IsaDora Face Sculptor | Review

You know when you find a product you love so much that it's almost like second nature to use it? You don't have to think about it at all? This is one of those products. It was kindly gifted to me by IsaDora at an event I attended ages ago and I have been using it non-stop since. That in itself says a lot because I'm a self confessed contour queen and it has literally rendered my drawer full of contour products redundant. My smashbox contour sticks? Haven't used them yet!
The palette itself is a one stop shop for all of your contour/highlight needs. The powders are all highly pigmented and so finely milled that they blend into the skin like butter. You only need to touch your brush off of the product to see how intense the colour pay off is.
There are four variations of the face sculptor palettes available, one to suit nearly every skin tone. 
The one I have is 01 Warm Peach and it couldn't be anymore perfect for me. The warm toned bronze shade is sheer perfection. It's not too orange and it isn't ashy so not only does it create these insanely chisseled cheek bones but it also adds this beautiful, natural sun-kissed glow on the skin.
The peach blush shade is right up my street, I've never been into pinky toned cheek colours opting instead for orangey toned peaches and corals during the summer months and mauve, plum and brown shades for the autumn/winter. 
Finally, you have the champagne highlight shade. It is beautiful, so finely milled that you're left with a this beautiful radiant glow without a trace of glitter. I sweep it along my cheekbones, on the tip of my nose, my cupids bow and on my brow bone and my skin looks glowy and healthy during the day without being at all over the top. Because it's quite a soft focus/candlelit glow, I tend not to use this highlight when I'm going out, instead opting for something slightly more intense like Mary Lou-Manizer from the Balm.
At €25 it is on the pricier end of the scale for a pharmacy brand product but don't let that put you off. I cannot recommend this palette enough, it is worth every cent. I love this palette so much that I may just have to pick it up in another shade. I'm thinking the new 03 Nude Palette which has a cooler toned bronze shade for a deeper contour.

Have you tried any of the other Face Sculptor shades? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Lust-haves #1

1. MAC | Amber x 9 palette - There are few things I like more than a neutral eye shadow palette and MAC have hit the nail on the head with release these x9 palettes. As soon as I saw this one I knew it had to be mine. The compact palette contains 9 warm toned amber shadows with textures ranging from matte to satin to frost. It would be the perfect palette for traveling with the endless colour combinations you aren't restricted to one look for day and one for night. Yes Mac - YES!

2. Narciso Rodriguez | Narciso Perfume - I have Narciso Rodriguez for her already and I love it - It's one of my go to autumn/winter scents. Ever since I smelled this one earlier on in the year I knew I had to have it sooner or later(Karen from Lovely Girlie Bits I blame you). It's a real feminine; floral and slightly woody scent - Perfect for late summer/ autumn. The thought of pairing this with chunky knits in a couple of months is getting me through this disaster of a so-called Summer.
3. Smashbox | Be Legendary Lipstick in Fireball Matte - It's an orangey/red shade, it's matte and it's moisturising. Do I really need to justify this lipstick anymore? It's a show stopper and I need it in my life.
4. Two Faced | Better than Sex Mascara - Admittedly a lot of this is to do with the name, it's a hefty claim to make by any brand. That being said the reviews I have read about this mascara have all been very positive and I haven't splashed out on a mascara in a long time. The fact that you can now buy Two Faced in Debenhams may have swayed me towards it slightly more - consider it bought!
5. Urban Decay | Naked Skin Ultra Definition Loose Finishing Powder - I've said it before and I'll say it again - Urban Decay is my favourite Beauty Brand. Their shade range is second to none, their eyeshadows are like butter and I've been thoroughly enjoying their base products of late. I have all but two products from their naked skin range, this and the powder foundation. I'm not a huge fan of powder/mineral foundations because of my dry skin so I'm too fussed about getting that. This finishing powder on the other hand will undoubtedly be my next makeup splurge. 

So there you have it, just a few of the high-end beauty bits I'm currently lusting after. Are any of these on your lust-haves list?

