Showing posts with label makeup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label makeup. Show all posts
Wednesday, 9 July 2014
I have been away for longer than what is acceptable even for a students standards.
So today I thought I would throw myself back on track and do a little review for all of you to break the extra masses of work I have organised for myself this summer - I sure do love giving myself a hard time. Most of my products are still boxed away with it being holiday and having absolutely no room for neither myself nor the excess of my collection(s) which I have hauled home much to my mothers horror. I did however retain a minute stash for my daily use including some odd bobs I have bought for my sister over the year hence am wholly entitled to feature them!
So anyway let's get started.
I picked up The Eraser Eye Perfect and Cover concealer several months ago, and as you can see I have used a fair amount of it and it has been well used, excuse the tatty dirt, shape it is in. I have a perfectly good drug store concealer already that I am constantly repurchasing so it was more out of pure boredom and perhaps curiosity that I looked for an alternative. I have heard some very good reviews of this from people who swear by it so it was worth a look.
My first qualm has to be the limited shade range offered for this product, and if I am honest across the board for drugstore base makeup altogether. It is appalling guys, come on, I mean this is the 21st century and the British population is a great deal more diverse than what your products provide for *sigh*. Anyway I 'umm-ed' and 'ahh-ed' my way around the colors and walked away with the shade 'Nude' which turned out to be at least one shade too dark and too pink for my under-eye area, a little awkward for the under-eyes but oh well.
I have to warn you things are going to go downhill pretty quickly from here so if you cannot bare it, turn away now.
Packaging
First an foremost, I could not get the product out. the plastic packaging is very precarious. After twisting it for like the hundredth time did I get the satisfactory squelch of released pressure and oozing liquid.
It did feel nice on the skin though, the funny squishy sponge head thing is fairly soft against the skin and product it self was cooling.
Controlling the amount of product however is an impossibility, so more often than not you find yourself smearing on way more product than you could possible want, that might explain how I had got through so much of it so swiftly. I always have left over product on the sponge for next time I was not sure how to feel about.
Which brings me to my next point. As with any product that comes with a build in applicator, hygiene is an issue. I am sure there are colonies upon colonies raging parties on this sponge head now :/
Going back to the packaging, at one point I twisted the thing so much (because it just was not responding to me) that it 'broke' if you notice the gap between red and clear section, now making further twisting futile. I do manage to get product out by holding it down tightly and twisting at the same time, releasing at least twice the original amount of product.
Application
the application of the product it super easy. I applied it directly to my under eyes from the sponge tip then used clean fingers to dab it and blend it in. no problems there.
Product:
The product itself is of a creamy consistency which glides on well. I would not call this hydrating though, it simply is not dry, greasy perhaps? It does dry some what powdery, but personally I would not recommend this for around the nose and mouth area, it feels far too greasy and offers little anyway.By which I mean, the coverage. Again, a bit of a disappointment. it claims to 'conceal dark circles and fine lines', I have neither and I still felt it to be inadequate.
It is also cakey, it did not layer nor set very well for me, you will need a great deal of powder to stop this from budging and that just does not look pretty. I also did not find it to be very long lasting as compared to my other concealer.
One of their other claims is that this product has anti-aging properties, I really cannot comment on that one.
Conclusion
As ever, this is my own personal experience so many of you may very well find this product to feel different for you but as for me? I have offered it up to my sister to try, it may suit her skin tone better and she may generally have better luck with it, being so much less fussy than myself. I probobly won't be repurchasing this again. It wasn't nightmarish, just very blah. it didn't do anything for me at all. Never mind, better luck next time ey?
