I am really trying to save all my sheckles at the moment so am trying my very best not to buy all the things but am regularly failing. So to keep myself on track I thought I would share some my favourite budget buys to inspire me. I’m going to start with makeup. Here are some of the budget buys that I love!

Kiko Intense Colour Long Lasting Eyeliner (€7.50) – I would like to apologise for my Kiko eyeliner not being in the photos. I was at a hen party last weekend and my clutch bag fell open. A load of my stuff fell out and I thought I’d gotten everything back but in my slightly tipsy state I missed two items – my bank card – and my new Kiko eyeliner. I’m not ashamed to admit that I am more upset about the eyeliner! I can’t get Kiko here so will have to order online. This eyeliner is fab and I think I like it better than my *gasp* Urban Decay 24/7 liners and that’s saying something. It glides on and doesn’t budge all day, which is difficult with my watery allergy prone eyes. A total winner and a bargain!

Penneys Mini Makeup Sponges (€2) – Aww just look at them, they’re so dinky! I picked these up given my recent Beauty Blender obsession. There are three little sponges in slightly different shapes in the pack. They’re not as good as the Beauty Blender but as they’re only designed for concealer they do a good job of getting coverage under the eyes and around the nose. And they’re too cute!

Botanics Radiance Balm (€8.49) – Ok I know everyone and their mother bought this last year when it gained fame but I only got around to buying it a few weeks ago. It’s a gorgeous sheeny liquid that I find quite cooling and moisturising on the skin. It reminds me a little of the Benefit That Gal primer. It leaves a lovely highlight that I can definitely still see once I’ve applied my foundation. Botanics is a little Gem of a brand I tell ya.

Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 palette (€6) – Ok so no secret that I’m a Makeup Revolution fan but it’s started to bug me that they copy other products so much. I much prefer when I see them release palettes that are just theirs, they’re edgy and cool anyways. One of their original releases were the dupes of the Naked palettes. I picked up this Naked 2 dupe a while ago but have been using it quite regularly lately. There’s no arguing that these palettes aren’t original but they are very good quality for the price. They’re not Urban Decay quality in terms of wear time and pigment but they give decent colour payoff.

Catrice Liquid Camouflage Concealer (€3.99)  - You can’t beat Catrice for a budget buy, there isn’t much they do wrong that I’ve tried. When this concealer was launched many people compared it to the classic Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (another great budget buy). It doesn’t give as quite high coverage but is also less drying that the Collection one. I have dry skin so this one works a bit better for me especially under the eye area. I own the palest shade and it’s really pale so would suit really fair skins.

NYX Butter Glosses (€7) – Well these are a bit of a classic beauty buy but it’s a lot easier to get them now that NYX counters are popping up in some of the larger Boots. The counters I’ve seen so far in Dundrum and Jervis are massive so you are spoilt for choice with the full range of Butter Glosses. I love these as they’re high colour with a glossy finish without being sticky. I also find they last longer than normal glosses. They’re like my type of Pokemon – ‘Gotta catch em all’ – bonus points for working Pokemon into this post!

So that’s just a handful of my favourite budget buys. Do you have a special budget pick that you’d add to the list?

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Look I know it’s early and we shouldn’t be saying the C word until after Halloween but the unfortunate reality is the beauty world started launching festive gifts at least a month ago and there are advent calendars-a-plenty! I don’t know what it is about a beauty advent calendar but they just make me a bit giddy! I feel the same excitement as I did about the chocolate ones as a kid – actually that’s a lie, I still feel the same about the chocolate ones as well. There’s just something lovely about not knowing what you’re going to get and having a little surprise every day for the month of December. Here are some of my favourites of the advent releases this year, with picks for all budgets…

Benefit Party Poppers -The Benefit calendars have caused pandemonium over the last few years having sold out in hours and caused general mania. This years offering is just a 12 day calendar making it cheaper than previous years but its probably as pricey per product. I do like Benefit minis though I find I have a lot I use in various makeup bags.
Cost:€46
Contents: Spoiler Here!
Launches: Online now, In store 31 October

