Elf Cream Blush; Seductress!

This was one of the items I received in my goodie bag from the Southampton blogger meet up back in November, I love a lot of products from Elf but haven't actually tried any of their blushes out yet so was really pleased to see this in my bag!

First of all this is definitely not a cream based product, it has a weird kind of spongy/mousse texture rather than a cream but it does turn into a powder as soon as it makes contact with the skin. If I had picked this myself, it wouldn't of been a colour I would normally go for as it's quite a dark red for me considering I'm so pale! I tend to go for the lighter/ baby pink shades. Also from looking on their website, the colour shown looks a bit misleading compared to what I have here! It looks like more of a dusty pink colour on the website but it's so much darker than what they've shown.

It's always nice to try something out of your comfort zone though so I was happy to give it a go and see how it looked!

The application of this product is very smooth when applying and does last a good amount of time. For me personally, I found that applying a little amount with your fingers and then blending out with a brush works better than just going straight in with the brush as you have a better way of judging just how much product your putting on as it is really pigmented.

Because I am so pale, I only applied a small amount and blended it out to make more of a natural look which I did actually like, it left a nice tint of colour to your skin and didn't look over powering at all. It's very buildable so if you do prefer a bolder look then this would work really well for that.

Elf; Seductress - £6.50

The packaging feels really structured and secure so it would be great to have on the go! Some people say it's a bit bulky but I think its a good size and has a decent amount of product.. a little really can go a long way with this one!

Blushes have been one think that I have wanted to experiment more with this year, so I am glad that I was given a colour I wouldn't necessarily pick for myself as I did actually end up liking it when used lightly! I'll definitely be looking into trying out more colours from the range.

Have you ever tried these blushes from Elf, what did you think?

 

February Glossybox!

I finally completed all the surveys I had on my glossybox account which got me just enough glossydot's to receive this box for free, which is always a nice little bonus! This was their February box so was obviously based around Valentine's day and love, even including a cute little packet of love hearts! I think this is one of the best boxes they have done in a while, here's what I got..

 First off the box itself is lovely, the design is great and makes for a good background!

The first product I received in the box was the B.Cosmetics Defined Brow Kit, this kit looks great, the shades look like they'll suit my brows perfectly. It also comes with a highlighter to use on the brow arch & a mini wand, with an angled brush one end and a spoolie the other which is great for combing through your brows afterwards for more of an even look.

Royal Apothic Tinties; These are so cute! The packaging is really quirky and unique and would look great sitting out on your makeup storage rather than being tucked away! It's a lip butter and feels really moisturising on your lips and also leaves a nice tint of colour behind.

Wilkinson Sword Hydro Silk; I was just about to restock on some razors so good timing glossybox! This one retails at around £10 too which is almost the cost of one box! Definitely getting your moneys worth this month. Not much you can say about a razor really! However, they do say this razor is infused with marine extracts and shea butter which hydrates the skin for up to 2 hours after shaving.

 Marsk Mineral Eyeshadow; I've never heard of this brand before but it's definitely something I'll look into, as this little eyeshadow looks lovely. It's called 'Fifty Shades' which as you probably guessed is named and inspired after the film. It's 100% natural and highly pigmented, with some shimmer.. looks perfect for a dramatic smoky eye. You can use this dry or with a wet brush, depending on how deep and intense you want your make up to look.

So Susan Rose Quartet Lip & Cheek Palette; I've received a couple of other products from this brand in previous glossyboxes and they have both been pretty good. At first glance this does look like the sort of palette you'd get when you were really young and just starting out in make up.. or that might just be me?! However, it does look like a really versatile palette with pretty pinks or bolder colours like the deep red. This does double up as both a lip and cheek product so it will be an interesting one to try!

Overall, I was really pleased with this months box and do think it's the best one they've put out in a while. Two of these products alone add up to around £20 so your definitely getting your moneys worth and more in this box. Unfortunely this will be my last glossybox as I just can't afford it at the moment, but at least I ended my subscription on a high, right?! I'll most likely come back to Glossybox eventually or maybe test out a different box.. what ones are you liking at the moment?

Let me know if you received this month's box and what you thought!

 

MissGuided & Illasmasqua Sales Haul!

I'm meant to be saving what money I have at the moment for a car etc. But I slipped up once or twice and done a bit of online shopping, these things were in the sale though, so I don't feel quite so bad.

I've never actually shopped at Missguided before but I'm so glad I finally have! Their sale items were so cheap, and the deliver was super quick! I originally had about £40 upwards in my shopping basket, which quite a lot of actually had colour in them (wybi? Let's see if my dad really reads my blog! ha) However, I started looking back and thinking I don't really want to spend too much so narrowed it down to these 3 which all ended up being black and grey.. so back to my normal colours but I do love them. The T-shirt is just a basic but I thought the print was different and would be great to layer with, the other two are actually crop tops & I did think to myself at the time, what am I doing buying crop tops in the winter! But their easily paired with high waisted jeans and easy to layer.. plus I can wear them when it starts getting slightly more warmer. The grey one was the most expensive at £11 but definitely worth it as it feels so thick! So I would imagine this would be a bit too thick to wear in the summer months anyway not like the white and black one which is quite light so would be great to carry with you in the warmer months & chuck on when it gets a bit colder during the evenings.

