Saturday 29 September 2012

Superdrug Fruit Sorbet Antioxidant Peel Off Mask

Hey everyone,
I don't know about you lot, but I personally love peel-off face masks. I just think there's something really cool about being able to peel the mask off rather than washing it off, me being the child that I am ;)
 
I was actually looking for the Montagne Jeunesse Peel Off Passion mask in Superdrug, but I couldn't see it anywhere. However, I noticed that Superdrug had their own branded face masks, and this one looked very similar to the Montagne Jeunesse one, so I picked up this one. They were actually on 4 for 3 when I got them, so I have 4 different ones which I may do seperate posts on if anyone is interested :)
 
 
 
I personally prefer the packaging of these to the Montagne Jeunesse ones - as much as the MJ ones are recognisable, the Superdrug ones appear much more modern. The mask is cruelty-free as well as being paraben-free, which is always nice to see!
 
It contains natural fruit extracts to leave the skin "revitalised and protected".
 
 
The actual consistency of the mask is pretty much the same as the Montagne Jeunesse one - it's a pinky colour and is quite sticky, and makes you look as though you've burnt your face when you apply it (hence the no pictures of it on my face!) It does apply quite easily though, but you do need to rinse your hands immediately to stop it from getting stuck everywhere.
 
The mask smells gorgeous too - it simply smells of fruits and I personally find it a really relaxing mask to have on. On the packet it says to leave it for 10-20 minutes until you should peel it off, but I found that I had to leave mine on for around half an hour before it had dried fully. Peeling the mask off is really simple, as long as you don't get it in your eyebrows (!).
 
Afterwards, my skin felt really smooth and soft, and the smell lingered for a couple of hours after, which I didn't mind but I know some people don't enjoy products which linger.
 
Overall, I would really recommend this mask. There isn't much of a price difference between Montagne Jeunesse and this one (around 2p) so it's up to you which you want to choose, there's really not much difference!
 
This is available from Superdrug for 99p.
xx

Friday 28 September 2012

New Look #denimcomp Competition

Hey everyone,
I know I have entered a couple of competitions recently, but I genuinely really enjoy putting outfits together with my virtual money, so here I am today entering another one!
This one is hosted by Sparkle Fashion Blog, and you can find the post about the competition here.
 
Essentially, all you need to do to be in with a chance of winning some fab prizes is create an outfit using only clothes from New Look, and one of the items must be a pair of jeans. Other than that, there are no other rules!
 
 
 
 
I hope everyone enjoyed my entry, it was lots of fun to do so I would recommend taking part! New Look have got some great stuff in at the minute too!
 
xx
 


Tuesday 25 September 2012

Benefit Triple Performing Facial Emulsion

Hey everyone,
I wasn't going to do a post about this as it's only a sample, but I have enjoyed it so much I thought I would share it with you.
If you have seen my post from last week, you'll know that when I purchased my Hello Flawless foundation, the lady at the Benefit counter gave me some free samples to try. She asked my what my skin type was, and when I told her it was dry she gave me 3 generous-sized samples of the Facial Emulsion. I know some people hate reviews based on samples, but I was given 3 of these, and each one lasted me around 3/4 days, so I have been using it for around 2 weeks now, which I thought was a fair enough time to test it out.
"You may not know you're dehydrated, but your skin does. Triple Performing Facial Emulsion SPF 15 PA+++ hydrates, protects and comforts the skin, with a lightweight, oil-free formula". I love that it has an SPF which means that even if you're not wearing any make-up, you don't need to worry about additional SPF protection if you're wearing this. I'm not too sure what PA+++ actually means so if anyone knows please let me know :)
The lotion itself is actually quite a watery consistency. I was a bit wary about this at first as I am more used to thick moisturisers, but this stuff works wonders. Recently, my skin, especially my forehead, has been super dry, to the point where my foundation would just cling to the dry patches no matter what moisturiser or foundation I used. I hated the way my make-up looked over it, so I was pleased when the lady at Benefit gave me some samples of this to try. As it is quite runny, you really don't need to use a lot of product as it glides over the face easily. I find that the tiniest 'blob' (technical term) covered my whole face.
What I loved most about this is that it completely hydrated the dry patches of my skin. When I used this, my foundation looked almost flawless over the top of it. I actually used this, then the POREfessional, and then my foundation, as suggested by the lady from the counter.
It does have a slight scent to it, which I know will bother some people, but I personally don't have a problem with it. The smell is hard to describe, but it smells clean and fresh.
Overall, I will definitely be buying a full sized version as I absolutely love this. It is by far the best moisturiser I have ever used. It is quite expensive, but I have no doubt that it will be worth every penny :)