No7 25 Days of Beauty Wonders – Well I bought this one last year and it was every bit as good as I thought it would be. I got a lovely mix of skincare, body care and makeup. The dinky nail polishes are so handy and I’ve been loving the toiletries for travelling. I’d highly recommend this one if you’re a No7 fan. This year’s offering looks just as good as last years.
Cost:€49.50
Contents: Spoiler Here!
Launches: 28 October

Makeup Revolution Advent Calendar - Well I can’t have a post with one of my favourite brands Makeup Revolution. They have also launched an Advent Calendar for Christmas in Superdrug. The calendar contains 25 full size products. It’s a bit more pricey than I thought it would be but I might buy it when I’m doing my Christmas shopping!
Cost:£49.50
Contents: It’s a secret!
Launches: Order now here

L’Occitane Advent Calendar 2015 – I just love the look of this one, it’s just super chic and parisienne, you’d expect nothing less from lovely L’Occitane. This contains a  selection of their face and bodycare and a few Christmas treats thrown in for good measure. British Beauty Blogger has a link on her page to order this from the UK site and you could parcel motel it to Ireland if you can’t live without it. I can’t get a date for the Irish launch yet but I’d assume the start of November.
Cost: £39/€52
Contents: Spoiler on link below!
Launches: British Beauty Blogger has an exclusive link on her page here to order!

The Body Shop Beauty Advent Calendar 2015 – The Body Shop are releasing two calendars this year. One is slightly more glam and priced a bit higher than the other (£80). The £60 version is already on sale on their website and contains a selection of Body Shop minis including bodycare, skincare and a bit of makeup. No word on when this lands in Ireland but you can order from the UK site and parcel motel to here if you’re keen!
Cost: £60/€80
Contents: Spoiler here
Launches: Order now here.

Look Fantastic The Beauty Secret – The contents of this calendar haven’t been released yet but I just know in my bones that it’s going to be a good one! I was delighted with the Look Fantastic box I ordered here and they work with some great brands. I like the fact that I can’t find any spoilers, if I do treat myself to this one I won’t be peeking before December. The only downside is it’s a little spendy because of the poor exchange rate at the moment:-(
Cost: £70/€96
Contents: Top Secret!
Launches: 1 November here

Charlotte Tilbury Book of Makeup Magic – I have many Charlotte Tilbury products on my wishlist so this little countdown would be a dream. It’s a 12 day countdown but contains a mix of full size and travel size products. Apparently it will contain her new Magic night cream that hasn’t launched yet. This will be available in Brown Thomas.
Cost:£150 (€200 I assume)
Contents: Still Secret!
Launches: November no exact date

Jo Malone – Well a girl can dream I suppose! This calendar just screams luxury, if I did have it I’d have to have a special unveiling song for each day – ta dah! This contains a mix of colognes and body creams in some gorgeous Jo Malone scents.
Cost:€320
Contents: Spoiler Here!
Launches: November

There are soo many calendars this year I couldn’t possibly cover them all, there are also offerings from You Beauty, Selfridges super glam offering, Lush’s dinky 12 days of Christmas and also rumour has it Marks and Spencer will have one at a reduced price with purchase. The only problem is now I want them all!!!!!!!! Which ones do you like? Let me know if I’ve missed any cool ones!

The post 2015 Beauty Advent Calendar Roundup! appeared first on Beauty Angel.

Makeup Revolution Golden Sugar Palette

I was at the Flormar launch event last week and makeup artist Leonard Daly had me in stitches talking about the new beauty buzz word strobing. Strobing is basically just highlighting to you and me and sure us beauty junkies have been doing it for years! I love a bit of highlighting especially in summer as it keeps skin looking so fresh and glowy. So I could not resist when I was in Surperdrug in Tallaght recently and I saw this Golden Sugar palette from Makeup Revolution.

Makeup Revolution Golden Sugar Palette

I already own Makeup Revolutions sugar and spice Hot Spice blusher palette and it’s a daily staple for me, although I’ve done the typical thing I do with most palettes and mainly use one or two shades and they’re almost all gone! I love the consistency and colour payoff from Makeup Revolutions palettes, they always punch above their price weight. This palette contains eight very varied shades of highlighters, blushers and bronzers with different finishes. Makeup Revolution don’t name their shades annoyingly so I’ll just call them 1-8!