Break down
Pros:
1. Not dry
2. Easy application
3. Supposedly Anti-aging properties (will have to get back to you on that one)
Cons:
1. Awkwark packaging, keeps breaking
2. Cannot control amount that is 'ejected'???
3. color range
4. Not enough coverage
5. Lacks longevity
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Sunday, 14 July 2013
As if cosmetic shopping for myself is not enough, I've lately taken up the challenge of doing so for my mummy. Having always had cosmetics bought for me by my Mum during those inexperienced pre-teen years when even a display at Superdrug seemed daunting to me, it is high time that I return that favour by doing the same for her. My mum, while not being a make-up junkie, has interest in make up like any other woman, however she does not tend to venture out and try different products could ultimately lead her to find those best suited to her. For that reason I feel obliged to go out and do it for her.
Mum and I agree on the point that we both love a good lipstick over gloss any day. However where I like my deep bold bright shades, Mum is always on the lookout for that perfect my-lips-but-better colour.
Foundation:
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| Source: Personal image (all images on this post) |
With Mum, I have always noticed that her foundation tends to look flaky and always, always has an ashy appearance. This pointed towards the fact that her skin was dry and her current foundation was far too matte and that she needed a yellow-toned shade.
My first foundation purchase for her was the Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation. At the time, I was getting nowhere trying to convince her that she needed a darker, yellower foundation and so opted for a lighter colour, knowing she would approve. As you can see, the foundation was well loved and is pretty much finished. The cakey, flaky, ashy look however was not yet defeated.
My first foundation purchase for her was the Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation. At the time, I was getting nowhere trying to convince her that she needed a darker, yellower foundation and so opted for a lighter colour, knowing she would approve. As you can see, the foundation was well loved and is pretty much finished. The cakey, flaky, ashy look however was not yet defeated.
At the end of the previous year Illamasqua had one of their enormous sales, grasping the opportunity, I made a colossal purchase. Amongst them was the Light Liquid foundation in 215. As this was an online purchase, I tried to make a decent guesstimate as to her shade using online shade comparison charts and contrasting it to my own.
I was not at all convinced by the texture of this foundation nor of its shade when it had arrived. A few days of sticking to this and even Mum admitted it looked dull and ashy.
Having tried and failed to drag my mum away for a make-up spree and colour matching in Manchester (I cannot even get her to come into town with me due to her crazy schedule) I took myself to our local boots and swatched away at their various foundations.
Maybelline Fit Me attracted my attention. To my delight, the shade 220 was a most glorious match. It was creamy and blended into her skin so effortlessly you could hardly tell it was there, the undertones was sufficiently yellow giving her skin a lovely glowing look as opposed to the usual ash. I was happy, Mum was happy - success!
The Illamasqua Under-Eye Concealer in 215 was also amongst the Illamasqua haul. Mum has never used concealer so I thought it would be good for her to test it out and form her own opinion of them. There is so urgent call for them though.
Lipsticks:
Maybelline Moisture Drench lipstick in 670 Natural Rosewood:
I bought the Maybelline along with few other goodies for her birthday (or was it Mother's day?). While it wasn't perfect, Mum seemed to like it well enough to wear fairly regularly.
Illamasqua lipstick in Utopia:
Haul product. I bought this shade, an antique gold-brown colour, because I felt it was interesting but safe and when worn lightly, can be very pretty. I think Mum disagrees.
Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick in 19:
I did a massive Rimmel haul last week (see Instagram for pictures) I have no idea what possessed me at the time. I love my Rimmel lippies so I thought it the perfect opportunity to introduce a new colour to my mum. Mum had said her perfect shade would be a browny-pink, I felt no.19 had that gorgeous earthy-rose look to it which fit that description quite well. However this lipstick was still a tad too pink for Mum to wear comfortable... ah well, guess I'm still on the lookout for that illusive perfect colour.
Skincare:
Caudalie Premier Cru trial sizes:
I bought this pair from lastestinbeauty.com. Initially it was for myself but I found that I did not use it often and felt my mum would get more use out of it so I passed it on. One thing that annoyed me with the company was that when the products arrive half of the cream tube was filled with air, I really felt like sending an angry ranting email to them but had so much going I never got round to it.
