All about Base : Note BB cream

I've been really wanting to try Note luminous moisturising foundation for a while now so when I finally found a local stand I was delighted. I'd also seen a couple of good reviews about the BB cream  and the prices were so reasonable I picked up both. I'm not exactly sure but I think they both came to under €25. I am not one for BBcreams more of a get me the fullest coverage foundation that exists kind of gal.
My hopes were raised a little higher when the girl serving me asked had I used it before followed by telling me that I would love it and that it's amazing!
It comes in 3 shades , I bought shade 1 . I'm a nc20 in Mac and this is a great shade for summer but might be a touch dark in winter so I'd say it's a 20/25 for shade.

I can't say I know a huge amount about BB creams, I bought and used the garnier one a few years ago when it came out and it was fine I had young skin and it was like a glowy tinted moisturiser.
This isn't like that it's a complete game changer for me. I cannot believe how much coverage and longevity I can get from something that isn't foundation!
I would class it as a medium to full coverage but it's so light and comfortable on my skin. I've been having no issues with any flaky skin and It's so natural and healthy looking.
I tried a few different ways to put it on hands, silicone sponge, regular sponge,  f20 etc but in the end I found my duo fibre stipple brush was the best way to apply and it gives a really natural light coverage of the BB cream.

One of the days I was wearing it I was going somewhere that I really needed it to last with coverage for me so I dusted some mineral foundation over it and it lasted beautifully.
It makes a couple of promises which in my opinion it absolutely delivers on.
1. Evens skintome and enlightens ✅
2. Diminishes imperfections and removes appearance of dull skin ✅
3. Helps to conceal fine lines, yes and my lines are a bit more than fine! ✅
4. Healthy looking skin in one step 😀✅
Along with all of this it has SPF 15, I genuinely think my sun damage level on my face would be really high (it's not I had a skin analysis with Bioderma recently, post coming soon) if it wasn't for SPF in foundations.
This is the base to choose for sunny summer days when you want seriously good coverage and staying power without using anything too heavy.
I've been really impressed with anything I have tried from note so far I'm hoping to pick up a few more bits from the range really soon .
If your looking for a local stockist they post regular updates on their Facebook and reply really quickly too  https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1641655356147324&ref=content_filter
   I will have a full post soon on the luminous moisturising foundation coming in the next week or so. 

Brand Spotlight : Catrice

I've been trying a few bits out from Catrice lately and have been so impressed that I went on a bit of a splurge and bought almost everything they make except of course for the really cool looking gel cushion eyeliner which I don't seem to be able to get anywhere! 

I'm focusing on just a small amount of what I bought today  I just couldn't post about it all and I didn't choose favourites just grabbed what was first to hand. I have the HD foundation but have it ear marked for another post and the other bits might feature at some point too. 

First up the prime & fine tub, this is a mousse type primer that really reminds me of the clarins perfecting touch which was the first primer I ever owned. It evens out my skin and acts like a filler in my wrinkles giving me a lovely smooth surface to start with. This was € 5.49

Next I got the make up lightening drops I haven't used these extensively yet but picked them up because I have a double wear that's a shade too dark. They lightened it great but changed the texture slightly so not sure if that would impact on the application but for €3.95 it's a brilliant way to avoid throwing away product. I had wanted to try the darkening too but they were out of stock. 

I've always used the camouflage concealer in the little tub from Catrice so I wanted to give the liquid camouflage a try. I absolutely love it, it's managed to get the same coverage as the tub with a great liquid texture that lets your foundation go on really easy over and it's only € 3.95

I got the precision brow pencil after seeing it on lovely girly bits snapchat. It's so teeny I can't believe how thin it is and it does a fantastic job at filling in brows. It's  going to be a staple for me and I am already onto my second one retails at € 2.99

No haul is complete without lipstick. Catrice are well on trend with these ombré lipsticks I got them in shade rockabilly rosewood and not expired yet  . The rockabily rosewood is really wearable for everyday and the not expired yet is a really dramatic pop of colour for an occasion. Retailing at €5.50 

Well done Catrice really good quality at such bargain prices I'm definitely hooked! 

