Makeup

Shopping My Makeup Stash March 2016

- Vicki 4 Comments
LOreal LaPalette Nude

Shopping My Makeup Stash March 2016

L’Oreal La Palette Nude 02 Rose 

I tend to reach for the same eyeshadows and quite often my palettes go a little neglected. This L’Oreal Rose one is so pretty it has 10 shades in a mix of mattes and shimmers, I like that it has some dusky pinks and smokey purple tones. Not the colours I naturally gravitate towards but I am always impressed with how pretty they look when I am brave enough to wear them. The quality of these shadows is good but I really recommend using a primer as they don’t last very long without one. I forgot just how nice the colours are in this and I can’t wait to use them a little more. .

Rimmel Match Perfection

I spoke a little about this in my recent Foundation Collection Post and because I don’t wear foundation on a daily basis I have bottles that I forget about. This is such a great product for a daytime and I like that it feels hydrating on the skin and gives lovely flawless finish.

Korres Professional Liquid Eyeliner

This was such a let down, I love to wear black liquid liner & like it when the brush is precise and the colour jet black. The brush / nib on this was so hard, which made it difficult to get my liner neat. Each time I tried to use this I made a complete mess and had to redo my eye makeup. I thought the formula was too wet and took ages to dry down, also near impossible to do a half decent wing. The pigmentation is very black which was the only redeeming quality.

Makeup Stash Products

L’Oreal True Match Powder

I thought because I love the foundation from this line I might as well try out the powder & I have had this waiting to use for a while now. I have the shade rosy beige and it seems to be a good match. The packaging is quite bulky and feels a little cheap. I have used this a a couple of times and liked that it gave a buildable coverage and the powder feels smooth and light on my skin. It seems like a good setting powder and I like that it gives a nice even finish and it helps my skin look even toned.

NARS Orgasm Blush

Such an old faithful, I used to use this all the time before I discovered the beautiful Max Factor blushers. This is a really pretty peachy, pink with gold shimmer. I think its brightens up the face and adds a touch of highlighter to your blush. The light reflects off the gold shimmer and gives you the most beautiful glow. I am glad I looked this out to use over Spring / Summer its the perfect warm weather blush.

Shopping My Stash March 2016

Primark PS Love Lift & Curl Mascara

As far as affordable mascaras go this isn’t half bad, its not amazing but I will use it as a daytime mascara and get some use out of it. I love the bright purple packaging and the rubber wand is flexible and gets right down to the root of your lashes. I have been wearing it layered on top of my Eye of Horus mascara, that one gives my lashes length and the Primark one thickens them up and adds volume. They make a good pair.

L'Oreal La Palette Nude

Clinique Colour Pop Lip Colour & Primer

These Clinique Colour Pop Lippies are ideal for me. They are hydrating, glossy and feel so soft on the lips. The colour selection is impressive too, they come in 23 gorgeous shades. I have a few but this Nude Pop one is a perfect shade for everyday, even if I am wearing little or no makeup this looks great on my lips. These feel like you have put a lipbalm on first then added your lippie on top, they’re fool proof and give your lips a good amount of both hydration and colour. These are one of my favourite product discoveries of 2016.

Current Foundation Line Up

- Vicki 8 Comments
Foundation Drawer 2016

Foundation Drawer 2016

L’Oreal True Match

This has been a favourite foundation of mine for ages now & I always make sure I have a bottle in my stash. I have the shade Vanille & it’s a perfect match for me, I think they have reformulated since I last purchased it & changed the packaging slightly too. This foundation always blends really well and sits lovely on my skin. It gives me a medium coverage and I love the silky finish it gives my skin. It’s an affordable foundation and one I reach for when I want a base that I can rely on, it never feels heavy or greasy.

Bioderma Sensibio AR BB Cream

I wear a lot of BB creams, they tend to be quite low coverage, but this Bioderma one gives more coverage than the average BB cream. I like to use this when my skin is looking red and a little stressed, this BB Cream is a skincare and make-up hybrid and specifically to combat redness. I love the coverage and the radiant finish, it contains SPF 30, so your skin has a little more protection from the suns harmful UVA & UVB rays. A cocktail active ingredients reduce inflammation, anti-irritant allantoin and canola immediately soothe, and glycerin promotes hydration. 

Glo & Ray CC Foundation

This is a lovely CC Cream, it’s great at evening out skin tone and still letting your freckles show through. This glides on the skin, blends beautifully and adds a much-needed luminosity to my complexion. If you want glowing, healthy but still quite a natural base then this Glo & Ray offering is very good value for money. It’s a particularly lovely base for the warmer months, as it lets your skin breath and never feels heavy.

