I've Found The ONE.

Hey Guys,

So Kylie Jenner has been literally EVERYWHERE. And if you missed that you must be living under a seriously big rock in the back arse of nowhere. Way back at the start of the year her sister (Kim, you probably don't know her) mentioned some of Kylie's favourite lip products that help her to achieve her over lined lips. It just so happens that one of her favourite products is also one of MY favourites. MAC Soar lip pencil. And since then it has been out of stock for months! 

Anyways, Soar is literally my go to lip pencil/lipstick for everyday, its the type of pencil you can throw in your makeup bag and use with a bazillion different looks that perfect brown neutral with just a hint of pink. Although it is a fabulous lip colour bear in mind that it is a lip pencil that will dry out your lips. But in all honesty once its on you won't have to re-apply it much throughout the day. I constantly get asked "what lip colour have you got on today?" and nine times out of ten it's usually Soar. I have noticed though that Soar looks different on everyone, so no two people wear it the same. 

Back to Kylie and her HUGE lips, there's a reason she uses this lip pencil because it makes your lips look bigger than they actually are. So if your like me and are challenged in the lip area, this is a game changer. It gives the overdrawn and bigger look without looking like you went a bit too far. If you pair this with Tom Ford Indian Rose it is just perfection! 

You can find this pencil at your local MAC counter IF it's in stock. 

Love, 

S x

"Setting" the record straight; Hydrating sprays vs. Setting sprays.

Good evening, ladies and gents. I'm outside of my usual Monday time frame I know, but that can't be helped. I'm here tonight instead, and I'm going to address a misconception that I come across quite frequently. This is something I used to take as gospel as well, but I'm now the wiser. The presumed notion I'll be referring to is as follows;

"MAC Fix+ is a setting spray."

On closer inspection Fix+ isn't a setting spray (although it does leave a nice finish once all of the make up has been applied.) It won't, however, increase the wear time of your make up. It's far from "setting" that this beauty was reared. 

Given that various beauty houses and even skincare brands have their own version of spray on products (be they toners, moisturising mists or other inventions) I think it's important to address the difference between the two key groups and let you guys know what they can be used for, and how to get the best out of your product. I'll start with the hydrating lads, shall I?

Hydrating sprays.

Main use; To add moisture back to dry, dehydrated skins. 

Key Ingredients; Glycerin. Rosewater, Aloe Vera extract is also listed quite frequently.

These sprays are generally marketed more as skincare, and they work really well at this step. Fix+ contains glycerin which is a humectant. Any humectant ingredient binds water to the skin by absorbing moisture in the environment. Layering these under serums and moisturisers will help to hydrate the skin. Products like Moisture Surge Face Spray by Clinique and Jurlique's Calming Mist are both hydrating and soothing sprays that contain this fantastic little ingredient. 

For the drier skin types out there, feel free to spritz a light layer over your make up to bring back a healthy sheen to the skin! These won't lock your war paint into place so for my oily skinned clan, stick to using these in your skin routine.

Setting sprays. 

Main use; To set the make up and keep it in place all day. Some can be used to prime the skin also.

Key Ingredients; Silicon ingredients, many contain alcohol.

In the style of Ronseal, these do exactly what they say on the tin. These products are designed to set the make up in place by leaving a lightweight, oil-controlling film across the skin so that the end result doesn't look heavy or cakey. These are usually offered as an alternative to setting powders, or to take away the look of heavy powder application. 

I've looked at the ingredients of a few choice options and they mostly contain silicon elements. If you remember the post about skin primers you'll know that these ingredients are beneficial for oily skins. This makes them fantastic primers as well, especially if you don't want too many heavy duty products on your skin. The down side is that they often contain alcohol so that the liquid can evaporate from the skin's surface. This will stop it mingling with any naturally occurring sebum but if you're in any way dry or sensitive I'd turn your head at this point. 

If you're interested in taking them for a test drive then definitely check out Urban Decay's De-Slick, Cinema Secrets Super Sealer or Model in a Bottle's Original Setting Spray. 

I know there's not a whole world of difference when it boils down to it but picking up the wrong one could wreak havoc on your beauty regimen. I'm by no means a skincare or product development aficionado, but my college days left me with some valuable info. Get into the habit of checking out what's in your beauty bits and pieces and you'll thank me, promise!