Brand Focus | Nars

While in Australia what seems like forever ago, I went a little bit crazy and splurged on a tonne of high end cosmetics. Nars and Hourglass namely because they aren't easy to get your hands on here in Cork. I picked up 3 of the most talked about products by the brand and thought I'd share my thoughts overall.

The first product I picked up was the sheer glow foundation. I'm like a magpie when I hear glow, anything that will make my skin look brighter and less dehydrated. And let me just tell you.. It is so worth ALL of the hype surrounding it. It is water based which is great for those with drier skin as it means it won't cling to any dry patches. The name "sheer glow" would lead you to believe the coverage is light but this is very much a medium buildable coverage foundation. Once applied it leaves your skin with the most beautiful healthy glow. For those of you looking for a brighter complexion without it looking "dewy" this foundation is totally worth the splurge. With approximately 20 shades in the range their is literally one to suit everyone. I picked it up in the shade "Deauville" and it is the closest colour match that I've found in a foundation in a long time. 

My one and only gripe with this foundation, is an issue I have with a lot of high end brands -the lack of a pump. I just forked out €40 for this and now you want €5 more for a pump? Ugh - First World Problems!

Next on my list is the cult favourite "Laguna" bronzer. It looks a little dirty in the pan but don't let that put you off. The cooler tone mimic's that of an actual shadow meaning it is perfect for contouring. Think Benefit's "Hoola" with the teeniest hint of shimmer. Not only does it carve out glorious cheekbones, it also gives the skin the most beautiful sunkissed glow without looking caked on.  The fact that it is almost a 2 in 1 product definitely makes spending €38 on it a lot easier to stomach. I have a drawer literally overflowing with bronzers and contouring palettes and this is hands down my go-to favourite since picking it up in December and I haven't hit pan yet *touches all the wood*.

Finally I picked up the radiant creamy concealer in "vanilla". I am a bit of a self-confessed concealer junkie and my addiction has become very apparent in recent months - I want to conceal EVERYTHING. So lets start off by getting any and all misconceptions out of the way first - There is nothing radiant about this concealer. It does not have a luminous finish like that of  YSL's touche eclat for example. This stuff is heavy duty and will hide ALL of your sins. I have tear stains on the outer corners of my eyes, a few broken capillaries around my nose, a little bit of redness on my cheeks and plenty of acne scarring and this stuff hides it like nobody's business. I replaced it with the Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage concealer for a while but I couldn't resist going back to this. I don't know how I ever coped without it. 

Nars is now available from BrownThomas.com which is very dangerous indeed - I will without a doubt be expanding my collection in the coming months. The Audacious lipstick in "Anita" is next on my hitlist thanks to Orla from MakeupOverMind for introducing me. 

Smoothie Bowl | Dessert for Breakfast

I am the worst person for eating breakfast. My stomach just doesn't function that early in the morning. My day generally starts off with a multivitamin and a cup of coffee which keeps me going until about 10:30 or 11. Then I'll have a banana or some corn cakes and peanut butter to take me through til lunch.

It's not a great way to start the day - I know! It's something I'm working on. My research and mild fascination with the vegan lifestyle led me to discover the beauty that is the smoothie bowl. I didn't lie when I said it's like dessert for breakfast. Smoothie bowls taste just like sorbet - packed full of fruit and topped with whatever your heart desires. 

Along with being all kinds of delicious, they kick start your metobolism. Your body has to work quickly, burning excess calories because the cold smoothie is a shock to the system first thing in the morning. Those of you familiar with slimming world will know what I'm taking about when I say that smoothie bowls are known for their "speed" properties.

I've been sharing my smoothie bowl ventures on instagram over the past few days and I'm getting loads of questions about them so I thought I would give you a run down of the basic smoothie bowl recipe I use - the flavour combinations are endless. You can add extra banana if you want your smoothie bowl to be creamier. Don't be put off that it isn't as liquidy as a normal smoothie. It isn't supposed to be, it's designed to be eaten with a spoon. 

