The Dreamy Foundation Post...

Excuse my horrible nails and feast your eyes on my new favourite foundation.  This is quite literally the dreamiest thing to have had the pleasure of gracing my face.  I picked this up on a whim because I really do NOT need another foundation in my collection but after noticing it on the shelves and swatching it on my hand I simply had to take it home.  The colour match was perfect (on my hand) and it was as if I was blending air onto my skin,  As it says on the bottle the Dream Flawless Nude foundation is very fluid-like.  It's safe to say the consistency is a strange cross between an oil and water and I'm sure when you try this you will kind of understand what I mean by that.

On application it sort of slips onto the skin as though a silicone based primer would or an oily base and I'm often left blending for dear life thinking is this even working but the end result is as close to perfection as you can possibly get with a medium coverage foundation which to me leans more towards the full end of the spectrum.  I'm fairly blessed in that I rarely breakout and my under eyes don't need a three step concealer programme to hide any lost sleep so this does a pretty darn good job of making my skin look...well flawless as the name would suggest.

When I picked this up it was on for the introductory price in Superdrug for £5.99 which was even more of an incentive to impulse buy, not that I really needed one.

I'm always up for trying new foundations so leave me comment with your favourite foundation picks and let me know if you've tried this one and what you thought of it?

Cheap as chips but oh so good...

Those of you that follow my Instagram account will know that this time last week me and my husband took our first holiday together to Marrakech.  The instant that holiday was booked I felt the urgency to revamp my makeup wardrobe.  I didn't want to pick up anything expensive as this trip was going to be all about taking in the sights and enjoying the sun with my man, not spending hours in front of the mirror.  However I am still a makeup junkie and I wasn't going to spend 5 days out there without any makeup at all so I had a quick snoop around in my stash and identified the obvious gaps in my collection.

Being a very dry-skinned girl I've never really felt the need to powder my face or set my foundation, it tends to stick around all day regardless however seeing as we were going to a fairly hot country I figured a powder may be quite useful.  Enter my first cheap as chips companion, the MUA Pro-Base prime and conceal powder.  At first I assumed I would just pick up the Rimmel pressed powder that everybody seems to rave about however the colours of this little baked powder, aimed at complexion correction, really intrigued me.  After swatching this on my hand I was sold instantly! It not only matches my complexion perfectly and evens the tone but gives me an almost undetectable glow which doesn't look like its been applied, just that its coming from within! It's amazing and priced at just £4 a total bargain! Go out and have a play with this if you're near a Superdrug store, you will NOT be disappointed.

Now aside from my obvious need for a setting powder I felt the need for a simple little palette.  One with mattes and shimmers, nudes, beiges, pinks and smokey browns and this little palette from I Heart Makeup London called #Selfie fits that description pretty well.  This was a brand I'd never heard of before venturing into my local Superdrug store.  They have a pretty basic range which consists mainly of eyeshadow palettes so I gave them a swatch and was very impressed.  No matter the formula each colour transfers beautifully onto the skin and lasts a whole day of shopping, eating and sunbathing without any difficulties.  It has enough of a colour range to satisfy all occasions be it a simple day look or more vampy evening look.  This was a total bargain at £4.99 and I figured if this got lost, stolen or broken in transit I really wouldn't worry as much as I would have taking my Urban Decay Naked palette along.

For drugtore products you can't really go wrong with these two products and I'm intrigued now to try out some other cheap but cheerful drugstore finds.  Any suggestions anybody?

Nivea Lip Butters...

 

Hey there Beautiful people.  I know I've been absent for a while and I'd like to have a viable reason to give other than 'life got in the way' but it did.  Many a time I sat down to blog but felt it was forced and where's the fun in that?!  I'm back today with a quick review of something which instantly caught my eye in Superdrug the other day and had me thinking...'I'll have to blog about those later..'

 

It's the new Nivea Lip Butters.  They come in three different 'flavours' with 'Original' being the one I figured I could pass on but the two I have I'm in love with.  Caramel Cream smells like sugary vanilla cupcakes but not in a sickly sweet artificial way, whereas raspberry rose smells a bit zingyer, like raspberry sweets.  Both are solid in texture but melt to the touch and apply like a thick feeling butter on the lips.  They don't feel sticky or gloopy and I have a feeling these are going to be travelling everywhere with me as the weather turns much colder.  Now for £1.49 each they're not exactly going to work miracles but it does provide adequate moisture for a fair few hours and they smell and taste so yummy that I don't mind the re-application process one bit!

