May Wish List

Because it doesn’t cost anything to window shop! Here are some of the items that would be first in my shopping basket if I didn’t have a mortgage and student loan to pay ;)

Geurlain Terra Azzurra Bronzing Powder & Blush – This is part of the painfully gorgeous Emilio Pucci collection. At £51 it’s not exactly a bargain but good heavens it is beautiful!

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage – I’m not loving the facial concealers I’m using at the moment. I’ve heard great things about this though and let’s face it, if Lisa Eldridge loves it then that’s more than good enough for me! I’m not sure how much it costs in the UK though.

I used a Debenhams voucher and took advantage of the 10% off cosmetics earlier this month to pick up Benefit Dallas and Dandelion. That means the only one left to get is 10! It’s a little bit of a Pokemon situation. I just gotta catch ‘em all! (I’m judging myself for typing that...) Having swatched it in store I do wonder if I might find this a bit too shimmery but if it is no worries, I will just use it as an eye shadow or something. It’s just a shame they discontinued Georgia in the UK! I feel like I missed out.

Clarins Ever Matte Mineral Powder Compact – Yes I know I still have 5 other pressed powders to finish up. Yes I know £25 for a pressed powder is a bi ‘ol chuck of cash. No I don’t care. Have you seen how pretty the compact is?! And it promises to mattify without building up and turning cakey. WANT.

Finally I think I may cave sooner rather than later and buy the Sleek Primer palette. It’s the only Sleek eye palette I don’t own and like the Benefit boxed powders I feel like I need to complete the set. (P.S I can’t seem to find a stock pic online. Sorry!)

What have you been lusting after of late? x

MAC Ravishing Lipstick and Boldly Bare Lip Liner

A little while ago I found myself with 6 empty MAC containers. I was overly excited about this because it meant I could finally ‘Back to MAC’ for a free lipstick. I decided to go with Ravishing, a peachy coral shade, as it is unlike anything else I have in my collection. 

This is a Cremesheen finish it is opaque and creamy with a subtle shimmer that makes it look more glossy than actually shimmery. Because of the creamy texture I find it can slide about and become a little patchy on my lips. It becomes a little dry over time and can become a little uncomfortable over the course of a day so lip balm is a must. It lasts about 3 hours on me but the wear is improved greatly by using a liner under it. I normaly wear it over MAC Boldly Bare lip liner.

I adore this colour for summer and I have been wearing it a lot. It’s bright and cheerful but not too in your face so I’m claiming that it is work appropriate!

At the same time I bought Boldly Bare lip liner thinking that the colour would not only compliment Ravishing but it would be a good nude/ natural shade of lip liner in general. It’s muted peach shade with a bit of brown in it. The texture is quite dry but it covers opaquely and wears like iron on the lips. I like using under lipsticks that are a bit too nude for me to warm them up a bit.

Ravishing lipstick normally cost £13.50, Boldly Bare lip liner cost me £10.50 x

May Empties

It’s that time of the month again. A family member commented recently that it’s a bit weird that I hoard and take photos of what is essentially rubbish now... And she’s not wrong. It’s bat shit crazy really isn’t it? And yet these empties posts are some of my most popular posts so I guess we are all a little mad ;) I certainly get satisfaction from using things up!

 No7 Anti ageing Shimmering Lip & Eye Screen SPF 30 – I never used this on my eyes, I just swiped it on my lips before going outside in the sun. It was ok but I found it made my lips peel slightly (as many things do). The shimmer was pretty but it isn’t interesting enough to bother spending £7 on another one.

Nouveau Lashes Noir Mascara  - I got this in a Glossy Box back in December I think. Again it was nice enough but not that special. I wouldn’t bother buying it again.

Collection 2000 Love Your Lips Gloss SPF 20 – Another product I like to swipe on in summer as a bit of extra protection. These glosses are actually very moisturising. Whilst this shade (Passion) is very sheer it looks very glossy and juicy on. I know it looks like there is still some in there but I can’t get at it!

St. Tropez Gradual Tan for Face – Erm it was ok as a moisturiser at night for me but you have to pile it on for days to get much colour. I’m looking for a new facial gradual tanner to keep my tan topped up between faux tan sessions. Any recommendations anyone?

