Skin & Base Products - Some Favourites

Hello! I thought today I'd show you some of my favourite products for the face. Over the past year, whilst training as a makeup artist, and working on lots of different people, I've found some things that work really well on almost everyone. I haven't got a product in every category, for example powder and primer, because I haven't found any I like enough to consider it a favourite yet. Onto the products:

Foundations. I love Bourjois foundations. I've tried the 123 Perfect and the Healthy Mix foundations. Both are really great, but the Healthy Mix is particularly fantastic. It has a lovely natural finish, is really easy to blend in, doesn't highlight dry patches, and smells really nice too. 123 Perfect is for those who prefer a more matte complexion, which will be longer lasting on oilier skins. It doesn't need any powder to set it, as it dries to a powdery finish. Bear in mind that this one oxidises slightly after a while, so you might want to go lighter when choosing your shade.

 Concealer. I love both of these concealers. They both work really well for the under eye area as they don't crease over time or look cakey. They can also work to cover blemishes as they are really nicely pigmented. The Collection 2000/Collection (as it's now known as) one is particularly great as it's such a bargain (under £5 when I bought it). However their shades are a little on the pink side. The Bourjois ones are more yellow-toned, which works slightly better under the eyes for most people. It also has a squeezy tube to dispense the product which I really like, as I can squeeze a bit of the product onto a palette, preventing any bacteria transferring. It also means I'll probably waste less when the tube becomes empty.

 Highlighter. I really like this highlighter from Barbara Daly at Tesco. It goes in my makeup artist kit because it works well on so many people. It's not too shiny, not glittery or chunky at all. Just a subtle, glowing, pale pinky peachy shade. You can use something like this to liven up a matte blusher without having a lot of shimmer on your face. Only downside is it's only available from larger Tescos, so it can be hard to find.

Colour Corrector. This is called an Under Eye Concealer, but it's really a yellow-toned colour corrector. How I use it: first apply a liquid or cream concealer 1-2 shades lighter than your skin under the eye & blend out. I then use a small amount of this over the top to set the concealer. It has the effect of reducing blueness under the eyes that a lot of us experience. It's really sheer so easy to use, but can be built up to neutralise stronger blue tones. Before this I'd never seen colour correctors in powder form before. I really love it! Available from Silk Naturals.

Hope this was helpful!

La Femme Blush On Rouge: Review and Swatches

Hi everyone! Today I have something to show you which I am SO excited about! You need to see these.

I recently bought some La Femme blushes, along with the 12-pan palette which they fit into. I first heard about them from Wayne Goss/gossmakeupartist on Youtube (if you haven't already, watch his videos, they are brilliant!), who raved about them.

Here's what they look like in the palette:

Top row: L-R: Magenta, Orange, Peach Sparkle, Scarlet, Naturelle, Sienna.

Bottom row: L-R: Purple Passion, Fuchsia, Mulberry, Flamingo Pink, Misty Plum, Soft Beige.

Geek Chic Cosmetics: All the Rage and The Pointy End - Swatches & Review

Hi guys! I finally have a little bit of time on my hands to do some proper blog posts! Today I've got some swatches of eyeshadows from Geek Chic Cosmetics. I've never tried anything from them before, and I've been pleasantly surprised!

I ordered samples of All the Rage (from the 10 Man Raid collection) and The Pointy End (from the Win or Die collection). I had to try a Game of Thrones shadow! Here they are:

I swatched them over Too Faced Shadow Insurance.


All the Rage

Swatches & Review: Soap & Glory Lid Stuff in What's Nude

I've got some swatches of a really nice palette for you today, Soap & Glory's Lid Stuff quad in What's Nude.

This is a really nice palette for everyday/wearable looks, and one thing I especially like is that 3 out of the 4 shades are matte. This makes them more office appropriate for most people, and won't draw attention to any lines and wrinkles around the eye area.

The four colours are Vanilla; a matte creamy highlight shade, Pink T; a matte pinky beige slightly darker than my skintone, Mudhoney; a matte medium greyish brown, and Aubersheen; a shimmery/sheeny taupey brown.

Swatches from L-R: Vanilla, Pink T, Mudhoney, Aubersheen.

The shadows all have a really nice texture and are very pigmented. The mattes are nice and soft and blend fairly easily, something which you don't often find in cheaper/drugstore brand eyeshadows. Mudhoney would work as a subtle eyeliner, but I would perhaps have preferred a darker brown for this use. However you could use this as an eyebrow powder or in the crease, so you have a few options.

