My new love.. Skin79 Hot Pink BB cream!

So about a month ago i just couldn't resist jumping on the BB cream wagon and ordered a couple! BB creams or Blemish/Beblish balms have been a huge hit in Asia for some time and have steadily been growing popularity with bloggers and youtubers! Some people say it originated in Korea and some in Germany but i won't go into that, all i know is that i love it!

I'd had my heart set on the Skin79 BB Cream for some time and being a lover of packaging chose the Pink over the Gold Skin79 BB Cream which is aimed at dry skin. I know its a little bit silly... but it's pink! This BB cream claims to be a 10 in one product on the official Skin79 website; foundation, moisturiser, primer, sun care, moisture locking, oil controlling etc. I presume the 'Whitening' claim is just about evening skin tone. There are many brands of BB cream available and i chose this particular brand due to some of the great reviews i'd read and again stupidly because of the packaging. As i mentioned earlier i did purchase another BB cream which I'll review at a later date as i haven't got round to using it yet.

Over the last month or so I'd invested in quite a few foundations only to be disappointed by most of them but this was a very pleasant surprise! As you can see it's in a very cute pink can and has a large button on top to pump out the product. The pump has quite good control so you can manage the amount of product you're using but i find a whole pump is a little bit much for me (and i have a large face). It's a little grey in texture but it doesn't show when applied. Being a NW15 (And even then Studio Fix Fluid makes me look orange!) i was actually shocked when this blended to my skin tone. I've had real difficulty in the past with one shade fits all products as i am super pale. As for coverage it is quite light but for me works wonderfully with concealer over if needed. Unlike a lot of other foundations or tinted moisturisers this does not cling to any dry patches or blemishes i have and i found my face feeling just as soft and smooth at the end of the day!

To sum it up i really do love this product. And if you're looking for a light coverage foundation i would really recommend giving this a shot! Although only for light to medium skin tones as the product is such a light colour.

You can purchase these from the Skin79 Website  And Yesstyle.com but both sites are a little pricey on shipping. I ordered from Yesstyle and paid £9 shipping which is why i decided on getting two. You can also get them off eBay but there is an awful lot of fakes about and I'd recommend buying them from a reputable retailer. Although i will be trying a specific eBay buyer this month and shall let you know how that works out!


Thanks to Jane for lending me her photography skills! And thanks for reading :)

Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream

I've been searching for a decent inexpensive moisturiser for some time now and am happy to say I've found one! I have dry/sensitive skin and it has been murder trying to find a moisturiser that's hydrating and doesn't break me out. I've mentioned in my previous posts about Lush's Skin Drink moisturiser which i love but after reading all the hype about the Oilatum one i had to give it a go!



It's sold online and in stores at Boots and Sainsbury's. After Youtubers rave reviews on this it swiftly sold out in Boots before i had a chance to pick it up so i drove out to a larger Sainsbury's store near me and went on the hunt! Luckily i found two tubes actually hidden at the back of all the Oilatum products! It's priced at £7.65 so i decided to pick up both just in case. It's packaged in a small tube which i love since it is much more hygienic than sticking your fingers into a pot of cream. Its a white cream and is quite thick in consistency but does take a little while to sink into your skin so you'd need to leave 5-10 minutes before applying makeup. As with most products aimed at sensitive skin it has no added fragrance and the product has very little smell to it. After using this product for about a week no longer does my skin feel tight or dry and now feels soft and perfectly hydrated. It basically does what it says on the tin! Unlike a lot of other reviews I've read i wouldn't give up primer after using this but it is a pretty decent affordable moisturiser! This gets a mega thumbs up from me and i would highly recommend this to anyone who suffers from dry skin.


Thanks for reading and hello to my new followers :)

Birchbox for the UK. Hello GlossyBox!

I've just been informed about this in the last half hour and had to write something about it! For a while now every makeup addict in the UK has been green with envy over the US brand Birchbox who for $9.99 a month deliver 5 deluxe high end samples from well known and not so well known cosmetics brands. And now we have a UK equivilent... eee! GlossyBox is £10 a month with free postage and basically will do exactly the same thing! You fill out some details so your box may be slightly more personalised but i think this is a wonderful idea and if i wasn't on a spending ban i'd snap one of these up right now! Well... possibly tomorrow if i cave! 

Thought i'd let you all know :)

Medusa's Makeup Review

 I was first recommended Medusa's Makeup by a friend of a friend and after some research and being enticed by all the pretty colours i decided to give it a shot. I purchased the Makeup Artist start up kit as it seemed to be the best value for money option at $75 plus shipping from the US, all in all i paid around £55. The set included 12 of their Electro Eye Shadows, a 6 piece brush set, eye primer and eyeliner seal. I'd just shelled out for a couple of Smashbox pieces and this seemed like and OK deal to me. 


