Best Eyebrow Products & How to fill in your eyebrows using pencil & gel

Hi guys !

This post is gonna be all about the BROWS !

Eyebrows have been one of the biggest trends in make up lately and I know that not many of us have been as blessed as Cara Delevingne, but the make up industry has us spoiled with many fantastic products that can transform the thinnest and smallest eyebrows into bold and defined brows.

Personally, I am obsessed with having super defined and neat brows as I think that they are one of the most important features and the shape of the eyebrows can really enhance your appearance and frame the face.

Over the last few years I have tried tons of eyebrow pencils, setting gels, powders and markers and there's still many, many more that I want to try ( I have my eyes on the Anastasia Beverly Hills range & the new Benefit brow shaping products :) ) but I decided to share some of my absolute favourite products that I have been buying over and over again ! 

Ps. All these products are mainly for Blondes, but they are also all available in different shades, for redheads and brunettes :)

#1 Powders 

One of my all time favourite powders for filling in my brows is MAC "Omega" eyeshadow,

It is the perfect Blonde shade, it is a taupe/light ash shade, there's no yellow undertones to it and it suits every blonde hair colour and would also suit redheads. 

My second fave is the Essence Brow Designer Duo ( sorry I can't tell what the shade is as it rubbed off the packaging :( )

I love that it has the light and darker shade as I like using the light shade all over the brow and use the dark shade on the end of the brow for more definition and for a soft, gradient effect.

The pigmentation of the powders is brilliant and the shadows are very nice and soft, so you only need to use a little bit, the Essence Brow Duo is also super affordable as it only costs a few Euros & it comes in 3 different shades, there's a lighter blonde duo as well as a darker one for brunettes ( my one is a taupe/light brown duo ), there are also brow stencils included and a small slanted brush to help with filling in the brows on the go.

I love using powders for a very soft and natural finish and they are very easy to use and help to fill in all the gaps if you have thin, sparse brows.

#Pencils

I've tried literally about 30 different eyebrow pencils, yet these are the ones that I keep coming back to.

My all-time favourite have to be the Essence Brow Designer pencils, My favourite shade is 04 Blonde. It is the darker, blonde shade. 

I've tried MAC, Dior, Maybelline, Rimmel and many other high-end & high-street brow pencils, but NONE of them compare to this pencil which costs less than €2 !

The Essence eyebrow pencils are soft enoughthat you don't have to put too much pressure on it to create a sharp and defined brow and hard enough not to have the product crumble down your face as some of the pencils have done on me many times before !
There's no waxy texture, just pure perfection. I don't think I will ever say enough good about this eyebrow pencil as no words could describe my love for it !

I will CRY if it ever gets discontinued :(

It used to come in 4 shades, blonde, 2 brown shades and a black colour, but they have recently come out with the lighter shade called 05 Soft blonde, which is lighter than my 04 Blonde,

I thought I'd like the lighter shade more, but I really do just love the 04 Blonde ! 

Another really good pencil, that I have re-purchased is by No7 and it is one of their Beautiful Eyebrow Pencils. I was very sceptical at first, as I am not mad about the No7 range , but I was very impressed with it, I have first purchased it with one of the Promo Vouchers that are handed out in Boots sometimes, that entitle you to a few €€s off the No7 purchase, but I have since bought this pencil for the full price, since I really liked it ! It is more on the yellow side of the Blonde, but it really looks nice, the texture is very similar to the Essence pencils, but it does have a slight waxy feel to it, it has the spoolie brush on the other end which comes handy to brush the brows through while filling them in. 

 And last one of my fave pencils has to be this Retractable Eyebrow pencil from MAC in "Fling"

I don't have one of these on hand at the moment as I simply find it too expensive ( around €18 for 0.09g of product ! ) but I do love this pencil.

It is self-sharpening, retractable pencil and what I loved about it was the very small tip of the pencil. It allowed for a full control and made it very easy to fill in every single gap in my eyebrows.

It was super easy to get a defined brow in seconds.

The downside of the product was definitely the price and many times I have twisted too much of the pencil out and it does not twist back in, which sometimes the product would break off and go into waste and in that was it also didn't last me for too long, which for the price, was heartbreaking.

I did re-purchase it a few times thought and I always enjoyed using it & the finish was always satisfying !

#Brow Sets

 After filling in the brows it is very important to set them with a good eyebrow gel to keep the brow hairs in place. 

Eyebrow gels come in a clear form as well as tinted.

I personally prefer the tinted ones as I find that they make sure that there are no nasty, little gaps hidden between my brow hairs.

