October 2013 Favorites Part 2 - Other Beauty

Hi All, here's part 2 for you.

As with the last one I've seperated them out, taken more pictures etc.

Freederm Gel, Freederm Oil Free Moisturiser and Freederm Overnight Clearing Serum. I'm going to talk about these in a group as they are all from the same line. Over the last year my skin had slowly been getting worse. I was prone to oilyness and spots anyway but it was bordering on being acne and this was a last ditch effort to sort my skin before I went to see the GP. Most spot treatments are based on Salicylic Acid which is anti bacterial and drys up spots. Freederm however is based on Nicatinamide which is an anti inflammatory, a completely different approach. This stuff has almost completely cleared my skin in less than 2 months. I still have some scabbing and scarring but only a couple of actual spots (and their tiny and all most gone). The moisturiser also sits really well under make up and helps my foundation apply really smoothly. Being anti inflammatory it also reduces redness associated with spots. Cannot recommend this enough!

Paul Mitchell Fast Form. This bottle is nearly empty and has lasted me a really long time considering I use it every single day. I do keep a back up of this. I put this into my hair when its damp and provides smoothness and hold without the horrible greasyness and stickyness I seem to get from mousses and other styling balms. I never found anything similar to this in the drugstore - if anyone knows of a cheaper dupe I would definitely be interested. This one is my favourite but I enjoy Paul Mitchell Quick Slip as well.

Hask Keratin Protein Smoothing Shine Oil and Hask Argan Oil Healing Shine Hair Treatment. I saw these in Primark for £2.50 each so I thought I would given them a go. They have nudged out my previous hair oil favourites to become my new go to products. Both are very light on the hair and give beautiful shine an softness. I love them both but if I had to pick a favourite of the 2 it would be the Argan oil, it makes my hair so silky. Both have a pleasant slightly fruity scent.

Lotil dry skin cream. This time of year my skin on my hands starts getting very dry and sometimes cracks. This cream is great for actually treating not just smoothing dry hands. Sinks in quickly and is non greasy. The tube I keep in my handbag and the tub is always next to my bed.

L'Oreal Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution. My new favourite make up remover. I used to use the Boots No7 Gentle Eye Make Up Remover which is one of those 2 phase removers, I've talked about it on my blog before. This is oil free so great for my oily skin and does remove everything apart from the most stubborn of waterproof mascaras and eyeliners. This can even remove Benefits They're Real mascara. I do keep a bottle of the No7 remover on hand for when I've been wearing really heavy eye make up. I will then remove the residue with this. This is also equally as gentle on my eyes as the No7 and its about half the price.

Body Shop Born Lippy lip balm in Passionberry and Satsuma. These smell soooo good, just had to get that out there. Passionberry is a plummy shade with no shimmer, gives the tiniest hint of colour to the lips - kind of makes them just look more healthy rather then looking tinted. Satsuma is orange with golden shimmer in, the base in this again adds a tiny tiny tint but the thing I love about this one is the golden shimmer gives the effect of high shine to the lips. I think these are more glosses then balms, though they are quite moisturising, and they make my lips look and feel smoother.

Thanks for reading, you might find the content in the part 2's varies month to month to include bath stuff, candles, perfume etc but maybe not have skin care if I'm still using and loving the same stuff etc.

October 2013 Favourites Part 1 - Make Up

Hi everyone!

Welcome to my first monthly favourites, hopefully the first of many.  I'm going to do these posts in 2 parts. 1 for make up only and then the other will be skincare, haircare/maybe colour too, bath, body, fragrance, candles etc.

So here is what I have been loving make up wise this month...

I took more pictures and swatches in groups as I go through them:

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Gel Eyeliners for Brown Eyes. Yikes that's a long product name! These seem to be my go to gel eyeliner, the apply smoothly and easily and last all day. The set came with 3 colours black, brown and purple go great for any look.

ELF Angled Eyeliner Brush. The only brush I use for gel or cream eyeliners. I even have a spare I love it so much. The angled top makes application so easy and it has a soft fine tip.

