Flormar is fast becoming my number one drugstore brand. It launched in Ireland a couple of months ago but I've been familiar with it for a few years now as they have stores in Fuerteventura, where I go on holiday every year, so I've been using their products for a while. I have lots of their products to review, but if you spot anything on stands that you're interested in hearing a review of, let me know!

Today we're focussing on one of their Terracotta Blush-On powders. Despite the name referring to blushes, when I first got this I wasn't sure whether it was supposed to be a blush or a highlighter, as its design reminded me so much of the MAC Mineralise Skin Finishes. When I opened it to swatch it, I realised it's definitely a blush! I'm not sure if you can really tell from the photos, but its much larger than your conventional blush, so you get plenty of product here - 9g to be exact!

How beautiful is that colour?! This is the shade 46 Touch of Apricot, which is a beautiful peachy-orange shade. Think Peaches by MAC, but more on the orange side. To me, this blush just screams spring and summer, although I've been wearing it all throughout autumn and winter and it looks just as good with darker colours! 

The formulation of this blush is fantastic - it's incredibly soft and velvety, the powder is finely milled and it provides the skin with a glowing, healthy look. It applies so smoothly and leaves an even amount of blush that doesn't get patchy during the day. It has no obvious shimmer in it, but it leaves a lovely sheen on the cheeks. I love this as I think the colour would be far too intense if it was matte! 

This swatch may look a bit scary but I've applied two or three layers just to show the colour! It's incredibly pigmented but it's super easy to blend out so don't be scared! If Touch of Apricot isn't for you, don't worry as the Terracotta Blush-Ons come in 9 different shades.

The Terracotta Blush-On range is available from McCartan's Pharmacy, Sutton Cross.

Have you tried anything from Flormar?

Zara :-) x

Lush Breath Of Fresh Air Toner Water Review!

As I've mentioned plenty of times on the blog, I absolutely love toner waters. Although I'm good at following at regimental skincare routine, sometimes I'm lazy and I love how effective yet effortless spray-on toners are. A while back I went to Lush to repurchase my all time favourite toner water, which is the Tea Tree one, but when I got there I decided to branch out and try a new one.
The girl in store highly recommended this one so I decided to give it a go and I'm so glad - it's fantastic!

A toner water works exactly the same way as a regular toner does - you just simply spray it on your face, tap off the excess with a cotton pad and you're good to go. I also like to use them to refresh my face during the day too.

According to the Lush website, Breath of Fresh Air is their most refreshing of all of their toner waters, with mineral-rich carrageenan seaweed extract and rose absolute to tone and balance the skin. The rose absolute helps to reduce redness on the skin while patchouli oil is cooling on the skin.

As someone who suffers with acne, I found this excellent for calming the redness on my skin, particularly before makeup application. I use this on my skin twice a day usually - in the morning and at night. It also feels so good on the skin if you store it in the fridge! It's also scent free so perfect for those with sensitive skin.

The Lush Breath Of Fresh Air Toner Water is available from Lush for €7.99.

Are you a fan of toner waters?

Zara :-)x

The Kylie Edit: Gerard Cosmetics Serenity Liquid Lipstick & Estée Lauder Lovers Blush!

There's no doubt about it - Kylie Jenner has become some what of a beauty icon over the last year or so, with her signature lip colour becoming an international sell-out. I'm personally a huge fan of Kylie's makeup looks, and today I have a review of two products that Ms Jenner is actually wearing in the above photo! They're both absolutely incredible products that you'll want to put on your Christmas wish list straight away!

Gerard Cosmetics Serenity Hydra-Matte Liquid Lipstick

Anyone familiar with MannyMua on YouTube may be aware that he recently collaborated with Gerard Cosmetics to create his own Hydra Matte Liquid Lipstick in Serenity, which is a beautiful warm pink with brown hues. I would say it's lighter than the famous Kylie Jenner colour, but it still has that hint of brown in it. When her makeup artist posted the above photo of her wearing the lipstick, the beauty world went into a frenzy! 