Makeup Revolution Golden Sugar Top Row 1-4

Makeup Revolution Golden Sugar Bottom row Shades 5-8

1.  The is a white iridescent shade with gold veining and a shimmer through it. This is probably my least favourite shade in the whole palette. It’s very white and the gold doesn’t really come through in it. It also has a micro sparkle to it which I don’t love. I wouldn’t use this as a highlighter on my face but I just might use it on my eyelids.
2. This shade is a bit more like it, it’s a pink pearl shade that isn’t too heavy on the pearl and has no shimmer to it. I really like this blended out on the cheek bones for a pretty pink highlight that suits my pale skin.
3. This shade is a pinky mauve coloured blusher with a satin finish. It’s quite an unusual shade but works really nicely as a blusher.
4. The fourth shade is a warm gold tone satin finish powder. It’s a little warm for me to use as a highlighter but it works well for me as an eyeshadow.
5. This is a satin finish cool toned brown. This works quite well for me as a bronzer as it is quite pale and not too satiny.
6. This is a pretty pink that looks almost bronze in a certain light. It’s heavy enough on the shimmer but without being glittery. I can use this as both a highlighter and eyeshadow. I think this is one my favourite shade of the palette.
7. Is a shimmer heavy orange tone. I’m not sure how most skintones would use this except maybe as an eyeshadow. It’s very strongly pigmented so you’d have to use a very light hand to use this as a highlighter.
8. The final shade is the most matte of the lot, an orange toned bronzer. This is just a little too orange toned and dark for me but would work well on somebody with a warmer or darker skintone.

In hindsight this palette might be a little too warm for my skin tone but I have been getting good use out of the cooler toned shades – 2,3,5 and 6 the other shades are just a little warm for me. As always its great value for the quality of the powders as it cost me just €8, working out at €1 a shade. You can buy Makeup Revolution in Superdrug in Tallaght or the Omni Shopping Centre in Santry, you can also order online here.

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Love, love, love cream blushes for the summer. In fact I love a cream blush year round. I find they suit my dry skin and give better colour payoff and last longer than powder blushes on me. I have had these two from Makeup Revolution in my collection for a while so they deserve a good review. As you know I’m a Makeup Revolution fan so have a good few products in my stash. Makeup Revolution have a good reputation going for budget dupes of higher end products and these sticks look to be the budget version of the NARS multiple sticks. To my shame I don’t yet own any NARS so I can’t draw a direct comparison but I’ll let you know how I got on with them.

I have a bit of a niche going in coral blushes. I own probably far too many than one person could possibly need but of course I had to add some Makeup Revolution corals to my collection. I bought the coral toned shade Rush online a few months ago but as soon as I opened it I realised it’s not for me. The Rush shade is shimmery, bordering on glittery and if you know me I really hate glitter in makeup products! So I didn’t get the chance to test the formula as I couldn’t put all the glitter near my face.

I do love MR though so of course I gave them a second chance by picking up the shade Matte Rush on a recent trip to Superdrug in The Square Tallaght who have a Makeup Revolution stand. The Matte Rush shade is like chalk to the Rush cheese. They’re so different. Matte Rush is almost a red toned coral and I was a bit alarmed at the intensity of it when I opened it, as the shimmer shade is very sheer. But now I’ve tried it out I think I love it a little bit.

L-R: Rush and Matte Rush

L-R: Rush and Matte Rush

You have to apply this with a light hand to cheeks, I use my fingers to take a tiny bit of the product. The colour is not a pure coral but has a burgundy tone to it which sounds awful but actually looks lovely on cheeks. This is also a lovely colour on lips, it looks more coral on the lip but I like it. The colour has serious lasting power particularly on the cheeks. Matte Rush is just a great all-rounder for me.