Seventeen Lacquer Liner. This is SO black. The brush is really really fine and so smooth to apply. Its a really thin yet amazingly pigmented formula. Lasts on me all day and I'm quite liking the wet look finish. Did I mention its really black...

Sorry the photo is awful, I just couldn't get the camera to take it properly. Anyway L-R: Seventeen Lacquer Liner, Physicians Formula Gel Liners Purple, Brown and Black.

Revlon Lipgloss Palette in Bordeaux in the Snow. I picked this up in Poundland a few months ago and its been great for fall. Its a matte plum lipstick with a choice of 4 glosses to layer over the top. I have taken swatch pictures of all the combinations. I like the choice of options and its compact to carry if going out. I contains a tiny, and actually pretty decent lip brush for on the go.

Seventeen Jumbo Lip Crayon in Heartbreaker (I think). The packaging on this has no name or shade number anywhere on it. I've looked at the swatches on the Boots website but the swatches aren't accurate so I'm guessing. I've really been loving the jumbo lip pencil thing, they're usually semi sheer, wearable, easy to apply and moisturising. This particular shade is a slightly brick toned red with gold shimmer. Really flattering on my warm skin tone.

ELF Glitter Gloss in Sparkling Wine. This is another of those plummy shades with gold shimmer that I'm obsessed with. I've tried a couple of other shades from this range and found them really frosty looking. This one is gorgeous, non sticky and I don't find it gritty either despite it being more of a glitter than a shimmer.

Rimmel Colour Rush jumbo lip pencil in Keep On Mauving. Yes I know another jumbo pencil. This is a more neutral shade, not dissimilar to Revlons Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey. The Rimmel one is a touch darker and slight bit more berry toned. I find the Rimmel does seem to apply slightly more smoothly as well. This is a shade I reach for if a want an easy to wear lip that goes with everything.

L-R: Rimmel Lip Palette; Matte lipstick on its own then Clear gloss, Shimmer gloss, Neutral gloss, Fushia gloss. Seventeen Jumbo Lip Crayon in Heartbreaker, Rimmel Colour Rush in Keep on Mauving, ELF Glitter Gloss in Sparkling Wine.

Maybelline Eyestudio single in Iced Fudged. Recently I've been really enjoying taupes and cool toned brown eye shadow shades, often paired with plums. My little sister had this in my bag and after swatching it I knew I had to have it. Its one of those great one shadow look eye shadows making it one I reach for often when getting ready for work in a rush.

MUA Pearl eye shadow in shade 24. This is one of those pinky toned taupe shades and again great for a one shadow look. Have had this one for a while and wore it a lot on holiday a couple of years ago when I first got it. Its a shade I go back to time and time again.

No7 Poppy King Blossoming Cheek and Lip Tint. Blossoming being the shade name, this is a berry toned cream blush which also works as a lip 'stick'. On the lips in is semi sheer and I wear it layered under s gloss. The reason this is in my favourites is for how it looks on the cheeks. This blends so nicely into the skin, even if you have a face powder underneath and really gives that glow from within type stain. The berry plum shade is also perfect for fall.

L-R: MUA shade 24, Maybelline Eyestudio single in Iced Fudged, No7 Blossoming lip and cheek tint swatched then blended out.

MyFace Cosmetics My Mix foundation in Fair02. I think its the finish of this that keeps drawing me back to it, its smooth and skin like none of that dry powderyness. Its probably not the best formula for my oily skin and I have to touch it up during the day around my nose though it lasts really well everywhere else. The shade is a good match for me too. This is a medium coverage and feels very light on the skin. I actually have a back up of this ready to go.

Collection Illuminating Touch concealor in 2 Natural and 3 Glow. Unfortunately the swatch photos I took of these seem to have deleted themselves. 2 Natural is a neutral shade a touch lighter than my skin tone. 3 Glow is a golden, peachy tone that's the same depth as my skin tone. I always have both in my make up bag as 2 is a great concealor/highlighter and 3 acts as a colour corrector. I use both solely for under eyes and I find the formula smooth and creamy with good coverage so I don't have to use a seperate concealer and corrector/highlighter. I do find this creases slightly immediately after application (though I have yet to find one that doesn't and that includes high end concealers) but a final touch up and powder before I leave the house and I find it does not crease further.