Space NK Laughter Nuit perfume sample – I loved this! It was my second little sample of it and I am very, very tempted to pick up a bottle.

Vera Wang Lovestruck perfume sample – Yawn. It is pretty enough but it smells like a million other sweet/ floral scents on the market. I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it but I wouldn’t buy myself a bottle.

Dermalogica Multivitamin Thermafoliant – Another Glossy Box sample. I loved this! The sensation of it heating up on the skin is surprisingly pleasant (not so much in this hot weather mind!). I’m looking for a cheaper dupe though as this is £40.50 for just 70ml. I get similar results with my No7 Micro Dermabrasion exfoliator, not quite as good but the difference isn’t big enough to justify the difference in price!

Lancôme Visionnaire Serum sample – It was nice, hydrating and smelled lovely. Do I need it though? No. This wee sample lasted weeks but my skin didn’t appear any different really.

Geurlain Super Aqua-Serum – See above. Nice to use but not something I need at this point!

ELF Oil Blotting Sheets – I use up at least one pack of these a month but I’m glad I’ve managed to get more of the old style sheets now. These ones aren’t as good...

No7 Beautiful Skin Quick thinking Wipes – They do the job. I don’t think I will ever be blown away by face wipes though. I have a £5 voucher of temptation floating around my hand bag though and I may pick up another pack as I do love the click closed fastening on it.

Botanics Daily Hand Therapy SPF10 – Anther empty you see every month! I must go buy some more actually...

And finally I’m still slowly going through and throwing things that are dead or useless. I think this is the last round. Everything else in my collection gets used. The two Body Shop stains were magazine freebies ages ago. I just never use them! They stink of alcohol, dry my lips out and are a mess on my cheeks. I just don’t like them!

The two NYX glosses are ok but I never use them because a) they are so messy it’s disgusting. The product oozes down the inside of the caps. Yuck! And b) the sickly sweet orange sherbet smell makes me want to gag.

I know it looks like such a waste but why am I torturing myself with the products when I hate them? x 

Lanolips 101 Ointment

I am literally years behind this band wagon but the tight arse in me just refused to pay £11.22 for a lip balm. Even if it is for 15g of multi tasking balm. This can actually be used on the lips, cuticles, on those horrible dry nose patches you get when you have a cold. Basically anywhere that gets dry and chapped!

 

This is pure medical grade lanolin. After consulting the great god Google I learnt that this is, wait for it, sheep grease. It is a wax that we get off sheep’s wool. It is a cruelty free product but I do wish I hadn’t seen it referred to as sheep grease. I bet now you’re wishing that too. Nonetheless the little sheep logo is cute no?

It is incredibly thick. Almost solid actually. It takes a fair bit of effort to squeeze any out of the tube. Whilst you can apply it directly to the lips with a finger if you want to put it anywhere else e.g. around your nose you really need to warm it up between your fingers a bit first. The plus side to this is that it really lasts on the skin. I can apply this at night and still feel like my lips are protected in the morning.

As if I hadn’t managed to make this review of a perfectly lovely product off putting enough let me tell you why I finally caved and bought this. I recently had 2 teeth pulled in order to get braces (yes I am old enough to be the mother of some of the kids in the clinic, bugger off). I was prescribed Corsodyl mouth wash whilst I was healing. Long story short OW OW OW OW OW. I ended up with what looked like chemical burns on the corners of my mouth and my lips cracked and peeled to the point where they bled. Nothing I tried helped.

Did this work a miracle? No. But I still maintain that this is one of the best lip balms I have ever tried. The thick texture means it soothes lips for hours and it feels like it is genuinely penetrating and moisturising the skin rather than just sitting on top of it. For the first few days my skin just drank it up and I had to reapply often but as things started to heal it lasted for longer periods of time. It didn’t instantly heal my lips but I really believe it helped a lot.

Although the texture is thick it isn’t tacky or overly slippery so it works well under other lip products. The 15g tube will last be ages too. I have used it around my nose when I had a bit of a sniffle and again found it soothing and healing on the skin.