My Foundation Collection 2016

Bourjois CC Cream

This is a skin correcting base which contains three-colour correcting pigments – Apricot for anti-fatigue, Green for anti-redness, White for anti-dark spots. I do have redness across my cheeks and this does a good job at reducing that and evening out my skin tone. It feels nice on the skin & never goes greasy over the course of the day. I reach for this during the day, when I want a lightweight, natural coverage just to perk my skin up.

Maybelline Dream Flawless Nude

I love this product but hate the packaging, this formula is quite watery and if you knock the bottle over you better believe me it will go everywhere! I wish it had a pump. If you take time to blend this is it will give you the most beautiful flawless finish. The longer I wear this throughout the day, the better it seems to look on my skin.

Favourite Foundations

INIKA Mineral Foundation

I use this mineral foundation in two ways, if I want a lovely lightweight quite flawless foundation I will reach for this, but I also like to layer this on top of a liquid foundation for more coverage and a smooth soft focus finish. This mineral foundation is very fine and easy to wear, it has SPF15 and is a great base to wear as the weather gets warmer – as it never looks greasy or heavy on the skin. I use this almost daily, as I said, either alone or as a finishing powder, and I still have so much product left. A pot will last you ages! I have to say I wouldn’t travel with this because it’s just a powder explosion waiting to happen, but that’s the only negative.

BareMinerals Complexion Rescue*

This Complexion Rescue feels like you have nothing on your skin but makes you look like you have healthy, radiant skin. I hear some people say they like to apply this with their fingers, but I think I get a better finish when I use my beauty sponge. This has a cocktail of skincare benefits including,

  • Olive derived squalane – nourishing, hydrating and boosts the skins’ ability to regenerate
  • Marine botanicals – help refuel thirsty skin and enhance skins appearance
  • Water loving humectants, Tehalsose and glycerine-which locks in moisture
  • Heart leaf globe daisy – an antioxidant, defends skin from environmental aggressors
  • Calcium and Magnesium – help replenish the skin and promote the skins’ moisture balance
  • SPF30 PA+++ this also contains a broad spectrum SPF to protect the skin against UVA & UVB rays

So it truly is make-up with added skincare, it’s one of my favourite ever make-up bases and I highly recommend giving it a go if you like a natural, light – medium coverage.

Current Foundation Collection

Rimmel Match Perfection 

This is quite a hydrating foundation and this is the one I reach for when my skin is dry, and I need a good amount of coverage. A little product goes a long way and I like to use a beauty blender to get an even, flawless finish. I like the luminous finish this gives, I find that I do have to powder through my t zone otherwise I will look shiny by the end of the day.

As you can see, I am very much a highstreet foundation kind of girl. I think you get incredible quality bases on the high street, and they perform as well as more expensive alternatives. What foundations do you have on the go right now & let me know if you have any recommendations.

*PR Sample

Current Mascara Line Up

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Current Mascara Line Up

Current Mascara Line Up

Like most beauty addicts I always have more than one mascara on the go at any one time & right now I am using some of my absolute favourite mascaras. I like my mascara to help my lashes look long, hold a curl and maybe give the illusion I was blessed with more lashes than I actually have. What mascara are you loving right now & which should I avoid?

Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Mascara Brush

Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir*

This is the newest mascara in my collection and I have to say it has been receiving the most love too. If you like subtle quite natural looking lashes then this is not for you at all. This is one of the best false lash effect mascaras I have ever tried. It adds such volume and length to my lashes, I love it. Its jet black & absolutely smudge proof so you can rely on this mascara to stay put! If you love fluttery lashes that have that false lash effect then this is one to add to your wishlist. I also think at £20 its very well priced.

Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express Mascara

Maybelline Volum’ Express The Falsies

Not a massive fan of this, it clumps on my lashes and after a couple of hours It seems to end up halfway down my face! So much fall out under my eyes! This is not a mascara I would recommend, I found it very messy and hard to remove. It does give volume but I just don’t like the formula so I am looking forward to parting ways with this mascara.

Lancome Hypnose Mascara Wand

Lancome Hypnose Mascara

LOVE this mascara and until the Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir came into my life Hypnose was my go to mascara. It still is the perfect mascara for fanning out your lashes and making them look healthy, long and fluttery. This isn’t as dramatic as Velvet Noir but I do wear this more during the day and I love the brush and how it grabs every individual lash and coats them all with product without applying too much and weighing them down. Hypnose is still a front runner and I always recommend this mascara because it has never let me down.