If you want to see some more product break downs like this one, definitely let me know! Give me another reason to spend hours reading about make up. Like, please? 

*insert the usual tired speech about various social media links at the top of the blog right here* I know I'm dragging the arse out of it now, I'm sorry. Not sorry enough to stop but I do feel a small twinge of guilt. Definite character progression, no? 

I hope this was in some way helpful.

Until next time, 

J x 

My Essential/Favourite/Can't Live Without Kit Products:

So this is just a few products that I love, can't live without. These are products that I always seem to use personally and products that I turn to for the majority of my makeovers. Apologies about the limited range of brands, these are just products that I have used and loved, but I do need to branch out and try other brands. You can probably also tell that I love warm neutral colours, I know I need to be brave and venture out into the world of colour.

1. Smashbox Luminizing Primer: This primer just gives a sheer golden radiance to the skin which I love. I also like to use it if someone is wearing false tan as the golden glow works great paired with a tan. This primer is also great when away in the sun and worn underneath a BB or CC Cream.
   
2. MAC Strobe Cream: This is a wonder cream, it instantly hydrates and brightens skin. It works great on dry, dehydrated, tired or dull skin as it quickly boost moisture and radiance.
   

   
3. Smashbox Primer Water: So this is one of my most recent additions to my kit and I've been using it everyday since. Use it under make as a super sheer and light primer, it can also be used on top of powder to set your look for the day and throughout for an instant hydration boost. You and others will notice the difference it makes, skin looks healthy and glowing.
   
4. Inglot Duraline: This product is the best friend of winged liner and make-up artists. It is a mixing medium which can be used with gel liners to make them more fluid or with pigments to create your own liner or use it on its own with a clean angle brush to sharpen or fix a winged liner. 
   
5.  Inglot AMC Gel Liner 77: Definitely my favourite gel eye liner, the pigment is super intense and long wearing. This is the perfect winged liner product. The colour pay off is instant and doesn't budge or crease.
   
6.  MAC Warm Neutral Palette: This palette is a must have for anyone who loves a natural smokey eye. It contains 15 warm eyeshadow shades perfect for creating a range of looks but I think it is super suited to bridal looks which tend to be a little softer and romantic.
   

   
7.  Smashbox Suntan Matte Bronzer: My perfect matte bronzer, use it to warm the skin, add colour or use for a soft contour. The colour is completely matte and the powder is super light and easily buildable. But sadly it has been discontinued as it has been replaced and I am looking to trying the newer version.
   
8. MAC Paint Pots: These paint pots are great on there own blended out for a quick simple eye look, or use underneath as a base and to increase depth for a more dramatic look. I personally love Groundwork which is a warm taupe, it is a great base for a smokey eye. A few other choice colours are Indianwood, Painterly and Soft Ochre.
   

   
9.  Smashbox Halo Highlighting Wand Gold: This is a light weight fluid highlighter which is a humectant so it keeps the skin hydrated as it attracts moisture to the skin. I use under foundation and apply across the cheeks bones, centre of forehead, chin and nose to give a super dewy glow to skin.
   

 10.  Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade: This is the best brow product I have used. It is waterproof and doesn't smudge, the colour is rich and intense,a little goes a long way. Use it with a small fine angle brush to shape and define brows. It works on both full and sparse brows. I used to think I couldn't live without mascara but now I can't live without brows, specifically this product.

So I hope you liked the insight into a few of my most essential and everday products, but I do hope to try some new products in the near future, funds permitting. 

Lot of Love

A

x

Foundation Fact File.

Guess who has coffee and a full post's worth of make up chatter to get through? Yeah. Me. You guessed it. 

This week we're having a chinwag about foundation. Years of doing make up, and a few extra years of doing my own make up, have taught me that your foundation can make or break your look. It's also the major point of stipulation when it comes to a lot of make overs. Owing to the great passion that people have for their war paint I decided to do up a little guideline for those of you who are a bit lost when it comes to buying a foundation. 

