Wednesday 26 February 2014

Beauty // Rimmel Matte BB Cream & Stay Matte Mousse Foundation Review



I recently bought the Rimmel Matte BB Cream, which I've had my eye on for weeks as I've been absolutely loving the Stay Matte foundation lately & have long been a fan of their Stay Matte powder. I have combination skin which can get shiny throughout the day but also has dry patches and can look awful with certain foundations but thankfully both of these products have really suited my skin.

Rimmel Stay Matte Mousse Foundation in 100 Ivory & 010 Light Porcelain
Stay Matte Mousse Foundation
I've had this foundation for around four months now and I'm completely in love with it. Shine is something I have to deal with on a daily basis, whatever I do to set my makeup I always always suffer with shine throughout the day - but it is dramatically reduced, to the point where it's perfectly fine to leave my skin as it is and just look a little dewy towards the evening. This is a medium to high coverage foundation that is buildable and can be thinned out using a damp sponge or applied more generously with a brush. My favourite way to apply this is with my Cosmopolitan beauty blender sponge, it just gives the perfect flawless finish and makes my skin look literally perfect. 
It can be a little heavy going at times, so I sometimes mix this foundation with another one to get the best of both worlds, my favourite combination is the Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation as this gives such a lovely fresh and dewy look to the skin which can sometimes be a problem for my oilier parts - but that is toned down by including the matte mousse. 
I was a little concerned about what the texture would be like with this foundation, as I've tried Mousse's before and really disliked them, but this is more of a stiff liquid foundation and is very easily blendable - although less so when applied with fingers. 
I have combination skin and find that it doesn't cling to the dry parts of my face or emphasise them at all, and it in fact reduces the appearance of my pores. 
Due to the heavy nature of this foundation I am starting to find it's causing slight break outs and as a result I prefer to not wear this every day to try and give my skin a break, but I always reach for this when I'm looking for a flawless finish! I will definitely be repurchasing this.
You might be wondering why I have two shades of this - and two shades that are seemingly quite different! Well, believe it or not these are the two lightest shades - the lighter of which is just a touch too pale for me, but the next shade down is far too dark so I like to mix the two together to create the perfect colour for me.

If you're after something high coverage, to keep you shine free this is a great choice as long as your skin isn't too sensitive or prone to aggravated breakouts. 

Rimmel BB Cream in Light
Rimmel Matte BB Cream
After falling head over heels for the Stay Matte foundation and seeing this product advertised, I had to get my hands on it.. especially now I'm getting a few more breakouts, I really want to use something thats gentle and light on my skin. I've used a few BB creams before, and really not got one with this one so I was pleasantly surprised with this little gem. 
Unfortunately I don't find it to be that matte, and it does have quite a dewy finish after a few hours wear but it doesn't look anywhere near as oily as previous BB creams I've used.
It gives light-medium coverage which is again buildable and does correct redness and somewhat conceal blemishes, but I used a concealer over the top of this too for added coverage.
It's too early to tell if there are really any skincare benefits from this product but it feels good to wear something light and natural looking on my skin for day-to-day makeup. 

I don't love this as much as the foundation, but it's still a product I'll use on a regular basis and might repurchase in the future. 

Tuesday 25 February 2014

Beauty // Mini Boots Haul


Yesterday I popped into my local Boots store to stock up on some essentials, and bought a few surprises too!

These are all the products that I got:


My hair has been suffering a lot recently & has been in need of some TLC and hydration so I've returned to an old favourite in Hello Hydration & included a new addition of Moroccan My Shine - which contains Moroccan argan oil - to try and revive my tired tresses.

I've had my eye on the Rimmel BB cream ever since Gemsmaquillage did a video featuring it about a month a go. I've filmed a 'first impressions' video throughout the day today on this product and am considering uploading to YouTube - let me know in the comments if this is something you'd be interested in seeing, and if you'd like me to upload it. 

The other things I got are old favourites too that I needed to restock on - I'm really enjoying the Lee Stafford hair growth treatment at the moment, and I am feeling longer but also fuller - it seems like some smaller baby hairs are growing through and my hair is getting thicker - which is great news! I'm sure once I've gotten to use it a bit more and have had time to see if it's helping my hair grow a lot I'll do a more in depth review. 

