Skinn Cosmetics Makeup

March 13, 2016December 22, 2017 - Vicki 2 Comments

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 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 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.

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

SheaMoisture Raw Shea Butter Haircare

March 11, 2016May 31, 2025 - Vicki 1 Comment

I was introduced to this brand earlier this year & I have really been enjoying trying out their haircare. In case you’re not familiar with Shea Moisture their story started back in 1912 in Sierra Leone,

Sofi Tucker started selling Shea Nuts at the village market in Bonthe, Sierra Leone in 1912. By age 19, the widowed mother of four was selling Shea Butter, African Black Soap and her homemade hair and skin preparations all over the countryside. Sofi Tucker was the Grandmother, and Shea Moisture is her legacy. With this purchase, you help empower disadvantaged women to realize a brighter, healthier future.

Their ranges have won quite a few awards over the years, including an Allure Reader’s Choice Award 2015 and it’s now available in Boots stores.

I have tried the Super fruit complex range and thought it was wonderful at taming frizz and adding shine to my locks. So how did I get on with the Raw Shea Butter Shampoo and Conditioner?

Both products are organic and are free of sulphates, parabens, paraffin, mineral oil, synthetic fragrance, phthalates, propylene glycol, synthetic colour.

SheaMoisture Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo*

This shampoo wasn’t the best at giving my hair a glossy finish (I found the super fruit range was better for shine) but that said it was incredible at making my hair feel soft and deeply moisturised. As with most sulphate free shampoos, it doesn’t lather up too much, but it does feel lightweight and is easy to rinse out. This shampoo contains some great natural ingredients,

Sea Kelp – Mineral rich nutrition seals and smoothes hair cuticles
Argan Oil – Restores shine while helping promote hair elasticity
Shea Butter – Deeply moisturises while conditioning hair and scalp

It’s unusual to see shea butter in haircare, but I guess it’s so hydrating and great for repairing skin, so why not use it on our hair for the same results. If you use heat on your hair or have naturally corse, dry hair, you will see and feel a big difference in how soft and healthy your hair feels after using this range. I liked that the product adds a little volume and bounce to my hair without it feeling weighed down or greasy.

SheaMoisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner

This is a leave in or rinse out conditioner and I have not been brave enough to leave it in because my hair goes greasy so quickly I daren’t do it. So I always wash this out, and it works very well like that for me, if you’re pushed for time leave this in for up to 3 minutes but if you are able to leave it in for 15 minutes for a really deep treatment.

Sea Kelp – Mineral rich nutrition seals and smoothes hair cuticles
Argan Oil – Restores shine while helping promote hair elasticity
Shea Butter – Deeply moisturises while conditioning hair and scalp

This is quite lightweight, and I like to massage it in to my scalp and then comb it through wet hair from root to tip. This conditioner revives dry, damaged, frizzy hair. It gives a boost of hydration and leaves it feeling smooth, soft and detangled. I have to say I am impressed with this brand and it’s nice to see organic, natural haircare that’s affordable and effective.

I highly recommend checking out SheaMoisture they have quite a wide selection of haircare products now available in larger Boots store & online at Amazon

*PR Sample and affilite links

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?

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