I'll go through some common make up jargon (i.e the words that'll no doubt be hurled at you at some point when you're in store having a wander) and break them down so that the next time you need to invest the process won't be so daunting. 

Undertone; The undertone of a foundation is grouped as either warm, neutral or cool. "Warm" foundations have more yellow pigment in them, and "cool" toned products have more pink pigment. "Neutral", naturally enough, is somewhere in the middle. 

The undertone is usually the first hurdle that knocks people down. Some bases have more prominent pigments than others. As a rule of thumb, if the foundation looks grey or washed out you should try something warmer. If your foundation is coming across too yellow, or even orange, try something with a more neutral or cool tone. 

Formula; The formula is basically the way the product looks in the packaging, i.e liquid, powder, cream, etc. Different formulas have different benefits and strong points. For example a powder foundation is ideal for an oily skin type as it will absorb excess oil while you wear it. A richer liquid or cream product will be best for a drier skin as it will add a healthy sheen to the skin. 

Do a little research into the products you like the look of, as not all formulas stick to straight forward rules. There are some liquid foundations that work amazingly on oily skin and some powders that work nicely on dry skin. It all depends on the finish, which we'll cover next. 

Finish; When we talk about the "finish" of a foundation we mean how it looks on the skin. Matte, dewy and satin are all finishes. The finish isn't always determined by the formula, so as I said definitely do a little inside snooping to find out about some attractive products. 

A matte finish has no shine to it and gives a soft, powdered look to the skin. A lot of oily skin types like to go for this finish as many matte formulas will absorb excess oil and reduce unwanted shine. On the flip side we have drier skinned folk who like to add some faux glow. They might opt for a dewy finish which leaves the skin looking fresh with a sheen to it. Have a play with some foundations, ask some questions and see what takes your fancy!

Coverage; Oh, the Irish ladies are big into their coverage! Whether they like a light and sheer base or they want full on foundation, the Irish cailíns know their stuff! This is the one area that the Irish public has definitely educated themselves on, and brilliantly so. 

The coverage of a foundation determines how opaque the product is. Full coverage will completely obliterate your natural skin tone and replace it with your base colour. Medium coverage will show some texture and natural colour. Light coverage will show your skin and let it shine through while evening out the skin tone. 

One thing to consider here is whether or not you actually need a lot of coverage. One or two hormonal spots on your chin won't warrant a blanket of base across the gorgeous clear skin along your cheeks. Consider pairing your foundation with a concealer. Examine how your skin changes and behaves and let that help you in picking your foundation. 

So, armed with this knowledge, I hope that you guys and dolls have a little bit more confidence when it comes to picking out your new holy grail product. Buying a foundation can be one of the most influential purchases of your entire make up wardrobe, so I'm aiming to make it a little easier.There's a lot more that goes into creating the perfect foundation but with these four points under your belt you'll be fresh faced and fancy free in no time!

Don't forget to also follow us on twitter and Instagram, both of those are linked at the top of the home page. If you want us to see any of your posts tag us and hashtag "#ThreesCompanyBeauty"

I hope this was helpful guys!

Until next time,

J x 

 

The Essentials; The Brush Edition.

Monday? Check. Coffee? Check. Decaf at this hour, naturally. Another post? Check. We're in business.

Susan took up my usual haunt last Monday and did so beautifully, but I'm back this week with a post on some of my favourite brushes. These are the brushes I call on in any given situation, and the ones I think that you guys seriously need to invest in! Good brushes make all the difference when it comes to applying your war paint. 

It's a Bank Holiday Monday night so I'll keep this on the side of "Light Reading" and group these bad boys by Eyes, Skin and Lips. If anyone would like a more in depth review, just let me know and I'll throw together a lil' somethin'! For now, let's get cracking.

Eyes.

(brushes listed L-R)

Eco Tools Concealer Brush: A stiff, flat synthetic brush. Perfect for applying cream shadow. I also use this for under eye concealer, but I much prefer it for work on the eyelid.

Inglot 31T Brush: The very last word in angled brushes as far as I'm concerned. Razor thin and super precise, I love this for winged liner or for brows. The brush is flexible enough to create a soft, natural brow if needs be. 

Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush: An ideal brush to apply eye primer with. This blends cream or powder gorgeously. The brush won't absorb fluid products, making it perfect for cream products.

MAC 239: A flat brush made of goats hair. This is brilliant for packing shadow onto the eye with the best payoff. I also like this for shadow underneath the eye, as the top of the brush is thin and dense.

Inglot 6SS: A large blending brush for applying a light wash of colour, perfect for applying a contour shade into the crease. I start almost all of my eye looks with this brush to determine the space I'm working with. The 6SS is made of natural hair, so it's best for powder shadows.

MAC 217: The cult favourite. A small, oval shaped blending brush. The 217 can be used for larger areas or to add specific definition. Again this is better with powders in my experience as it is white goat's hair and can stain. I've used some popular alternatives for this brush but keep coming back to the 217.

CrownBrush C224: An oval shaped concealer brush. This is my go to brush for under eye concealer as it's dense enough to blend the product without reducing the coverage. The C224 is a basic brush I think every one should have, no one won't benefit form owning this guy.

Inglot 10S: A long, thin blending brush. This is perfect for smudging out eye liner or defining underneath the eyes as its shape keeps it really precise. I use this to create a really soft inner corner highlight as well. 

Skin.

(brushes listed L-R)

CrownBrush C435: A large, soft, angled brush. This brush blends powder bronzer over the face and neck quickly and easily without adding too much product. Plus it feels amazing on the skin!

CrownBrush C426: A huge duo-fibre brush with a domed head. I absolutely love this brush for blending powder products down onto the neck. If I have a client with a tan that doesn't quite match a shade in my kit I prefer to use a powder bronzer or foundation to match the neck as these are less likely to transfer onto clothes. This brush blends these products really softly for the most natural finish.

CrownBrush C466: A classic flat foundation brush. This is synthethic but incredibly soft. I get no streaky lines when I apply liquid products with this brush. Being totally honest, I was never a fan of this type of brush until I picked this one up. I now own three. That's how fabulous this is. 

CrownBrush C427: A smaller version of the C426, and more dense. You can be a lot more precise with this brush, I love this for applying a contour product with. Being duo fibre it works equally well with powders and creams. I own a couple of these as they work well for blush so I may use more than one at a time. 

Inglot 4SS: A large blending brush. This brush is so soft that I look for reasons to use this, just to feel it on my face! It's best for applying product in a specific area. I find this a little bit small for blush but I love it for specific contour or highlight placement. Despite being natural hair it works quite well with creams. 

Real Techniques Buffing Brush: If I'm in a rush, I pull out this guy. It blends product into the skin for a gorgeous natural finish. I use this with MAC Studio Fix Powder for easy coverage and even skin when I roll out of bed 25 minutes late. This is a Godsend. 

Lips.

(brushes listed L-R)

CrownBrush C463: An angled brush that's perfect for getting crisp lip lines. I love this for defining the outside of the cupid's bow. The edge is flat as opposed to curved so it does half of the work for you. 

Real Techniques Accent Brush: The tip of this brush is rounded, so I do love this for defining the curved bow of the lip. This is irreplaceable for me when it comes to doing dark, precise lip colours. I know this is marketed as an eye brush, but for me it's lips all the way. 

Face2 304 Lip Brush: I picked this brush up out of need rather than interest to be honest, but I ended up loving it. The brush is flexible enough to blend lip liner and lipstick together without losing control of the product. I also love this for touch ups. Once I have my shape defined, this brush fills the space really easily. 

I could go on from here, but I'll leave it at that. It's safe to say that these have become tools of my trade. If any of these become discontinued I'll have to hang up my brush belt for good! If you like the look of anything you see above, I've included links to some online shops below:

To purchase any of the CrownBrush items you can visit their online shop here.

MAC and Inglot brushes can be purchased from theie respective retail locations around Ireland. Inglot Ireland have an online shop, for their brushes you can click here. 

Real Techniques And Eco Tools retail in Boots in Ireland and can be purchased from the Boots website here. 

Face2 retail through Makeup Forever on Clarendon Street, Dublin. To purchase the Face2 Lip Brush through the Makeup Forever website, click here.