Dior Capture XP Anti-Wrinkle Correction night cream sample size:
You may recall me mentioning a particular lucky dip (read more), well this mini was one of my wins. Again I felt Mum's skin would do it more justice so gave that away too.
Eyes and Brows:
HD Brow Beater:
Mum complains about her untameable eyebrows and how she likes to comb them but they never stay in place. This product came in a Glossybox, initially I was really happy to have more HD Brows products but soon realise that it was not something that I needed. Mum would appreciate it more.
Rimmel Scandal Eyes Eyeshadow Stick in 003 Bad Girl Bronze:
Another haul product I picked up, firstly because it is a most gorgeous bronze-brown colour and secondly because it has a smooth consistency that makes it easy to blend out. Mum likes things that are non-fussy, simple and quick, a swipe of this and she's good to go. I was going to get the paler in this range so she could create a two toned look with little effort but the products in the store had been open and looked awfully messy - maybe another time.
No7 Smokey Powder Eyeliner in Black:
I actually bought this for my aunt whilst getting my No7 lipstick in Leeds (read more), I was in fact looking for a liquid liner but in my rush I picked this up instead. I did not really want to go back and return it so I offered it to my mum. She was delighted, I didn't realise that she loved no7 products. The product does give quite a bit of fall out which is problematic but it still appears to be a firm favourite of Mum's, and unexpected winner!
Friday, 5 July 2013
HD Brows, I stumbled upon this brand around... a year ago? We were introduced via the widely trumpeted online beauty-to-your-door service and a blogger favourite that I was in receipt of at the time, Glossybox. I had bought the 3 month subscription in order to get what I hoped would be a good overall feel for the company and its beautifully packaged, eagerly anticipated pale pink boxes. I went as far as to join and follow their Facebook page in order to salvage supposed hints regarding the content of future boxes and to ascertain a degree of satisfaction having read and mostly agreed with the responses of fellow box receivers. I developed a curious interest in reading of the various items that other recipients had gotten and comparing them to my own box.
One particularly raved about product was this very palette, the reviews on it were glowing and almost 100% positive, It will come to no surprise that I too entertained the hope of one such palette befalling me. I was, of course, left disappointed after my first box failed to deliver after all the contents were mostly random and there were only so many of each to go around. Since products for boxes turn over for each month, I knew that was little, if any, chance of me getting my hands on a palette through this route. I did a little background research on the company itself - say, did you know that HD Brows were exclusively responsible for Cher Lloyds brow transformation in the X Factor? Duly impressed, I was yet sorrier to have lost out and (at the time) struggled to find it elsewhere, it appeared only to be gotten through the HD Brows salons and I lived nowhere near one of those.
One particularly raved about product was this very palette, the reviews on it were glowing and almost 100% positive, It will come to no surprise that I too entertained the hope of one such palette befalling me. I was, of course, left disappointed after my first box failed to deliver after all the contents were mostly random and there were only so many of each to go around. Since products for boxes turn over for each month, I knew that was little, if any, chance of me getting my hands on a palette through this route. I did a little background research on the company itself - say, did you know that HD Brows were exclusively responsible for Cher Lloyds brow transformation in the X Factor? Duly impressed, I was yet sorrier to have lost out and (at the time) struggled to find it elsewhere, it appeared only to be gotten through the HD Brows salons and I lived nowhere near one of those.
Box 2 came, and all to soon the time for box number 3 cam e around. On unwrapping my Glossybox for the last time and peering expectantly within - what do I see? Lo and behold, a HD Brow palette was nestled neatly in Glossy's trademark black shredded/crinkled paper. You cannot image my delight at that very moment! It was strange enough that they had repeated a product, but for me to have gotten one was an unforeseeable yet pleasant surprise.
