Suzie Q Reviews: Flormar Beauty On A Budget

Hey Ladies,

Way back last Summer I attended the relaunch of Flormar into Ireland, a brand known for its nail polishes and inexpensive makeup. Since then Flormar has grown and almost every pharmacy in my local area has a stand and their products have been written about hugely in the Irish blogging community. I want to give you my two cents on the brand and some of their stand out products!

In terms of quality I was blown away by the packaging, pigmentation and price range of these products. I was kindly given all of these products to try and the item I was most excited for was the Eyeshadow palette no 7 Nude Dudes* costing as little as €9.95. As you can see from the swatches the palette contains  5 matte eye shadows that are incredible soft and pigmented. A neutral matte eyeshadow palette is a staple in any makeup bag. I have been using this palette for quite a while and have found myself reaching for it daily over the likes of my more expensive palettes from MAC or Inglot. If you try anything from this range, let it be the eye shadows. 

Bearing in mind it was the Summer when I attended this event and the goody bag contained a bright orange coral lipstick which at this current moment is a tad bit bright for me. It is one of their Revolution Lipstick in Provocative Orange* and it retails at €6.95. I found the Flormar lipsticks to be seriously creamy and definitely long lasting. The lipstick is tapered at the tip on both sides so there is no need for a lip liner when you first buy it  but it will eventually wear down.  The packaging again for me was surprisingly nice quality. I think in the future I would like to try a few more of these lipsticks in more everyday neutral shades to really put them to the test!

Lip gloss wouldn't be a product I would buy myself and especially not in a colour like Backstage* that is a pink blue duo chrome with glitter, it's a tad too much for me. One thing I will say though is that the pigmentation is bomb and the formulation isn't as sticky as traditional lip glosses. At €5.95 it isn't going to break the back but I'm afraid this product isn't for me.

If you watch my YouTube channel you may have seen me haul these products and one thing I really praise Flormar for is quality for money. With their Face And Body Bronzing Powder* you get a tonne of product for €9.95, the photos below really don't show the true size of this product as it is legitimately bigger than my head. It is super soft and is easily to blend, which is ideal. For the paler gals this one won't suit you but if you a gal who prefers their bronzer to their blush you can't pass this value up and it comes in three different shades!

Last but certainly not least is their Jelly Look Nail Enamel in Turquoise Green*. It took me about a week trying to pry into this product as it was sealed so tightly and love nor money was getting it open. Eventually risking mo fiacla I managed to get it open. First off the formulation is easy to apply and the pigmentation is super strong especially in such a bright colour, in the photo below I applied two coats on my acrylic nails. The only downside for me is that I don't like the pointed lid as it makes it a little harder to hold and control the brush but other than that I think Flormar have nail polish covered and with over 1000 nail polishes in their collection and starting at €4.45!

There are a few more products from the Flormar range I want to try such as the Double Radiance Highlighting Primer and the Blush On blushes. You'll be delighted to know that everything in the Flormar range is under €13 so its beauty on a budget! You can find Flormar in most pharmacies nationwide or you can check their stock list here to find your local stand. As mentioned these products were gifted to me but that doesn't hamper my opinion in anyway. I hope you enjoyed this review and if you would like to see more of Flormar on the blog let me know what products you want to see and bob shall be your uncle.

TFF: Brain FRIyed.

Hey Ladies,

So Take Five Friday went on the back burner for a while when I booted up my YouTube channel and Facebook page but alas I want to bring it back as around this time of year pre-Xmas I get extra cranky. My parentals think I have S.A.D to be fair I probably do but it could also be the fact that people are extra annoying at this time of the year!

Anyways, here are some of the things (not all bad) that have been bothering me lately!

1. It being dark at like 4 o'clock which means you want to do the whole get cosy, watch a movie and go to bed early. Zero work done....zero.

2. People using makeup straight from the testers in Boots. Yep that eye infection is free of charge and I sure do hope you don't mind cold sores. Have you ever heard of eyelash lice? Oh they exist too. No thank you.

3. Brooklyn being bloody BRILLIANT but giving me all the feels, I sobbed. If you haven't seen it yet book tickets ASAP.

4. The huns in the toilets on a night out reapplying their neon pink/red lipstick pure gee-eyed. The hair gets higher and the lips get bigger.

5. Makeup Geek launches on Beauty Bay this week.....EEP! My bank account is going to get an awful fright, no Christmas presents this year...OOPS.

So has anything put a bee in your bonnet this week? Or is it all sunshine and rainbows? Tell me in the beautiful box below! 

Ta Hun Sure It's Only Penney's: Lip Pencil Edition

Hey Ladies, 

I swear for the last two months I have been on the biggest lipstick binge, as if I need anymore lipsticks... honestly like a hole in the head. But I just can't help myself but thankfully my latest two faves only cost €1.50 each so it's not going to break the bank or leave me feeling guilty.