People with thick and full brows can easily get away with using just the Brow sets rather than filling their brows with powders or pencils etc.

 My favourite brow sets have definitely to be the MAC brow sets. I find that these are the only ones that really keep my brow hairs from dancing around my face all day.

For a few years I have been using the "Beguille" one which has a regular mascara wand (smaller than the actual mascaras though ), but with the recent MAC's collection that was all about the eyebrows, I have discovered the Prolongwear waterproof brow set in "Emphatically Blonde". Straight away I have fallen in love with the teeny tiny brush that allows for a full control when setting the brows. The shade is also lighter than "Beguille" making it more suitable for lighter blondes ( I found Beguille more suitable for Ash toned blondes or dark blondes ).

I'd recommend everyone to invest in one of these as they might be a bit pricey but they will last you for monts if not years as you only need to use a little of the product at the time & trust me, a good brow set will change your life ;) 

  

As well as trying some high-end brow sets I have tried many affordable, drugstore ones and these have to be my faves.

Catrice Lash Brow designer

This is a regular, clear brow gel mascara and it really helps to keep the brow hairs in place.

Essence Guerilla Gardening Eyebrow Mascara

I really love this one in particular as it is tinted and also has tiny fibres added to the formulation making it super easy if you're in a hurry. The little fibres coat your natural brow hairs giving the effect of a thicker, fuller brow. I sometimes wear this on its own if I am in a hurry ass it adds colour and definition to my brows without having to spend time filling in my brows, just one or two brushes through my brows and I am ready to go ! Unfortunately I think this was a limited edition product so it is not available on the regular Essence stands, but you might be able to get it off Ebay or Amazon if you're interested in trying it out :)

Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara

This is also one of my faves, specifically for the brush that it comes with.

The round, ball shaped tip of the brush is brilliant for sculpting out the brows and really setting them in place, it is tinted which is also a bonus.

#Gels

My favourite gel products have to be the MAC Fluidline in "Dirty Blonde" which is the same formula as their fluidline gel liners, but made specifinally to be used on the eyebrows.

I've only started using it recently as I never got the chance to get my hands on them before ( These brow fluidlines are limited edition and the Dirty Blonde shade was always sold out before I even knew they came out :( ) 

I've been using it like everyday since I got it and I AM IN LOVE !

I use it with my MAC 266 small angled brush and the gel formula is waterproof and smudge proof.

It is highly pigmented so a little bit goes a long way.

I love the finish of it as the gel formula allows for a very defined, sharp, clean finish and the brows stay on all day ( I find that the eyebrow pencils tend to fade off a little bit as the day goes by ) !

It is definitely my favourite eyebrow product and I have my eyes on the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrows too as they're supposed to be just as good !

The next eyebrow gel product is the MAKE UP FOREVER Aqua Brow.

It is a waterproof Eyebrow Corrector which comes in a tube.

Mine is in a shade #15 and I find that it is the exact same texture and colour as the MAC "Dirty Blonde" except for, it comes in a tube rather than a pot.

I don't use it as much as I probably should as I find it drying very quickly as I apply it to the eyebrows which gives me a lot less control than I gel with the MAC brow gel,

but the formula is definitely waterproof.

It has lasted through many sweaty workouts in the gym and didn't come off in the shower until i cleaned it off with a make up remover !
I also use this with the MAC 266 brush.

Both of these are just as good, but for some reason I love the MAC Fluidline a bit more and it is a part of my daily eyebrow routine. <3

#Other Brow Accessories

These guys help me to "clean up" and define my brows.

Catrice Eyebrow Lifter

This is a pale pink coloured pencil whichI really like toapply underneath the brow as the brow bone highlight. It also helps to clean up the edges underneath the brows.

I also like to apply it onto the lower waterline which helps to brighten up the eyes.

Catrice Camouflage Cream Concealer

 This is my favourite concealer for cleaning up the brows. It's super creamy and quite thick and really helps to define and correct the brows.

It is a perfect dupe for the MAC Studio Finish concealer & it also works great on covering up the blemishes.

I also wanted to share my pictorials on how I fill in my eyebrows using pencil & gel:

#Pencil

In this tutorial I've used the Wet'n'wild eyebrow pencil in Taupe, Catrice Eyebrow Pencil & Catrice Cream Camouflage Concealer.

#Gel

In this pictorial I've used my MAC fluidline brow gel in Dirty Blonde, MAC Brow set in Emphatically Blonde & Catrice Cream Camouflage Concealer.

Hope you guys enjoyed this post !

Let me know what you favourite Eyebrow Products are ?!