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| Source: Personal image Price: £19.96 |
The facts:
The product come in a sleek black plastic compact fitted with a large mirror. it fit neatly in my palm, the perfect size for popping into your handbag and traveling. Inside it has 4 pans of powder pigment and a doubled ended brush with synthetic bristles. my palette in in 'Vamp' for dark hair. It also comes in 'Bombshell' for blondes and 'Foxy' for brunettes.
The review:
The product come in a sleek black plastic compact fitted with a large mirror. it fit neatly in my palm, the perfect size for popping into your handbag and traveling. Inside it has 4 pans of powder pigment and a doubled ended brush with synthetic bristles. my palette in in 'Vamp' for dark hair. It also comes in 'Bombshell' for blondes and 'Foxy' for brunettes.
The review:
The HD brow palette has lived up to all of my greatly heightened expectations. The brush that it comes with, at first seems useless and tacky but I quickly came to realise that it is anything but. The flat-ended angle brush is perfect for drawing in the perimeter of your brows and the flat paddled brush is just the thing to fill your brows between the outer edges.
The one thing I really love about this palette is its versatility. I can create a sharp defined look with it or opt for softened brows and I can go warm or I can go cool to suit my mood and the rest of my makeup in order to create any finish I want. An added advantage of these pigments being in powder form is that it create a very natural impression, you do not get heavy thick lines or waxy deposits as you would if you were to use a pencil.
The powders themselves are very soft and finely milled. It comes with 4 colours, two brown tones, one cool, the other warm, a deep black and a very fine neutral tone. All but the pale colour are highly pigmented, the black tone in particular. The pigmentation of the black makes it well suited to filling in sparse gaps in your eyebrows and creating false strands of hairs at the front of the brows. The high pigmentation means you need only a very small amount of product to fill in your brows - a small tap of the brush on the pan - a little goes a long way with this palette.
My only qualm is with the nude colour. I assume it is designed for cleaning around the edge of your finished brows and sharpened your look further however I do not feel as though it is pigmented enough to do this; while it is visible on a loaded brush it simply does not show up on my skin. It is really of no consequence to me as I tend to skip this step anyway, and were I to wish to do so, I could use concealer as an alternative.
This chic little palette will last me some time. I have all the colours I could need in it. It is my go to palette, during the day and later in the evening. It is highly dependable and stays put all day long. I am so pleased with this product I do not find myself the least bit drawn to colour brow palettes by different brands.
The one thing I really love about this palette is its versatility. I can create a sharp defined look with it or opt for softened brows and I can go warm or I can go cool to suit my mood and the rest of my makeup in order to create any finish I want. An added advantage of these pigments being in powder form is that it create a very natural impression, you do not get heavy thick lines or waxy deposits as you would if you were to use a pencil.
The powders themselves are very soft and finely milled. It comes with 4 colours, two brown tones, one cool, the other warm, a deep black and a very fine neutral tone. All but the pale colour are highly pigmented, the black tone in particular. The pigmentation of the black makes it well suited to filling in sparse gaps in your eyebrows and creating false strands of hairs at the front of the brows. The high pigmentation means you need only a very small amount of product to fill in your brows - a small tap of the brush on the pan - a little goes a long way with this palette.
My only qualm is with the nude colour. I assume it is designed for cleaning around the edge of your finished brows and sharpened your look further however I do not feel as though it is pigmented enough to do this; while it is visible on a loaded brush it simply does not show up on my skin. It is really of no consequence to me as I tend to skip this step anyway, and were I to wish to do so, I could use concealer as an alternative.
This chic little palette will last me some time. I have all the colours I could need in it. It is my go to palette, during the day and later in the evening. It is highly dependable and stays put all day long. I am so pleased with this product I do not find myself the least bit drawn to colour brow palettes by different brands.