I swear Penney's is just getting better by the day, the clothes are on trend and the home ware is to die for and their latest beauty range is making headlines everywhere so naturally enough I tottered down to Penney's to see what the fuss was about. I was hearing reports that one of their lip pencils was a dupe for MAC Spice and by golly it is. Think Spice and Soar mixed but for a fraction of the price, sure you wouldn't even get a cup of tea for that much! 

Anyways, the lip liners are part of their new P.S Love range and there are a few colours but I only picked up the nude and the plum. Now if someone said Penney's brought out makeup I would have thought "you get what you pay for" and the quality would be rubbish but surprisingly enough these liners are giving MAC a run for their money, they are far more covetable than the Kylie Jenner effect on Soar earlier this year, these Penney's lip liner have been out of stock for AGES. That's saying something. 

I have been putting them to the test in terms of quality of colour and durability and so far they're doing brilliant. The quality of pigment is opaque so there's no need to have to pile a whole load on and they last quite well. Now, if you're eating you will need to reapply afterwards but so far they've held up really well. Since testing them I couldn't tell you how many compliments I have gotten. In fact preparing for this post I wore the plum shade today (how similar to MAC Rebel is this!) and so many people asked what I had on, one friend of mine actually said "I bet its MAC!" and I said no actually it's Penney's and she was shocked! 

So there you have it and just a side not my favourite thing I love about these pencils is that I can bring them on a night out or away with me and not be afraid to lose them! 

Tell me have you tried any of the Penney's makeup and what did you think?

Giambattista Valli For MAC

Hey Ladies, 

I normally don't freak out over special collections but I had a total Mean Girls moment, I saw Amber Heard wearing Giambattista Valli for MAC in Eugenie so I needed Eugenie. I stalked the MAC counter in Brown Thomas for months as the launch date kept getting pushed back but eventually I got my hands on it! Annoyingly BT's only got about 10 of each shade and by now they will most definitely sold out.....sorry. Now, this definitely isn't your typical Summer shade of lipstick but we haven't had the most typical Summer this year. It feels like we have just gone and skipped straight into Autumn/Winter. So it will be no time at all before you will be inundated with posts of "The Perfect Autumn Lip". 

The collection contained 5 lipsticks ranging from a pastel pink to a bright pink, to a coral and a classic red but I wanted the deepest and most vampy shade and did I mention it is a matte lipstick? I KNOW! The packaging is just perfection, each lipstick from the collection matches the outer packaging which makes it easy to distinguish from your regular MAC lipstick. The pigmentation is second to none which you can see in the pictures below and I am so in love with this lipstick it's ridiculous. It's not your typical red/burgundy it is almost like it has been brought as far as red can go before it turns into black. It's definitely one of a kind. 

I wanted to post this to ask your opinions on special collections. I obviously will not be able to repurchase this lipstick once it has gone (I will cherish it till then) and it got me to thinking... do you buy from special collections or would you skip it and just purchase from the permanent line? If you fall madly in love with it and only use it on "special occasions" it is kind of going to waste from the fear of wasting it...is it honestly worth the hassle? 

I'll Be On Hoarders:Lipstick Edition

Hey Ladies,

So Marilyn famously said "diamonds are a girls best friend" but to be honest Tom Ford wasn't around in them days. Tom Ford lipsticks are a thing of sheer beauty from the stunning packaging to the creamy formulation that tastes like a vanilla cupcake minus the calories. It's the only lipstick I would re-mortgage my house to afford!

The last two weeks for me have been extremely stressful (you can see more about that on my Instagram @WhatsNewWithSuzieQ) so I thought I would treat myself to a little somethin somethin to cheer me up. Meet Indian Rose, the perfect balance between brown and pink. The ideal candidate to accompany my beloved Soar Lip Pencil by MAC. 

  

It might be expensive but it is SO worth it. Putting it on makes me feel so elegant and lady like! I have done a blog post on Tom Ford lipsticks before and like I mentioned in that this would be the perfect lipstick for a Wedding Day or special occasion. Alternatively if you want to score some major brownie points, buy this for a friend/sister/girlfriend as a present! 

Would you spend €47 on a lipstick or is that absolute madness? What is your perfect lip combo? Let me know in the comments below. 

Suzie Q Reviews: Sephora Cream Lip Satin

Hey Ladies,

So since the whole scandal with Lime Crime earlier this year (google it!) I have really wanted to try more lip products that are similar to my beloved LC Velvetine in Red Velvet but I am not willing to take the risk with a dodgy company. Instead I started on a quest to find something similar, my first stop was Sephora to try the much talked about Cream Lip Satins. I picked up two shades when I was in Copenhagen and you might have already seen them in my haul video back in February! I picked up the shades 03 Strawberry Kissed and 06 Pink Souffle. Strawberry kissed is a vibrant matte pinky red colour which stands out against my pale skin and Pink Souffle is a gorgeous matte dusky pink which I have worn with my favourite MAC lip pencil Soap and they are stunning together - Kylie Jenner eat your heart out!