So after my initial hiccup with the shimmer-fest that was Rush I found ‘The One’ for me (geddit!) in Matte Rush. Rush might be for you if you like a bit of shimmer/glitter but that’s just not my cup of tea. Did I mention these are bargaintastic at €6 each. You can get Makeup Revolution in Superdrug in The Square in Tallaght and the Omni shopping centre in Santry. You can also order online at www.makeuprevolutionstore.com.  Also just want to say I buy all my MR products myself and have no affiliation to them, I just really like the bulk of the products I’ve tried! Do you have any cream blushes you love?

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Well I could swear it was only a few months ago that I was celebrating Beauty Angel’s first birthday but time has flown by ridiculously quickly and all of a sudden it’s two years today! Firstly I want to thank all of you who take the time to interact with the blog here and on twitter, Instagram and Facebook. It’s you guys that keep me going and motivated to keep sharing my beauty loves, I really couldn’t do it without you!

To celebrate my little bloggy birthday I’m having a giveaway of some pretty beauty products I’ve bought and have been saving up to give away!

This luxury makeup bundle contains:
• bareMinerals Beauty in Bloom Gift Set – not available here comes all the way from the US of A. Contains pretty eye, cheek and lip colours!
• Sephora Lips in Bloom Lip Crayons – also winging its way from the states.
• Makeup Revolution Romantic Smoked Palette – you know how much I love MR!
• Stila All Over Shimmer in Rose Gold
• Stila Lip Glaze in Guava
• Illamasqua blusher in Unrequited

There are just a few rules for entering:
• Please enter through the Rafflecopter form below.
• This giveaway is open in Ireland and the UK.
• One entry per person please.
• Entrants must be over 18.
• The giveaway will close on Friday 5 June.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Makeup Revolution Iconic Pro

Well it must be at least a few weeks since I’ve mentioned Makeup Revolution, shock horror! I went to Superdrug in Tallaght recently and was delighted to see they had a brand new Makeup Revolution stand, I was far too excited about this and had to try and restrain myself from jumping up and down at it. Unfortunately the popularity of the brand has started to spread and a good few products were sold out but I managed to find a few that piqued my interest.

One of the biggies I bought was the Iconic Pro 1 palette. Makeup Revolution are renowned for their good value dupes of everything from the Hourglass Ambient Lighting powders to the NARS Multiple Sticks. This palette looks to be a close dupe for the original Lorac Pro palette. I don’t own the Lorac palette but I’ve seen some swatch comparisons online and the colours are pretty close.

This palette contains 16 shades ranging from matte neutrals to more shimmery bright and dark shades. The top row are all matte with a range of neutrals that are perfect for creating a base for the darker shadows. The pigment is definitely stronger in the darker shades but there is enough to work with in the lighter ones. The bottom row are all shimmers, I really like the gold and orangey shades, again the pigment is stronger on the darker end of the spectrum.

Top Row Swatches

Bottom Row Swatches

I own a few palettes from Makeup Revolution and I’m not sure that this is my favourite texture wise. The shadows seem a little more packed and aren’t as soft as in the Flawless palette for example. This is a budget dupe though so you can’t expect eye shadow consistency to be spot on. I find it best to use a more stiff brush with these shadows to pick up enough colour. The wear time on these is average with me getting about six to seven hours without fading.

The palette is really slim with a nice big mirror and it comes with a fairly decent double ended brush. Normally these types of palettes have no applicator or one of the crap sponge ended ones. The brush has a flat domed end which I don’t overly love but the fluffy tapered end is great to work with. It’s stiff enough to pick up some good colour and works well for blending. A handy one to have in the case if you can’t access your usual 50 million brushes!

You really can’t argue with the price of this palette, it costs just €8.99, the shadows are definitely a high enough quality for this price and you get a fairly decent brush. So if you’re lusting after the Lorac palette but can’t afford the €40 price tag this might be for you. Also Lorac isn’t sold in Ireland that I’m aware of so it’s not the easiest to get your mitts on. There are Makeup Revolution stands in the Superdrug stores in The Square in Tallaght and the Omni Shopping Centre in Santry if this takes your fancy, you can also order online here. What do you think??

