Too Faced - Le Grand Palais

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! I had great fun spending time with my family and friends. It's a tradition in my house that we open our gifts from each other on Christmas Eve and my fabulous brother and sister got me the Too Faced 'Le Grand Palais' gift set. Le Grand Palais is part of Too Faced's 2015 holiday collection and was a Sephora exclusive.

The packaging itself is gorgeous and the set includes a deluxe sample of their Better Than Sex mascara, Melted lipstick in Peony and Shadow Insurance, an eyeshadow primer. I used some of the eyeshadows on Christmas day, you can check out my instagram if you want to see a picture!

I haven't been able to get a proper look at the palette yet but I have swatched all of the shadows as well as two blushers, a highlighter and a bronzer.

(From left to right - White Christmas, Satin Sheets, Vintage Lace)

My first impression of these three shadows isn't great. I'm very pale anyway but Vintage Lace is practically invisible on my arm and I went over it four or five times. I love Satin Sheets, it is such a pretty rose gold!

(From left to right - Delightful, Moon on Their Wings, Cobblestone, City Lights, Dreamlight)

The pigmentation of Delightful and Moon on Their Wings was not great but I can see them both being completely buildable shades. The other three shadows were matte and I love them!

(From left to right - String of Lights, Yule Log, Wish List, Arc de Triomphe, Belle Femme)

Again, the more metallic shade (String of Lights) didn't have the best pigmentation but overall I was impressed by this row of shadows!

 

(From left to right - Stiletto, Eiffel, Midnight in Paris, Champs Élysées, Party Dress)

I hadn't heard great things about the last row of eyeshadows. Again it was the metallic shades that caused a bit of an issue for some people. I didn't find the pigmentation of the metallic shades of the row too bad and was impressed by the overall payoff of each shade.

(From left to right - Stardust, Skyline, Flush, Sun Bunny)

I absolutely love the blushes, highlighter and bronzer. The pigmentation was great and I cannot wait to try these out.

Overall I was impressed by Le Grand Palais and didn't find the pigmentation of the metallic wasn't as bad as some other beauty bloggers and vloggers.

Thank you so much to Ali and Darragh for getting me this fab gift set for Christmas!

Did you get any Too Faced for Christmas?

What did you think of it?

Let me know in the comments below!

Ciara,

xoxo.

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Nars X Glossybox

When I heard Nars were bringing out a limited edition Glossybox I knew I had to get one! I was lucky enough to have Alison at home on the morning it went on sale and she managed to bag one for the two of us! 

It's the first time I've used Glossybox and I have to say, I'm impressed. Okay, the box did cost around €55 including shipping but it was so worth it! They were ordered on Monday the 16th and we got them a week later, Monday the 23rd. I thought it would take a lot longer to be delivered and I had to come home sick on Monday so it was a really nice surprise to wake up to.

The box came with a little leaflet overview of what was inside and the price of the full-size product. All of the products inside the box were sample-size but they were still a pretty decent size.

The box contained five sample-size products including the Audacious Mascara, Larger than Life Eyeliner in Via Veneto, the Multiple in Orgasm, a Blush in Orgasm and a Satin Lip Pencil in Rikugien.

The mascara is new to the line and claims to  provide extreme volume, extreme length and extreme control.  The wand looks like it would get your inner lashes pretty easily so I'm excited to try this out!

The Larger than Life Eyeliner claims to last for twelve hours and is smudge proof. I don't tend to go for pencil liners but I'm sure I'll try this out over the Christmas period.

The Multiple can be used as a blush, lip colour, a body shimmer and many more. I was so excited when I found out it was in Orgasm because it is my favourite Nars shade ever.

It wouldn't be a Nars box without this cult classic. This blush is the reason I discovered Nars in the first place. I was over the moon when I found out this was going to be in the box!

The last item in the box was the Satin Lip Pencil in Rikugien. I've never had a Nars lip pencil before but I love this shade and I will definitely be using this soon!

Overall I love the box, without shipping the box would've cost around €75 (even though Nars don't sell sample sizes) so it was definitely worth it for the price. It's also a really nice way of trying out some of their bestsellers before properly deciding if you want to buy it for yourself. 

Will I ever subscribe to Glossybox?

I honestly don't know but this one-off purchase was definitely worth it for me.

Have you ever gotten a monthly subscription box before?

Is it worth it?

Did you manage to grab one of the Nars boxes?

What did you think of it?

Let me know in the comments below!

Ciara,

xoxo.

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Big News!

Hey guys! Great news, Sparkle of Pink is expanding!

Seen as I am so busy with school this year I have asked my sister Alison to join the blog.

She's fab at makeup and will be uploading regularly, basically whenever I'm too busy to post!

American Candy : Halloween

So I obviously have a sweet tooth.....

American Soda have once again sent me some American Candy to try but this time it was full of Halloween/Autumnal candy!

Even though you can get Snickers here, I've never had one. I loved this bar. Although, I could only eat it one half at a time. I would eat a snickers again but maybe a snack size bar.

Obviously this popping candy is artificially flavoured but I loved this one! It didn't taste like watermelon but the popping in my mouth that I loved.

I definitely preferred the Cotton Candy Pop Rocks, it has a slight candy floss flavour and again, the poppiing in my mouth amused me to no end!

If you've ever seen an American Halloween movie, you have definitely seen candy corn. I have always wanted to try it and I was so happy to find a bag in the box when I opened it! Not gonna lie, I totally thought it would be a hard candy but it was soft and chewy! Candy Corn is without a doubt, an acquired taste. It is super sugary and I couldn't eat more than a few pieces at a time but after a while I liked the taste.