Sorry that was such a long post... I think I need to limit my products a bit more next month.
Thanks for reading and look out for part 2.

Manhattan Intense Effect Duo Eyeshadow in Prima Ballerina Review

Hi Everyone!

This was going to be my October favourites but my Fragrance Direct order arrived and this happened instead.

One of the (many) items I picked up is this duo eye shadow from a brand called Manhattan that I have never come across before.

From looking online it appears to be a German brand [URL]www.Manhattan.de[/URL] but I cannot get any information from the site as I keep getting a 'new products' pop up box that will not close.

I paid £0.75 for the Manhattan eye shadow on Fragrance Direct and they had a couple of duos and lots of single shades in the Intense Effects line. The packaging does not state the weight of the product inside. The packaging itself is a clear plastic and it feels good quality and very sturdy. Nothing flimsy about this.

The shades in this duo are a light sparkly lilac pink and a deep shimmery bottle green. Both are very well pigmented though the lighter shade does produce some loose powder.

The lighter shade is a light shimmery pink that leans lilac in some lights. It is very shimmery with some very fine white/silver 'glitter'. Its not glitter but its chunkier than shimmer if that makes sense...
The darker shade is a deep bottle green with a slightly deeper green shimmer. No 'glitter' in this one.

These are not colours I'd normally put together but they look great on. I did find with application that the pink did not pick up well on my brush so I applied the crease shade first then patted the pink on with my finger and blended. This was easy to do and worked really well. Recently I've taken to doing this with other shimmery shadows too as it gives a beautiful intense metallic effect. The green applies and blends well with a brush. The other shades I am using in the look below is s warm matte brown as a 'base' in the crease and a matte cream shade on the brow bone and inner corner.

This photo makes my nose look really big hehe!

Thanks for reading! Next post will be October favourites, there will be a part 1 (make up) and a part 2 (skin/hair/body/candle?).

Rimmel Stay Glossy Lip Gloss in All Night Long Review

Hi Everyone, back to the lip haul reviews today - this one being a lip gloss.

I have a bit of an obsession with plum or purple toner products with gold shimmer, be it lip, eye or cheek products. When I saw this lip gloss I knew I had to have it.

I do find the doe foot applicator on these Rimmel lip glosses to be particularly good - some glosses require lots of redipping but I find this one picks up enough product for an application. Though I do sometimes redip once if I want to build up the colour.

The formula on these is smooth and non sticky (yey). The gloss has some 'sparkle' to it but I don't find it to be gritty. Like all glosses I don't find the staying power to be amazing and I have to touch up regularly.

This shade is semi-sheer with some shimmer. I wear this alone for a subtle look but usually I will layer this over a neutral or berry toned lip colour.

Worn alone.

The shimmer isn't too obvious on the lips but it adds dimension to the shade. It doesn't show well in the photo and is more visible in real life.

Layered over Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Vintage Pink.

Thanks for reading! Not sure what which product I'm going to review next so it will be a surprise...

Sleek Vintage Romance Eyeshadow Palette Review

Hi Everyone!

Continuing on with the Sleek Vintage Romance collection... Here is the palette. I've been a massive fan of the Sleek palettes from back when you could only buy Original and Storm. I have over 10 of these and have a couple on my wish list (mattes dark and oh so special).
The Vintage Romance palette is a neutral based palette with some pinky plummy shades for an autumny feel.
Once again no box, sorry.

And open...

For those who have used Sleek palettes before you know how wonderfully pigmented and long wearing these are. This one lives up to that tradition. There are two shades that are slightly less pigmented which you'll see in the swatches below. They are the top row 5th shadow and bottom row 4th shadow. Sleek has done this texture of eye shadow in other palettes as well and they never seem to be as pgimented as their other formulas. This formula I'd describe as a dark satin base with a brighter coloured irridesence or shimmer.
These shadows do have names but they come written on a clear plastic sheet inside. I tend to throw these away as I find they can dig into and damage the eye shadows when I'm trying to remove it.

Top row: Light silvery taupe, golden bronze, darker warm bronze, taupy bronze, gunmetal, matte terracotta.