So is it worth £11.22? Hell yes! It’s multipurpose and it really works. I wish I’d bought it sooner. And sorry for grossing you all out! X

*Bought by me*

Sample Sunday – Estee Lauder Invisible Fluid Makeup

I believe this is a relatively new release from Estee Lauder. It’s a foundation which is supposed to be undetectable on the skin. Now I was trialling a little sample sachet of shade 2WN1 which is incredibly dark and yellow on my skin but a quick nosey online showed that they seem to have quite an extensive colour selection. From what I can tell the shades are also divided up into warm, cool and neutral undertones which is fab.

The first thing that I noticed about this is that it is incredibly flattering on my enlarged pores. It just kind of glosses over them making them look much less prominent. It sets to a satin finish which is very, very flattering. I would probably powder my t-zone normally but for the purposes of testing it I didn’t. It did get oily in a couple of hours on my nose (but then everything does on my nose) but it didn’t start disintegrating and looking cakey.

It’s a good medium coverage but feels surprisingly light on the skin. I say this as someone who likes heavier foundations, if tinted moisturisers are more your thing you might find this a little heavy.

If I were in the market for another foundation (MUST NOT BUY MORE FOUNDATION!!!!) this is one that would definitely make the short list. I really like it! x

Diorskin Nude Glow Sun Powder in 002 Amber

This bronzer was released as part of the Dior Croisette Summer collection. There were an awful lot of bronzers released with this collection, all with the same deliciously gorgeous carnage metal compacts. After a thorough swatching session I settled on this shade thinking it looked more matte than some of the others and light enough to look subtle on my skin tone. The compact is actually silver but the reflection from my walls makes it look gold in these pictures... I must have taken hundreds of pictures but we are just going to have to live with it!

It cost £34 and comes with a little baby Dior Kabuki brush and 10g of product. The brush is perfectly functional, it works fine. Unfortunately it is really quite scratchy so I’m not a huge fan. It feels well made though with a heavy weight metal handle. The compact feels very heavy and luxurious with magnetic closing and the little pouches to keep everything finger print free are cute too.

As for the product itself I am in love. There is a touch of shimmer in there but it doesn’t really transfer onto the skin. I still use this as a contour and it looks very natural on my skin. The powder is very soft and blends out with very little effort. This particular shade it a touch yellow toned so if you lean more pink toned I would go and swatch some of the other shades from the collection.

I’ve actually been using this as (shock horror) a bronzer instead of just as a contour. It’s the perfect shade for me to just warm up the skin a little when used with a big fluffy powder brush. I’ve been using it a lot over the last couple of weeks and the NUDE design on it hasn’t worn away yet.

I’m not going to lie, this is an expensive product and there was a time when I would have balked at shelling out £34 on one product. But I do think it is worth it. The quality is excellent (apart from the brush) and it feels special every time I take the compact out of the little pouch. Given the wide range of shades in this collection I think it’s definitely one to swatch in person if you can. Have you bought anything from the Dior Croisette collection? What other Summer collections have caught your eye? X

*Bought by me*

Getting some use out of the Sleek PPQ Palette

A little while ago I saw a fab look using the Sleek PPQ palette on Liloo’s blog. It inspired me to pull it out and get some more use out of it, specifically I wanted to put the gold and blue shade together like she did. I don’t know why I never used this combination before! So here are a few looks I put together using it.

Golden Silvers on inner part of the lid/ lower lashline

Salt N’ Peppermint on outer part of lid/ lower lashline

Barry White on the inner corner

NYX Highlight on the brow bone

The dark teal from the Illamasqua Sirens palette to darken up the outer corner

The light aqua from the Illamasqua Sirens palette to blend out the edges

Soap & Glory Supercat liner in a VERY thin line on the upper lash line

MAC Feline Kohl on the waterline

Lancôme Hypnose Drama mascara

And the next day...

Primal Green inner corner/ under lower lashline

Golden Silvers inner corner

Blue Monday (it’s green damnit) over most of the lid

Black Box in the outer corner

Supernova to blend out the crease

The trusty NYX Highlight on the brow bone

Rimmel ScandelEYES mascara

Sleek Eau La La liner in Bullion on the waterline (it’s a metallic yellow gold but you can’t really see it in the pictures...

