Beauty products from the (not so distant) past…!

A couple of weeks ago, I was reminder of some beauty products that I used to be absolutely obsessed by in my teens (the 90s in case you were wondering!) but that just seemed to fade away and are now no longer available, some for good reason! Does anyone else remember any of these?

Dior Hair Mascara

This was possibly one of my first forays into high end brands at the age of 14/15 and I remember being really excited when it came out. It was essentially just as it sounds, a mascara that deposited highly pigmented streaks of colour in your hair and you applied with a mascara wand! As my mum wouldn’t allow me to dye my hair blue, this wash out highly pigmented dye was perfect and I often wore streaks in my (then brunette) hair. Blue was my favourite colour but it also came in Gold, Red and I think a bronzy colour, amongst others. They were about £13 which was a lot of money to me then! Now, when I think about other Dior products, it does seem a little strange that they sold this..!

Colour Changing Lipsticks and Nail Polishes

I’m not sure which brand I bought these from, but I do remember purchasing a blue lipstick which turned a rather vibrant purple on my lips which seemed a good idea at the time. There were also, mood nail polishes to go with your mood rings which every self-respecting 80s girl had to own! These days, Smashbox’s O-Glow for lips is essentially the same thing but a more refined version. 

Body Shop Bath Oil Balls

For those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s and remember purchasing virtually everything from the Body Shop at one time or another, these bath oil balls were almost first generation bath bombs. Sold in huge hoppers in store, you could pick the fragrance you preferred, from fuzzy peach to dewberry, and all for only 20p each. The only issue was if one of them happened to burst in your bag on the way home…..

Publish Post

Pout Cosmetics

These disappeared a few years ago which was a shame as I really liked them. I still have one of their minty lipgloses that give a bee-stung pout.

Do you remember any other weird and wonderful products that are no longer available? I’m sure there must be more out there!

Giveaway: Revlon Facets of Fuchsia - CLOSED

The Winner is Danielle - an email is on its way to you!

My first giveaway!

I have a bottle of Revlon’s Facets of Fuchsia to give away to one lucky reader. This polish is amazing – I reviewed it here and it is very similar to some of the Deborah Lipmann polishes.  You will receive a brand new bottle (I've just used a previous picture of it above as my camera lead has gone awol!).

1) To win this, you must be a follower with GFC or Bloglovin.

2) Please leave me a comment letting me know your current favourite polish, how you follow me and your contact details – either an email address or twitter id is fine. You must leave all these details in your comment for your entry to count.

The giveaway will remain open until 11.59pm on Monday 12^th December so that I can get your prize to you before Christmas and you can have super sparkly nails for your Christmas parties!

The giveaway is open to UK readers only.

Review: Mac Matchmaster Foundation

Are you searching for a foundation which doesn't turn you into an oil slick by lunchtime?  If you are, and you have oily / combination skin, Mac's most recent foundation, Matchmaster may be worth a try.

 During the summer, I tend to only use tinted moisturiser for a light coverage and to even out my skin tone but when the colder weather hits, I make for a foundation for some decent coverage.  Mac's Matchmaster attracted me as I was looking for a product which included an SPF, and with an SPF 15 included, this particular foundation jumped out at me.

Mac launched this foundation in the autumn and it is specifically targeted at those with combination skin.  I would estimate that if you have very dry skin, this will not a suitable foundation for you, as there are other options within Mac's range that will be better suited to your skin type. 

The foundation comes in a heavy glass bottle, complete with pump.  The packaging feels solid and good quality,  and in line with what you would expect from Mac products. 

Mac have eschewed their usual numbering of foundation products and brought in  a new system of shade labelling for the Matchmaster range.  I purchased the shade in 3.0 which is broadly equivalent to NC30 although I would advise you to pop into a counter to be matched if you can as undertones vary greatly between shades.  

The picture above shows one pump of the product and I have found that one and a half pumps covers my whole face easily.  It is very easy to blend with either a brush or your fingers and is not overly runny or liquid when you apply.  I found it provides an easily buildable, blendable medium coverage, which evened out my skintone and covered small imperfections.  I still required concealer for some blemishes but overall, it provided a good, dewy / semi-matte finish which lasted around 6-7 hours before I needed to blot.  

Mac say that Matchmaster works with your skintone and alters to achieve smooth, even coverage which blends in with your skin.  Indeed, when I was at the Mac counter, the sales assistant left me for a few minutes after applying it and it did seem to settle more and 'adapt' to my skintone over a few minutes. The photo above is of one pump blended in to the back of my hand and, although you can't see very clearly, it does blend in well with my skintone.

Verdict

As a newbie to Mac foundations, I can't compare Matchmaster with any other offerings from the brand.  However I would say that this is probably well-suited to those with combination / oily skin who prefer their foundations to provide medium coverage, which allows a little of your natural glow to shine through.  