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Well it’s hard to believe but little ol Makeup Revolution turned 1 two weeks ago! In case you hadn’t noticed I’m a big fan of theirs (you can read all my reviews here) and so I can’t believe most of their products I love have been in my life for less than a year. I’ve had The One Fluid blusher in my stash for a while but am for some reason only getting around to trying this out now.

If you’ve ever seen the lovely Daniel Sandler Watercolour Blushers these are pretty much an exact dupe for these. The are extremely liquid which makes them a little unwieldy, I’m still not sure I’ve perfected the art of applying them. When I say you only need a teeny amount of these, I mean a pea sized drop. It’s best to build up than end up with mucho rosy cheeks. I apply these using my fingers which I if think is the best way. I pour a tiny drop onto the back of my left hand and apply in circular motion from the centre of my cheek moving outward quickly. These set really quickly so you have to move fast to avoid any lines.

But oh boy does this leave you with a seriously natural flush. It’s as close as natural colour as you’re going to get. The Pink Sea shade I have looks shockingly pink in the bottle but goes on a lovely baby pink shade.This has some serious staying power and won’t budge throughout the day.

I checked the Makeup Revolution website and these blushes are in the ‘last chance to buy section’ on the website so unfortunately they are being discontinued But this means you can buy these for €2.11 at the moment. Delivery to Ireland is about €5 but isn’t too bad if you’re getting a few bits. I have a few new bits winging their way to me at the moment. Have you tried anything from Makeup Revolution?

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Last week I took a look back at some of my favourite skincare products from 2014 here. I decided I’d also do the same for my makeup stash and I’ve picked a handful of products that really impressed me last year. Here goes…

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused Light – I was a bit late to the party on this product, I only got mine back in March I think. I chose Diffused Light as the yellow tone is just perfect for my red prone skin. It’s so hard to describe the finish of this powder but it gives skin a really subtle glow and helps to even skin tone at the same time. I also have the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder trio palette but I still haven’t used it yet, it’s so pretty I just want to look at it!

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer – I love the collection lasting perfection concealer but I started to find it a bit dry for using under my eyes. I had seen a few people recommend the Rimmel Wake Me up concealer so I decided to try it out. I think this is just the perfect undereye concealer. It’s moisturising, illuminating and it provides good coverage, I haven’t really tried a concealer that managed all three. It’s definitely one I will be buying again and again.

Makeup Revolution Makeup –  I haven’t picked one product as there were just so many I loved, most of my makeup buys in 2014 were from Makeup Revolution! You can read all of my hauls and reviews here. The products are just amazing value for the quality. If I had to pick I would recommend the Flawless Eye Palette, the Blush and Contour palette in Hot Spice and the Peach Lights highlighter.

Super BB Cream – I finally tried these thanks to rave reviews from Makeup Monster and Total Makeup Addict. My beloved Catrice BB cream was discontinued so I needed to find a suitable replacement. These are everything they promised to be they give good coverage but feel dewy on the skin and protect it with a strong SPF. I have both the purple and the gold. The gold is slightly paler but both suit my pale skintone well.

These are my absolute favourite makeup products from 2014. When I was thinking about the products I’ve tried It made me realise I need to branch out and try some new brands, so I’m working on a list of brands I want to try this year, any excuse eh! Did you have any favourite makeup from 2014?

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Ultra Sculpt & Contour Kit Ultra Fair

One of the most popular posts on my blog is my review of the Sleek Face Form palette here. People obviously can’t get enough of the contouring marvel. You might also have noticed that I am recently very obsessed with new brand on the block Makeup Revolution, some of their products have become firm favourites of mine. Well you might be interested to know that Makeup Revolution recently released a palette to give Face Form a run for its money.

In case you haven’t come across Sleek Face Form before it is a contouring palette. So it contains a bronzer, highlighter and blusher in one neat little kit. The texture of the powders in the Sleek kit are lovely and I really like it as the bronzer is matte and the highlighter doesn’t go on glittery. Lots of people love the blusher in the Face Form palette but I find it has a hint of redness to it which doesn’t really suit my skin on a bad day!