And then the next...

 Supernova on the lid

Chris De Burgundy out corner/ crease

Barry White inner corner

NYX Highlight on browbone/ blending everything out

Soap & Glory Supercat liner on the upper lashline.

Nouveau Lashes mascara

And finally (my personal favourite)

I used the tiniest amount of Benefit Creaseless Cream show in Pre-Nup on the lid

Simply Red on the lid

Black Box in the outer corner/ crease

Pink Beret to blend everything out

My Trusty NYX highlight on the brow bone

Barry White on the inner corner

Sleek Eau La La Liner in Pumpkin on the waterline

 Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel liner on the upper lashline

L’Oreal Telescopic Waterproof mascara

I still feel like I’m not using some of the colours in here at all. Fade to Grey and Lilac Allen didn’t get used once! I must do something about that... 

Illamasqua Sealing Gel

Regular readers might remember that I bought the Laura Mercier Caviar Cake Liner a while ago and never really got on with it. I was using water or a Body Shop Vitamin C spray to wet a brush but the result and the staying power left a lot to be desired. I realised I needed to use a proper mixing medium with it and settled on the Illamasqua Sealing gel. I didn’t buy this solely to use with the Laura Mercier liner, you can use this with any powder product to create a paste to produce your own eyeliner in any shade you fancy.

You get 2 6ml bottles for £10.50 which seems very reasonable to me. I like the fact it’s two separate bottles, it means I’m more likely to use it up before it goes bad as one can remain sealed. You just squeeze a drop of the clear liquid onto whatever powder product you are using and use your liner brush you mix it into a paste then draw it on as you would any other liner. You do need to work quickly as this dries incredibly quickly.

The result is a rich opaque line of colour. This is supposed to be water resistant. Whilst I find using this means  my liner lasts a lot better than if I use plain old water this will still run a little if you get caught in the rain. If it doesn’t get wet then this lasts brilliantly all day on me.

One thing to bear in mind is if you do use this on eyeshadow try and keep to one area in case is causes the shadow to go hard when it dries. I’ve found this to be an incredibly useful tool and it has given that Laura Mercier liner a new lease of life x

*Bought by me*

May Faves, Fails and a Meh

So here we go again with another round of products I’ve been loving, products I’ve not been keen on and one product that I don’t really care about either way.

Fave – My Owl earrings! These were dirt cheap in a set from Claire’s Accessories. There isn’t a lot to say, they aren’t exactly great quality but I love owls. I also like the fact that these guys look a little angry. I need more owl things...

Fail – Veet High Precision Facial Wax. No sniggering in the back, we are all adults here. Whilst I’m not the hairiest of ladies I do have pale skin and dark hair which means the inevitable RED TACHE OF SHAME (i.e. the red marks left after waxing). I thought this might be an improvement on the normal wax strips I use but either I’m an idiot or this does not work. It didn’t seem to matter what temperature I got the wax too it just didn’t stick properly. I tried it three times then gave up and threw it away (hence me having to use a stock photo). What a waste of £7.22!

Fave – ELF Mineral Concealer. I am not ashamed to say that I did not really like this in my original review but.... drum roll..... I was wrong. I just didn’t really have a use for it back then. Since my Maybelline Dream Mousse concealer ran out last month I’ve been using up some concealers (for the face, not under eye) that I’m not overly keen on. They have too much slip and not enough coverage. Until I pop this over the top! This adds some extra coverage and keeps the concealer in place all day. Win!

Fail – My foundation not matching. I gain colour really easily despite using a lot of SPF, I also walk a lot so I spend a fair bit of time in the sun. The result is that nothing quite fits at the moment. My winter foundations are all too pale, the rest are all too dark. I’m having to mix constantly!

Fave – My current favourite lip combo is Sleek Pout Paint in  Mauve Over with a little Models Own Fuchsia-Full lip balm on top. It is absolutely bullet proof, lasts for hours on end and the colour just makes me smile J

This is Mauve Over by itself. I forgot to get a pic with the Models Own combo... Sorry!