Serenity has become my go-to shade - I love it for everyday wear as it's a little easier to pull off than the mauve shade that Kylie is so well known for. Although it's a matte lipstick, it is by far the most comfortable liquid lipstick I have ever worn. It's incredibly moisturising and soft on the lips - it doesn't dry to feel hard on your lips, it's like a satin finish lipstick. The wear time is fantastic - it lasts all day on me without wearing down, even after eating and drinking. It transfers slightly but the colour is still there at the end of the day.

I bought mine from Beautybay.com for €14.50 - I'd highly recommend it!

Estée Lauder Pure Colour Blush in Lover's Blush

This is the blush Kylie is wearing in the above photo. It's an absolutely beautiful shade which is actually the only one of its kind in my makeup collection. Lover's Blush is a soft, nude-pink that has a lovely light shimmer in it. As you can see in the swatch and on Kylie's cheeks in the picture, it gives a stunning lift to the cheeks and a lovely natural wash of colour. It's quite pigmented so I find that a little goes a long way, but it applies so smoothly and doesn't get blotchy throughout the day. It's pricey at €36.50, but it's a huge compact that'll last you years!

I have been wearing these products on a daily basis and I think they are truly excellent products. 

Are you a fan of Kylie's makeup looks?

Zara :-) x

Catrice Defining Blush Review and Swatches!

To me, a makeup look isn't complete without blush. I think it just adds that finishing touch and really pulls a look together. I've never really been majorly impressed with blushes I've tried from the drugstore so I've been on a mission to find the best blushes that the drugstore has to offer. These Catrice Defining Blushes are the best I've found so far, and I genuinely think they'll be tough to beat!

The Catrice Defining Blushes are ultra-fine, highly pigmented and super blendable. I think one of the most important qualities that I look for in a blush is that it's actually easy to blend. It's great when a blush is highly pigmented, but I'm not a fan of the clown look so I have to be able to actually spread it evenly! These blushes are finely milled so they're very easy to work across the cheeks and add a really sculpted look to the face.

As you'll see from the swatches below, these powders are incredibly pigmented so a little goes a long way. If you do happen to go overboard on the blush front, they're really soft so you'll be able to grab your powder brush and blend the excess away!

Legend-berry is a gorgeous mauve/berry shade that I thought would be perfect for this time of year. It was a bit of a risk for me as it's not a colour I would generally go for on my cheeks - I'm definitely a peachy pink blush kind of person! Although it's pigmented, it blends beautifully and is actually a very easy shade to wear. The texture of this blush is gorgeous, it's really soft and while there's a sheen to the blush, there's no chunky glitter, nor does it emphasise your pores. This is the shade I've been getting most use out of, so I'd definitely recommend this if you want to try out a new blush shade without the hefty price tag.

Think Pink is a lovely light pink shade with a hint of peach in it. I actually think it's quite similar to Melba by MAC, only slighter more on the pink side. It's definitely not as pigmented as Legendberry but it gives the most beautiful, subtle glow to the skin. I've been using this on days where I'm not wearing much makeup as it's the perfect way to add a light flush of colour to the cheeks.






These Catrice blushes are absolutely fantastic and I would even go as far as saying they rival some of my high-end blushes. They cost a mere €4.49 each and comes in six different shades so you're bound to find something for you!

Zara :-) x

Vichy Pureté Thermale Micellar Water Review!

Up until about a year ago I exclusively used makeup wipes to remove makeup, and my skin certainly didn't thank me for it. Micellar waters have become a popular option for removing makeup, and are much more effective and beneficial for your skin.

Vichy's website claims that this micellar water will remove makeup 'like milk' and calm any burning sensations or irritations. It's suitable for all skin types, including sensitive skin.

I absolutely love this micellar water. It's one of those straightforward products that does exactly what it says on the bottle - it removes every scrap of makeup while feeling gentle on your skin. One cotton pad is enough to remove all of my face and eye makeup with this product, so a little goes a long way with it. I love that it doesn't leave any greasy residue behind and leaves your skin feeling clean and refreshed.

I always cleanse my skin after using this with the Vichy Pureté Thermale Cleansing Foam (review of that coming next week!), but if you're having a really lazy night where you just want to ensure all of your makeup has been removed, this micellar solution is for you.