Overall I think this is a really nice product and I would definitely try more Soap & Glory makeup products. Lid Stuff retails at £10 and is available from Boots.

Review: Look Beauty Double Hit Lip

LOOK Magazine recently came out with a makeup line, which is available in Superdrug. I found these in the White Rose Centre branch, but have not seen them in any other shops so far. 

Here I have two of the shades, Red Alert (shade 4), and Berry Blast (shade 1).

This product caught my eye as it looked like something I haven't seen before. They are called the Double Hit Lip, which is a lipstick, with an identical coloured gloss at the other end of the tube. On the outside of the packaging it says:

All the trends covered - matte, glossy or everything at once!

I thought that sounded really interesting, but unfortunately, the lipstick's finish is not a true matte.

The lipsticks on their own. There is a bit of a sheen to them, and they have quite a balmy texture. Red Alert is on the left, Berry Blast on the right. To me Red Alert is not a red at all, but a bright, orangey coral. They are pretty well pigmented.

Here is both lipsticks with the glosses layered over the top.

The glosses on their own. The glosses are much sheerer.

So, my opinions. To be honest, I really don't like these. I would love to do lip swatches for you but my skin is quite bad at the moment, so hopefully I will add some later. I don't know what it is about them I don't like, but I find they apply on the lips weirdly and don't seem as pigmented as they look in the tube. However, the thing I dislike the most is the scent. Both the lipstick and the gloss are really strongly scented with a sickly sweet, artificial smell. So much so I have not worn either of these for longer than 5 minutes. If you happen to like the smell of them you may really enjoy them, but the smell is definitely not for everyone!

I hope you found this helpful!

Review: Bellapierre Makeup Base

It's been a while since I reviewed anything on here, so I've got quite a backlog to get through! This is something I picked up on BrandAlley, which is a website which has sales of various brands, with different products appearing at different times. Bellapierre Cosmetics seem to feature fairly regularly on there, so you may see this for a reasonable price.

The product I am reviewing is what they call the Makeup Base. Here is their description:

This wonderful product helps transform all of our shimmer powders, from shimmery to matte; it also provides a water proof base for any of our pigments. Some clients also choose to use our makeup base as a Concealer for blemishes and impurities that are more difficult to cover with makeup.

It's quite a strange concept for a product, since it seems to have so many different uses. To me though, the most interesting one is the mattifying aspect. I've done some swatches below of two eyeshadows, on the left over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy, and on the right, over the Bellapierre Makeup Base.

Barry M Dazzle Dust in #39 Tan. The Pixie Epoxy (left) enhances the shimmer and helps it stick, whereas the Makeup Base (right), as you can tell, takes the shimmer down. You can also see that the base is a light colour, with a fair amount of pigment to it. I haven't used it as a concealer yet, but it would definitely give a moderate amount of coverage.

MAC Pigment in White Gold. Over the Pixie Epoxy, you can see a lot of the white and gold reflects in the pigment, whereas the Bellapierre base seems much less of the white, and just looks like a more subtle shimmer texture.

Something I should note is the way to use this product. It will mattify much better if you blend your shadow into the creamy base. If applying on your eye, it will work better  if you use a small amount of shadow, and use a sweeping, rather than patting motion to apply. Blending well will take most of the shimmer away.

I have found that this product can crease on my eyelids, but if you also use a primer such as Urban Decay's Primer Potion underneath, it doesn't crease.

To sum up:

Pros:
- Mattifies eyeshadows that you may find too shimmery.
- Multi-use, can be used as a concealer.
- Provides some coverage to even out eyelids.

Cons:
- May be too light for many skintones.
- Could crease without a primer underneath.

Price: The Makeup Base is currently priced at £9.99 on the Bellapierre Cosmetics UK website. For different countries, check their worldwide website, where it should be available.

Recent Favourites

I didn't make a 'favourites of 2011' post, but I just wanted to talk a bit about some of the things I've been enjoying using lately. 

1) Superdrug Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser

I'm currently on my second bottle of this. Usually cleansers seem really 'meh' to me, and I either don't bother with them (just cleansing wipes), or don't stick with them for more than one bottle.

2) Neutrogena Visibly Clear Spot Stress Control Moisturiser 

My skin has been an absolute nightmare for the past three months, so everything I put on it makes me break out in spots. This has salicylic acid in, so it doesn't clog my pores. So far it's working really well, and is quite mattifying too.

3) Shiro Cosmetics Intertube in Yo Dawg

I'm not normally one for bright or dark lip colours, but this one is a perfect dark fuchsia for Autumn and Winter. Plus the name is geekily awesome.

4) Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Temper

I got this at the Clothes Show Live back at the start of December, and along with 2 other shades of this, and 3 medium pencils, it was the first Illamasqua purchase I made. The pigmentation is insane, and it stays on so well. The other shades I got were black and silver so I haven't used them, just put them in my kit for the crazy looks I've got planned.

5) Models Prefer Automatic Eyebrow Pencil

Recently, I've been introduced to the joys of filling my eyebrows. Haha. I always used to think it made me look like a tranny, but my college tutor has changed my mind. This pencil is really easy to use and has a spooly brush on the other side for grooming the hairs and blending out.

6) Evil Shades Blush in Gossamer

This is such a pretty blusher, a soft candy floss pink with blue shimmer. Really flattering on my cool toned skin.

7) MAC Vanilla Pigment

I just have a sample of this, but I love it for highlighting my cheekbones and tearduct. It's so so pretty.

8) Makeup Whore Necklace from Tequila Star

Got from the Clothes Show Live. Self explanatory!

9) Haus of Gloi Sugar Exfoliant

Nice and scrubby, and very moisturising. Gets rid of those little bumps on my skin. This is something like my 4th or 5th jar, I love it and all the scents I've tried from them are great.

Honorable mention (because I forgot to photograph it): Philip Kingsley Elasticiser. Awesome conditioning treatment, which is completely non-greasy, doesn't make my hair flat, and makes my crunchy bleach-fried ends look smooth and lovely. Tried it in the Glossybox, but now I want a full-size, so I'm waiting til I see a good deal.

Hope you found this interesting!

Indie4Ever Review: Haus of Gloi Sugar Exfoliant

Hello! Today I have a review of one of my all-time favourite bath and body products. I'm doing this as part of KimmieKarmaLove's Indie4Ever project.

It's Haus of Gloi's Sugar Exfoliant, also called the Emulsifying Scrub on their website.

The labels on Haus of Gloi products are always beautiful, with the description and directions on the label. The labels on bath/body products are made of a plastic-y material so water won't smudge the writing. The graphics coordinate with the name and idea surrounding each scent.


They describe the product as:

"A luscious in shower confection designed to both moisturize and buff your skin to incredible softness! Our made from scratch recipe begins with heaps of organic sugar, pure shea butter and coconut oil whipped lightly with a host of a skin loving olive and apricot oils. These emulsifying scrubs are balmy in texture, do not require stirring and never leave you feeling too greasy after use. When combined with water these scrubs emulse into a very light cream and rinse away leaving you perfectly moisturized and divinely scented! 100% vegan, always."

I really like this scrub, as it is the perfect amount of scrubbiness for the body, and really gets the skin smooth. I think this scrub, as opposed to the other type Haus of Gloi make, the Bubbling Scrub, would be my pick for dry skin. After using it, I feel like the oil and shea butter stays on your skin to leave a moisturising layer. Despite this, I never feel greasy after getting out of the shower, however I wouldn't use this in the bath then wash my hair in it! If you do use it in the bath you can see the oils on top of the water, Because of this, if you suffer from acne on your body or don't like a lot of moisturiser or oils on your skin, you might not like this product. If that's you I'd probably recommend the bubbling scrub instead, which washes away more cleanly.


I suffer from bumps on my legs, and this is the only thing I find helps them to go away, when used in conjunction with a body butter or their Body Emulsion. This definitely helps to smooth the skin out a lot.


As for the scents, I have loved every scent I've tried from Haus of Gloi. The descriptions on their website are very accurate to me. My favourite for the scrub is probably Picaroon, which is a salty limey smell, very refreshing for in the shower. You can also get perfumes and body butters in the same scent, which can help keep that smell on your skin for longer.


Overall I think this is a fantastic product which I highly recommend! UK/non US customers should be aware that because these are heavy products, the shipping costs are fairly high, and you may encounter import tax, but I still feel the price is very reasonable for such a well-made and thought out product.


Sugar Exfoliants are available from hausofgloi.com and are priced at $10 for 7.5oz, or $2 for a 1oz sample.

Shiro Cosmetics Kawaiishadow Collection

Just a quick review and swatches of something I received recently today. A while ago I made my first order from Shiro Cosmetics, and part of that included the Kawaiishadow set of eyeshadows.

The shadows come as a collection of all five pastel shades of eyeshadows, wrapped beautifully, with a couple of Japanese sweets thrown in. You can see on the website how they are presented.They would definitely make a great present to someone, and you can tell a lot of thought and love went into the wrapping and design of the items.

