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Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts



A couple of weeks ago I got sent this gorgeous blusher in the post, and it's safe to say I fell in love instantly. I've never been much of a blusher person but I was so excited to try it out that as soon as I opened the package, I just had to have a lil swatch. The pigmentation of this blusher is insane, with the most beautiful shimmer I have ever seen. I'm genuinely shocked at the quality of the product...I've got to admit, I'm usually pretty adamant to try out new products from new brands, but I'm so glad I tested this out because - and big statement here - this could be my holy grail blusher. Especially this colour - 'Beyonce'. The name I'm not too sure about because I believe this shade is much better suited for fairer skin tones, which is one of the reasons why I love it so much - because I can actually pull it off! It's not too dark and has just the right amount of shimmer! It's best described as an iridescent coral with flecks of silver and gold running through it. The finely milled formulation ensures intense pigmentation without looking heavy on the skin, which is always a bonus.



The packaging of this is so sleek and classic, and nothing like anything I already own (surprisingly). It is predominantly clear plastic with an opaque black bottom (haha) and a matching black ring around the outer top of the lid. It simply clicks open, no force is needed but at the same time it stays securely closed. Might sound a little bit petty to some but I hate it when I'm opening this kind of click mechanism you see with blushers, bronzers, eyeshadows etc and it chips my nails. I know I sound like such a girl saying that but if you're like me and you can spend hours on your nails for them to chip because you have to use all your Herculean strength to open a frigging powder, you'll feel my pain.



The price is the one thing that would put me off purchasing this blusher. It retails for £13.95 at Beauty Crowd (my new favourite place to purchase make-up, by the way, but more on that in another post...) and don't get me wrong, like I have said it is absolutely stunning, but to me almost £14 for a blusher is pretty pricey. I always opt for cheaper blushers and splash out on eyeshadow palettes instead as you probably know by now that I'm a palette junkie! The quality is phenomenal so I do understand to a certain extent why it is a little expensive but at the same time this brand isn't well known yet, and personally I think that making it this price is gonna put people off from trying it out. Maybe that's just me and my reservation towards spending money on face products rather than my usual lip and eye stuff but I have a feeling many people will feel the same too.

Despite me being slightly put off by the price, I may have to repurchase when I run out because this colour is beautiful, and probably my favourite of the four (the others being Mariah, Shakira & Rihanna).


*This product was sent to me for consideration of a review*

Have you tried any products from Mesauda Milano?

"Each and every animal on earth has as much right to be here as you and me." - Anthony Douglas Williams 
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This week I've decided I need to rant, prepare yourselves...

I will say this time and time again as it seems like people need telling. Vaseline 'Lip Therapy' is terrible for your lips. Petroleum jelly that is the main (and only in the original edition) ingredient in Vaseline stops the natural moisture production in your lips, meaning that the second you stop using it your lips go so chapped and flaky that it can become extremely painful. Because of this, many people believe that chapped lips is normal when you don't use lip balm everyday - surprisingly, it's not. I use lip balm maybe twice a week and I can easily say that I have soft, chap-free lips 95% of the time, the other 5% is during the height of summer and winter, which is normal. So many people use Vaseline and it breaks my heart how they've all been sucked into their ingenious marketing scheme - create a lip balm that makes your lips full of moisture and when they stop using it make their lips super dry so they'll think that it's the Vaseline working some sort of miracle and they'll buy more - brilliant! No. Sorry not sorry, I refuse to let you lovely lot fall into this trap.

You see, my bestie is obsessed with the stuff. And I mean, obsessed. Whenever we go anywhere she always needs two things - her Blackberry and her Vaseline. You know that blind panic that you get when you can't find your keys or your purse in your bag? Well, she gets that with her Vaseline. She literally freaks out until she realises it was in her pocket the entire time, to which she desperately rags the tin lid off and starts applying liberally to her lips. I can't help but laugh, bless her. I've tried to explain to her that it's bad for her but she's been well and truly sucked into Vaseline's scam, the poor thing. I can just imagine her reading this now, fumbling for the tin hahaha, love you!

If you are a Vaseline addict, I suggest you switch to a lip balm that is kind to your lips. I love Balmi lip balms, which I have written a review for here. But remember, you're not meant to use lip balms every day, so if a lip balm is making your lips dryer, stop using it!

Are you a Vaseline addict that's been converted?
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from left to right - 01 Beige Veloute, 02 Rose Voluptue, 03 Rose Doux, 05 Rose Moelleux, 07, Praline Dolce, 08 Brun Onctueux
If you don't already know, not only am I an avid blogger, I'm also an ebayer. Basically I buy makeup in bulk and then sell it super cheap. How cheap you ask? 99p starting price (no I don't make a profit, I'm starting out and need positive feedback so I'm being kind). Oh am I good aren't I ;) these past few weeks I've been selling Bourjois' La Creme Des Levres Lip Cream which is now discontinued so the only way to buy it is through ebayers like me or in bulk. Because I'm selling them here, I thought I'd do a review alongside to show what I think of them - truthfully.