It's incredibly gentle on the skin and it's a great one for those of you with sensitive skin as it is fragrance free. It also has no alcohol, soap or colorant in it.

I've tried countless micellar solutions and Vichy's offering is definitely on par with arguably the most popular micellar water from Bioderma. It's also excellent value at €14.99 for a 200ml bottle.

Vichy's entire range is available from McCartan's Pharmacy, Sutton Cross.

What's your favourite micellar solution?

Zara :-)x

Real Techniques Deep Cleaning Brush Gel Review!

Up until now, there has been a huge lack of good quality brush cleaners - there are actually very few brands that sell cleansers for their brushes. Thankfully, Real Techniques noticed a gap in the market and have released their own Deep Cleaning Gel. I've always used regular shampoo to clean my brushes, however I think it's nice to have a product specifically created to cleanse your brushes, so I was dying to try this when I saw it in Boots recently.

Sam and Nic of Real Techniques recommend using this product weekly to give your brushes a thorough cleaning. It claims to improve the performance of your brushes as it removes all dirt and bacteria from them.

As I said, I don't have a lot of experience using brush cleansers (I love the ELF one though!), but I absolutely love this product. It really takes the work out of cleaning your brushes as it only takes a couple of seconds to deep clean your brushes using this gel. I simply squirt a tiny amount of gel into the palm of my hand, swirl my brush around in it a few times then rinse with water. I find when I use regular shampoo that it tends to really lather so it's quite time consuming making sure all of the suds are out of the brushes, so having this gel makes it really efficient and easy.

It has a lovely light scent to it - it's quite subtle but you can definitely get a fresh scent from your brushes once they're dried. I also tried using it to wash my Beauty Blender sponges, and it cleaned them well, but I think I'll have to invest in a Beauty Blender Solid to clean them properly.

My only drawback with this product is the packaging - I personally would prefer a pump bottle as I find this squeeze-tube can sometimes give you too much product at once, particularly as it's a gel formula. It's a minor issue for me though because it's really excellent.

The Real Techniques Deep Cleaning Brush Gel is €10.49 and available from Boots now. I highly recommend getting it, it'll save you so much time when it comes to cleaning your brushes!

October Favourites!

Finally, a favourites post from me! I had intended on doing one of these every month, however some months I just don't have enough products, or anything that I feel is worth sharing to warrant doing a whole blog post. October was such a busy month for me, between uni assignments, work and turning 19 I feel like my blog wasn't updated half as much as it should have been! However I've finally got myself into a routine that allows me to blog regularly again.

I'm so excited that it's November - the countdown to Christmas is finally on! I'm like a lunatic when it comes to Christmas, it really brings out my inner 5 year-old. I've already done all my Christmas shopping and I have plenty of Christmas-inspired blog posts ready to go - when is it appropriate to start sharing Christmas blog posts?!

Anyway, for today I have some really great products that I've been using and loving recently, so let's start with skincare:

La Roche Posay Serozinc, €10

I'm a huge fan of La Roche Posay products and I've been meaning to pick this up since it launched earlier this year. I love spray toners (my favourite is the Lush Tea Tree Water) so I finally picked up a bottle of Serozinc a couple of weeks ago. Basically, it's a toner in a can that you just spray on your face, pat off the excess and you're good to go. It's super efficient if you're someone who needs a quick and effective skincare routine in the mornings like me! It's designed for those with oily/problematic skin, and I've found it to be effective on my skin. It's lovely and refreshing, and really hydrating. It's great value at €10 for a 150ml bottle as you only need one spritz to cover your whole face, so I'd highly recommend this if you have oily skin and are looking for a new toner for your routine.