Bottom row: golden mauve, metallic mauvy pink, bright plum, deep purple, blackened plum, very dark brown.

My favourite shades in this palette are 4th on the top row and 1st, 3rd and 5th from the bottom row.

There is only one matte shade in the palette the 6th on the top row. Three have glitter which are 3rd, 5th and 6th on the bottom row.

I love autumn and the plum and berry make up trends to this palette really appealed to me.

Thanks for reading! Back to the lips colours soon....

Sleek Vintage Romance Collection Blush in Antique Review

Hi all!

I'm taking a short break from my autumn lip haul reviews to show you the new Sleek blush and palette ( next post).

I picked these up a few weeks ago now and I seem to have gotten rid of the packaging so no box pictures sorry. As with all the Sleek collections both the blush and palette came in coordinating autumn leaves style packaging. The actual packaging of the products is the standard black packaging.

Antique in pan looks to be a neutral mauve toned blush with brown undertones and silver shimmer. This is a very wearable introduction to the deeper plum blushes that are so popular at this time of the year.

I found this blush to be less pigmented than what is typical of Sleek. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as I find with some of my Sleek blushes I have to be very careful and light handed with the application. This one is still pigmented but it is much easier to apply without the risk of over doing it.

On application I find the brown tones are more obvious and overall gives a pretty natural look. The shimmer is almost more of a super fine glitter mixed into a satin base. I don't find the shimmer too noticeable when applied, its not that pore enhancing frosty shimmer that can be found in a lot of other blushes.

I'm glad I picked this up - its neutral tone makes it perfect with any eye look or lip colour.

Thanks for reading and look out for the palette review coming soon.

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Vintage Pink Review

Hi Everyone!

I've just written this whole review - then the program I'm writing on just randomly shut down and deleted everything... Grrrrr!

Anyway this is the next installment of reviews from my Boots autumn lip haul. Today I will be reviewing another Rimmel lipstick, this one is from the Moisture Renew line. I picked up shade 180 Vintage Pink.

I do rather like the packaging of these - but then my favourite colour is purple. The lid clicks properly into place so its not going to fall off in your handbag. It feels pretty good quality and sturdy.

Vintage Pink is a dusky pinky mauve in the tube with no shimmer or frost and I find it translates darker and slightly plummy toned on my lips. The formula of this is creamier than the Kate Moss lipstick I previously reviewed, this glides on more smoothly and does not dry out or start looking flakey. I find the wear time to be about the same. This finish of this one is more of s semi or subtle shine finish. I do find this formula does transfer more than the Kate Moss formula.

The scent of this I can best describe as a slightly medicated lip balm. I personally love this, I really cannot stand overly sweet vanilla scents (thats so horribly common) in lip products and there are some brands I actually cannot use (Accessorize I'm looking at you). Thank you Rimmel for doing something different!
I do plan to pick up some more of these but from looking at the testers in the shop about 80% of them are frostly looking - any recommendations for other creme shades in this range?

Thanks for reading!

ELF Baked Eyeshadow Palette in California Review

Hello once again - I'm having a mad blogging moment so you can have one more for today as after this they're not going to be quite so often (thought hopefully more often then they had been).

I have for you a relatively new palette for you from ELF. This is a 10 colour baked eye shadow palette that can be used wet and dry.

Being that the shadows are a traditional domed baked shadow the palette is quite bulky but it does have a very decent sized mirror that takes up the entire lid.

The shades are mostly neutrals with a couple of grey and plum shades. All the shades have some form of glitter or shimmer.

All the swatches are dry on bare skin, no primer. I do find these are quite dry and I had to rub them quite a bit with my finger to pick up pigment. The swatches below are still only one swipe, I didn't have to re-dip to build up pigmentation. A good dense brush is a must for these to apply them. The shades themselves are beautiful and there's a good range of light and dark shades so you can create a whole look with just the one palette. Although the palette has no matte shades there are a couple of shades that are low shimmer which allows a bit of contrast in the crease.

Top row

Bottom row - shades 2, 4 and 5 are still shimmery but are not metallic like the other shades in the palette.

