Pippa Palette by Blank Canvas Cosmetics xx

Hey girls,


Today's review is on the very popular Pippa palette with Blank Canvas Cosmetics. I'm a little bit obsessed with Pippa, and follow her blog religiously and I was so excited when this came out. I'm a massive fan of Blank Canvas bushes but had never tried their makeup range, so I wasn't too sure what to expect.

I've been using this everyday for two weeks and really wanted to try it out before I reviewed it. My first impression was to be honest, a little bit disappointed. I felt it was so overpriced at €40.00 and I also expected a full sized brush or double ended brush from Blank Canvas to accompany it. The palette itself is a cardboard palette which has six matte eye shadows, a highlighter, a contour powder and a blush. First impressions again of the quality of the products was it was nice. The texture of the shadows are nothing as smooth as for eg. Urban Decay, they feel like the Crown Palette shadows.

But as the days went by I found myself loving this more and more. Where this palette shines is the colours and tones, especially the eye shadows. I think if I was to create my own palette these would be the colours I would choose. You really can create any look with it.  I love the personal aspect to this palette, how she has incorporated her life into the palette. All of the shades are named after people and pets in her life. It has really grown on me. I have tried them with and without an eye primer and I find they definitely need a primer. The only shade I cant get to work is Ollie, I wish it was a little deeper.

    The blush and contour shades are great for any pale people out there, but maybe too light if you have an olive or golden skin tone. It really would be a perfect palette if you have Pippa's colouring, if you are a blonde or for example a NC30/ NW25 or lower in MAC.

The highlighter, which is named after her mum is a gorgeous golden shade, which needs to be applied with a light hand. This is also great on the inner tear duct.

Overall, this is a cute palette which has taken pride and place in my makeup bag. Hat's off to Blank Canvas and Pippa for creating such a handy versatile palette.

Hope this helps.
Laters..xxx

Mothers Day Gift ideas

As Mother's Day is coming up, here is a list of some goodies to get for your Mum that's she's guaranteed to love:

Glamtastic Gift Set.

This would be amazing. It's a brilliant way to try out these amazing products. All of these masks are suitable for mature skin. It costs €55.95 and is available  from www.cloud10beauty.com

Zoeva Rise Gold Brush Set:

These are just amazing quality and look beautiful. They cost €58 and can be got at the following:

www.zoeva-shop.de

Alex and Ani Mom Bracelet

This is a gorgeous gift that any mom would love to get. They cost around €30 and can be gotten in Seoidin. 

I Hope everyone has a lovely Mothers Day.

Love Hilda..xxx

Inglot Beauty Bloggers Event - Limerick

Hey Girls,

This week I attended a Blogger Event in Inglot Limerick, where they reviewed the upcoming products being released this week.

The first of these products, was the release of the New Rainbow Collection Eye shadows. All of these shadows have shimmer in them, but don't worry, it is very subtle. To look at them, they look full on glittery and sparkly but after being shown 2 demonstrations by the girls, I could see you can create gorgeous soft looks with all of the colours. I bought 3 of these and know I'm going to get so much use out of them.

They cost 8 euro each which is a brilliant price for 3 eye shadows.

For those of you that don't know Inglot,  they sell using a freedom palette system. The Inglot Freedom System offers a variety of empty palettes that you can fill with any of their Freedom System cosmetics (eye colors, lip colors, blushes, etc.). My kit is beginning to fill up with these bad boys.

The next thing they showed us, was the NEW 14 PIECE BRUSH SET!!!.. This is totally amazeballs. The brushes are fantastic quality and have absolutely every brush you would need including a handy case. This is perfect for a makeup artist or beautician starting out or even for anyone wanting brushes for their own use. They cost 150.00euro so that's only over 10 euro a brush and the quality of these is amazing. I have dropped so many hints that this is what for Christmas from himself....here's hoping he actually listens to me for a change.

Here's a list of what brushes are in this kit:

•Dense, soft and full, the largest brush is perfect for dusting powder over your entire look to give you the perfect matte finish.

•A full brush with a gentle angle makes it ideal for contouring, highlighting and sculpting your features to perfection.

•Soft eye shadow brush, perfect for blending your eye shadow to achieve the most professional look.

•Medium sized eye shadow brush uses stiffer hair for applying more colour to your skin, perfect for building up colour on the eye lid.

•Small lip brush with a rounded edge, allows you to blend your lip and lip liner colours smoothly whilst maintaining a crisp clean edge to your lip look.

•Brush to apply concealer on any area with talon fibres that ensure the cream does not stain the hair.

•Small fan brush has many uses including brushing away any excess eye shadow fallout from underneath the eye. This little tool is invaluable for a smokey eye.

•Small round domed brush is best used for smoking out that dramatic eyeliner on the upper and lower lash line.

•Small brush with the perfect density for applying liquid or gel eyeliner.

•Long lip brush is for applying colour to your lips.

•Fine haired liquid eyeliner brush makes the finest of lines the easiest to achieve. NYLON

•Dense large brush uses its blunt tip to apply generous amounts of product to the skin, ideal for applying blush colour to the apples of your cheeks for A fresh, youthful burst of colour.

•Foundation Brush with taklon bristles that makes it easy to apply your cream or liquid foundation for that flawless complexion. Your makeup is only ever as flawless as your foundation.

•Small angle brush can be used on lips, brows, eyes and even turns any of your powder eye shadows into a soft and subtle eyeliner.

:Also released are 5 new Metallic Nail Enamels each priced at €10 each. These will be fab for Christmas.