A. x

MAC Cherry, Nightmoth, Currant lip liners dupes & more

Hi guys, 

In this post I want to let you guys know of the dupes of some of the MAC lip liners.

I love having lip liners that match my lipsticks as wearing lip liners can help to get a more intense colour, help to define the lip line and it also provides a great base and makes your lipsticks last longer !

MAC lip liners are definitely my favourite & if I could I'd buy all of the colours, but lets be honest, €16 is very expensive for a lip pencil, so I always look out for cheaper alternatives & I've definitely found the perfect DUPE for the MAC lip pencils and these are the Barry M lip liners !

I've first tried the Barry M lip liners when I was looking for a lip liner to match my Candy Yum-Yum lipstick from MAC sometime last year. I think the matching lip liner from MAC was sold out at the time or they just didn't have one, anyways, I was hoping to find something cheaper, so I went into Boots and swatched almost every pink lip liner from every brand that was around and then I found Barry M, they only had around 6-8 shades of the lip liners but the one in #12 was just perfect !

It was identical colour to my Candy Yum-Yum & the texture of the lip liner was literally the same as the lip liners from MAC, they were less than €5 as well so with no hesitation I've bought the Lip liner from Barry M.

Barry M lip liners are described as "Velvety smooth with a creamy texture, these lip liners are firm enough to draw a precise thin line, yet soft enough to blend in." & I totally agree with it !

Since I really liked the Barry M #12 lip liner, I decided to pick up more different shades & it turned out some of them were the exact dupes for some of the Lip liners that I've already had from MAC.

The first and definitely my favourite was Barry M liner in shade #3 which is the exact same shade as my favourite liner from MAC called "Cherry". Cherry lip liner is the perfect match for my all times favourite lipstick- MAC Ruby Woo, which is also the perfect Red lipstick !

Another shade is Barry M #11 which is a perfect dupe for MAC Nightmoth lip liner.

It is a deep, burgundy shade which goes perfectly with dark lipsticks such as Diva or Rebel from MAC.

And last of the dupes is Barry M lip liner in #7 which is identical to MAC Currant lip liner !

It is a dark, deep plum shade and it goes perfectly with MAC Rebel lipstick as well as it could be paired with MAC DIVA.

That was also a few different shades that I haven't got, but guys, you should definitely check these out ! I promise you, you'll love them & it will save you a few €€€ since, they're very affordable and you get the same quality as the MAC lip liners !

A. x

Best Skin Primers - Maybelline Baby Skin & Benefit Porefessional /Review & comparison

Hi guys,

I wanted to to do a quick favourites/review of  primers/make up bases for the face, that I've been loving and using almost every day lately.

These are the Porefessional by Benefit & Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser.

First I'm going to talk about the POREfessional by Benefit.

It is the primer on the more pricey side. It costs around €34.00 for 22mL tube.

I've been using this primer for over a year now and I do absolutely love it.

It comes out as a skin coloured, very light cream, but it turns transparent and disappears as you apply it to the skin. It has a very subtle scent to it and the cute packaging is always a plus ! 

It smoothes out the skin, evens out the skin tone and it does definitely minimizes the appearance of pores, leaving the skin super smooth & allows the foundation to glide on your skin very easily. I also found that it helps to make my make up stay on alot longer. 

Also, a little goes a long way with this primer, so you literally need to apply a little bit to the entire face. It is oil-free and non-greasy, so it's suitable for every skin tone. 

What I love about it is that it also has Vitamin E added to it, which is an antioxidant vitamin ( anti-aging), which also means that if using it regularly it can improve the skin texture and help recuce scars. I really love this primer, but I really only use it for special occasions, nights out or on my clients when I do their make up. I would probably use it more often if the price was a bit lower (€34.00) ! But overall, it is a great product and if you're looking for a good make up primer, you have to try The Porefessional if you haven't yet ! 

My other favourite primer, that I use on daily basis is the Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser. This primer I think, was supposed to be a dupe for the Porefessional. It has a similar properties, as it helps to reduce the apprearance of pores.

It has a clear, gel texture. It smoothes out the skin texture, leaving the skin super silky with semi-matte finish, providing a smooth and even base for the foundation.

It is lightweight and it's non-comedogenic ( which means it won't block the pores or cause break outs) and this means, my skin feels fresh and I don't have to worry about my sensitive skin breaking out ! I use this like everyday and I do really like it, it works pretty much like the Porefessional by Benefit but for 1/3 of the price (around €11 depending where you get it ! )!

