Pre-Holiday Haul!

As it was my last day at work today for three whole weeks, I thought I would celebrate by having a little lunchtime spree in Boots!  A lipgloss purchase always cheers me up a stressful, busy day!

I bought:

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel in a small tube.  I use this regularly as it works well with my oily / combination skin and I wanted a smaller, travel-friendly version to take on my holidays.

Carmex MoisturePlus Ultra Hydrating Lip Balm in Pink and Peach – I will do a brief review of these shortly as I love them!  I bought the peach earlier in the week and liked it so much I had to pick up the pink when I saw it today - and it was free as I bought it with my points!

Benefit,Ticket to Glossytown – I saw these on another blog a few days ago and thought it was a great price, especially as I haven’t tried any of Benefit’s glosses before.  As I have said previously, I am not the biggest fan of Benefit’s packaging but these mini glosses are very cute.  A review and swatches are coming up soon.

This week I also bought the Bobbi Brown Sparkle Eye Shadow in Denim from an eBay seller.  I had been after this for a while and it had popped up on eBay occasionally but not at a price I was prepared to pay.  It came out with the Denim and Rose collection last year I think.  I’m not going to do a full review of it as it has been discontinued now and isn’t that easy to get hold of but I am a little disappointed with it as Bobbi Brown’s quality is normally very good. 

  

As you can see from the swatches below, it is VERY sparkly and isn’t that pigmented. Due to the bad light in my flat, the it looks as though it is a sparkly grey, however in real life it is a true denim blue. The swatch on the left is one swipe and the swatch on the right is 3 swipes and I had to swipe across the shadow quite forcefully as it is very dry.  I have worn it today though by patting it onto my lids rather than brushing it on and not blending it too much, and this seems to work better as you can actually see the colour and not just lots of silver sparkle!  It does last well throughout the day without creasing, when worn over a primer and I didn’t have any fall out which I was very surprised by as I usually expect to have glitter everywhere by the end of the day when wearing a sparkly eyeshadow!

All in all, I am pleased I purchased it as it is an interesting colour and unique to my collection, it just could have been executed better.

I’m starting my 3 weeks off work in the best possible way tomorrow with a Nail’s Inc 3 Week manicure at the Champagne Nail Bar.  I’m so excited for my holidays!

Review: Benefit, They’re Real Mascara

When Benefit launched their new Mascara, They’re Real, there was a lot of publicity surrounding it.  Now I don’t mind Benefit and have a few of their products but its not one of my favourite brands, and to be honest, the packaging is just not my style.  I tend to prefer, clean, minimalist or luxury packaging, and cardboard containers, such as those used for the blushers, are not the easiest thing to transport.  However BuyaPowa was having a Benefit week, and I couldn’t resist when They’re Real was available for £11, a remarkable £7.50 off the usual retail price of £18.50.

As with my previous experience with BuyaPowa, delivery was fast and the item was well packaged.  The mascara comes encased in cardboard packaging, and when opened, is revealed to be a sleek, silver tube, very different from Benefits normal kitsch, pink branding.  I much preferred this and felt it looked more expensive and much more like a luxury product. 

Benefit claims this mascara will  ‘lengthen, curl, volumise, lift and separate lashes, giving a false lash effect that won’t smudge or dry out’.  That is a bold claim for a brand to be able to essentially do everything and I’m not sure how realistic this claim is.  The wand looks similar to the usual wand you would expect from a mascara, however it also has bristles on the tip which are very useful for grabbing the small lashes on the inner corner of your eye and mean that you are less likely to poke yourself in the eye with the wand!

When I initially applied this I was very impressed.  It did indeed lengthen my lashes and also seemed to curl them as I have very straight eyelashes that require manual curling.  I encountered no clumping, although I only use 1-2 coats of mascara.  

I did find a couple of drawbacks with this product though in that there was quite excessive smudging underneath my eyes and I am not a habitual eye rubber!  This occurred sometimes after about 6-7 hours and was even worse if I actually did need to itch or rub my eyes.  It seems to smudge VERY easily, as though it is constantly wet.  It was also a nightmare to remove in the evening before bed!  I underwent my usual routine of removing my eye makeup with Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish and followed up with Garnier’s Fresh Essentials Gentle Eye Make up Remover.  However, the following morning, after my shower, I still had panda eyes!  I have no idea how it manages to stick around so long and this difficulty in removal is one of my main issues with it.

Verdict 
Having never tried Benefit’s Mascara before, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this.  I enjoy the effects it gives me and although I wouldn’t say my eyelashes look like I am wearing false lashes, they do look nicely separated, longer and with a defined curl.  The downfall for me is the smudging and difficulty in removal, and therefore I will be saving this product for occasional night time events rather than all day wear.  It is worth a go though and if you are prepared to deal with these issues, you may find it is the mascara for you.

4/5    

Price –  £18.50 

Where to Buy – Benefit, Boots, House of Fraser, Debenhams

October Empties

This month hasn’t been a great month for finishing off products but there are quite a few that I am almost at the end of, so hopefully next month should be much better. 

No 7  Tinted Moisturiser in Fair / Medium (reviewed here) – this was my 2^nd bottle and I am now onto my 3^rd.  Its affordable, does the job well and it is now well-ingrained in my morning routine.

Batiste Mini Tropical Shampoo – this was a mini travel version I received with the Latest in Beauty CEW award winners box. It was handy to keep in my bag for some after work volume and to give some life to my hair.  Hubby liked it as he said the scent reminded him of summer holidays and days at the beach which I guess is what they were aiming for.

Mini Radox Deodrant – not much to say about this really.  It did the job well, and didn’t leave any white marks on my clothes.  I do prefer my Sure roll on though so I will not be repurchasing. I think I got it as a freebie in a goodie bag after I ran the Edinburgh Marathon Relay in the Summer.  Again, this lived in my bag for after work emergencies.