And Finally......The best bit..I got freebies..lol
This bit excited me the most. Normally you would receive leaflets about products and if you were lucky a small sample. But no Inglot do it in style. We received an eyeshadow, a lip glaze (---bloody yummy stuff, its a cross between lipstick and lip gloss, that lasts), a packet of their face wipes(which are just gorgeous and only 4 euro) a free nail polish and a free makeover.
On the night I bought a few bits -it would be rude not to, so I will have a series of reviews coming up from Inglot...

Chat laters...xxx 

How to Spot Fake MAC Cosmetic Brush Sets

Alot of people have been asking me about getting MAC Brush sets either online or off people selling from stands. These are all completely fake. Especially the makeup....some of these products can be quiet dangerous as they haven't been tested on anyone..either human or animals. I've bought fake eye shadows and pencils when I was starting off doing making and burnt the bloody eyes of myself......

The only retailer licenced to sell MAC in Ireland is Brown Thomas and I wouldn't buy from anyone else..Here's a guide I found online on how to spot Fake Mac Brushes......If any of ya are thinking of buying brushes online...send me the link and I'll check it out for you and would know straight away if they are fake..

This guide will help you spot counterfeit or fake MAC makeup brushes. Keep in mind that 99% of the MAC full-size brush sets sold on ebay or on wholesale websites are fake.

Packaging

Authentic MAC brushes and brush sets come in clear plastic sleeves with a bar code printed on the sleeve. Many of the fake cosmetic brushes come in clear plastic but without the bar code. In addition, many fake cosmetic brushes come with additional hard plastic protectors for the hairs. Real MAC cosmetic brushes do not have this additional plastic protector. They come in the simple clear plastic sleeves with bar code.

Handle

Real MAC brushes come with black wooden handles and the neck (the part that connects the handle to the hair) is silver. I've seen some bad fake brushes with black plastic necks.

Logo and Lettering

Authentic MAC brushes are labeled "MAC ###". ### being the number of the brush. On real brushes, the lettering is printed on the handle and easily rubes off with your nail. On most FAKE brushes, the lettering is engraved into the handle and very hard to rub off. Try it.

Brush Sets

Keep in mind that MAC has never offered a set of full sized makeup brushes in there stores and if they did you would be looking at about 500.00euro plus for 28 euro. Therefore, 99% of the brand new full size MAC brush sets on are FAKE.

Travel Size Brushes

MAC does make many travel size brush sets with brush numbers ending in SE. *UPDATED* - Authentic travel brush sets usually come in sets of 5 brushes with a cute brush case, the brush handles are usually some unique color, not black.

Price

50.00euro for a set of new and authentic MAC full size brushes? That's too good of a deal to be true!! The best way to avoid buying fake brushes on Ebay is to buy brushes one at a time, instead of in a set.

Hope this helps,

Laters...xxx

Sigma Brushes - Free worldwide shipping tomorrow!!

For everyone whose looking for amazing brushes at really good prices, Sigma Brushes are the way to go. I have bought a lot of MAC and some cheaper brands, and I have to say these are top quality. I bought the "Complete kit with brush roll", which was $79.00 (58.00euro), which is brilliant value when you think 1 MAC brush is nearly 45.00euro. This is brilliant really for everybody(Men - this would be a brill xmas present). Also good for any beauty students who don't want to spend a fortune starting off. All of the brushes are really soft, and I would tend to use these before any other brand of brushes in my kit. If anybody wants advice on brushes, just drop me an email.  They are running a promotion tomorrow (called Black Friday), giving free shipping worldwide. To avail of the free shipping follow the link below:

Black Friday 11/26 Enter Code: BF2010 at checkout for FREE SHIPPING ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!!! :D Share with friends! http://www.sigmabeauty.com/ 

Laters..xx

My Top 5 MAC Brushes...x

A few people have asked me to recommend some good MAC brushes, that would be great for a beginner. It’s quiet daunting to go in to Brown Thomas, not having a clue and these gorgeous perfectly made up girls are handing you these tiny brushes that cost nearly 40-50 euro each. If you going to invest in these you should really choose the ones that really will work for you. These are very good quality brushes, that generally most beauticians and make up artists would have in their kit.

:No1. MAC 217

If you were only ever to buy one MAC brush, I would recommend this brush. It's a makeup bag essential. It's brilliant for putting on a wash of colour, or for just blending.

:No. 2 MAC 266

This is a small angled brush, that is brilliant for applying eyeliner, or alternatively for doing brows. I have very thin brows, and this brush is my lifesaver.

:No. 3 MAC 224

This a tapered blending brush. I use this to lightly blend out shadow. What I really love to use this brush as, is as a concealer brush. It really buffs the product into the skin, and is brilliant for under the eye area.

:No. 4 MAC 190

This brush is best suited to applying liquid foundations. It leaves no "ugly streak" marks that I've found you get from cheaper foundation brushes and the synthetic fibres ensure that no product is absorbed by the bristles. Overall it gives a beautiful coverage and an even application.

:No. 5 MAC 168

I love this brush, it is incredibly soft and angled for contour(under cheekbone and jawbone) and also for the application of blush.The bristles are super soft and densely packed. It applies and blends products perfectly and effortlessly and never sheds.

........ Things about MAC brushes....xx
:Regular full-size MAC brushes are hand-made.
:Special edition brushes made by MAC that come in those cute lil travel cases are machine made.
:MAC uses a sequence of 1, 2 and 3 to name their brushes. Face brushes begin with #1, eye brushes with #2, and lip brushes #3.

Hope this helps...xxx