should tap the excess off of the brush before you put the brush to your face. 
• Using the Real Techniques powder brush I applied the Stila set and correct baked powder trio as a finishing powder very lightly all over my face. This product has a gorgeous illuminating finish so I highly recommend it to anyone who was chasing a new setting powder. 

Voila! That is how I achieved the finish shown in the image above. You can really pair this with any eye/lip combo you desire and it is a really diverse look. Please let me know what lip/eye you would pair this with and if you give it a try, let me know how it goes! 

Hope you are all having a wonderful week and feeling fantastic and happy and loved.

Much love - Nic x 

hello hello hello

Hi Cuties!

While looking through my insta I realised that although I'm proud of providing lots of information under my pictures for my followers, it may not necessarily be something that everything wants to see. 

As a result I am going to shorten my insta posts to be short and sweet and do in-depth reviews, and swatches as blog posts here instead. I do use a whole array of products both high-end and drusgtore and love giving my opinions on the things I put in and on your face as the best way to learn more about this kind of thing is to get up and involved with the makeup community as it really is filled with lovely and helpful people who I completely adore. 

This will be a beauty based blog focusing mostly on the makeup side of things. My training comes all from experience at the moment however I am beginning my first course when i get back from Vancouver in mid-may so I will keep you all updated during the course of that so that we can all learn together.

If there is anything you would like to see or you have any questions/comments/concerns please do not hesitate to get in touch either via this or various other mediums such as,

 my instagram - @makeupbynicoleee 
my email - ntownrow@outlook.com

Hope you all have the most lovely weekend and I'll speak to you soon.

much love - Nic x