Meh -  John Frieda Precision Foam hair dye. Yes it is super easy to use. Yes it covered well with no patchiness and the colour is gorgeous. But, and it’s a big but, I will forever remember those 20 minutes as THE MOST FRUSTRATING TIME I HAVE EVER SPENT ON THIS EARTH. A billion tiny foamy bubbles all popping on your scalp *shudder*. You can’t scratch your scalp. No. You just have to sit there and take it. It was so ticklish and horrible. I felt like I had a million insects crawling through my hair...  So I’m not convinced that the lovely result was worth the aforementioned discomfort.

What’s been rocking your world of late? Or have you come across something that you just don’t like recently? Share it in the comments xx

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

This is one of those products that everyone and their cat raves about. Impossibly glamorous girls on Youtube go through tube after tube singing its praises and so it was inevitable that one day I would succumb to the hype and I would try it for myself. When I saw this 30ml tube (along with muslin cloth) as a freebie with Red Magazine in April I grabbed it without giving it a second thought! A 100ml tube normally costs £12.75.

For those not familiar with the concept of a hot cloth cleanser this is a cream cleanser that you massage into dry skin and then polish off with a hot, damp (ooh er) muslin cloth. The removes every scrap of grime and the cloth also exfoliates the skin. It is, in essence, a mini facial and I really enjoy the sense of faux luxury you get in your own bathroom. Top tip: I only have the one muslin cloth (this one actually) so I normally actually use good old fashioned flannels! Washable (and therefore eco friendly!) and they are so handy to have about. Caroline from Beauty Mouth is a champion of the flannel and what she says about skin care is gospel to me.

This feels very thick and creamy on the skin, it is heavenly to massage in. The scent is quite earthy and herbal. At first I didn’t like it but it’s grown on me. It feels really quite nourishing and my skin certainly doesn’t feel at all stripped after use. It does a good job of removing every scrap of face makeup although you will of course need a separate eye makeup remover. The muslin cloth is fantastic quality too. It’s soft but does exfoliate and it has survived several trips through the washing machine. But sadly all is not well with my skin....

A colleague of mine told me that she had tried this and had suffered horrendous break outs. She is *cough* a little older than me with dry skin and very rarely if ever has spots. I have more combination skin which is normally clear with the odd hormonal breakout on my chin. After 5 days of use I was horrified to discover spots EVERYWHERE. Down my neck, my temples, my nose. In short everywhere that I never normally get blemishes. I stopped using the Liz Earle and they healed. After a few days I went back and tried again. There is a spot on my cheek so large I’ve named him Rambo. Mother F***** just won’t die.

In short I love it but my skin whole heartedly disagrees. It’s a real shame as I know so many people have given this holy grail status but as usual my skin has to go and throw a spanner in the works. 

Soap & Glory Supercat Eyeliner Pen Carbon Black Extreme

I’d be crap at product naming. I call a spade a spade and a black eyeliner pen a black eyeliner pen. I thought it was about high time I tried something from the Soap & Glory makeup line. Nothing really jumped out at me apart from this and at just £6 it would have been rude not to!

I do love the Soap & Glory packaging. It is very cute and the brand is instantly recognisable. This is, obviously, a felt tip pen style eyeliner. The tip is very fine so you can get a precise line with it or lay it on its side for a thicker line. There is just enough flexibility in the tip to stop it being hard and scratchy but it’s firm enough to give you a lot of control. This is arguably the most fool proof method of doing winged liner that I’ve used.

When I first swatched it I was a little dubious. It seemed to bleed a little and it smudged easily on my hand. 

Thankfully over primer or eye shadow it doesn’t bleed at all on my eyes. It’s a nice deep black that dries down quickly. This doesn’t make any claims about being waterproof and it certainly isn’t. If you get caught in the rain it does run (I know this from experience). But on a normal day it does stay put on my upper lash line with no fading. It is easy to remove too so if you sneeze mid application and fudge it up (again from experience...) a quick swipe with a cotton bud and some eye makeup remover will solve the problem.