Another plus is the beautiful packaging the full size emulsion comes in! It also has a pump dispenser so its' mess-free:)
This is available from Boots, the Benefit Website and Benefit stores for £19.50
xx

Saturday 22 September 2012

ElegantTouch Rapid Dry for Nails

Hey everyone,
Today I am going to do a review of a product I have a love/hate relationship with:
 
 
 
This is a spray which you spray onto your nails after you have painted them. It claims to "touch dry polish in 60 seconds". It also contains vitamin E to condition the cuticles.
 
The reason I have a love/hate relationship with this product is because I do like it - it dries polish really quickly, something which I love because I'm impatient and hate waiting for my nails to dry. However, this leaves a really greasy residue on your fingers, and I cannot stand anything greasy! I want to wash my hands immediately after, but if you do this, you will smudge your nail polish! But if you wait about 2 minutes and then wash your hands, your nail polish should be fine and you can get rid of the greasiness :)
 
I know they greasiness isn't the end of the world, but it is something I could do without. That being said, this is a really good product if you can see past that - it does exactly what it's meant to do and you will have no more waiting round for your nails to dry, or risk smudging them as you try and do things :)
 
Has anyone tried this?
xx

Wednesday 19 September 2012

My Barry M Nail Paint Collection

Hey everyone,
Today I thought I'd share with you all my collection of Barry M Nail Paints :) These nail polishes are what first got me into nail painting, and over the past 3 years or so, I have built up quite a sizeable collection. I have swatched them all to show you too :).
 
Disclaimer; this is in no way me bragging or showing off, simply me showing you my collection, to hopefully give you a better idea of the colours and the formula.
 
L-R denim, aqua glitter, teal, cobalt blue, blue glitter, cyan blue, blueberry ice cream, blue moon
 
 
L-R retro nail paint in purple, navy, indigo, lilac foil, chameleon nail effects in purple, instant nail effects in purple, vivid purple, bright purple, berry ice cream
 
 
L-R raspberry, bright red, block orange, coral, fuschia, shocking pink, pink flamingo, bright pink, peach melba
 
 
L-R spring green, mint green, silver foil, silver multi glitter, silver glitter, black multi glitter, silvery lilac, grey, dusky mauve, cappuccino
 
 
L-R 3 in 1 basecoat topcoat and nail hardener, croc nail effects in black, instant nail effects in black, magnetic nail paint in dark silver
 
 
SWATCHES :)
 
L-R denim, aqua glitter, teal, cobalt blue, blue glitter
 
L-R blue glitter, cyan blue, blueberry ice cream, blue moon
 
L-R retro nail paint in purple, navy, indigo, lilac foil, chameleon nail effects in purple
 
L-R instant nail effects in purple over bright pink, vivid purple, bright purple, berry ice cream
 
L-R raspberry, bright red, block orange, coral, fuschia
 
L-R fuschia, shocking pink, pink flamingo, bright pink, peach melba


L-R spring green, mint green, silver foil, silver multi glitter, silver glitter


L-R silver glitter, black multi glitter, silvery lilac, grey, dusky mauve, cappuccino
 
L-R croc nail effects in black over bright pink (fail), instant nail effects in black over bright pink, magnetic nail paint in dark silver (also a fail).
 
 
I love Barry M nail paints. They are by far my favourite high street nail polish brand. They're cheap and they have such a wide range of colours.
 
I'm just going to throw this out there - there are a couple of them I don't actually like too much. The instant nail effects (the crackle ones) I don't like, but this is personal preference as I don't really favour the cracked look. The croc nail effects as you can see just doesn't work for me, I don't know if it's me doing it wrong but I have never been able to get them to work. The magnetic nail paint is pretty much the same - I've never been able to make it work.
 