I love Unicorn pops! It took me ages to finish it but it was so good.

M&Ms are without a doubt my favourite chocolate/sweet. You just can't fault them. They're amazing.

Thanks to Ben over at American Soda for sending me these lovely goodies!

Let me know in the comments below!

Ciara,

xoxo.

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American Candy Take Two

Blogger Mail makes my day. I love coming in from school to see a box ready to open, it literally makes me so excited!

The lovely Fiona at Candy Hero sent me this massive box of sweets to try! It has taken me two weeks to get through to box but it did not disappoint!

Twizzlers were a no. It says strawberry but it does not taste like anything at all. I definitely wouldn't eat these again.

I was so apprehensive to try these because they didn't sound very nice, they don't smell great either. They actually tasted surprisingly good though. I wouldn't eat these that often but I would definitely buy them again.

This chocolate bar is actually from Finland but it is absolutely amazing. It's dark chocolate so if you don't like dark chocolate you probably won't like it but you are seriously missing out! The pieces of blueberry and raspberry in the bar are so nice, I was so sad when the bar was gone.

Laffy Taffy is so good! My favourite had to be Sour Apple, it wasn't sour but it was so tasty.

Whoever came up with the chocolate-peanut butter combo was a genius. Reese's peanut butter cups are so good! It's the perfect combination of salty and sweet.

It was super hard to differentiate between the flavours of these but every flavour was amazing. I loved the mango one, the fruity flavours were incredibly luscious and I need to find a shop over here that sells Mike & Ike!

Plopp, the name made me laugh too, is a Swedish caramel chocolate bar. I don't like caramel so I didn't like this bar.

Dots are gelatin free which is great if you are a vegan. They taste great and the only thing I can fault about these are that they stick to your teeth like glue. I had to brush my teeth straight after eating them!

Almond Joys are like Bountys but better.The coconut in it is much nicer and the almonds on top give the bar a great crunch.

Nerds are pure sugar but it's pure sugar that I love, You can buy them over here so I'm no stranger to them. I definitely prefer the strawberry to the grape flavour but they're both really tasty.

I cannot fault Swedish Fish one bit. I still can't place the flavour exactly but they're so amazing it doesn't matter!

Definitely better than the milk chocolate Hersheys bar. Dip this baby into tea and you're sorted, it's fab.

Fiona also sent me some of Candy Hero's cherry jellies and these guys are super fruity! I'd definitely add them into your bag if you're buying anything off the site!

If you're interested in buying any of the sweets I tried check out www.candyhero.com

 They have a wide range of American and International  products!

Thank you so much to Fiona and everyone over at Candy Hero who put this box of dreaminess together for me!

Have you tried anything from Candy Hero before?

Let me know in the comments below!

Ciara,

xoxo.

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My Birthday Wishlist

It's my 18th Birthday on November 19th wooooo!

Apparently I'm really hard to shop for (I completely disagree but whatever) so I decided to post my Birthday Wishlist to help anyone who doesn't know what to get me. 

Glossybox is a beauty subscription service that sends you a few mystery products in the post to try out. I've always loved the idea of subscription services, even though I would only get it for a month, I love the whole mystery behind what's in the box!

MAC's Stone is such a nice cool toned shade that I just need to have!

I cannot wait to see the girls next March and I would love to get the deluxe version of Get Weird for my birthday!

I have been lusting over Michel Kors' Selma bags for ages and I officially love the merlot shade of the bag. I think I'll end up treating myself for my birthday because I love this bag that much!

What girl doesn't want a Tiffany necklace? If you really want to spoil me for my birthday,  I would literally cry if I opened a box and found this necklace!

I have always wanted a polaroid camera and would love to get one for my birthday!

I think satchels are super cute and would love one in any warm colour for the winter months!

You can never have too many lashes! I love Vegas Nay's new collection with Eylure and would love to add some to my collection.

I have heard so many great things about this Miss Manga mascara but I haven't had a chance to pick one up myself yet!

I love Penney's Christmas candle range! I already bought the Frosted Marshmallow one but I need them all!

I am so excited for my birthday and I hope my wishlist is useful for some people!

What's your current wishlist?

Let me know in the comments below!

Ciara,

xoxo.

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Lush Christmas 2015

Lush never disappoints. I had so much fun at their blogger event this week, their Christmas range just makes me so happy! Old favourites like Snow Fairy and Candy Mountain have made a comeback and new editions have been made for Christmas 2015.

Yog Nog has been made into a bath bomb. My love for the soap is so big and I am so happy that I can now dive into the beautiful scent and relax for ages. I don't think anybody can actually comprehend my love for the scent. I can only describe it as a caramel latte but it is sweet and heavenly - definitely something you would need after a long, cold winter day.

The gift collection this year ranges from €11.95 to €220. There's literally something for everyone!

The staff at Lush were very kind and gifted us the Winter Wonderland gift set. It has all of the bath products from the collection and I cannot wait to try out all of the new products!

Little Snow Fairy (€11.95) has pink FUN and a Snow Fairy shower gel in it. Joy to the World (€13.95) has Love and Light hand cream and a Yog Nog soap. I love both of these gifts and they are perfect for Secret Santa! They also have a Secret Santa gift set this year with a Dashing Santa bath bomb and a Peeping Santa bubble bar. All of the gift sets under €15 are ideal for little presents for friends this Christmas!

Thank you so much to Lush for inviting me to the event and giving me an amazing gift!

Have you checked out the new collection yet?

What's your favourite?

Let me know in the comments below!

Ciara,

xoxo.

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