The first plus note about this brand is that my package was sent as a 'gift' which meant i didn't have any import fee's to pay. It was securely packed in a thick envelope and bubble wrapped quite tightly. I think it took about two weeks for delivery.

The Electro Eye Shadows:

They come in simple but a tad flimsy black casing and are around the size of the regular Mac shadows. Originally i was in love with these, the colours i started using were extremely well pigmented and applied pretty. When i got around to testing all of these around half of them were a little bit of a let down, the casing was broken on two of them and they were not easy to work with and were extremely less pigmented than the others! I will however still be using the Blue, Black, Green and White shades as these are probably the best out of the lot. The only slightly annoying note was when wearing the blue on a night out there was some slight glitter fall out on my lashes which was incredibly annoying whenever the light hit it. I used UDPP and will probably give these another shot using their own primer.

6 Piece Brush Set:

I have to say i do quite like these. They come in a plastic case with the brush information on the back and have the names of the brush printed on each one. I bought large brush set from Fraulein (which i will get round to reviewing eventually) and i find myself reaching for the Medusa brushes for my eyes much more often. The bristles are soft and I've had no fallout from any of them which is beaut. Unfortunately the fluff brush did fall apart on about the third use, whether this was from the postage or poor manufacturing i do not know. I will be gluing it back together until i find a superior brush though.

I haven't got round to using the primer and eyeliner seal yet due to not really liking the packaging as it looked and felt a little cheap and i love my Primer Potion. 

A BIG letdown was when i tried to contact Medusa's Makeup to inform them about the broken shadows and brush i got no response. I wasn't looking for a refund and was more than polite in my emails. To be perfectly honest i probably won't be purchasing from them again for a few reasons. The cheap packaging is a real turn off for me and so is the non existent customer service. Had i not been dazzled by the colours i probably would of realised that for a relatively unknown brand £55 is a lot of money on a gamble. The products are really hit and miss and the hits are not exactly bulls eyes. I've heard good things about their Eye Dusts but in my opinion if you're not from the US you are much better off buying some Barry M Dazzle Dusts or a few Sleek Palettes you'd probably end up with more products you like for your money!

Thanks for reading! <3

Makeup Storage

As my makeup collection is vastly growing i've found myself looking into different storage options. I've looked at a lot of Youtube videos on it and sadly not found any decent UK storage videos as all the US ones seem to have cheap and cute options at places like the container store and Wallmart and sadly i can't get those here in the UK. Here are a few things i've purchased or am looking to buy for storage. :)


Whsmith do some cute and affordable stationary boxes that can double up as Makeup boxes. I was a very happy bunny when i checked in my local store as they had a sale on storage drawers and picked myself up a hot pink set for £6.80 which is a bargaintastic price! I couldn't find the exact box i bought online but here are a couple of similar boxes. I'd recommend if you live near a Whsmith to have a look in store and see if you can pick up any bargains!

Polka Dot 3 Drawer Set

 Laura Ashley Large Multi Drawer

On the slightly more expensive side I purchased a portable Beauty Box from Beauty-Boxes.com. I'd spent a lot of time researching for a cosmetics box but was finding it extremely difficult to find one under £50 that had a flat bottom compartment. There are a lot of cheaper cosmetics cases available online but i found nearly ALL of them had sectioned compartments on the bottom which means i would of had to carry my brushes and palettes around separately and with me being as clumsy as i am that was a no no. This case is sturdy and lockable (great if you want to keep other peoples mitts off your makeup!) and has two tiers of different sized compartments on each side perfect for storing all kinds of hair/beauty/makeup items! They also come in a few cute colour selections if you you're not a fan of pink.

 Lastly i've seen online that Ikea do some slightly less attractive but pretty practical drawers that would be perfect for storage! I've not purchased this yet because to be honest i'd have an excuse to fill it with more makeup if i did! But i'd be something i'd look into in the future as it is only around £20.

These come in three different colours white, red and silver and you can see these online here.

Thanks for reading and i'd also like to say a big thanks to my new followers you make me feel a little bit less silly for writing all of this! Also if anyone has any other cute and affordable storage ideas please let me know :)

<3

NYX Haul Part 1

  

A few weeks or so ago i purchased a nice little haul of NYX products from both Cherry Culture and Ebay. I’ve only managed to test out a few of the products so far. Although NYX UK did inform me that Cherry Culture apparently should no longer be shipping NYX to the UK since they are supposed to be the only UK distributor. To be honest i will probably not be paying NYX UK prices as it is considerably cheaper to order from the US. If CC do stop shipping to the UK i will probably end up buying from Ebay. The Glitterati Palette i ordered cost me $10 when it is £20 from the UK store so you get my point.