With all of that said, I'll leave it right there. As always, get in touch on our other social media locations. All of those are linked at the top of the blog. Blah,blah, blah, shameless plug and traffic driving through different platforms, you know the story by now...

Good night and God bless!

J x 

Brand Review - Sugarpill Cosmetics!

Hello, my lovelies!

Today I took to my face to reacquaint myself with the delicious products from Sugarpill Cosmetics. Not that these babies needed much reintroduction. To cut a long story short, I'm hooked!

However, in the interests of a fair and impartial review I dabbled with the products I own and inevitably used all of them at once (please see above for evidence). Below is a review of my experience with the brand. This will include the products themselves but also customer care and delivery time. Sure we'll crack on!

Product Quality

Sugarpill Cosmetics provide a range of pressed powder eyeshadows, loose pigments, false eyelashes and a small set of synthetic make up brushes. All of Sugarpill's products are brightly coloured and incredibly pigmented. For anyone looking to branch out into more colourful cosmetics, these guys are a must! The eyeshadows come in matte, satin and frosted finishes. The majority of their loose pigments are metallic or contain some element of sparkle.

Most of the products I own are pressed powder shadows. The formula is nice and soft and blends incredibly well, however the more metallic shades can cause a little fallout if you have a heavier hand. Each shadow contains 3.5 grams of product for $13, or just under €12. At over twice the product than in a regular MAC eyeshadow and for a fraction of the price, they're an absolute steal! These prices are from the Sugarpill website and not individual stockists.

Score: 8/10

Customer Care

I've honestly only had to contact the company once. For Black Friday and Cyber Monday last year Sugarpill had a sale online and I lost the run of myself and bought the place dry, naturally enough. I wanted to check on my goods as it had been about three and a half weeks since purchase and they hadn't arrived (understandable delays due to an increase in orders). I had lost my order number and so couldn't track my order, but when I emailed their support team the service was quick and efficient. I was back on track within about two business days.

It's worth mentioning that all products are manufactured completely cruelty free. Not all products are vegan but there is a "Vegan" section for conscious beauty buyers. Fantastic news!

Score: 9/10

Delivery and Packaging

All Sugarpill packaging is adorable and features the signature "Pill Kitty" logo, from product to postage boxes. All orders come with a complimentary Sugarpill logo sticker and a sample of loose pigment. Larger orders generally receive more complimentary goodies in my experience.

Products are shipped from the US so it takes between ten and fourteen business days for me to receive them here in Ireland. To me, that's a fair waiting time considering the company themselves package and ship their items, as well as taking into account international postage. 

Postage prices are a little higher given the aforementioned international status. If you know someone in the states, have it shipped to them for a flat rate of $6 and throw them the difference for sending it to you. Problem solved, essentially! If you can't go that route just be conscious that larger orders incur a larger postage fee.

Score: 7/10

You were warned, I'm genuinely hooked! With a fantastic social media presence and support for customers as well as everything mentioned above this brand receives and overall rating of 8/10.

For more information and to purchase Sugarpill Cosmetics you can visit http://www.sugarpillshop.com

Until next time!
J x

But, first lemme take a selfie.

Hello World! Here is our new shiny beauty blog, as if the world needed another blog. Anyways to kick things off lets get to know us a little better. Who are we?

Aisling.

Jamie.

Susan.

We're three make up artist buddies with a strong passion for what we do and an ongoing cosmetic dependency (pending psychiatric intervention.) All three of us approach make up in different ways, and we'll be using our different styles and skills to bring you guys diverse and entertaining content. Three's Company will be covering make up (funnily enough...) hair, and skin care. There'll be videos, blog posts, instagram photos and tweets from all three of us and our main aim is to make sure that there's something for everyone out there. 

As I write this (Jamie btw, heyiz!) Susan and Aisling are as busy as little lipsticked bees creating content which we'll be editing and uploading for you guys very very soon. We're so excited to get a routine of posts going, but we'd love to hear from you guys! Definitely let us know what you'd like to see and we can work on posting the kind of thing that you guys would enjoy reading. 

Follow us here and on Instagram, Twitter and Youtube (we'll get this set up ASAP!) to make sure you get all of the necessary updates from us!

Until next time, stay classy!
J x