Sunday 30 October 2011

17 Shine on lipstick

I picked this lipstick up because I had a voucher for a free lipstick when I bought something else, the something else which happened to be the magnetised nail varnish. What an amazing freebie, its actually ended up being one of my favourite lipsticks at the moment.

The formula is quite thick so the colour is opaque but with a lovely moisturising feeling. Its glossy but not at all sticky too which is a great! The formula lasts for about 3 hours, although doesn't hold through drinking or eating, or my ultimate lipstick test, cleaning my teeth. The colour is a great light pink/nude, see below.



Well I've just tried to find out the price and it turns out its been discontinued haha! Story of my life... so I'm going to pop to Boots now and see if they still have them, to pick up some backups. I'd really recommend them for a great cheap lipstick.

Nars blushers, Deep throat and Sin

I've always really wanted to try the Nar's blushers, actually Nar's products in general. But because they are harder to get hold of where I live, I've always picked other brands, boo me! It wasn't until I spotted 'Deep throat' in a blog sale that I finally popped my Nar's cherry.

Then within a week I had another one added to my collection! I love the formula, absolutely LOVE it. They are super soft, highly pigmented, soft shimmer but no glitter, the shimmer is also so fine that it doesn't stick to your open pores like some can. These blushers have really got the hold factor too, go the whole way through the day and keep their pigment.

So now I have Deep throat, a coral pink, which is quite similar to Benefit Coralista, and Sin a deep purple/plum with a gold shimmer running through it. Sin is like no colour I have ever worn, or ever owned, which for me is pretty amazing because I own a hell of a lot of blushers.

Here are the swatches Deep throat on top, sin below.
Here is what they look like on, Deep throat on left cheek, Sin on right. After taking this picture I accidentally went out shopping with the different blushers on each cheek because I completely forgot, oops!
I would really recommend the Nar's blushers to anyway umming and arring about them. I will 100% be buying some more, anyone got and colours they recommend?

Revlon Colour Stay Foundation

Ever since I finished my last drop of Estee Lauder's double wear at the beginning of the year I haven't been able to find a foundation that even compares. I don't mean that double wear was my HG foundation, its just ever since I've finished it I compare how all other foundations last against it, and they never even come close.
Some of the time, especially for work I really want a foundation I don't even have to think about through the day. As double wear has a pretty heft price tag, I decided to try another long wear foundation I have heard great reviews about... Introducing Revlon, Colour Stay £12.99.

I picked the colour 220 Natural Beige, which is actually slightly/really dark for me, but I picked it so I could wear it on nights out.
The texture of the product is thick and doesn't spread aswell as other foundations. To apply it I use my Sephora airbrush foundation brush but leave it a little streaky then buff it in with my stippling brush. Unlike double wear this foundation doesn't dry matte, it has a satin finish and a rather 'sticky' feeling to it so it does need powder to set it.

Obviously the hold of this foundation is amazing, although I don't think it is as good as double wear. It wears off in certain areas and creases around the laughter lines. Similar to double wear though, it does stick to drier areas of skin, it would suit a oily combination skin better than my dry skin.

The coverage of Colour Stay is medium to high and its very buildable. You can see the coverage and the colour in the photo below.


Thursday 27 October 2011

NOTD Revlon Smoky Canvas

Firstly I have to start by saying sorry that I have been MIA lately. Its not that I haven't wanted to blog and its definitely not that I haven't got anything to blog about because the spending has not stopped. Its just with working full time and commuting to work, its so dark when I get up and dark when I come home, and my camera isn't fantastic so I'm not really getting any time to take any photos :(. So I apologise if some of photos in the up coming posts are super rubbish, I've just had to settle with un-natural light and the flash to get what I want. Anyway.... moving on...

Smoky Canvas is the quieter sister in the new fall colour collection from Revlon. Its has been rather over shadowed by the Oh so beautiful 'Facets of Fushia'. Its a subtle, lilac/grey. To be honest it looked far more lilac under the Boots lighting so I was a little disappointed with the colour when I got home. However it is a great neutral and as always with the Revlon varnishes the formula is fantastic.