4/5

Price - £24.50

Where to buy - Mac

Review: OPI Muppets Mini Collection

Unless you have been living with your head in the clouds over the last month, you can't have failed to notice that there is a new Muppets film coming out shortly.  Mac has brought out a very small Miss Piggy collection recently which didn't really introduce anything new, apart from a new pink eyeshadow, but OPI is going the whole hog (if you excuse the pun!) and has brought out a collection of 12 polishes, consisting of glitters and cremes themed around the new movie.  

L to R: Wocka Wocka!, Excuse Moi!, Designer... De Better!, Waarm & Fozie

OPI often bring out themed collections, and I have previously purchased the minis of the Pirates of the Caribbean collection and the Alice in Wonderland minis.  I particularly like the mini collections as I very rarely finish a polish and they are super cute in mini form!

I have swatched the polishes in the mini collection below.  Excuse the slightly blurry photo but it was the most accurate photo I could get of the colours. All swatches are 3 coats  -Wocka Wocka! would have been fully opaque with 2 coats but I did an extra coat for consistency.

L to R: Wocka Wocka!, Excuse Moi!, Designer... De Better!, Waarm & Fozie

Wocka Wocka! is a lovely pink-toned red creme with a faint shimmer.  I am not normally a huge fan of red polishes but this one is very pretty and festive.  I do find it very similar to 'Thanks So Muchness' from the Alice in Wonderland collection, as the shimmer is there but barely noticeable.  I've been wearing it on my toes for the past week and it looks very sophisticated (in my opinion!)

Excuse Moi!  is one of the three glitters in the collection.  It consists of multi-coloured glitter in a pink jelly.  After 3 coats it was not fully opaque so I may try layering it over another pink or red polish to really make the glitter 'pop'.  Unlike many other brands, I don't tend to find OPI's glitters a huge pain to remove and this is no exception to the rule.  

Designer.... de Better is a cool silver with fine shimmer.  I did find this was probably the sheerest polish of the mini collection, but it is good for when you want a more subtle polish.

Warm & Fozie is my favourite of the bunch.  It is a bronze / gold fine shimmer which is not gritty on the nail and almost seems to have red shimmer running through it when you look at it in a certain light.  This is very festive and will be great for Christmas parties.  Again, it does take 3 coats to build up the intensity of the polish but it is a very unique colour which is completely unlike anything else I own.   

Verdict

If you are looking for a good mix of festive colours which doesn't just include 4 shades of red, this mini collection is worth a look.  If you are only looking to buy one polish from the collection, I would recommend Warm & Fozie, purely because it is the most unique and multi-faceted of the bunch.

4/5

Price - £12.50
Where to buy - Beauty Bay, Lena White(full sized products only, not mini)

November Empties

Not a great attempt this month but I am so close to finishing quite a number of products so I predict December will be good, unless I get sidetracked!

No 7, 4 in 1 wipes x 2, £7 - I got through a ton of these in Thailand and wouldn’t travel without them. I always pick some up when I have numerous No 7 £5 vouchers to spend.

Green & Spring Relaxing Body Lotion, £22, 300ml - This was a travel size that I received in a gift pack. It has a very strong lavender fragrance, so if you are not a huge fan of lavender I don’t think this would be for you. I used it in the evening, before bed, and found the scent very relaxing, however it does stick around for quite some time. The consistency of the lotion is rather thick so it does take some time to rub in and absorb and I didn’t find it particularly moisturising, and I expected better for the price. I would not repurchase, mainly as I have heaps more body lotions to work my way through.

Soap & Glory, Scrub Your Nose In It, £7.40 - I reviewed this previously here (Review – Soap & Glory Scrub your Nose in It) and my opinion of it has not changed. It is a perfectly acceptable scrub but I think there are probably better ones out there, especially for oily skin and I wouldn’t repurchase this. As an aside, I have yet to find a Soap & Glory product that blows me away, as I find most of their products fairly average. But then again, perhaps I am not trying the right products?

Nivea Had Lotion Express Hydration  , £3.05 - This was reviewed last month here (Review – Nivea Had Lotion Express Hydration) and now that my hands are less cracked and dry, it does seem to be a very good lotion which is not oily or greasy. I do still prefer scented hand products but I would repurchase this as it does the job well for a very reasonable price.

Cowshed Lippy Cow Natural Lip Balm, £5 - I really disliked this! I received it in a Cowshed order some time ago and it is everything I don't like in a lipbalm – greasy, oily and it just sits on the lips and provides no moisture at all. It has no discernible scent and although it goes on clear, it doesn’t particularly give an attractive sheen to the lips, it looks greasy and not at all attractive. This This is the only Cowshed product so far that I have disliked and I would definitely not repurchase it.