Current Favourite Bronzers

March 9, 2016 - Vicki 1 Comment

Current Favourte Powder Bronzers

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Soft & Gentle

Such a cult favourite and I never once regret purchasing this, I have used it so many times over the past few years & it still looks like new. Its such a pretty highlighter that can be used for a subtle glow or built up to be more intense. Its a peachy, warm tone with gorgeous champaign shimmery sheen and it reflects the light to give you that healthy look. Its not subtle so don’t get this if you don’t like shimmer, you can use a light hand but the shimmer is still going to show up.

Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc in Starlet Mosaic

This baked highlighter is very shimmery, so no muted glow here! I love the four individual colours and have often used them as eyeshadows but they’re great to swirl your brush through all of them and it gives the most pretty peachy, bronze glow. I use this on my cheekbones for a beautiful highlight and it brings warmth and glow to my complexion.

MeMeMe Shimmer Brick Bronze

MeMeMe Shimmer Stack in Bronze

This isn’t as finely milled as the other products in this post but the colours and pigmentation are beautiful and intense. This gives the cheeks a bronze glow that instantly warms up your look. You get 5 colours in the stack and they can be used individually as eyeshadows and I think they work very well like that but I do prefer to sweep my brush across them all and use it as a glowing bronzer. It does have a metallic finish so you are not going to get a subtle finish with this but its such a good way at warming up a look and making your skin look fresh, healthy and glowing. This is like a holiday in a bronzer. Oh & this product has a really big mirror which is very handy, but I have so say the packaging feels quite bulky and I tend not to travel with it. I need that extra space for lipsticks.

Soap & Glory Wonderbronze

This is a very pretty multi shade bronzing highlighter, its great at giving your skin that sun kissed look without having been in the sunshine. I just swirl my brush round all the colours and apply it with my duo fibre brush, using this type of brush I find I don’t pick up too much product on my brush as I like to use this product more in the day time so I try to keep it quite subtle. Its lovely and lightweight and I find this lasts a really long time on my skin. When the colours are mixed its very similar to the MeMeMe offering but just slightly more peachy.

Essence Sun Club all in one Bronzing Highlighter in Sunglow

Without a doubt Essence is my favourite budget beauty brand, their product selection and quality is incredible and they always bring out the cutest limited edition ranges throughout the year. I have quite a few cheek products from them but I just love this bronzing highlighter, its so compact and easy to travel with. I like the see through packaging and you get 9g of product for only £3.50, total bargain. This has a slight coconut scent which always reminds me of holidays and it gives you a gorgeous sun kissed glow. Its a lovely copper with a little pink in there too. I am obsessed with this & Its always in my current makeup stash! Favourite Powder Bronzers

Primark PS Love Bronzer

This Primark offering was also a complete bargain & its not bad at all, I wouldn’t say it has the best staying power but I use this when I am only going out for a couple of hours & generally during the day. It hasn’t got enough of a glow for me to use at night but as a budget friendly offering its quite good. Although if you can get hold of any of the Essence bronzers then I would recommend those first. This PS Love bronzer gives a touch of warmth to the skin as well as a slight highlight, its quite subtle compared to the rest of the ones I have mentioned but I think thats because the pigmentation isn’t as good.

Bronzer Swatches

Laura Mercier / Soap & Glory / MeMeMe / MAC

Have you tried any of the bronzers I have mentioned and what bronzer do you reach for most often?

Favourite Liquid Illuminating Products

March 7, 2016 - Vicki Leave a comment

Favourite Liquid Highlighter Products

Clarins Instant Light Radiance Boosting Complexion Base

This is a great product for giving my skin a little extra radiance (always needed in the Winter), I have the shade champaign which is a pretty apricot shade. This is a great colour for warming up my complexion and is great at combating redness and uneven skin tone. This has a light creamy texture and it sits well under my makeup, I think it makes a great primer.

Revlon Photoready Skinlights Face Illuminator

I like to use this as a highlighter & I put it on my cheekbones & down my nose. I have the shade pink light and its a pretty iridescent pink. The formula of these is quite watery but its so easy to blend and the colour also reminds me of Benefit High Beam, I use this instead of a powder highlighter & its so pretty at reflecting the light and adding a little glow to my skin.

GOSH Primer Plus Illuminating

This is the newest addition to the selection and Its such a great budget friendly makeup primer and illuminator in one. If you have dull or sallow skin then this kind of product is a great way of adding brightness to your complexion without looking glittery. Pearl pigments and the right mix of colour pigments deliver the supple dewy base that keeps skin looking fresh all day. Its has pretty peachy tint and it looks lovely mixed with foundation or worn under for a radiant finish.

Five Highlighting Beauty Favourites

B. Prepared Illuminating Makeup Primer

This is such a lightweight non greasy primer, it leaves the skin feeling silky smooth and doesn’t add any slip or shine to the skin but instead it adds a beautiful luminous glow to the skin without any shimmer or glitter. It is a really nice smooth base for my foundation to sit on top of & it helps my makeup last all day whilst adding a healthy glow to my skin. It also has Hyaluronic acid and vitamin E which are great at hydrating skin and helping reduce the signs of fatigue.

Estee Lauder Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator

This is one of my favourites out of the line up – I tend to add a couple of drops to my foundation for a more radiant healthy finish. This does have a yellow tone with a gold iridescence, it doesn’t have glitter in but it does have a slight shimmer to it and it looks very subtle and pretty once under or added to your foundation. Its also good at helping cover redness and give the complexion a more even finish. This is an oil free serum and it just looks so pretty when the light hits your skin. I think this has been discontinued which always seems to be the case with products I fall in love with.