 

I feel like I should be doing a lot of talking and updating but there's not really much to say...I'm still waiting to start work which is annoying as I'm eager to get my hands dirty.  CRB check pending I should be on my way back to nursing the sick very soon, fingers crossed.  I'm also on the hunt for new skincare as usual.  I can't seem to get it set so I'm drinking gallons of water in the hopes that it'll clear itself up.  Any recommendations from you lovely lot would be much appreciated :D

 

Until Next Time

 

Ciao For Now World

 

xoxox

Superdrug Vitamin E Hot cloth cleanser

Hey there Beautifuls,

This is just a quick review on a product that I've been trying out recently.  This is my first ever dabble in the hot cloth cleanser world and although I havent tried the ever so famous 'Liz Earle' yet I'm loving this substitute.  It's specially formulated for normal/dry skin which is brilliant for me.  This helps to combat my flakies as I like to call them (flaky skin patches) which I must say is a pretty hard task. 

This has a very creamy thick consistency which you're to massage on your face (makeup and all).  This does get off the stubborn mascara and liner if you take the time to be gentle with the cloth. The box comes with a muslin cloth which i've not shown because I lost it behind my bed a few days ago and haven't quite mustered up the courage to delve into the unknown to retrieve it but I've just been using my Body Shop Muslin cloths which do just as good a jobby.  The instructions are all pretty clear on the back of the bottle and I find that the splash of cold water after really helps!  I'm left with soft, glowy, and moisturised skin.  This has now replaced my st Ives apricot scrub, which I felt was becoming a bit too harsh for my skin and frankly at the ripe old age of 24 (I'm going to be 25 soon!) I feel like I should be much kinder to my skin.

You can pick this up from Superdrug for £3.99 although they may have upped the price to £5.99 now.  Either way It's still worth it.  You get a whopping 200mls which will last you absolutely ages and it's still cheaper than the £14ish for the Liz Earle.

If you've tried any other hot cloth cleansers that you've found to work really well please let me know in the comments below and if you can recommend some good skincare in general for a 24 yr old that would be even better

Until next time

Ciao for now World

xoxox

Currently Adored...

Hello Again World!

I seem to be back in the swing of blogging so here's another quick (or so I thought) one for ya.  Now I figured, it's too late to do a November favourites and a bit early to do a favourites of 2011 so this is just my in betweeny blog about things I use on a day to day basis and things I'm currently adoring.

These are the things I've been loving a lot recently and use pretty much on a daily basis...

These two products are favourites for my skin. I have dry sensitive skin which in the winter is a nightmare! The best moisturiser for my skin is the E45, it's cheap and cheerful and does the job far better than some more expensive moisturisers I've tried.  This tub is 125g and has lasted me for about 6 months and costs no more than £5. The origins vitazing is what I took with me on holiday recently and found, although it is much pricier than the E45 cream it is equally as amazing.  At first it comes out as a grey cream but quickly changes to a light tint that matches the skin once applied.  It has an SPF of 15 which is good for protecting the skin and works wonders for the days you just dont want to wear foundation.



This is basicly what I use on my face everyday when I'm going out or for work.  I use the Revlon Photo ready foundation in the shade 003 Shell.  Love this foundation, it photographs amazingly well as the name suggests and workes fine on my dry sensitive skin.  It does have very very fine glitter particles in it which is hardly noticeable but may bother some people.  This foundation claims to offer 'complete coverage' which it does very well and also has an SPF of 20 which is an added bonus.  This retails at around the £10 mark for 30mls which is reasonable I guess.  Now I use this pretty much everyday and find that 30mls last me about 4-5 months...not bad I'd say!

In the summer when I need to powder over the top of my foundation I use the Revlon photo ready powder in the shade 010 Fair/light. I have however stopped using this in the cold winter months just because I dont need to powder over dry skin and if I do it just accentuates my flaky-ness :(

To conceal I use the Collection 2000 lasting perfection 16 Hour Wear concealer in the shade 2 Light.  This is great for under the eyes and covering redness or breakouts, very affordable and the little tube lasts quite long.  I've had mine for about 6 weeks now and still going strong.  I dont however think it does what it says on the tin as far as lasting 16 hrs is concerned but it handles my 8 hr work days pretty well.