I have to thank Glossybox for introducing me to this superb product; I recommend it to you as I do to my friends and family. It has gone from a trial product to one that I now cannot do without, a handbag staple. I know that I will stay loyal to it for a long time to come. I really hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
Lipstick is by and large my ultimate, all time favourite cosmetic item. I cannot resist an immaculately carved glossy bullet in all those bright, bold jewel colours. The Shamima-classic would be a bold matte red and the rest of my then quite limited collection ranged between that and dark pink. An assortment of similar but different shades of red-pink tones in various finishes where for a great stretch of my teen years the dominant colours. Believe it, nudes and soft pinks did not exist in my colour vocabulary. I am not entirely sure of the reason for it. I did feel that the darker shades suited me better; I could never go wrong with them, they made my complexion look brighter and healthier. Pinks and nudes in contrast too often appeared too pale, too sickly on me and made my face look ashen. I suppose you could say that I restricted myself by never straying far down that end of the counter, I reduced the chances of myself accidently stumbling upon something new and completely unexpected. And for a long time I remained there fumbling around in that dark, narrow tunnel of mine when things where just starting to get boring when-
-the new Boots store at the Trinity in Leeds city centre were doing a charity 'beauty' lucky dip!
Knowing my luck I wasn't surprised that I pulled out a tiny anti-aging crème sample that was of little interest to me and on my second go, a sample of Smashbox's primer- the very same sample that I'd already been given for free that very same day! Ah well.
My flatmate on the other hand pulled out a No7 eyeliner (I cannot for the life of me remember which one or in what colour) and a No7 lipstick (three guesses as to which one?) both of which were generously of full size. Not at all bad for £2.
So away home, back in our flat, we sat down to inspect the fruit of our day. Now I had never been interested in No7 for cosmetics, they just looked so bland and so boring, and so darn mature! It is the brand my Mum and her generation gush over. I had some idea of their skincare being of good quality but they felt to me as being marketed towards to middle-aged and people interested in reducing their Crow's feet, their fine lines and their wrinkles.
And the colour? 'Classic Rose' is not a bright pink, it is not particularly dark either but it is at the deeper end of pink, it is also cooler toned to what I was used to with a hint of purple, dare I say ever so slightly mauve-y? There is no red it in that is for sure and it is completely matte (as is the whole range) so it sits on the lips quite opaque, letting little of your natural lip colour through. For that reason I would not call it a natural tone and most certainly not my-lips-but-better. It is a colour that can speak for itself. With it on my lips, I am usually compelled to team it will either gentle, warm, well blended gold nudes on the eyes and bronzer to warm up the face or a flick of black liner and mascara with a cool blush for a fresh-faced, I-mean-business, office look.
Would you be surprised if I now told you that I went out soon afterwards, and grabbed No7's Stay Perfect lipstick in the very shade 'Classic Rose' just 15 minutes before closing time, half panting from my power walk there in order to make in time. And I came out feeling victorious, I'd got it, it was mine! And although I did not fish this out of a basket of shredded paper and polystyrene for a pound, a still feel that I'd gotten a great deal (hah! It is one of the most expensive high-street lipsticks you can get).
It has a treasured place among my orderly row of lipsticks, and although sticks out somewhat awkwardly (at 8.5 centimetres, it is a rather gangly canister that is wider at the top than at the base and of an almost metallic-like, glossy, black-brown colour). It have 'No7' engraved onto the lid, and the product itself is not even in the pointed bullet I love so much, but a flat-headed, slim stick of pigment.
And to wear? Well, with it being a matte lipstick it is a little drying which will not appeal to everyone. On my lips it feels as though it has a creamy consistency where it has some movement when you press your lips together but it otherwise stays put. As I mentioned earlier, it is opaque and very long-lasting as promised by the range 'Stay Prefect'.
If you cannot tell already, I absolutely adore this lipstick and this particular colour! I cannot believe that I have looked past these lipsticks for so long, and I am so very grateful to have been introduced to it all thanks to that very lucky lucky-dip! I highly recommend the Stay Perfect lipsticks to you, especially if you are a matte lipstick lover like me and I most certainly will be back to No7 to try out more shades available from this range.
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