Left – Sleek Face Form, Right – Makeup Revolution Ultra Sculpt and Contour

When I bought the Makeup Revolution Ultra Sculpt and Contour Kit in Ultra Fair I didn’t expect it to be such a close copy of the Sleek one but it really is. As you can see below the palettes are almost identical. Apologies for the state of my Sleek palette, it had an unfortunate incident involving my wooden floor . But as you can see the palettes are almost identical. The blusher in the Sleek palette is a little more orange but the Makeup Revolution blusher has a little bit of pink to it which I think is more flattering for pale skin tones. The powders have the same texture and wear exactly the same as the Sleek one. The only other difference is in the packaging, the Sleek kit has a nice large mirror on the inside whereas the Makeup Revolution one only has a small narrow one at the top of the lid.

Left – Sleek Face Form, Right – Makeup Revolution Ultra Sculpt and Contour

The real clincher here is that the Sleek palette costs €12.99 but the Makeup Revolution one costs about £3.50 (€4.50). Unfortunately at the moment you can only get Makeup Revolution in Ireland from the Superdrug in the Omni Park Shopping Centre in Santry. You can order it online here but the postage is £4.95 which isn’t great value if you’re only buying one thing! But if you’re near Santry or at a Superdrug in the UK it’s well worth picking this up.

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Makeup Revolution Flawless Palette

Well if you’re going to buy me a present it will come as no shock that beauty products are probably the best choice. My friend Steph really hit the jackpot for my birthday as she bought me a selection of goodies from Makeup Revolution – yay! This palette is the one that got the most oohs and ahhhs from me when I opened it. I already own two Makeup Revolution palettes so I know how good they are. Here is a peek at the gorgeousness!

Makeup Revolution Flawless Palette

Makeup Revolution Flawless Palette

Isn’t it gorgeous! This palette contains 32 eye shadows with a mix of finishes. There are a handful of mattes, with the bulk of the palette being shimmers with one shade being heavy on the glitter. The shades tend to the more neutral end of the spectrum with a few unusual shades thrown in. Let’s take a closer look row by row from top to bottom!

Top Row Makeup Revolution Flawless Palette

You can’t really see Paper shade in the swatch above as it happens to be the exact same colour as my skin. Paper is the only true matte on this row with the rest being soft shimmers. Of all the rows I think this would be my least favourite, as it’s so similar to a lot of neutral shades I already own.

Second Row Makeup Revolution Flawless Palette

On the second row the first shade is a nice soft brown matte. The rest of the shades n this row are shimmers. I love a gold shadow so I have much love for the Golden Night and Gold Digger shades. I’m a bit surprised by the blue stars shade, it doesn’t go on the skin as blue as it looks in the palette.

Third Row Makeup Revolution Flawless Palette

I can’t decide if this is my favourite row or the bottom row, I keep going back and forth on it! Similar to the previous row the first shade is a matte and the rest are shimmers. The final shade Black Tie has large flecks of silver glitter in it, it reminds me of the Creep shade in the Urban Decay Naked palette. It wouldn’t be my favourite shade as I’m not too fond of glittery shadows. But how gorgeous is Medal?? I love it!

Bottom Row Makeup Revolution Flawless Palette

I think this might be my favourite row… I think! Can we just take a moment to appreciate how beautiful that Red Night shade is?? It’s such a gorgeous cranberry/goldy wintery shade, I have much love for it! On this row there are three mattes Pure Chocolate, Raw and Cafe Noir. The rest of the shades have a shimmer to them.

The Makeup Revolution shadows have a strong pigment to them, they’re not quite to an Urban Decay strength but they’re pretty close. They also wear really well, I find with these shadows I can get the full day with only minor fading by the end of the day. The shadows come in a palette with a big mirror which is so handy for applying them as well.

Well what do you think? I think this palette is great for a neutral lover who likes a bit of variety. What always bowls me over with Makeup Revolution is the price! This palette of 32 pretty eyeshadows costs just €10! Yes €10! It’s such good value for such a level of quality. You can order Makeup Revolution products here with shipping to Ireland for €4.95. I’m hoping a counter will land here very soon! You can read my other Makeup Revolution reviews here and I’d love to hear if you’ve tried any products.

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