For my eyes I've been using either the Urban Decay Naked Pallette.  Has great day appropriate colours, shadows are great quality and has the double ended black and brown eyeliner in the kit so perfect I'd say.  I've recently seen reviews on the new Naked 2 pallette that's been released....uh-oh!!

When I'm not using the Urban Decay shadows I'm using my Rimmel London eyeshadow quad in 019 Sun Safari. Now I dont really tend to buy Rimmel London products but I picked this up in the pound shop for a quid! now correct me if I'm wrong but £1 for four Rimmel eyeshadows is a bit of a bargain!! Love the colours, great for everyday wear, onlly problem is I'm not sure if you can still find this in the Rimmel London range so once it's finished, it's gone :(

My favourite mascara of all time ever has to be the L'oreal Volume Million Lashes, I've tried the original black when it was first released and it was love at first site.  I'm now using the extra-black one and am still in love!  Costs between £8-£12 depending on where you get it from and whether there's an offer on but totally worth it for me.  Each tube lasts me about 4 months and I do use generously pretty much everyday!

As for eyeliner I used to love my Collection 2000 liquid eyeliner and wouldnt really venture out to try anything else liner wise but since I've tried the elf cream eyeliners I havent even looked at my collection 2000 one!  Costs £3.50 from the elf studio range which is pennies for what you're getting! works wonderfully and lasts all day, I have three of them so far but am considering getting the others just because I can't get enough.  The only down side to this liner is that my black one seemed to dry out after about a month or so whereas my midnight blue and brown ones are still going strong.  I have found that if I warm up a little bit of the black one on the back of my hand it works perfectly

A few other things I've been loving recently...

My all time favourite blush right now has to be the Accessorize merged blusher in 4 - Diva.  I think I got this over a year ago for about £6, have used it pretty much everyday for about 6 months and havent even dented it, I think this will literally last me forever!

The Ultimate lip treatment ever to exist in my opinion has to be the Kiehl's Balm #1 in Mango.  this comes in different flavours, I just happen to have the Mango one.  Bit pricey for a lip balm at £9.50 but totally worth it.  Has an SPF for an added bonus and literally feels like butter on the lips.  And when I say this is the best I've tried....I would know as I have tried and tested every lip product ever to exist because I think I have a bit of an addiction to all thing's lip related...*hangs head in shame*

And finally for my currently adored is a product for the hair...

I decided I would buy into the Argan Oil hype by trying something Argany without actually buying the pricer morrocan oil.  I found this VO5 miracle concentrate elixir with argan oil in Superdrug and decided to give it a try.  It cost about £4.50 for a 50ml bottle which at first I thought was a bit pricey for a tiny bottle but no...this stuff is never ending.  All you need is 3-4 drops for the ends of your hair as an intensive leave-in treatment and you're good to go.  Leaves the hair looking healthy and shiny and smells lovely too!  I've been using this for about 2 months now and the bottle literally looks brand new!

Well, I do believe that is more than enough talking from me for now, until next time...

Ciao for now World!

xoxo



Look Beauty Review...

Hello Again World!

I've been quite ill recently and when I havent been ill I've been working, so I'm taking my free time to get posting on my blog as this was an ambition of mine that I would like to pursue much further.  I now appreciate all the beauty bloggers and vloggers out there who post and update regularly as it is very time consuming...

So as the title suggests this is a review of the Look Beauty range launched by the magazine company a short while back.  Now unlike most I wasnt sent these products but I found the Look section in my local Superdrug store and got rather excited! I immediately picked what I thought would be my favourites and paid for them, then proceeded to work and shared my wonderful buys with my colleague who, it is safe to say, is just about as nuts about makeup as I am.  This is what I picked up...

I have the Rosy - (Shade 4 blush) (£8), the Sculpt - (Shade 5 blush) (£8)
Lipslick in Buff - (Shade 2 lip gloss) (£5), Double Hit Lip duo in Rosy Riot - (Shade 5 lipstick and gloss duo) (£8)
and two Nail Pop nail colours in Mink - (Shade 18 (left) (£5) and Kimono - (Shade 6 (right) (£5)

Here are my initial thoughts...