Liquid Highlighter Swatches

B. Prepared / Estee Lauder / GOSH / Revlon / Clarins

What are your favourite liquid highlighters?

Product Empties February 2016 #2

March 3, 2016April 27, 2018 - Vicki 8 Comments

The Red Hour Prismology Body Scrub with Cedar-wood and Ruby

This has become my all time favourite body scrub, I know for lots of people a scrub isn’t a very exciting product but this one is incredible. It smells grown up, sophisticated and luxurious (I want a perfume in this scent). The scrubbies are abrasive enough to do their job but not to the point that they irritate your skin and the product leaves my skin feeling clean, nourished and silky smooth.

Ruby micro-crystals / gently exfoliates
Sugar Beet & Coconut Extracts / moisturises and softens
Mineral Rich Volcanic Spring Powder / gently buffs skin

I want to buy many back ups of this so I am never ever without it. I will be the first to say £35 is quite pricey for a body scrub but you get 200ml of product and this bottle has lasted me months and I think its well worth every penny.

Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter

This is such an old faithful product, these huge tubs last forever and the body butter leaves my skin hydrated and the formula isn’t too heavy or greasy on my skin. The scent reminds me of Summer holidays too! I always stock up on this when its on 3 for 2. It has Shea Butter & Aloe Vera so two wonderful ingredients that will look after your skin & keep it looking its best!

Batiste Eden Dry Shampoo with Sugar Melon & Honeysuckle

This isn’t my favourite Batiste dry shampoo, I bought it because I was sucked in by the floral packaging. The scent is quite nice and not too synthetic although its pretty strong to begin with. I felt like this didn’t work that well and it made my scalp itchy.

MAC MSF Natural in Medium

LOVE this product and it took me years to finish it. It gives a pretty flawless soft focus finish to my makeup. I won’t be repurchasing in a hurry because I have since fallen in love with the bareMinerals Mineral Veil Powder. I feel people used to talk all the time about MAC MSF but now there are so many wonderful dupes and alternatives so I don’t hear too many people mentioning them.

Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream Lip Balm Protectant Stick

This is a lovely nourishing, protecting lip balm and it also has SPF 15 in so I used this most days as my go to lip balm. I like that it looks like a lipstick and its not in a pot. I have had this product in the pot & it just went all gross and dirty, the stick form is 100% more hygienic and easy to pop into your handbag.

Liz Earle Orange Flower Botanical Body Wash*

This bottle is a whopping 500ml and it felt like a challenge to use it up, it took me almost 5 months. This smells like Summer in a bottle, its citrus scent is beautiful and uplifting especially on those dull Winter mornings. I looked forward to using this each day. It contains naturally active ingredients which include organic oats, natural source of vitamin E, orange flower water and 10 pure essential oils. This also has foaming agents derived from soap bark, corn, and coconut so its not going to dry your skin out. If you like Liz Earle products, this is one to add to your shopping list.

*PR Sample

ZOEVA Rose Golden Vol. 2 Makeup Brushes

February 29, 2016October 16, 2016 - Vicki 6 Comments

So a little while ago ZOEVA released their gorgeous Rose Golden Vol. 2 Brush Set & I’m excited to let you know that they’ve extended the collection by 30 single brushes. So you can now purchase these beautiful powder nude & rose golden design brushes individually & build up a substantial brush collection of your own.

ZOEVA is a brand that’s become so popular with both makeup addicts & MUA’s over the past couple of years, I have tried their makeup (which I love) but never their brushes. I only ever hear positive reviews of their collections and people saying they deliver on quality and design so to say I was excited to try out 3 brushes from the Rose Golden Vol. 2 Collection was an understatement and the brushes did not disappoint.

ZOEVA 125 Stippling Brush Rose Golden Vol. 2 Edition*

This is a duo fibre brush & its quite dense but so very soft. I like to use it to apply both my foundation and cream blush. Its great for both. For foundation its fab at making a little product go a long way – you just keep buffing away & it gives such a even flawless finish.

ZOEVA 227 Luxe Soft Definer Brush Rose Golden Vol. 2 Edition*

This brush is the perfect size and shape for blending out your eyeshadow, its great for getting into the crease and creating that seamless transition between shades. Its so soft the bristles are quite long, its the perfect crease brush. It keeps it shape after washing and the bristles stay soft. I do wish this was Vegan though.

ZOEVA 232 Luxe Classic Shader Rose Golden Vol. 2 Edition*

I use this brush to pack my colour on the lid, its a dense flat brush so its perfect for that. Again is very soft and picks up a good amount of product. I have used this brush a lot because I tend to wear one colour on the lid most days & this brush is good for applying one colour all over the lid. This brush is a natural-synthetic hair mix

ZOEVA Brushes are affordable & compared to brushes of similar quality like Mac & Bobbi Brown they are a lot more affordable. These are the nicest brushes I have tried and over the years I’ve tried brushes from so many brands. I’m looking forward to buying a few more for my collection. The only negative thing I have to say about them is that not all ZOEVA brushes are Vegan which is a shame.

These brushes are so beautiful to use. They look stunning and everything has been so well thought out. Everything from the soft nude pink handles to the rose gold detailing give these brushes a really luxurious feel and finish. They are super elegant but most importantly they are incredibly good quality makeup brushes, they don’t shed, they are easy to clean, the bristles are so very soft and they keep their shape.

ZOEVA have added 30 single brushes to this gorgeous Rose Golden Vol.2 Collection so thats quite a few to pick from.