Mac 224 vs ebay dupe

I have been eyeing the Mac 224 brush for as long as I can remember. My sister has one and I was forever robbing it from her room. I just didn't think I could bring myself to pay so much for a makeup brush but eventually I caved and bought it during a trip over to the UK. Before making my purchase I ordered a dupe from ebay. Here are my findings and differences between the two.

Handle & Ferrule - The ebay copy is slightly smaller in length and the material is not as good quality. The 224 has a wood handle and nickel-plated brass ferrules, it is a very sturdy brush, you can see from the pictures the ferrule on the dupe is quite loose. 

Bristles- The ebay brush has shorter more dense bristles. I find this to be the biggest difference and what makes it completely different to the 224. The 224 has a small amount of very light bristles which help to blend the shades onto the lid. The dupe bristles are far more dense, they do not blend the shadows as well as the 224. 

Cost of brushes- Ebay Dupe- €2,  Mac 225- €33 

Overall I think there is a vast difference between the two, One blends eye shadows, the dupe not so much. So I have to say even though there is a €31 price difference, I think its best to save the money and fork out for the real deal!

This 224 brush has become a stable of mine, I'm not sure I could do eye makeup without it now! Has anyone else heard of a good dupe for this brush? I hear Sigmas blending brush is very similar?

Wet n' Wild Purchases

So first of all a very big thank you to Aisling at Total Make Up Addict for sharing the great news that Wet n' Wild is now available in Ireland at Dunnes Stores. Eeek! I could not wait to get my hands on some! I travelled to two Dunnes Stores last week but unfortunately neither had a Wet n' Wild Stand.

Yesterday I finally drove over to Dunnes Stores  Cornelscourt and yay they had Wet n' Wild...well what was left of it!! I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised that so much of it was already out of stock. I was really hoping to buy the Walking on Eggshells Palette and the Sugar Plum Fairy Lipstick. There was only one lipstick left on the shelf. One! So I immediately grabbed that. I also got a mini palette.

The lipstick is called Dark Pink Frost (€1.99). It is a light berry purple tone with a gold shimmer. The colour is not something I would usually wear, but it is quite nice on. It gives a subtle colour to my lips. I think it would be nice with a dramatic eye look.

I also picked up the Sweet as Candy palette (€2.99). I picked this up as it looked quite similar to the Walking on Eggshells palette. The palette contains three shadows, a soft pink base for the lid, a chocolate brown shade for the crease and a cream highlight for the Brow Bone. The colours in this palette are absolutely gorgeous! I could not believe how pigmented the shadows are. They have a creamy type of texture and apply beautifully to the skin.

I am heading to town next week to do some shopping so I might try Dunnes at Stephens Green, Or Dunnes Stores on Henry Street, maybe they might have more stock! 

Has you picked up any Wet n' Wild products yet?

Pampering Facial Wipes?

Yes yes yes I am in love.. with these Facial wipes!

 

I am usually a Boots Essentials facial wipes girl, its great when they have the buy one get one free offer. Over the weekend I decided to give these facial wipes a try as they sounded like they would be right up my street!

Johnson's Makeup Be Gone Pampering Facial Wipes are infused with a moonflower aroma. Moonflower is said to calm your senses and create a feeling of relaxation. These facial wipes gentle remove makeup while also cleaning and toning the skin. They are suitable for all skin types.

I have to say I was delighted with these wipes. I first tried them after a stressful Saturday. They smell absolutely delish, It reminds me of a kind of lilac scent, very relaxing. The wipe itself is made from soft tissues which left my skin feeling very soft. It removed my makeup with ease, I had on my usual 2 or 3 layers of Maybelline's The Rocket Mascara and it removed it with minimal effort.

 

Like most facial wipes these can leave your skin feeling quite dry. I try not to use them everyday but they are very handy when you are in a rush to get to bed at night. I would recommend applying a good moisturiser after use. At the moment I am using L'Oreal Skin Perfection: Correcting Day Moisturiser.

All in all I was pretty blown away by these wipes, I really felt the scent truly made me feel very relaxed and calm after use. I think I may have found a new staple product!

Has anyone else given these a go?

Hi Everyone!!

So I have taken a long break from blogging. I had originally planned to just take a few weeks off, but four weeks has lead to 6 weeks and so on. I have still kept up with reading blogs daily and up to date on everyone else blogs, just not my own! After many comments from my friends and family over Christmas about my lack of blogging I have decided to give it another go. So its a new year and as part of my new years resolutions I have decided to get back into the blogging world!

So without further ado here is my first 2014 post!

Favourite Beauty Products I Got For Christmas 

As my family and friends are very aware I love anything beauty related I was very lucky this Christmas and got several new beauty products to try out! Here's is a few of my favourite beauty gifts I received this year!

Royal Jelly Sets- My parents got me four or five gorgeous Royal Jelly sets. I have opened and used most of the other sets so I could only photograph this one. I absolutely adore the smell of this product. It has a rich honey and floral scent and leaves the skin feeling super soft. You can purchase these products nationwide at Marks and Spencer's.

Sleek Blusher- My sister lives in the Uk and she is aware of how difficult it is for us here in Ireland to get our hands on Sleek products. She sent me this gorgeous Sleek blusher in the colour Rose Gold. It is a bright coral shade with gold shimmer. It will be perfect for the fast approaching Spring months!

Mua Bronzer- I also got this beautiful Mua Bronzer (Natural Glow Shade 1) from my sister. My mom has one quite like it and I am always admiring it. It has several different shades which mix together to form a gorgeous natural glow.

Barry M Polish- I got this Barry M polish from my other sister Sarah in the shade Pink Silver Glitter. I sent her a few ideas of gifts I might like over Christmas and was delighted when I unwrapped this one. I have wanted a Barry M glitter for ages. I can't wait to try this out. Sarah started her own Events Blog a few months ago, you should go check it out- Link).

Naked 3 Palette- Last but by no means least! I got the Naked 3 Palette!!! I have wanted a Urban Decay Naked Palette for as long as I can remember. I think everyone had told my mom I was looking for this for Christmas. I was absolutely delighted when I unwrapped it on Christmas day, I swear I thought I was going to shed a tear, it's so beautiful!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and you all got loads of gorgeous beauty products. I look forward to reading plenty of new reviews this month on all the lovely blogs I follow. If you are not sure if I follow your blog, please leave a comment below with a link and I will be sure to check it out. I will leave you with a few snaps of my Christmas Holidays!

 

Hope to chat to everyone soon!