Paese | Colours of Summer

Days like today call for bright nails - Am I right? I thought I'd share some of my favourite summer brights from Paese considering the glorious summers day that's in it. I wore them to death on my toes last summer and they are getting even more use at the moment. 
I absolutely adore the consistency of these polishes - It's quite thick without being at all gloopy making them extremely easy to work with. I've had these polishes for close a year now and they are like new each time I apply them.
The colours in the collection are all really opaque so you could get away with a single coat but I always like to apply a second one for good measure.
The lasting power isn't bad, on their own I get between 2-3 days chip free which is all I need really because I like to change up my colour every couple of days. I do however apply a quick layer of Seche Vite over them to speed up drying time because I'm really impatient this also helps keep them chip free for 7 plus days. 
They hold their shine really well too as you can see from the swatches below you get a gel like shine without the need to apply any additional top coat.

ShadesL-R: Turquoise - 348, Orange - 344, Pink - 347

They are priced at a very reasonable €4.95 a piece and available from Cloud10Beauty here.

Insta-Update

Instagram is where it's at. I'm absolutely insta-obsessed and it's the social media site that I am undoubtedly most active on. So I've decided to add a new segment to the blog, a sort of monthly round up/lifestyle post. So you can get to know a little bit more about the girl behind the blog. 

Why not kick start this with a round up of the month of May shall we? 

I've become a bit of a high-end fiend again of late.. So in May I said goodbye to all of my money and hello to loads of new spendy bits that I've been trying out. My latest additions being the Smashbox step by step contour kit AND contour sticks (Expect chiseled cheekbones and a spending ban in the June catch-up - Just an FYI). 

May has also seen the return of my beloved fake tan - I'm totally besotted with the Karora express bronzing mousse in Medium/Dark. I get endless compliments when I wear it, I've even been using it to tan my face which is so unlike me.

I started watching Gossip Girl this month too, I've been binge watching it on Netflix and I'm over half way through season 4. Blair and Chuck are officially my OTP and I have my heart set on New York more than ever before. One of my besties celebrated her birthday this month and threw the most incredible Champagne fuelled brunch and I honestly did think I was Blair Waldorf for all of 5 minutes - Nothing starts the day quite like Mimosas!

And lastly, I've started taking Viviscal in a bid to speed up my hair growth and help improve my hairs health. Is this something anyone is interested in reading in? Should do a review/update post on my progress? 

Come say 'Hi' and stay up to date on instagram @give_a_posy

Charlotte Tilbury | The Dolce Vita

I have lusted over this palette for months.. I mean months and months. Regularly going onto the Brown Thomas website, adding it to my basket but inevitably closing down the tab without clicking on the 'checkout' button telling myself "Not today, you don't need it!" (I know I'm not the only person who does this - don't lie!)

Recently, having saved a few penny's, I bit the bullet and placed a well deserved order - also picking up the Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum foundation but we'll discuss that another day.

On it's arrival, I spent the majority of the day just staring at it, taking photo's of it in all it's unswatched glory. I didn't want to touch it, it was too beautiful.

I mean just look at it. Is it not the epitome of luxury? 

When I finally did swatch it, I fell in love. These shadows are like nothing I have every experienced before. Incredibly buttery, they blend like a dream. They are beautifully pigmented, even down to the champagne "prime" shade. With all of the shades are slightly shimmery the fall out is surprising minimal and whats'more the little bit of fall out you do get is not from the incredible molten gold "pop" shade. 

There is no denying that at €50 it is on the pricier end of the spectrum for an eyeshadow quad but It was worth every cent. I'll definitely be picking up another quad in the future. What I will say is that if you are going to invest in a palette like that, don't go for something experimental. Stick to colours you know and ones you'll get use of.  It would make a wonderful gift, or a present to yourself of course!

Charlotte you and I are going to be great friends.