                            

Smokey eye kit: I’ve been eyeing up the Benefit Smokin’ Eyes for quite some time now and i really just cant justify paying £28.50 for that little product in a cardboard case! I came across this on Cherry Culture for $8… Bargain! The shipping for the little lot i ordered was about $15 i think but i did buy two palettes and a few of their Jumbo pencils.

Its got 10 lovely neutral shades perfect for a smokey eye look. First off i couldnt work out whether i loved the texture of these shadows, they are very silky but there is quite a bit of fall out when you use them. I'll try them out with a couple of different brushes to see if that makes a difference. These are very easy to blend but again i’m unsure about the texture. They are fairly pigmented and the end result with them is pretty nice. Overall i think this product is a very good buy for the price. These little sets come in about 10 different variations for different eye colours and looks too which is a cute little bonus.

Jumbo eye pencils: I purchased three of these babies! Black Bean, Cherry Red and Rocky Mountain Green. They are on sale at Cherry Culture for around $3.50 but you can also get them from Ebay from multiple sellers for a couple of pound each. Apart from swatching I’ve only really got round to trying the black one. They are very large and apart from lining my water line i use a slant brush to apply these because I’ve not got the steadiest of hands! Black Bean has a slight oil like texture which i actually really like. As for staying power I’ll have to update this on that! They are a really good buy for lining or using as an eyeshadow base which again I’ll have to try and test for creasing! I've just placed another order for the Milk shade in this pencil purely to use as a base.

I have quite a few other Nyx products including a glitter palette and 6 lipsticks to use and review which i'll do as soon as possible.

These can all be purchased from either Cherry Culture, Ebay or Nyx UK and are definitely worth a try :)

<3

 

Products i couldnt live without

There are a few products i use on a daily basis and really couldn't live without. I have seen a lot of videos and blog posts on this subject so i thought I'd post my own :)
(In no particular order)

Tigi Superstar Queen For A Day Thickening Spray:
This product is a beaut! I have quite thin and extremely flat hair and this completely solves this problem! It adds much needed volume and makes my hair easier to work with when back brushing or styling. I'm really not sure how i managed before this! Love it!

Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Liner:

 Liquid liner is my go to lazy option for makeup. Up until recently I'd probably use a very similar liquid liner look for all my nights out! Lately I'm trying to be a little more adventurous but still i absolutely love this product! I do get a little smudging at the outer corner of my eyes when its hot by the end of the night and sometimes touching up when my hands arnt the steadiest is a pain in the ass but this is definitely my all time favourite liquid liner.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Pencil - Zero:
I really need to purchase this again! I lost this item about a month ago and the Bad Gal liner i've been using just doesn't cut it. This pencil is beautifully pigment and lasts a hella long time on the eyes! A cheaper alternative to this would probably be Rimmels kohl liner but i shall definitely be getting my hands on one of these babies again soon!  

Lush - Skin Drink:
I've spoken about this product in an earlier post so wont go into detail. It's my favourite moisturiser and is great for my skin type!

Simple Soothing Cleanser and Toner:
I got these as a gift for Christmas in a little set and only really got round to trying them a month or two ago. Like with all lower end facial skin care brands I'm a little skeptical (brand snob i know!). I'd been using a Gatineu cleanser and toner for SO long i just didn't really want to use anything else. The products are lovely for the price (around £3 each) and are gentle on the skin. When feeling the pinch I'll definitely be picking these up instead of my Gatineu! I just cant live without a good cleanser or toner!

L'oreal Million Lashes:
I got a couple of these as a gift and it is a very good mascara! I've got quite a few mascaras in my collection and was previously a Bad Lash addict but i seem to be reaching for this one almost every day. The downside is that it's L'oreal and knowing about their stance on animal testing will make me have a big think before repurchasing it. But this is a fabulous mascara and if you don't have any quarrels with animal testing you should check it out. :)

Mac Studio Fix Foundation:
I've only had this a couple of months but has been one of the products when routing in friends makeup bags I've had a go with quite often. I love it! I wouldn't apply this with the applicator it comes with unless i need really heavy coverage. I use this to set my foundation with a powder brush and it gives a lovely finish!

Blistex:
Boring i know! But i think this stuff is wonderful. Perfect for dry/chapped lips! Not much else to say on it really!








I wish i could add more colour but honestly its generally something I'm just experiment with more at the moment! I have jumped on the Orgasm bandwagon with Nars blush and am loving that currently too! There is also a lot of Elf products i'm surprisingly liking and using more regularly. More reviews and so on coming soon!

Also if you have a blog and do a similar post let me know, its great to see what everyone else loves!


xx