These wear pretty well over a primer which is a must to really show up these shades at their best. I do enjoy this palette but I wish the shades were slightly softer to make application easier. I do find these apply best with finger so I often apply them on the lid this was. I can sometimes, depending on the look, use my little finger to apply them to the crease and then blend out with a fluffy brush.

Thanks for reading!

Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in shade 08 Review

Hi All!

I thought I'd jump straight in with a review of the Kate Moss Lipstick. These are talked about and hyped all over the beauty blogger circle and on YouTube.
So do I think they live up to the hype?

I went for shade 08 as it was a neutral everyday sort of shade which would be easy to wear with different looks. I was debating between this one and 19 which was a hair warmer and redder.

The shade in the tube is a dusky rose with a hint of shimmer - very much a my lips but better shade. I find the shimmer does not show on the lips which I prefer as shimmer tends to show up dry patches and lines on the lips.

The finish on the lips is semi-matte and I find because its partly matte it is pretty long wearing. The only downside I find to this lipstick is that after I've had it on my lips for a couple of hours I find it looks a bit dry on my lips. I doesn't feel particularly dry on - my lips still feel comfortable but I find they start looking a bit flakey.

As for application these apply really nicely - creamy but not so creamy they go everywhere. I'd definitely like to dry these in a bright or dark shade as I found I could get a very precise application with the formula. I can't really make any comment on bleeding, it doesn't appear to but this shade is pretty light.

Here is the lipstick worn with today's FOTD.

Face:
Foundation: L'Oreal Nude Magique Eau De Teint in shade 110
Undereyes: Collection Illuminating Touch Concealer in shade 2 Natural
Concealer: Sleek Concealer Palette in Light
Powder: Revlon Colorstay Powder in Light Medium
Bronzer/Contour: Kiko Shimmer Powder in 03 Honey Bronze (this is not shimmery as the name would suggest)
Blush: Kiko Sun Bronzing Blush in shade 101 Crystal Rose

Eyes:
Primer: ELF Mineral Eye Primer
Lid: Sleek Bohemian Palette metallic copper shade
Crease: Sleek Storm Palette matte light brown shade
Outer Crease: Sleek Storm Palette matte dark brown shade
Outer V and Outer Lid: Sleek Bohemian Palette matte navy blue shade
Inner Corner and Brow Highlight: Sleek Bohemian Palette matte white and matte peach shades mixed
Lower Lash line: Sleek Storm Palette matte brown shade and Sleek Bohemian Palette matte navy blue on outer third
Upper Lashline: ELF Liquid Liner in Coffee
Mascara: Rimmel Scandaleyes Flex in Black

Lips:
No7 Protect and Perfect Lip Treatment
Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in shade 08

Thanks for reading and hopefully see you for the next review!

Boots Autumn Lip Haul (and a couple other bits)

Hi Everyone!

I had built up quite a few points on my Boots Advantage card so I thought I'd go pick up some new lip colours for autumn.

Roughly left to right:

L'Oreal Nude Magique Eau De Teint in shade 110 Warm Ivory
Rimmel Scandaleyes Flex in Black (free when you spend £10 on Rimmel)
Collection Illuminating Touch Concealer in 2 Natural and 3 Glow
Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in shade 08
Rimmel Stay Glossy Lipgloss in All Night Long
Collection Gothic Glam Lipstick in shade 1 Seduction
Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Vintage Pink
Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in LE shade Embellished
Rimmel Colour Rush Intense Colour Balm in Keep Mauveing

There's a lot of Rimmel as I've heard a lot of good things about their lip products and never really got around to trying them.

Stay tuned for upcoming reviews of all of the products above (and I might actually do them all this time)

Thanks for reading!

Empties! Just a quick one.

Hi all.
Haven't been around in a while but hopefully I shall be posting a bit more. Just have a quick empties post for you today. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I took the one lone picture ages ago so everything has been thrown out now.