 I also had a look on Illamasqua, I can never resist their sales! Their always so good!

When it first started online I kept looking at the Multi Facet Palette in Aura but thought do I really want to spend £23 on one thing especially as I'm saving at the moment however, I looked back on one of the last days of their sales and they had discounted it even more, down to around £13 so I couldn't resist! It was urging me on! The same thing happened with the make up bag, this was originally £20 which I would never pay, then went down to £10 and again to £6 so sometimes it pays to wait! The palette is gorgeous and I'm so glad that I picked it up, I'll be doing a proper review on it soon, it's unfortunely been discontinued now but the other shade 'Semblance' is still in stock but back up to their original price. As for the make up bag, I wasn't overly pleased, I'm glad I didn't pay £10.. it's so much smaller than imagined and it just doesn't feel very structured for something as high end as Illamasqua. I'm sure once my make ups in their and its bulked about a bit it will grow on me!

 

Did you guys pick up anything in either of these sales, let me know what you got!

Lush; The Christmas Penguin!

I asked on twitter a few times whether or not people would still be interested in seeing these posts, but to be honest I didn't get much of a response, so I thought I'd let my readers decide!

I got alot of lush products for Christmas as well as in the boxing day sales so expect a lot of reviews in the future! However, some of those boxes were specifically for Christmas or the bigger ones I got in the sale have a mixture. I've decided to put up my thoughts about it anyway, because I thought, it cant just be me that has Christmas bath products from them to use up!

So here's what I thought of this little guy..

First off, how cute is he! (or she)  For me personally, I prefer bubble bars and they're usually the thing I'll be drawn to more in the shop, especially looking like this!

They say; Isn’t he adorable? Inspired by the smallest penguins in the world (found on Philip Island, Australia), we’ve invented our very own tiny penguin for bubbly bathtime fun. Crumble yours under running water to create orange flower and bergamot-scented froth, then sink into the comforting waters and allow the Sicilian mandarin and lemon oils to transport you to a warm, sun-drenched locale. It's the perfect way to relax after a long stressful day!

 

 I didn't find this bubble bar scent too overpowering and it didn't actually last that long afterwards.. I'm used to walking back into the bathroom half hour to an hour later and still being greeted by an amazing smell! However, saying that, I did really like it, it left the water a lovely pool looking sky blue which I thought made it extra nice and it really helps to relax you.

It creates so many bubbles which I love, it doesn't leave your skin feeling overly moisturised when you get out the bath but for me personally, I actually prefer this in some ways as I sometimes feel other products, the butterbear for example, leaves your skin feeling a bit odd.. moisturised but with a peculiar type of texture, does that even make sense?!

Overall, I really liked this and I can definitely see it making a come back this year, people may think it doesn't have many results, but for me, I love the smell, it creates loads of bubbles, inexpensive and it's cute! I'll definitely be repurchasing if they do choose to bring it back.. how could you resist!?

Have you tried the Christmas penguin, what did you think?

 

 

 

 

Real Techniques; Nic's Picks!

Real technique brushes have got to be one of, if not the best make up brushes I've tried/ owned so I was really excited to receive these for Christmas! This is a limited edition set with 3 exclusive brushes, I'm not sure whether they mean the 3 exclusive brushes are limited edition or purely just the design, either way it's worth getting when it's still around! I personally love the design of these brushes, the silver chrome makes it looks really sleek and professional and the small detail of putting the name of the brushes in the original colour to the sets they belong too really adds to the look.

 Just like all the Real Technique brushes, the set is 100% cruelty free and each brush head is hand cut allowing for precise application. These are meant to be the 'sequel' set to Sam's picks which I don't actually own however, I do use 3 other real technique brushes which I brought individually that I use on a daily basis.

 Duo-Fiber Face Brush

This brush also features in the Duo Fibre collection and is great for applying powder! It's lightweight and soft feeling application makes it really good for not only blending face powder but also other pigments. Because of this, it also allows the product to be spread evenly across the face, allowing you to control the amount applied, whether you like a heavy or light base.. it's very buildable.

 Cheek Brush (Exclusive)

This brush might actually be my favourite in the set. I love how dense the brush is, allowing you to really get a precise line of either highlight or bronzer. At the moment I'm using this to apply my highlight and find it works really well. The brush is a lot like the expert face brush, just softer and more rounded. The tapered finish means it works well for so many things as well as packing on colour to enable you to build easily.