L’Occitaine Verbena Shower Gel – this was a gift from my mum a while ago.  I liked the scent which was very fresh and clean and I believe it is one of L’Occitaine’s signature scents and products.  I don’t tend to repurchase shower gel though as it is such a simple product and there are so many varieties to try, but I would be tempted to try other products and ranges from L’Occitaine.

Label.m Honey and Oat Shampoo (reviewed here) – I enjoyed using this a couple of times a week to cleanse my hair and remove build-up in conjunction with my Liz Earle and Tigi Dumb Blonde Shampoos.  The scent is gorgeous and I would consider repurchasing as it seemed to cleanse my hair without stripping it of its natural oils or its colour.

Burt’s Bees  Therapeutic Bath Crystals – I got these from a Latest in Beauty monthly box and to be honest I wasn’t that impressed with them.  There was no discernable scent and I didn’t find them particularly relaxing or of any use in soothing tired muscles after going for a run.  I wouldn’t buy a full size of these and was quite disappointed with them as I do enjoy many other Burt’s Bees products. 

And that’s it for this month, hopefully next month will prove a little more fruitful with finishing some of the products that are currently clinging on!

Review: No 7 Triple Protection Tinted Moisturiser

I love the ritual of applying my makeup when I have time, but on weekday mornings at 6.30am, I really can’t face putting on full foundation and spending ages blending and applying it.  This is when I reach for my tinted moisturiser, and for the past 6 months or so, this No 7 one has been my first choice for easy application in a morning.

As I mentioned in my ‘October Favourites’ post, I initially discovered this product through a friend who swears by it.  So much so, she buys it even when she doesn’t have a Boots £5 off No7 voucher!  I didn’t think anyone actually bought anything from No 7 without one of those vouchers! 

The main reason I love this is its ease of application.  Less than a pea-size amount will cover your whole face comfortably, evening out skin tone and helping to cover minor blemishes.  I still need to use concealer for those pesky breakouts on my chin but this does help to make them much less noticeable.  In the summer, I tend to use only this in the morning as I have oily / combination skin which doesn’t require too much moisturising.  In winter however, I use a light moisturiser such as Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel first, and then wait 10 minutes for it to sink in before applying the tinted moisturiser. 

 There are 3 shades available:

• Fair
• Fair / Medium
• Medium

I use Fair / Medium on my NC20 skin and it gives me a nice glow without making me look unnaturally tanned or orange!  One of the main benefits of this product is that it contains 5 star UVA protection and has  SPF 15 included.  Now I know you are supposed to wear high protection sunscreen all year round, but I live in Scotland where the sun hardly ever makes an appearance, and therefore a SPF of 15 is quite sufficient for me for the majority of the year. 

You can't really see much from the swatch below, but it blends out nicely without being shimmery. Wear time is about 9-10 hours for me as it is still there at the end of the day, although I do touch it up a little if I am going out after work.  After about 6 hours, I usually need to blot or apply powder as shine does start to appear on my T-zone, but I have yet to find any tinted moisturiser or foundation that can keep me shine free without a little intervention. As is common for a tinted moisturiser, the finish is fairly dewy but not too shiny, although in warm weather you may need to blot or powder more often.   The packaging is standard as with the rest of the No 7 line, in a 50ml tube from which it is easy to dispense the correct amount.

Verdict:

At £12, or £7 if you have a No 7 voucher, this is a great deal.  It is perfect for those days when you just want to make yourself look a little more human before you pop to the shop to pick up some milk or for a quick and easy application on early mornings. 

5/5

Price –  £12

Where to buy - Boots

October Favourites!

This month’s favourites are a bit of a mixture of old favourites and some new loves, so without further ado, I will get started.

Label.m Resurrection dust – I reviewed this here earlier this month so I won’t go into too much detail, however I still love it and I have yet to find ANYTHING that makes my hair look as poofy and volumised as this!

Revlon Facets of Fuschia – another one I have reviewed recently and one that I really like, but it is a major pain to remove, so much so that I wear it until I cannot wait any longer to remove it when it has started chipping.  I then begin the long and painstaking process of removal….

Chanel Graphite – there has been so much written in the blogosphere about this one that I don’t think I can say any more.  It is an amazing multi-faceted colour which always looks polished and makes me feel very grown up.  It is limited edition so if you find a bottle anywhere, pounce on it!

  

Chanel Illusion D’Ombre, Emerveille – my  current favourite easy-to-wear eyeshadow.  I will have a post coming up about my illusion d’ombres but this one in particular is so easy to use.  I just swipe on with my finger, blend a little at the edges with the No 7 eyeshadow blending brush and I’m done.

Viva Glam Cindi, Mac – sadly not available any more but you can probably find it on ebay.  I love this glossy, wearable red lipstick.  It is a lustre formulation, which I don’t find as drying as the cremesheens, and it just provides a polished, easy look.  Its perfect for people who aren’t sure about wearing red lips and honestly, it is a shade that it suits everyone!

No 7 Tinted Moisturiser – I must be onto my 3^rd purchase of this!  A friend alerted me to it when I was staying with her and I had forgotten my usual tinted moisturiser and had to borrow hers. Since that very day, this has become part of my daily routine.  I find it evens out imperfections and redness, whilst giving a subtle glowing effect.  If you have one of the ubiquitous No 7 Boots vouchers you could do a lot worse than pick one of these up.  I will be posting a proper review of this later in the week.

And that’s it for this month – I am on hols for two weeks shortly, although I will schedule some posts for whilst I am away.  Next month’s favourites will very likely feature products more suited for sunnier climes, despite being close to Christmas!