Max Factor Velvet Volume Mascara

Max Factor Velvet Volume False Lash Effect Mascara*

I like this because my lashes never feel crispy when I’m wearing this, no matter how many coats I apply & there is no fall out or smudging. It has a big plastic wand and the different sized bristles helps coat every single lash, the formula is also great at holding a curl. No clumping or fall out, this is another fab mascara from Max Factor and one of my favourite everyday options. Oh & I have been using this for almost 3 months now & it hasn’t started to dry out, so that pleases me.

Eye Of Horus Goddess Mascara

Eye Of Horus Goddess Mascara

This is a great one for quite natural looking lashes, not in a no makeup kind of way but more of a, my lashes look long, healthy and they’re all natural kind of way (am I making sense?). Its a pretty mascara for daytime and will add length to short lashes and give them definition. Its understated but always makes me look awake and my lashes long! The formula is the perfect consistency and it has very good staying power. This is a reliable mascara and one you can wear everyday for pretty natural lashes.

Essence Plump No Clump Mascara

Essence Plump No Clump Mascara

What a budget beauty this Essence mascara is – plump no clump indeed. Look at that massive brush, it leaves no lash out & gives them a coat of jet black mascara leaving them looking full, volumised and long. This is another mascara with a pretty big brush, I think we are seeing a common theme, I like big brushes & I can not lie. This is an affordable mascara but it works, it works very very well.

For false lash effect the Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir is a must buy & best budget friendly but also incredible quality the Essence Plump no Clump is one mascara you need in your collection

*PR Sample

Skinn Cosmetics Makeup

- Vicki 2 Comments
Skinn Eyeshadow Palette

Skinn Cosmetics Makeup Range

Skinn Rosette Eyeshadow Palette

Skinn Rosette Eyeshadow Palette*

This has impressed me the most out of the three products I have been testing from the collection. Its a 12 pan neutral toned palette with a beautiful mix of shades, nothing too bright or out there and every single colour is one I would wear. Which in my opinion makes it great value. It has a nice mixture of matte and shimmers and all the colours are talc free so they’re not drying on the lids. I find these have minimum fall out and they last very well on me – ever longer if you use a primer. I love the copper tones and the beautiful dark brown which looks plum in some lights, all the shades are pigmented and rich in colour. It’s a great palette to travel with, as its slim, sturdy and has a large mirror too. I’m very very impressed with this palette and have been using it a lot these past few weeks.

Skinn Rosette Eyeshadow Palette Swatches

Skinn Hollywood Nude Lip Palette

Skinn Hollywood Nude Lip Palette*

I found the consistency of these to be more like a tinted lip balm than a lipstick. The colours are all quite pretty and very wearable shades, but they only give your lips a wash of colour and have more of a gloss finish. I find lip palettes a bit of a faff if I’m honest and I would never reach for this over a lipstick. I would say give this a miss unless you like a simple understated lip look & don’t mind carrying a palette out & about so you can reapply your lip colour.

Skinn say these are Collagen Boost Lipsticks that will drench your lips with collagen-forming ingredients in a creamy, moisture-rich formula – so i guess they’re skincare infused lippies which is interesting. They do feel smoothing and comfortable on my lips, I just felt they were a little too muted and didn’t have enough colour pay off. 

Skinn Hollywood Nude Lip Palette Swatches

Skinn Ultra Luxe Mascara*

This is an ok mascara, I would say middle of the road in terms of quality. There are so many incredible budget-friendly mascaras now so there is tough competition. I found this Ultra Luxe Mascara had quite a wet formula and after a two coats it went a little clumpy. It didn’t really give volume or length to my lashes. I will say that it didn’t transfer or fall down throughout the day. I just felt my lashes didn’t look as good as usual. I think the wand would be better with a few more bristles.

Skinn Ultra Luxe Mascara

So if you get the chance to buy the eyeshadow palette I would say try it & you will get a lot of use out of it. The lip palette wasn’t my thing (but they never are) but if you do like your lipsticks in a palette format then you might be more inclined to use it. Whilst I think the mascara doesn’t hold up to many more affordable brands I have tried, I may be tempted to try one from this brand that has a different brush.

Let me know if you have tried anything from the Skinn Beauty range, I would love to hear your recommendations. I have blogged about their Skincare too if you’d like to read that.

*This post contains PR Samples