As for the colours, I do actually like all the shades, and the majority of them have amazing forumlas which only need 2 coats and dry quickly. The exceptions to this are mint green, which is a shame because I like the colour but it takes forever and a day to dry, blue moon which you need about 6 coats of to tel you're wearing nail polish, and peach melba, which may come as a surprise as loads of people love this shade, but I find that it takes an absolute age to dry and also doesn't really compliment my skin tone, so I don't tend to reach for it much. That being said, I love every other colour, the forumlas are amazing and they last for a good 4/5 days without chipping. They're well worth the £2.99 :)
 
xx

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow

Hey everyone,
I've been on the lookout for a higher-end foundation for a while now. I had been using Rimmel Cream Gel foundation for a few months, and although I do like it, I wanted to treat myself to something a bit more 'luxurious'.
After reading some reviews online, I decided to bite the bullet and buy Benefit's only liquid foundation, 'Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow'.
After being matched up in store by a very lovely lady, I was matched to "I'm Pure 4 Sure". This foundation actually comes in 9 shades - 3 light, 3 medium and 3 dark. I think the idea is that there is a warm, neutral and cool for each of light, medium and dark. The shade range is good, although I know some other high-end brands have a huge shade selection.
I personally like the packaging. I love that it's clear so you don't have the problem of waking up one morning and having no foundation left. I also like the fact that the bottom 'pushes up' if you get what I mean, meaning that there will be virtually no waste as almost all of the foundation will be pumped out of the bottle. If possible, I always try to pick foundations with a pump dispenser, as I find those where you have to physically pour the foundation out messy and it's easier to pour out too much, resulting in a lot of wasted product.
"Hello... it's flawless time! Our new oil-free brightening liquid foundation builds from light to medium coverage for a natural complexion you can believe in. It's you... just more luminous and healthy looking." This is how Benefit describe the foundation. I have to say, I agree with this. It's is a light coverage at first, but it builds to medium without looking cakey or orange. I have quite dry skin in places, and this is quite a runny liquid so it feels very hydrating and doesn't cling to any dry patches I have. It is oil-free, which I like, because oil based foundations tend to dry out my skin even more, which I obvoiusly don't want.
It has an SPF of 25 which is really good if you're outside a lot as it will protect your face from any sun damage, without the need of an additional SPF. However, if you're heading on a night out, or somewhere there is likely to be flash photography, you will probably see some flashback on your pictures!
I use my fingers to blend this in, and then buff it into the skin with my Real Techniques brush. As you can see in the pictures, it blends in really easily. It doesn't have the most coverage I've ever seen, but it is buildable. If you have perfect skin with no blemishes (then I'm jealous), then you will probably get away with just one 'coat' of foundation, as this gives you a healthy-looking glow.
In terms of wear time, I find this lasts about 6 hours without a primer or setting powder. When I use primer and a powder, it probablty lasts about 8 hours, which I don't think is too bad.
I would recommend this foundation, especially to people with dry skin. It's hydrating and doesn't accentuate any dry patches :)
If you can, go into a Boots store with a Benefit counter, or a Benefit store, to get yourself matched to a shade. I was all set to buy a different shade to this until the lady tried it on my face! You don't want to be spending a lot of money on a foundation only to get home and find it's the completely wrong colour. The only bad thing about my experience was that she gave me some free samples and now I really want the Facial Emulsion moisturiser! (sorry bank balance).
This is available online from the Benefit website, from Boots and Benefit stores for £24.50.
Have any of you tried this?
xx


Friday 14 September 2012

Real Techniques Core Collection

Hello everyone,
Before I start, I know you've all seen these before, but after reading a few reviews on them, I decided to pick them up and I wanted to share with you what I thought of them. They are the Real Techniques Core Collection :)
 
Just a warning, this will be a long post and will be picture-heavy :)
 
 
 
 
L-R pointed foundation brush, contour brush, detailer brush, buffing brush
 
The Real Techniques Brushes were developed by Samantha Chapman from Pixiwoo. "Real Techniques brushes combine high-tech materials with innovative design to make creating a pixel-perfect look easier than ever". The brushes are made from synthetic fibres, and are cruelty-free. Although I only have the Core Collection here, with the orange handles, there are two other coloured handles - purple and pink. The orange handles represent 'flawless base' brushes, purple handles represent 'enhanced eyes' brushes, and pink handles represent 'perfect finish' brushes.
 
The brushes included in the Core Collection are the pointed foundation brush, the contour brush, the detailer brush and the buffing brush.
 
 
 
The pointed foundation brush.
 