I ordered all my Catrice products from Inish Pharmacy and they came so quickly and no delivery charge because I spent over €40 (I think) also got a 5% discount which popped up while I was shopping. 

No samples in post. 

Shop for beauty :budget beauty technic

Hi all sorry for the lack of consistency with posts lately but baby sparkle will be arriving very soon and is already keeping me very busy!

Todays post is a collaboration with new website http://www.shopforbeauty.co.uk/ shop for beauty specialises in cheap or i prefer budget makeup. They are stockists of lots of well known makeup brands e.g. max factor and barry m among lots of others.
Today I am bringing you a review of Technic make up from the site.
Technic is the definition of budget make up its price point is very low and so Its definitely accessible to all, I dont normally go this budget with my make up but was pleasantly surprised with it in particular with the eye shadow palette, read on below for my thoughts.

Technic Matte 6 eyeshadow palette £2.29

http://www.shopforbeauty.co.uk/technic-matte-6-eyeshadow-palette.html

the palette consists of nude, pink and brown shades. Its probably the kind of palette that will appeal to everyone and that everyone should own one of as the neutral colours are so wearable.
To my surprise the pink a colour I wouldnt normally even try was my absolute favourite. It is a really soft powdery pink and looks absolutely gorgeous as a base all over shadow. The browns allow you to add definition over the base pink or nudes and as there are 3 different shades to choose from you can create a day to more dramatic night look all with the same palette. The palette comes with a double ended applicator which I didnt use, I am just not a fan of them I always use brushes and probably wouldnt even be able to attempt application without one!

The best thing about this palette is most definitely its value for money price It is ridiculously low priced for the quality and range that it does allow. On my testing It wore from 8am until about lunchtime 2pm which for a palette costing only £2.29 gives serious lasting in my opinion.

Technic Cheek sculpt contour blusher and brush rosy £2.95

http://www.shopforbeauty.co.uk/technic-cheek-sculpt-contouring-blusher-brush-rosy.html

I have to admit that I never really got into contouring and the little that I did do is the type this provides!

a bronzer for underneath cheek bones and a blush for the apples of my cheeks!
The blush comes with a flip up mirror and a little brush thats really useful for sticking into your handbag for on the go. The colours of the blush are very subtle so definitely for more of a daytime look. Its probably best for a young teenager just starting to get into make up but again at the price of £2.95 it wouldnt be out of place in anyones makeup bag.

Technic Slanted Blusher Brush £2.95

http://www.shopforbeauty.co.uk/technic-slanted-blusher-brush.html

the final product I reviewed was the slanted blush brush, a bargain at £2.95. this is a synthetic brush and for a budget brush Its actually quiet nice. the brush is really soft and again ideally suited to a young teens first makeup kit. The only slight negative is that you have to use a bit more product than normal as the brush dosnt pick it up as well as others.

Check out http://www.shopforbeauty.co.uk/ for lots of other fab budget beauty buys. I love doing budget beauty posts and hope you have enjoyed this one. Im really hoping to be back with another one really soon x

Christmas Party ready with Naked 3

Hi Everyone delighted to welcome you to this really exciting collaboration with House of Fraser and Urban Decay. I will be creating a really quick Christmas party make up look with the *Naked 3 palette. Let me start off by saying that I am not a makeup artist and don't claim to be amazing at applying makeup but I do love it very much and so what I am aiming to do here is create a look that is simple and quick but effective and pretty.

The whole look is created using only the shadows and brush from NAKED 3 along with some liquid eyeliner and mascara. 

The first step was to prime eyes with urban decay eyeshadow primer potion which comes with the NAKED 3 palette, I used original for this look. 

I then covered my whole lid as far as browbone in shade strange. 

Next step was to create a cut crease type look by using shade nooner you can also place this shadow higher on the eye than I have done to create a more dramatic look. 