Monday 17 October 2011

Dove, Nourishing Oil Care

I like to think of myself as a lover of all things high end, but for some reason I can never bring myself to pay alot of money for hair products. Stupid really because it something I use all the time and to be honest my locks are in serious need of a pamper. This means that I love finding a great value product that is amazing....introducing Dove Nourishing oil care conditioner. I used Dove hair care when it first came out and absolutely hated it, so when Vivianna from Vivvianna does makeup recommended this I was a little sceptical but her reccomendations have never let me down in the past so I went for it.
Holy Moly..... this conditioner is amazing! When I find a good conditioner normal, it makes my hair really soft, but also really 'fluffy'. The Dove oil care does soft, shiny, glossy and smooth all in one! It has a lovely, slightly coconutty smell, which I love, anything that reminds me of holidays and I'm all over it.

On my long hair this product really nourishes the very dry ends and I've been finding my split ends more smooth. Dont get me wrong they are still there, just smoother!
The one things I will say though is that I think it might slightly weight down a finer hair, my hair is super thick and theres alot of it, so any weight is actually quite a good thing. The formula is pretty thick and I think a finer hair would feel a little 'over product-y'. However, I don't have fine hair so I don't know this for sure.

I honestly cant rave about this enough for anyone that has, fluffy, long or damaged hair.

I also bought the intense conditioner treatment too so watch this space....

Tuesday 11 October 2011

My new love... Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet

So girls, I have to admit it... I'm in love! In love with my new lipstick! I got the new Rouge Allure Velvet in '33 La Distinguee'


I literally cant tell you how luxurious this lipstick feels. They aren't super matte just shine free, and not drying in the slightest, if anything they hydrate alittle. I picked a neutral colour so I would wear it loads. 'La Distinguee' is a slightly coral natural red, similar to the famous 'mademoiselle' colour from the original Rouge Coco range. The colour lasts much longer than the shiny lipsticks I'm used to, roughly about 4/5 hours.


If your feeling like a bit of luxury check this range out, atleast go try them at the counter, they really are beautiful.

Sunday 2 October 2011

EOTD, which I will never wear

While bored on a Sunday afternoon I decided to recreate an eye look I saw on pixiwoo for the 'Drag' look, seriously check out that tutorial its amazing, I'm sure I was a drag queen in a past life I'm obbsessed with all things drag!

I used the Sleek Curacao palette which in my house rarely sees the light of day. Heres the finished look...



I used screwdriver as a base, purple haze and singapore sling in the crease and espresso martini to darken the shading. Martini was the highlighter under the brow.

Pretty sure I'd never wear this look out side of my bedroom, but I might try a similar style thing with neutral colours for a night out soon.

Freebie alert!!!

Just thought I'd tell you guys that from 5th October, next Wednesday Boots are launching their "premium skin care swap".

Bring in any empty or unwanted skincare products to the premium beauty counters in Boots and receive a free skincare consultation and deluxe samples! I think you can only get a maximum of 3 samples but if the Benefit ones are anything to go by the sizes are HUGE! I think almost every brand is participating so its a great way to try out something new.

I already have my empties at the ready :-)

Benefit: Watts Up Highlighter

Couple of things I want to say before I get started on this post, excuse my awful rate of posting at the moment, I feel like I'm so busy recently, although I'm not really doing anything out of the ordinary haha. Then secondly pleeeeeeease excuse my awful, untamed eyebrows in the next few posts, I'm going back for my next HD brow appointment this week and I let them grow loads so hopefully they can look super groomed! Right on to the product...

I thought I'd share with you a review on Benefit's new highlighter, Watts Up.
I've had mine about a month because of staff preview and it just been launched exclusively at Boots (I think it comes out everywhere else on 8th Oct) so I've been having a good play on myself as well as on customers.

Benefit say this is a "Soft focus highlighter for the face". The colour is like a bronzey/champagne, its in a stick form, and the texture is a cream to powder when blended.

Here you can see the colour, on the top its unblended and below I bended it with my finger.
So what have I found from using it...

Ive found it goes over the top of make up much better than the liquid highlighters such as 'Highbeam', you don't have to be careful in the way you blend, just draw it over foundation and blend with your fingers. The colour is also really flattering, especially with a darker/olive skin tone. It gives a really glowy finish as you can see below, which I do find might suit a drier skin best, on a oily it can look a little "sweaty". It also shimmer not glitter... hallelujah!!! I hate highlighters that are full of glitter! Like most highlighters, I would avoid putting it in the centre of the face where the pores are bigger.
The only thing I found kind of disappointing about the product is the lack of smell, I really like Benefit's product scents, they are usually fruity and fresh, but this one just smells like its ingredient Shea Butter, which I always find smells abit "fatty"

Overall I really like the easiness of this product, that its no fuss to apply and portable, the colour is also gorgeous, and just what the brand needed.