I love both primers equally and will definitely keep re-purchasing those as they really help to provide a great base for a flawless looking skin and they help my make up last longer throughout the day ( I don't really like to touch up during the day, so I always appreciate products that keep my make up looking great all day long !).

Even though I love these primers, I am always searching for new products to try, so if you guys

can think of any primers that I could try, let me know in the comments !

A. x

Wet'N'Wild Megalast Matte Lipsticks Review & Dupes for MAC Lipsticks.

Hi guys,

I wanted to share a quick review of the Megalast Matte Lipsticks from Wet'N'Wild.

As some of you may know, Wet'N'Wild has recently landed in Ireland and they are available in Penney's and Dunnes Stores and also some local chemists.

One of my favourite products from Wet'n'wild are their lip products, they have a range of liquid laquers, stain balms, matte lipsticks and satin finish lipsticks. 

My favourites are the liquid laquers but I'll do a review on those next time !

In this post I want to share my opinion on those Megalast Matte lipsticks.

They come in a variety of colours ranging from nudes, through pinks and reds to dark and deep burgundy shades.

Each of the lipsticks retails for €2.99 ( bargain !! ) and I was super impressed with the quality for the price you pay !

I must admit that I was a bit disappointed tho with the finish as the lipsticks are definitely not MATTE, but the finish is definitely not glossy. I'd say they are semi-matte.

They have no shimmer or glitter in them and are very pigmented and give a very opaque finish with just one or two layers and the colour is definitely buildable so you can control how intense finish you want.

I've picked up 6 lipsticks so far.

The colours I've got are (L-R) Just Peachy, Mauve Outta Here, Sugar Plum fairy, Coral-ine, Red Velvet and Spotlight Red.

The First Colour I bought was Just Peachy.

Just Peachy is a pastel, pale peachy colour.

It is a very neutral shade and would suit many skin tones.

The second shade is Mauve Outta Here.

 Mauve Outta Here  is a pale purple. 

It is a more cool, blue toned shade.

It would definitely be a great shade for those who want to rock that purple lip trend but are afraid of bright purples as this is quite a toned down purple colour.

Next Shade is the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Sugar Plum Fairy is a midtonal cream plum colour.

To me it looks like a spot-on dupe for MAC Rebel ( €16 cheaper !)

Definitely a gorgeous autumn/winter shade! 

 Here I compared Sugar Plum Fairy (left) and Mac Rebel(right).

 As you can see they are basically identical.

I have also recently picked up three red shades.

First one is Coral-ine.

Coral-ine  is a warm/orangey shade.

It is a very similar shade to Dangerous (from the Retro Mattes Collection) by MAC.

I've compared Mac Dangerous ( First on the left)  and Mac Lady Danger ( Middle) and Coral-ine (Right).

As you can see it is more similar to Dangerous, as Lady Danger is a bit darker, deeper orange.

Next shade is Red Velvet.

Red Velvet is a bit darker and more pink red than Coral-ine.

I've compared it to Mac Relentlessly Red as they are quite a similar.

As you can see Red Velvet is a one or two shades darker than Relentlessly Red,

but they're both pink toned reds.

And the last shade is Spotlight Red.

Spotlight Red is the darkest red shade that was available out of the Megalast Matte range.

It is definitely a cool toned red and it is one of these reds that make your teeth appear whiter.

It is a very similar shade to the legendary Ruby Woo by MAC.

 

Spotlight Red (Left) and Mac Ruby Woo (Right).

Conclusion:

Pros:

 ✔ Price:  €2.99 for a lipstick is a real bargain!

✔Colour Pay-off:  All of the Megalast Matte Lipsticks are highly pigmented.

✔Colour Range: There is a great variety of colours: pinks,reds and dark shades.

✔Formula: Not too drying on the lips

Cons:

✘The finish is not fully matte, I was hoping they would have a full on matte finish like the Mac lipstick (My fave Mac lipstick finish), they are semi-matte.

✘Even though they have a good range of colours, I feel like they could do with a few more shades of nude listicks to suit more skin tones ( I've only seen 1 nude shade "Bare it all" which is a super pale (concealer-lips-type of nude )

✘They are not that long lasting- the producent promises 4 hrs wear, i feel like you have to re-apply the colour every 2-3 hrs.

Even though there was a few cons, I feel like I will definitely purchase more of the Wet'n'wild Megalast Lipsticks as you really get a brilliant quality for the price.

They are all super pigmented and the colours are lovely ( I hope that we get more shades of the megalast lipsticks in Ireland at some stage, as I've seen that there are more gorgeous shades available in America ! )

Hope you guys find this review helpful !
A.x