I’ve been reaching for this in the morning when I should have been out of the door 5 minutes ago and I just need something quick and easy. I’ve really been enjoying it! Have you tried anything from the Soap & Glory makeup line? Any recommendations? X

*Bought by me*

UK High Street BB Cream Overview

I have finally reviewed all the of BB creams that I have. Obviously this is not an exhaustive review, I don’t own all of the BB creams available on the UK high street. This overview covers the No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream (for normal/Oily skin), 17 BB Blemish Balm All In One Makeup, Une Intuitive Touch BB-CreamFoundation, L’Oreal Nude Magique BB Cream, Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream and MUA BB All In One Beauty Balm. Click the names to go to the individual blog posts on each product, or use the drop down menu on the right to go to all my posts with the ‘BB Cream’ tag.

Bear in mind that what suits my skin might not suit yours. I can only ever talk about how products work for me as I’m the only person I use them on! For example I did not get on with the MUA at all but I have heard other people raving about it. So take it with a pinch of salt. For reference I have pale, neutral toned combination (leaning slightly more towards oily the warmer it gets) skin.

Product	Price (normal full price as checked on Boots or Superdrug websites)	Amount of Product	How many shades are available?	Coverage	SPF?
No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream (for normal/ oily skin)	£12.95	40ml	2 (also comes in a range of skin type specific formulas)	Light verging on medium depending on how much you use.	SPF 15 UVA + UVB
17 BB Blemish Balm All In One Makeup	£6.99	30ml	2	Light - Medium	SPF 15. Doesn’t specify UVA/UVB
Une Intuitive Touch BB-Cream Foundation	£14.49	6g	6	Light- Medium (more light than medium)	None
L’Oreal Nude Magique BB Cream	£9.99	30ml	2	Very light	SPF12. Doesn’t Specify UVA/UVB
Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream	£7.99	30ml	4	Light	SPF 30. Doesn’t specify UVA/UVB
MUA BB All In One Beauty Balm	£4.00	30ml	3	Heavy medium	None.

As I meant to say in the video (but forgot...) be aware that although I paid for all of these myself I did not pay full price for a single one of them! I had a half price voucher for the No7, bought the 17, Maybelline and L’Oreal on a buy 2 get 1 free offer. I bought the MUA on offer for £3 and used my Superdrug Beauty Card points to knock several pounds off the price of the UNE. That’s one of the great things about high street makeup, you can always find an offer somewhere!

Finally if you are wondering why the Garnier BB Cream hasn’t had a mention it is because I do not currently have any of it. I did try some samples which I reviewed here. Long story short I found it too dark, greasy, too heavily scented and with little to no coverage. I didn’t like the samples at all and so would not buy a full sized version. I hear they are coming out with an oil free version in the summer though and I might be interested in trying that. 

Beauty Blog Link Love!

MAKE UP FOR EVER recently launched the Rouge Artist Natural Lipsticks. Treat yourself to a review of three of those at Adorable On Your Vanity!

 Phyrra brings you Great Tips for Beauty Bloggers.

 Check out The Beauty Spot in a Lord of the Rings Inspired Look.

 This May, Rae's been enchanted by a gorgeously packaged pink lipstick. Read all about Pivoine Délicate, the unexpected Spring hit from L'Occitane, at theNotice.

 Gouldylox Reviews found a really pretty lip gloss that is actually made of evil at Sephora.

 Beauty's Bad Habit Blog joins the dark side with Sleek's 'Ultra Matte V2 - Darks' palette review and swatches.

 If Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed was as bright as her Essie Poppy-Razzi nails, the world would be a smarter place - well at least we still have her nails so come check them out!

 The Pink Sith thinks that Birchbox might have confused this month's Gossip Girl themed box with The Golden Girls, judging from the geriatric theme of the products she received.

 Christina the Glitterholic checks out the new collection by M.A.C, Hey, Sailor! Check out her photos from the event and enter her giveaway to win a M.A.C lipstick from the new collection.

 At Eyelining Obsessions things get a little philosophical as Claire contemplates what value for money really means.

 At Lipstick Musings, Shannon's fallen hard for the new YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernìs À Levrès Glossy Stain in Fuchsia Dore .

Come see what all the fuss is about! See why the Smashbox Shades Of Fame Palette has Beauty Reflections dreaming of Margaritaville!
--- Are you a beauty sample junkie? Enter to win a Total Beauty Collection beauty sample box at Pammy Blogs Beauty!