The back of the tube says "shiny, nourishing and light texture' which I can't deny. It's much lighter than a gloss, almost balm-like but a little more glamorous. If that makes sense, haha! For a start they're not glosses, they're creams. Most of you will be thinking 'what's the difference?' and yeah I guess some of you wouldn't be able to tell the difference but for beauty junkies like me, there is a big difference. I usually find glosses to be fairly gloopy and sticky. 'Slime-like' if you will. Lip creams are, well, creamy. You don't get that stickiness that you can get with many glosses, that's why I personally prefer creams. If you don't like glosses but love balms, and just wish that they had a more pigmented colour (which balms rarely do), you'll love the BLCDL (oo, an acronym, get me) Lip Cream.

Bourjois brought out the La Creme Des Levres Lip Creams back a few years ago but for some unknown reason were discontinued, to many peoples dismay. I honestly do love these creams, mainly because I've always wanted a pigmented gloss but could never find one, they always looked rich in colour but once applied were almost clear. That's where the Bourjois Lip Creams come in, they're well pigmented, more than you'd expect. 

All of the lip creams feature an almond scent/flavour which I adore. Have to keep stopping myself from licking it off though... My favourite colours in the range have to be 05 Rose Moelleux (soft orange) and 03 Rose Doux (bubblegum pink).

This one gets - ♥♥♥♥

Have you tried the BLCDL Lip Cream? 
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It usually takes me around half an hour to blow dry my hair 'cause I have a lot of it and it's pretty long. Because of this, I've always put off blow drying my hair and therefore rarely straightening it. I know blow drying is bad for your hair, but as long as you're not doing it every day it's fine, but I'd maybe do it once a month if that.

When I went to Home Bargains (if you've never been in you need to) a couple months ago I saw that they had a load of Lee Stafford stuff but at a fraction of the price. I picked up a few products but the one I was most excited to try was the Wonder Spray which promises to reduce the time it takes to blow dry hair and also helps de tangle hair. Now if you know me you'll know that I'm a huge fan of Lee Stafford's products, and so although I had my reservations about the spray, I did believe that it could work. And boy, does it work.

Like I said before it usually takes me around half an hour to dry my hair, so I expected that the spray would maybe reduce the time to around 20 minutes. I was shocked that after 4 minutes, yes 4 minutes, my hair was completely dry. This spray cost me like £3 and yet it does that! I am so pleased with this product and intend on buying more. Home Bargains probably won't sell it again but I know Boots do, and I'm more than happy to pay full price. 

The back of the bottle/can (I don't really know what it is) says that it's 'full of extra special ingredients to improve the smoothness of the surface of the hair and reduce friction, for easier combing and detangling of wet hair. With added heat protection to protect hair up to the heat of 220'C. It also contains a little bit of hold to keep your style once you have blow dried it into place!' And it doesn't lie! Not only did it help reduce blow drying time dramatically, my hair seemed less frizzy than it usually does when I blow dry, and it did make combing my hair easier. Plus it has the typical Lee Stafford scent that lasts and makes your hair smell b-e-a-utiful!

If you're a busy person like me and don't have the time or the effort to blow dry your hair, but wish you could, I'd highly recommend this Wonder Spray, RRP'd at £6.19 at Boots.

this one gets ♥♥♥♥♥ - I can't fault it!

What's your favourite Lee Stafford product?
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I have been through countless numbers of foundations, and none of them have ever been sufficient. I have oily, spot-prone, fair skin and would therefore need a foundation with medium/full coverage with serious staying power. Many foundations that I have tried have either become patchy on my skin within a few hours, or were too watery and not thick enough to cover my acne scars. A few years ago I discovered No7's Beautifully Matte foundation in Boots, picked up the lightest shade and went home. When I got home I applied the foundation and to my horror it was ridiculously dark with a disgusting tinge of orange - it's safe to say I looked like I had been tangoed. Sadly, the foundation's coverage was amazing and lasted all day (I only wore it at home, lucklily no-one had to see me like that, haha!). No7 must've realised that their colour range was awful, and only recently have they decided to give their entire foundation range a re-vamp. I was delighted to find that their Beautifully Matte foundation was included in this re-vamp, which meant that they had a shade for ones with a lighter complexion (Cool Vanilla).





The foundation promises 'up to 14 hours shine free complexion and a soft, even finish' and includes SPF 15 and is also hypo-allergenic. It comes in 14 different shades, and seems suitable for everyone, from light to dark skinned.


You would need to apply powder to 'lighten' the foundation as it can feel heavy on the skin otherwise. Although it promises up to 14 hours shine free complexion, due to my oily skin it doesn't last this long without blotting papers and reapplication of powder a couple of times a day. Despite this, it may work for those without oily skin, as the foundation doesn't seem drying but it is made for those with oily skin which is quite frustrating due to it not being brilliant at keeping me shine-free all day. The only main problem I have with this foundation is that it still doesn't match my skin colour - I have only ever found one brand that does (Illamasqua 133 - perfect match!) but I do still use this on a regular basis. I know, you'll all be disappointed in me but i'm the Queen of blending and I always make sure it graduates down my neck, no-one has noticed yet and I've been wearing it for a year! It's fantastic value for money, just a shame it's not a perfect match. Damn my English skin!


Before (on my wrist)
with No7's Beautifully Matte foundation


No7 Beautifully Matte foundation is available at Boots for £12.95

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