I then filled in my eyelid with shade buzz a lovely deep rose shade with a little sparkle. 

Next up I lightly blended all of the shadow using shade dust so I could add a little Christmas sparkle to the look. 

I then finished off the look with liquid eyeliner, some mascara and urban decay lipstick in shade anarchy. 

The best thing about this look is how versatile it is you can switch any of the shades for others e.g if you want to create a more dramatic and defined look you can use blackheart in the crease and limit on the lid blended over with dust for sparkle. 

The Urban Decay NAKED palettes are available from House of Fraser stores and online at www.houseoffraser.co.uk priced at £37. 

What are your favorite shades from NAKED 3? 

*Collaborative Feature

Budget Face In Products Part 1

Welcome to my brand new blogpost series! I really enjoyed doing my face in products series and I knew I wanted to do something similar again so I began brainstorming and came up with a budget version. I have planned for this series start to coincide with my 1 month blogiversarie! And I plan on posting a new post from this series every Friday for the next 5 weeks. Every face of the series will come in complete at under €20 (or very close to it!) and in most cases much much less.

The majority of the products I'm using for this are really new to me and so I am trying to push myself to experiment with the make up in ways I wouldn't normally. Some of the products have been kindly sent to me by the brands, my opinion on these products are my own and I will place a * beside these products. 

For my first installment I have created a daytime casual make up look using only 4 products and all coming in at the budget price of €15.44.

First up was my base Wet n Wild Cover All Foundation. In the interest in keeping the final look as budget friendly as possible I haven't used any concealer or powder to set this. This foundation claims to be medium to high coverage and I'd go more toward the medium, it took a lot of product to cover my face two squeezes to be exact. The consistency is good a little on the watery side though. It was easy enough to apply this look was done with a stipple brush but I later tried it with a sponge and that was way better. I used shade light/medium and I'm a mac nc 20-25 just for reference.  This foundation comes in at €4.99 and for that price it's ok for a daytime base. 

The second product I used was Make up revolution blush. This was in shade  treat, it's a deep coral/pink colour and at €1.20 it's perfect for adding a pop of colour. 

Next up is * W7 soufflé mascara in Blackest black. As those of you who read my blog will know I'm very fussy when it comes to mascara as it's not just any mascara that will make my lashes well look like lashes! 

This mascara has a really big thick brush that reminds me of the brush from Benefit BadGal. 

The BadGal is silver, soufflé is blue. You can see here just how similar they are.

 It goes on easy feels light and leaves lashes really nicely defined. It's light enough to do up to 3 coats which leaves lashes really full and defined. In my opinion this is a definite dupe for Benefit BadGal mascara and a steal at only €6.25. 

Finally I pushed myself a little for this I used Makeup Revolution focus & fix eyebrow kit. I used this on my brows but this kit has 3 different shades for brows so I also used this kit for today's eye make up. I used the lightest and darkest shades for my eye look and the middle on my brows. The lasting time wasn't amazing on my eyes but it may last longer with primer. At €3.00 it is perfect for a multi-tasking handbag essential. 

As always find my before ( it was very very early) and after selfie . 

I hope you loved this post and are as excited about the new series as I am. 

As always find me on twitter @clareken86 

And Instagram : sparkleblossombeauty

Sparkle Blossom Beauty Giveaway

Hello SparkleBlossomBeauty followers and welcome to my giveaway! 

Everybody loves free stuff don't they?

So far my giveaway includes SanctuarySpa body Lotion, ELF eye primer, Makeup revolution lipstick, Dermalogica skin renewal booster and a Sanctuary Spa Hairband. 

My plan is to add another few products to this but I'm awaiting the postman to arrive with them so I will just add them later! 

In order to win these beautiful treats you need to follow me.
EDIT: Please enter via rafflecopter below.

You will get 1 entry for following me on twitter @clareken86 

and you can get a bonus entry for following me on bloglovin http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/12505033

This prize is only open to residents of Ireland and the U.K. I hope to do an international at a later date.