This is the Sculpt Blush, Now originally I had picked up the Ibiza Bronzer which was shade 6 I think of the collection but as excited as I was when I got it home it was shattered to a fine dust and I had to return it to the store hoping I could just change it for another however the only other two Ibiza bronzers they had in stock were also shattered and so I had to chose between taking home my Ibiza Loose powder or a different shade and so I picked this as the other two bronzers of the collection were far too dark for my skin, as I am quite pale, and this was, for me dark enough and matt enough to bronze with however I did like the Ibiza bronzer soooooo much more :(

Both blushes are not overly pigmented but on my pale skin it works, they are buildable but I have to say, I dont think they are worth the price.

 

The Rosy blush is my favourite of the two, it is a pinky coral colour however it is packed full of chunky gold glitter, great for evenings, needs buffing out for daytime wear

The two lip products are a bit hit and miss too.  The Lipslick is also poorly packaged as when i first opened the tube sort of fell apart however the colour works ok and it isnt overly sticky or gloopy which is nice. As with the blushes, I think I could live without this product

The Double Hit Lip duo is my favourite product of the Look Beauty range so far.  The colours are true to the packaging, highly pigmented, you get a lot of product for the price and lasts a fair few hours on.  The only downside I would say is that where the Lipslick has no taste or smell the glossy end of the duo has a horrible fake caramel sort of taste and smell intially which thankfully does not last very long!  I think I can stomach the horrible taste because I do love the product...probably the only thing I would repurchase in maybe a different shade...or two...or three (my poor bank balance!!)

 



The only things left to try yet are the Nail Pops but I have however done very quick swatches of the colours on my nails just to test them and am quite impressed but not more so than any other nail varnish I've used.

As I said I did buy all these products with my own money and my overall thoughts would have to be that they are poorly packaged which is a shame because the products are not as bad

They are a bit overpriced for what should be 'drugstore' 'highstreet' makeup and the products inside are a little bit hit and miss, maybe steer clear of the blush powders if you travel a lot because they are prone to breakage and definitely try out the Double Hit duos, handy to save space in the handbag also.

Thank for reading...

Ciao for now World! x x x

My first product review!

Hello World!
So this, as the title suggests, is my first product review, now it's nothing exciting and to be honest I would much rather have reviewed something exciting such as a hairbrush that can apply your lipstick and tidy your room at the same time but sadly... until i get on inventing one of those this review will just have to do.

Now I'd just like to request that whoever is reading this ( which i do gather at the moment is nobody) please excuse the state of my nails! I was desperate to get my blog started and if I kept putting it off I would never have got round to it so it was a bit slap dash and no I didnt have time for a full Manicure before painting them sadly.

Enough of the ramble! More of the beauty...

The product I am reviewing today is the new beautyuk nail gift set.  I have number 4 - west end girl which is totally up my street! The colours are well on trend with a rusty red colour included as well as a khaki green and deep purple.  Now i have only applied two colours so far, one of which I am totally in love with and the other not so much

This rusty red colour applied amazingly well, this was just one very quick coat however there was absolutely no need for another coat in my opinion, now just to let you know I never apply a base coat or top coat to my nails so this is straight on the nail. I am in love with this colour which is perfect for Autumn.  This dried in lliterally 2 minutes and had none of that silly denting or smudging half an hour later.  I literally have nothing bad to say about this colour, the other one i tried however is a slightly different story...

Now I had very high hopes for this colour, I thought it would be the perfect nude easy-going, no fuss colour for everyday however it streaked even with two coats, and because it took two coats it took longer to dry, though not much longer (like 5 minutes maybe..) I guess im still satisfied with the overall result of this colour and as the other colour there has been no chipping after two days.

The best thing about these beautyuk nail gift sets....THE PRICE!!! at £4.99 RRP I think its a steal for 6 polishes and to be honest I expected much less from these than what they gave me and now i want the rest of the sets!! There are four gift sets in total and are fairly new to stores.  I picked mine up in my local Superdrug store however you can also buy them online here beautyuk and to celebrate the recent launch of their website they are offering all UK customers free shipping to any UK address before the 1st December 2011, so what are you waiting for?! These sets are perfect for christmas!

Disclaimer: I paid for these products with my own money, as this is my first blog post I doubt anyone would be sending me free things anyway.  so you can rest assured that this is my own honest review

Ciao for now World! xoxo