Texture wise I am honestly surprised at how good these are. For Sephora own brand I was a little bit snobby and thought they were going to be rubbish but they honestly are phenomenal. They go on with a glossy finish but then dry down to a comfortable matte finish. They are super duper long lasting and hold up really well if you happen to be eating or drinking. I also find with most matte lipsticks that they leave your lips in a haggard state for about a week, oh no not these babies! All in all they are bloody brilliant. I honestly can't remember how much I paid for these as I paid in Danish Krone (most confusing currency) but they wouldn't have been much. I can honestly say I won't be tempted to order from Lime Crime again and instead I will be counting down the days until I get to Sephora again!

Have you got any liquid lipsticks that you would recommend? OR would you purchase from Lime Crime regardless of all the scandal? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @WhatsNewSuzieQ.

Smashbox X Donald Robertson

Hey Ladies,

It's very rare for me to walk up to a beauty counter, fall in love with a lipstick, pick it up and walk straight to the tills no questions asked (no swatches either). Literally when I seen the new Smashbox X Donald Robertson collection I knew it was love at first sight, especially when it comes to the new matte lipsticks. I just HAD to have at least one of the shades so as soon as it hit counters on Tuesday I picked up Femme Fatale. Doesn't that name just scream girl power, love it.

Its a beautiful deep plum colour and even though we are nearing Summer and more brighter colours, I love this shade all year round. It's a matte lipstick but it's very different to what we formally know as a matte. I found this lipstick was extremely comfortable on the lips (infused with Shea Butter) and didn't leave my lips dry afterwards which is a huge plus as I love MAC matte lipsticks but your lips do be in rag order for days after.

It's a very creamy formulation so when applying it, there is no dragging and just one swipe gives you a good layer of coverage so no need to build it up. I've worn it for a good few hours to test it out and it does last very well on the lips and once it starts to wear off there is a slight stain underneath which means you won't have to re-apply too often.

The Donald Robertson collection is on counters now and at €21 a pop I may buy another one of these lipsticks to add to my ever growing lipstick collection! Until then this little unexpected splurge will be my new baby and will probably be featured on my Instagram in the near future.

My Favourite MAC Lipsticks!

Hey Ladies,

I wanted to get a quick post up today all about my favourite MAC lipsticks!

Every time I go for a peruse in MAC I always head straight to the lipstick section and always leave with a sneaky purchase and oodles of swatches all the way up my arm. I think MAC knocks it out of the park when it comes to lipsticks with so many different colours and formulations there is something for everyone. Personally I like their matte colourful lippies because you just can't recreate colours like Candy Yum Yum, Heroine or Pleasure Bomb! 

I also store all my favourite lipsticks in these cute acrylic holders that I picked up in Tiger for just €3! They look fab all lined up together on my vanity instead of hiding in my drawers where I can't see them.

(L-R All Fired Up, Myth, Viva Glam Gaga 2, Diva, Lovelorn, Pleasure Bomb, Viva Glam Gaga, Heroine, Candy Yum Yum, Ruby Woo and Lady Danger)

Whats your favourite lipstick colour? Are you a fan of MAC or do you prefer the budget buys?

Getting Organised With Tiger

Hey Ladies,

Just a quick post for you today! I have become a huge fan of the store Tiger lately and it seems to be popping up everywhere, think IKEA but only for the little knick knacks. When I was in there two weeks ago I spotted this handy little lipstick holder for only €3! Yes you read that right....€3! Every time I go to buy one of these lipstick holders you can only find them online and I wasn't born with patience so never followed through in buying one.

This holder has space for 9 lipsticks but is small enough that it won't crowd your vanity. If you have tons of lipsticks like I do then this is really handy to keep on your vanity/desk with your favourite lipsticks so they get plenty of use.

I first popped this up on Instagram and a couple of people got back to me to say they picked them up too! If you want to follow me on Instagram you can find me @whatsnewwithsuzieq!


Until next time, may the wings of your eyeliner always be even.
Love,
S

Pleasure Bomb

Hey Ladies,

Way back at Christmas time my boyf bought me this gorgeous lipstick from the RiRi Hearts MAC Collection (don't I have him trained well). I waited for this lipstick to come out for so so long so when I finally got my hands on it I was overjoyed! "Pleasure Bomb" is a matte fuchsia with a gorgeous blue undertone, the color payoff is phenomenal and boy does this baby last. As it is a matte finish it can be slightly more drying on the lips but as its so long lasting you won't need to reapply it much at all. It has the lovely embossed RiRi Hearts MAC logo on the lipstick and the packaging is a fabliss rose gold colour.

No flash                                                                                            With flash

The only downside? It was limited edition which is really upsetting because once its gone, its gone!
If only MAC made this and RiRi Woo part of the permanent collection.....  oh a girl can dream.





May the wings of you eyeliner always be even.
Love,
S

This images are my own.