The prize will be won when I reach 200 followers on twitter so please RT to your followers. 

Don't forget to check out my blogposts while you are here.

Clare  

         X

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Haul from Make Up Revolution

I placed my first order with www.makeuprevolutionstore.com last week and spent all of this week waiting excitedly and praying for the postman to bring it to me quickly.
I got my package yesterday and eeekkkk was I so excited I couldn't wait to get testing.

My haul included Concealer Palette in light, kajal, cream blush, blush, eyebrow kit, bronzer and 2lipsticks.
First of all I'm very impressed with all the packaging the concealer especially screams high-end and the kajal has a really cool design that I thought was really fun.
Now to investigate each product a little closer ......

First up is Cover & Conceal the concealer palette. I bought this in light and there is a really good variety of shades. There is also the bonus of having a really good sized mirror for application.
I'm 28 so have a lot of use for concealer as my face is not as fresh as it once was boo!! I have pretty dark bags under my eyes, red patches and despite my age still get breakouts on my chin.
I messed around to get the shades right and then applied my make up at 8am, It is now 5:30 and after a hectic day I still look fresh faced woohoo! so It definitely has staying power. The coverage is as good as any concealer I have ever used texture is beautifully creamy not stiff and hard like a lot of these palettes can be. I also tried out (bear in mind I'm a normal person not a make-up artist!) some contouring on my cheeks and It really did work. I'm sure someone who actually knows how to contour properly would be able to do even more amazing things with this palette. This is a definite thumbs up from me.

Next up is the Kajal. Now I have to admit I bought this because I was intrigued by its looks rather than any real intention to use day to day. So when It arrived I was pleased to find It was cooler than I originally thought! It kind of looks like a mix of a lipstick and a crayon fun eh! So when It came to testing It stayed just as good as It looked, the colour transfer was instant very easy to apply and I created a lovely smudged eye line with it which would look fab as part of a smokey eye.

This is the Focus & Fix EYEBROW SHAPING KIT.
I find It hard to get a brow powder in the right shade for my blond brows but the top right colour is perfect for me. This brow kit has all the basics with the addition of a little tweezers for strays. The price is great and its a definite contender to become a staple.

Next up I tested powder Blush in Treat. Its a coral/peachy colour and the packaging is tidy and functional. The colour is a lot stronger than It appears to be so Id advise to use sparingly and build the colour. That makes it my type of blush as I love strong blush and hate when I buy one that has a very light colour. I'd definitely repurchase and try other shades too.

I also got 2 lipsticks one for me and one for an upcoming giveaway Ill be running. The one for me is lipstick in shade dare. This has a slight candy lipstick scent to It when you open It which made me a little unsure. Once I did apply I found this was the most beautiful shade of red and made me feel like a classic Hollywood movie star! The colour was strong and vibrant and It was easy enough to put on though it did drag my lips a little. While It was on my lips felt dry as If the lipstick was sucking all the moisture from them. Considering the cost and how amazing my lips looked I overlooked the dry feeling, which btw was just that once it was off they felt fine again so it did not in fact suck the moisture from my lips!!

Finally my absolute favourite from the haul, the holy grail if you will, Cream Blush in Peach Cream.
Wowzer forget anti-ageing creams this is (in my opinion of course!) youth in a pot. This colour, the texture....... there are no words, but I am a blogger so there are always words! This is the colour I imagine a cherubs cheeks to be, when I put it on my face just glowed and looked so radiant. I honestly think It erased about 5 years off me! The texture is slightly stiff I'd like it to be a little creamier to send It over the edge of perfection.It lasts pretty much all day 8-5:30 and It goes on easily with both fingers and a duo fibre stipple brush, although I preferred the colour my fingers gave. This has made it into my permanent make-up bag and will be making it in to my cart in multiple numbers and a few other shades in my next make up revolution order because there will certainly be a next order. Thank you make-up revolution!