(Top 2: Estee Lauder Gentle Eye Make-up Remover, Osmo Deep Repair Mask. L-R bottom row: No7 Cleanse and Care Eye Make-up Remover, the same again, Original Source Almond and Black Cherry Shower Gel, Revlon Equave 2 Phase Sun Care Conditioner, Wet n Wild Mega Liner (a plum shade), Sephora Advanced Lash Booster, Lush Grease Lightening, L'Oreal Studio Secrets Resurfacing Primer, Lush Aura Suavis Shower Gel.)

Estee Lauder Gentle Eye Make-up Remover - I got this as part of one of the limited edition Holiday sets. It can be purchased indivdually. I didn't find this to be particularly gentle and did sting if I rubbed for a bit too long. The reason I was having to rub is I didn't find this took much eye make-up off, only really eyeshadow. This couldn't removed my eyeliner or mascara (i don't wear waterproof).

Osmo Deep Repair Mask (Repurchase) - In fact I already have. I love this stuff, I originally discovered this when I used to dye my hair unnatural colours and had too bleach. This makes my hair so soft and smooth but not heavy at all. I still use this even though my hair is nowhere near as damaged as it used to be. I always have a tub/tube of this in my shower. This is also really inexpensive for how good it is.

No7 Cleanse and Care Eye Make-up Remover (Repurchase) - These are probably my 6th/7th bottles of this, a definate HG for me. Takes off every trace of make up, including waterproof/longwear when I do use them. This stuff is so gentle I can accidently get it in my eyes and it doesn't sting at all. I have several back-ups of this. The only downside is that it is oil based so no good for touch ups. I also don't like the new packaging (shown), it used to have a pump and the new one doesn't. I have kept a couple of old bottles and I decant the new ones into an old bottle. The formula doesn't seem to have changed at all.

Original Source Black Cherry and Almond Shower Gel (Limited Edition) - I love Original Source, they always have great scents. This one I liked but didn't love, it was a bit too sweet for me and I couldn't smell the Almond. Will definately be trying the newest LE scent.

Revlon Equave 2 Phase Sun Care Conditioner - I would consider repurchasing if I could find it. I used this last year on holiday to help prevent my hair colour from fading as it has UV filters. It did a pretty decent job considering the sun, sea, chlorine, sun screen (the aersol stuff that can be used to removed nail polish) my bright red hair was definately still red by the end of the holiday, just not quite so bright. This is quite heavy on the hair and used it as a pre-sunabathing/swimming treatment. I didn't use it before shopping etc as it left my hair quite lank.

Wet n Wild Mega Liner - Again I might repurchase this, haven't decided yet. This is going because it has dried up and is too thick to create a nice line. This was a good liner with a nice opaque pigmentation and lasted well. This took over a year to dry up so it got plenty of life. Will probably check out other shades when i'm next in the US.

Sephora Advanded Lash Booster (Repurchase) - I really like the Sephora mascaras and would buy almost all of the ones I have tried again. The only problem is there is no Sephora in the UK so I can only pick them up when I visit Cite Europe in France. I found this to be defining and leanthening giving a bit of volume. The effect of having lots and lots of lashes (my prefered type of mascara) instead of less really thick ones. This was quite a dry formula that didn't clump and didn't flake or smudge during the day.

Lush Grease Lightening (Repurchase) - This is a HG product for me. Its a gel spot treatment that works but is nourishing as opposed to drying. This is also really multi-purpose and I have found so many other uses for it (anything you would use tea tree on really).

L'Oreal Studio Secrets Resurfacing Primer - This is a heavy duty smoothing face primer. I had originally planned to repurchase this as it does work well and give a really smooth canvas to apply makeup to. I have since found primers I prefer that are a bit more lightweight and better suited to my skin type.

Lush Aura Suavis Shower Gel (Limited Edition) - I really enjoyed this scent and would have bought another bottle if it was still around. I do enjoy Lush shower gels in general, though they are expensive, so would definately buy other scents.

Sorry thats was a bit wordy, I promise more pictures in my next post. I have a couple of series planned: An ELF Hits and Misses type series with reviews and swatches of all the ELF products I own. Also I plan to review my KIKO collection as this is such an amazing makeup brand yet I don't hear many people talking about it. There are a couple of old TAG posts that I plan to do including swatches and reviews of the products mentioned in them.

Thanks for reading!