 
 
This is designed for use with liquid foundation. However, I think I have only used this brush once or twice, because I'm just not personally a fan of these kind of foundation brushes. I find it too small to apply foundation quickly and therefore I tend to favour other brushes to apply my foundation with. That being said, if you like these kind of brushes, this one is really good quality and is light making it easy to use.
 
 
 
The contour brush.
 
 
 
This is designed for use with highlighting powder and contouring powder. I really do like this brush. I use it daily to apply highlighter and I love the finish it gives. It sweeps the powder on with minimal effort, and leaves just the right amount on the skin - enough so you can see it, but not too much so your face is covered in glitter.
 
 
 
The detailer brush.
 
 
 
This is designed for use with concealer to cover up any blemishes or imperfections. I also love this brush as it's so small and perfect for covering up blemishes. It blends my concealer in well, and my concealer literally looks like its sunk into my skin.
 
 
 
The buffing brush.
 
 
 
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months, you will have heard of the Real Techniques buffing brush. This was the brush that convinved me I needed to have the Core Collection (as you can't buy the buffing brush seperately). Although I do love the other brushes in the collection, this is by far my favourite. It is designed for use with powder or mineral foundation, but as I wear liquid foundation I use it with that. The foundation I'm using at the minute is Rimmel's Creme Gel one (review here), and since it has a gel-like formula, I have been applying it with my fingers and using the buffing brush to really buff it into my skin afterwards. With using my fingers, the foundation can look a bit cakey at times, but when you use this brush afterwards it makes the foundation look like a second skin.
 
 
Overall, I absolutely love this collection. Obviously I don't get along with the foundation brush but that is purely personal preference and I know other people who love it. I would 100% recommend these brushes as they are cheap compared to high-end brushes such as MAC ones, and do the same job, if not better.
 
The core collection is £21.99 at Boots. There are other collections and brushes available, and I for one have my eye on the stippling brush, the powder brush and the blush brush.
 
xx

Thursday 13 September 2012

Models Own Mirrorball Collection Swatches

Hey everyone
If you've seen my wishlist post from Monday, you will know that I had my eye on the Models Own Mirrorball nail polish collection. I was just browsing through the Models Own website on Tuesday and couldn't stop myself from ordering these!
 
 
L-R freak out, hot stuff, boogie nights, disco inferno, dancing queen
 
 
 
Freak Out
 
 
Freak Out is described by Models Own as "a crystal shimmer mix of blue and purple". It contains aqua blue glitter shards, dark blue glitter circles and purple micro glitter.
 
 
 
Hot Stuff
 
 
Hot Stuff is described by Models Own as "an intoxicating mix of pink and gold sparkles". It contains holographic glitter shards, gold glitter squares, pink glitter shards and magenta micro glitter.
 
 
 
Boogie Nights
 
 
Boogie Nights is described by Models Own as "a multicoloured mix of intriguing purple, pink and blue". It contains lilac glitter shards, dark blue glitter circles, purple glitter circles and purple micro glitter.
 
 
 
Disco Inferno
 
 
Disco Inferno is desribed by Models Own as "a glittery gold disco bomb". It contains gold glitter shards, copper coloured glitter circles, gold micro glitter and green glitter.
 
 
 
Dancing Queen
 
 
Dancing Queen is described by Models Own as "fabulous flecks of emerald, blue and gold". It contains blue glitter shards, gold micro glitter, gold glitter circles, blue glitter circles and green glitter circles.
 
 
They are all 'chunky glitters' which in effect means that instead of applying them like a normal nail polish, you have to sort of dab them on otherwise the glitter just won't stay on your nail.
 
 
Swatches without flash.
L-R dancing queen, disco inferno, boogie nights, hot stuff, freak out.
 
 
 
Swatches with flash.
L-R dancing queen, disco inferno, boogie nights, hot stuff, freak out.
 
 
As you can see, they are not the most dense of glitters, and they would probably look better over a solid base colour, but I think they're pretty cool. The combination of colours in each polish is unique and interesting. I really like how there are lots of different sizes of glitter rather than just a multicoloured glitter, as I think it makes the polish even more interesting. I can't comment on wear time/drying time because I only swatched them, but I am looking forward to experimenting with different base colours! :)
 
These are available now for £5 each, or you can get a box set with all 5 polishes plus a base coat for £20 on the Models Own Website and in the Bottleshop in Westfield Stratford. They will be available from Boots on the 3rd October :)
 
xx 
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