Nip & Fab Skin Glycolic Fix Serum, €9.99

I was having a lot of trouble with my skin over the last month or so, so I've been testing out so many new skincare products! One of the stand-out products I tried is this Glycolic Fix Serum from Nip+Fab. I'm going to do a full in-depth review of this so I don't want to get into too much detail now, but it's a gel-like texture that smooths your skin and minimises the look of pores. You use it at night and your skin looks and feels so radiant the next morning. The Nip+Fab skin range is so highly raved about by bloggers, I'm definitely going to be testing out some other products from this collection, so let me know if you have any recommendations! Even if you aren't suffering with particularly bad skin like I was, I'd still check out this serum just for the feel-good factor it gives you! Nip+Fab is in stock in most Penneys/Primark stores and Boots.

Zoella Beauty Foam Sweet Foam Cleansing Shower Gel
I'm a huge fan of Zoella, and her Zoella Beauty line has certainly not disappointed me! My sister actually bought me this a while ago and I use it every single day - I love it. This shower gel is from her second range, which is the Tutti Frutti one. My sister uses the Soak Opera shower gel from Zoe's first collection, but I definitely prefer the fruity, sweet smell of this one. If you're familiar with Justin Bieber's 'The Key' perfume, this smells identical to it! It's difficult to explain, but it's incredibly sweet and girly, however it's not overpowering on your skin after you use it. It's a really brilliant shower gel - it lathers up really well, and it doesn't dry your skin out at all. The packaging is also adorable - I love the colour scheme Zoe chose for the Tutti Frutti range! I have some pieces from Zoe's Christmas gift sets to review too, so stay tuned for those!


Victoria's Secret Aqua Kiss Body Spray

I absolutely love the Victoria's Secret body sprays - I own at least 10 of them at this stage! I tend to rotate my collection regularly, but this scent in particular has been a go-to for me. Aqua Kiss is a very cool, refreshing scent that contains Aloe Vera, freesia, fresh daisy and chamomile. It's a hard scent to describe - it's not a summer scent, but I wouldn't classify it as a winter exclusive either. I think it's one of those fragrances that you could wear any time of the year and it just works! It's a fresh scent that's not too overpowering, but it lasts all day. I put mine on before uni at about 7am and when I get home around 5pm I can still smell it on myself! Now that it's November I think I'll be getting out my Victoria's Secret Snow Mint fragrance - it's the ultimate Christmas scent for me! If you'd like a blog post on all my Victoria's Secret sprays, let me know!

Marc Jacobs Genius Gel Foundation
This is an oldie but goodie! I bought this in New York last November, and although I loved it, I stopped using it for ages as I trial so many foundations I tend to use one for a few weeks then move on to the next. This is a light to medium coverage foundation that's really easy to build up. It looks so natural on the skin and it feels like you're wearing nothing on your face! For higher coverage, I tend to apply it with my Beauty Blender, so the way you apply it definitely makes all the difference in terms of coverage. It's great for a day at college as it stays put all day and gives a lovely radiant, dewy finish. If you're like me and have oily skin, a bit of powder on the t-zone makes it last all day. This is quite pricey at $50 a bottle, and unfortunately we can't get it here in Ireland but all European Sephoras now stock Marc Jacobs so if you find yourself at a Marc Jacobs stand, I couldn't recommend this more! I have a full, in-depth review of this foundation here.


MAC Spirit Lipstick & Makeup Forever Lip Pencil in 3C

My favourite lip combination of the month has been MAC's Spirit Lipstick and my Makeup Forever Aqua Lip in 3C, which as you can see, is well loved! I'm definitely going to repurchase it soon. I have a full review of Spirit on my blog here - it's a beautiful mid-tone brown that's a satin finish. It's quite an underrated MAC lippie in my opinion, I rarely hear people talking about it! It reminds me a lot of Velvet Teddy, only a little bit darker.

I don't think I've ever mentioned this lip pencil on my blog - I got it in Sephora last year in New York, but luckily here in Dublin we have a Makeup Forever shop! It's one of the best lip pencils I own - it's so soft and creamy, and it lasts all day without drying out your lips. As it's an aqua pencil, it's so long-wearing and the colour is beautiful too!




So they are my favourites for the month of October! I've also decided that this year I'm going to participate in Blogmas! This is simply where you update your blog every day from the 1st of December to Christmas Eve. I wanted to do it last year but I completely forgot about it, so I can't wait to do it this year!

Zara :-) x