XxX

Monday 3 February 2014

Beauty // MAC Stroke of Midnight

MAC Stroke of Midnight Eyes in Smoky





Well Put Together, Gaelic Gold, Retrospeck & Chillproof

Chillproof, Retrospeck, Gaelic Gold, Well Put Together & Carbon

I got this gorgeous limited edition MAC eyeshadow palette for Christmas and I tell you what - it's pretty darn fabulous! I already own a MAC eyeshadow quad of colours that I selected in store (See that post here) so I was really excited when I opened this very generous gift. 

The packaging is gorgeous and reminds me of art-deco-1920s-great-gatsby type design which I adore. Unfortunately I dropped it as soon as I opened it, and Well Put Together smashed...but I managed to fix it using rubbing alcohol. 

The quality of MAC eyeshadows is obviously very well known, and this palette is no different. It's perfect for a smoky eye or a daytime look and can be made more intense or dramatic with the darker colours.

Chillproof 
This is a highly pigmented white-silver shimmery eyeshadow which is perfect for highlighting the inner corner of the eye or for under the brow bone. It manages to avoid that dreaded 'frosty' look that can sometimes come with this type of eyeshadow. A little goes a long way with this for highlighting, so should last a long time. 

Retrospeck
For me, this colour is the winner of the palette, a beautiful pale shimmery neutral tone that has both gold and rose tones to it - perfect for an all-over-the-lid wash, or for incorporating into a smoky eye. This is one I will definitely be repurchasing as a single shadow.

Gaelic Gold
This colour is so pretty and looks, in my opinion, far prettier swatched or worn than it does in the pan. It adds a great warmth to what could be an otherwise quite cool toned palette and eye look. I feel that this one could possibly be interchangeable with All that glitters in terms of using it for a smoky eye look, but ATG is probably the all out winner.

Well Put Together
This is a really pretty grey colour with flecks of gold in it, and is lovely for a softer smoky look. The pay-off isn't great with this shade, but it is buildable. Works well if Carbon is used underneath to intensify. 

Carbon
An intense, dark grey matte colour which is a must have for a dramatic smoky eye. Again, not the best colour payoff but it is more pigmented than Well Put Together. 

I really love this palette, my only negative is that for the size of the packaging you don't get a huge amount of shadow - which is disappointing. However these limited edition palettes are a great way of adding something magical to your collection, and trying out 5 shades for a little less money than if you bought them individually. 

xox



What's your favourite MAC shadow?


Fashion // OOTD


Boucle Cardigan - H&M
White top - H&M
Black Leigh Jeans - Topshop
Flat black shoes - M&S
Bag - Prada 
Watch - Michael Kors


It's still a little on the cold side to be wearing just this on it's own, but I really love this outfit for a smart/casual daytime look. 

xox

Sunday 2 February 2014

Beauty // Urban Decay All Nighter

So, I'm a terrible blogger! I'm really on the mission to start blogging more regularly with better content.
Today I'm going to do a short, sort of first impressions review of Urban Decay's makeup setting spray All Nighter.



I've had this setting spray for a few weeks now and it was something I'd wanted to purchase for over a year - so I was really excited when it finally arrived in the post and I could try out it's almighty holding power.

However, after using this over the last few weeks and trying different techniques to do with how close I spray, how much I spray, what primer's I pair it with, sometimes even spraying this on my bare face as a primer and finishing with it as well...

I'm so intensely disappointed with this spray. It's useless. Well, it is for me anyway. I've seen a lot of blog posts and online reviews praising the hell out of this stuff and it's wondrous powers of holding makeup to your face. But for me, it didn't help set my makeup and definitely didn't help it stay all day.

I do wonder if my disappointment with this product is because I've spent many years being very naughty, and using hairspray as a makeup setting spray. This little hairspray trick came from me and my best friend doing the hair & makeup for the school plays during the last few years of school, and is something I've used for nights out and pageants ever since. Hairspray, and in particular extra strength ones hold your makeup on and give it the most perfect smooth finish.. of course it's important to be very very careful when spraying this on your face, always have your eyes and mouth closed and spray from a distance, do not inhale and make sure the area your spraying in is well ventilated. Personally, I'm not going to be repurchasing this spray - and I probably won't even finish the bottle as I find it does absolutely zero for my makeup. Also, hairspray is considerably less expensive than this Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray, which retails at £19.50 for 118ml of product.

If you've tried this product please let me know how you found it.. xox
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