 Angled Shadow Brush (Exclusive)

This brush was designed to fit in the crease of the eye to help to add depth. This would be great for creating smoky eyes, especially if you want to flick it out for a more dramatic finish. I found this brush to be pretty versatile, you can make a heavy look turn into more of a natural, everyday look in seconds as it's great for blending out with ease.

 Base Shadow Brush

I can see this becoming one of my favourite eyeshadow brushes, the oval shape and flatness of it allows you to pack on colour for all over the base of the lid whilst still being firm enough to blend. This brush is already available in one of the starter kits and I can see why.. this seems like a favourite for everyone!  

 Eyeliner Brush (Exclusive)

I've only ever owned a small eyeliner brush which came with a gel eyeliner I brought a while back, so I'm excited to experiment with something different, it's definitely made me want to try out some gel liners as I'm more of a liquid eyeliner kind of girl! I haven't actually used this yet, but to me it looks like it would double up well as an eyebrow brush although it may be a little bit fluffy to get a fine line. I'm also going to try using this with shadow, as it looks like it would be easier to get a nice flick to help with doing smoky eye looks! Another very versatile brush!

Real Techniques Nick's Picks - £29.99

The price is just under £30 for these, which if you think about it works out just over £5 per brush, so definitely worth it in my opinion.. considering some of the new bold metal ones are £22 each!

I already love three of the brushes and hopefully will be able to say the same about the other two once I've properly tried them out.

I'd love to know what you think of them!

 

January Favourites!

I don't actually think I've ever put up a monthly favourites posts, I'm always thinking half way through the month of what could go into one and then suddenly it's half way through the next month & I think it's too late to put one up! I'm trying to be more organised this year though so Januarys a good month to start! Hopefully these will become more frequent! I can't believe January is already over but here's what I've been loving! 

First up are two Hollister body mists, I brought these a few months ago and love them! I actually use them as room sprays because they last for so long and smell amazing, especially the 'Palisades Beach' scent. I would recommend these to anyone!

I've also been really liking a couple of face products, Rimmel's fix and perfect primer is something I've recently spoke about in my empties post, it's not got a silcony base like a lot of primers which I like, it applies very softly and definitely helps keep your make up in place throughout the day. The jelly pong pong highlighter is a new addition to my make up collection, I got this in January's glossybox and have been using it pretty much everyday since! You need such a minimal amount, a little really does go a long way with this product. For me personally, one pea sized drop covers my cheekbones, brow bone, the middle of my nose and cupids bow! I can see this product lasting a long time!

I've had this Elf eyebrow kit for probably a year now, and it's my go to one, although I do need to experiment more with this type of product! It's really buildable depending on how heavy you like your brows to look, I just like to fill them in gently to help frame my face as I have naturally pretty dark brows, so it's really great for that! I think Benefit's they're real mascara must of appeared in most blogger/youtubers favourites! It's actually the first time I've had a full size tube and I love it, it's great for length and colour, as well as getting all the little lashes right in the corner which usually can be hard to reach with regular shaped wands. The Nivea lip butter has become a staple in my night time routine, I always put it on before I go to sleep as well as in the morning and throughout the day.. it really leaves your lips feeling moisturised, a lip balms a must, especially through the winter months!

Last up is a perfume that my boyfriend got me for Christmas. 'Curious' by Britney Spears, I don't know for sure but Britney's got to be one of the most popular for celebrity scents, they're all lovely. This is a pefume I've used on and off throughout my teens until now! I think it's a really wearable scent for everyday use, lasts a good amount of time & the bottles gorgeous!

 

What have you been loving lately? Any recommendations for new products to try?

 

The Balm; Meet Matt(e) Nude!

I won this palette in a raffle a couple of months ago at the Southampton meet up which I was so surprised at! I've always wanted to try something from 'The Balm' so was excited to get the chance to play around with it, especially as their all nude shades which are my favourite and go to eyeshadows! The company are 100% cruelty, paraben and fragrance free!

Meet Matt(e) Nude - £34* 

The palette contains nine matt nude colours which are highly pigmented and great for day or evening wear, I personally like wearing the browner shades during the day and then using the grey/purple toned shadows to make more of a dramatic smokey eye look which is great for nights. The white shadow is perfect for using as a highlight for the inner corner of the eye or even to help blend out the darker colours for a more subtle look.

They do say that you can also use these as liners which I haven't tried myself yet but I can definitely see them working as that too as it's a very versatile palette! The lasting time is amazing and is one of the main reasons I keep going back to this palette on a daily basis, it doesn't crease or budge all day and the colour really holds so no need for top ups!

I was really impressed with the pigmentation and staying ability of this palette and will definitely be picking up more products from the balm to try in the future. The price may seem a bit steep for nine eyeshadows but when their this good I can definitely see why and would definitely say it's worth the splurge!

Have you ever tried anything from The Balm, what are your thoughts?