The jars all have stickers on top with kawaii little faces on, which coordinate with the colour of the shadow inside. One thing I would say about the packaging is that because the stickers are paper rather than shiny plastic-y labels, they might get stained with products, or if you get them wet the ink may run.

Onto the swatches

They were swatched dry over Too Faced Shadow Insurance. Sorry about the goosebumps, I had to go into my cold bathroom to photograph!

The shadows themselves are nicely pigmented, especially for paler shades, which I often find to be more sheer. The pink one (Kawaii) doesn't look as good as the others, but I think that's just because it's quite close to my skin colour. The shimmer in them isn't too much, but makes sure they are easy to apply and blendable.

I think they would work really well as inner corner colours as part of a bright eyeshadow look and I can't wait to use them over Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk!

I think the main issue people might have with these is that you have to buy the full set off full-sized eyeshadows. The current price on the website is $28 for 5 2 gram jars of shadow, which is really good, but could put people off if they only want one, or just want to try them out. But overall I think this is a lovely product which is really well thought-out and professional.

I'll be posting more reviews/swatches of the other things I bought from Shiro soon hopefully so look out for that!

The Kawaiishadow Collection is available from http://www.shirocosmetics.com and is priced at $28.

Sleek Pout Paints: Review

I managed to find the Sleek Pout Paints in Superdrug on Monday even though they aren't officially released yet! Woohoo! I love to be the first to try new things haha. I initially bought 3 shades I liked to try them out, which were 161 Minx, a peachy nude, 154 Mauve Over, a slightly purple fuchsia, and 159 Port, which is a berry shade.

Sleek describes the Pout Paints as "A highly pigmented lip stain". There are 9 colours in the collection, including black, white and blue, along with the more wearable on their own shades. Like the OCC Lip Tars, which many of you may have heard of, they are designed to be mixed to create your own perfect colours.

As you can see, the applicator has a small nozzle, which can be used to squeeze a tiny bit (and you really do only need the tiniest bit of product!) onto a palette or your hand. I find that the best way is to use a lip brush to apply this product. It is highly pigmented so your application needs to be precise. You may be able to tell from my messy swatches!

Here's what they look like on the lips:

 Minx

 Mauve Over

Port

In reality Port looks darker to me. Quite a vampy type of colour on me but still very wearable, perfect for Autumn!

These wear extremely well on me, and I don't wear lipstick well. I get at least 4 hours wear, they even stay on through eating and drinking. As they are a stain, they dry down quite matte and can be slightly drying but I don't find them uncomfortable. One of the things I like the most about them is how they wear. A lot of lip stains I really dislike them because they wear off on the outside of my lips but the stain won't come off on the bits near the inside of my mouth and looks really weird! These don't do that at all.

Overall I think the Sleek Pout Paints are fantastic! I cannot compare them to the OCC Lip Tars as I haven't tried them, but these are a great alternative, particularly for a makeup artist's kit. They are also great value at £4.99, and I plan on getting the full set!

Hope you found this review helpful, if you have any questions leave them in the comments!

My Pretty Zombie: Swatches and Thoughts

I received my first order from My Pretty Zombie last week, and I have to say I'm quite impressed. The eyeshadows I got are not like any I already have in my collection (this is quite difficult to do! :p). I love that the company has a specific brand identity, and all the names of the products go along with this.

I bought three full-size eyeshadows, which are 1.5g weight, and come in a pot without a sifter. They cost $5 each at time of posting. They came individually shrink-wrapped, which I think is good to prevent them leaking in transit but not essential for me. The owner also kindly sent me 3 free samples in baggies. My items were all boxed with tissue paper and ribbon; very thoughtful and prettily presented.

Shade names are printed on the side of the jar, which might be annoying if you like to see the names in a drawer or something, but I don't mind.

 Thundernuts

 Unicorn Pee

Old Bruise

All are swatched over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, except Old Bruise which is over UDPP, since it doesn't work well with mattes.

I found them all to be really well pigmented and smooth. Of course with Unicorn Pee being so glittery, it's best to use a sticky base such as the Pixie Epoxy to make the glitter stay on. I love the complexity of the colours, especially Thundernuts which is beautiful. Many of the eyeshadows they do have duochromes which I love. My favourites are the 3 I picked out myself, plus Illustrated Ink. I would definitely order from them again, and the owner was really quick to send me a message saying when my order would be sent out.You can see the products here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/mrsevils