Disappointing Products

I like to think I remain pretty positive particularly on my blog but sadly some products just don’t impress me much (apologies for the Shania Twain connection). Speaking of which, today I am going to talk a little on some of those products. Now when it comes to beauty, everyone has different preferences and some things suit others better so I am sorry if I am about to slag off your holy grail product! Anyway here are my picks of the not so impressing products (for me anyway).

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation – Now I have mentioned this one before and I know a lot of people love it but sadly it just didn’t work well with my skin. Sometimes it would sit okay and others it just failed on me. It seemed to stick to my dry patches, it didn’t last long and I felt like it was slightly difficult to blend in to a good finish.

Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder & Highlighter – Again I know this bronzer is a favourite of many but again I just didn’t get on with it. I don’t know whether I got a bad product or its always like this but I found this pretty unusable. Both the bronzer and highlighter are really stiff in the pan. My finger doesn’t pick up the bronzer at all and while it does for the highlighter, my brush doesn’t pick up the product. Other than that it smells pretty damn amazing which is probably the reason why I haven’t chucked this one yet!

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer – I’ve spoke briefly on this one too here and again its a pretty hyped up favourite by many. It just didn’t offer me the coverage I needed for my heavily blemished and red skin. It was really cakey as well in my opinion and just stuck to dry patches and the lasting claim never really happened for me either.

Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser – Sorry for the repetitiveness as I know I have mentioned my dislike for this one too. I love my primers but this one just didn’t quite cut it. It felt really greasy on my skin and never did anything for my pores. I didn’t really feel like it helped pro-long the wear of my makeup much either which is what I look for in a primer.

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner – Being a lover of eyeliner pens like the style of this one from Eyeko, I was pretty excited to receive this in the Latest in Beauty box. However after first use attempt I was pretty disappointed. It’s not easy trying to master the cat flick with eyeliner so I always felt using pen style liners were much easier but this one left me in a struggle. It was so difficult to apply that I actually had to swap back to my trusty Soap and Glory Supercat to finish the look. It didn’t apply smoothly and felt like it was dragging my eyelid, I wanted to like it but it was just far too difficult to apply.

Benefit They’re Real Push Up Liner – Yep another eyeliner and pretty much the same reasoning. I absolutely love Benefit, they hardly ever let me down and being a huge fan of the mascara from this line I got quite excited to receive this in one of the Christmas gift sets. I have heard many reviews of this one saying its a bit like marmite, some love it and some hate it. Sadly, I’m in the latter category, I just couldn’t work this, it was too difficult to apply and it wouldn’t give me the smooth line I was after.

The Body Shop Tea Tree Pore Minimiser – Another disappointing primer. Again I couldn’t really see what this did for my pores at all and I don’t think it really did much to help improve the base of my makeup. The tea tree scent does feel fresh on the skin but it wasn’t quite what I was looking for.

Are you a fan of any of these products?

 

 

Latest in Beauty Get The Gloss Beauty Insiders Kit

 

Apologies for the longest blog post name ever. I am not going to lie, I am not the biggest fan of beauty boxes. I just don’t like the idea of spending money on a box of products that I never wanted in the first place and from brands I had never heard of but I guess I slightly caved when I seen this one from Latest in Beauty. Packed full of well known branded goodies, some of which I had been lusting over for ages I just couldn’t say no. The best bit of course being the price at only £19 (excl. p&p) with the whole box being worth a jawdropping £116.

There is a good mix of products in the box from skincare to beauty. Starting with the Therapie Roques Oneil Cherish Skin Repair Serum (30ml). This is my first encounter with this brand and I’ve been loving giving this a try. The body serum firstly smells amazing and is for helping to heal the skin especially during the harsh winter. The Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate (10ml) comes next and is the serum in need of tackling signs of aging. It is a pricey one though if you were to get the full size! The James Read Sleep Mask Tan (25ml) is also included which is a brand I’ve never heard of. I am really not a fan of any tanning products but I will give this a little go despite being a little worried about the whole overnight thing, waking up looking like an oompa loompa is a terrifying thought! I do love a good oil product so I was quite happy to see an appearance of the Balance Me Radiance Face Oil (10ml). It comes in a handy rollerball and creates such a radiance on the skin. Finally, probably the most exciting skincare product is the GlamGlow Supermud Clearing Treatment (10g). I’ve heard a lot about this brand and was super excited to see it included. I have tried this out, it does smell horrible but that aside I do really like it. It made my skin feel so incredibly soft, shame there isn’t a lot of product.

On to beauty products. The Daniel Sandler Concealer Brush was included in the box and is quite a thin and dainty brush. I have tried this and I am not the biggest fan, it is too small for my liking as I prefer a slightly larger brush for concealer. Two Essie Nail polishes (5ml) made their way in too in the shades Shearling Darling and Parka Perfect , a dark maroon and a grey shade. They are so up my street! Moving on to the product that made me purchase the box altogether; the Laura Mercier Foundation Primer (30ml). This primer alone retails for £19, the price of the box and after lusting over it for so long this was the prime reason for picking up this box. I haven’t fully tried this yet but I like it so far and it is quite different from any other primer I have used. It is a very lightweight gel texture and glides smoothly on the skin. Last but not least the Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner (2g, full-size). Being a huge eyeliner fan I had been dying to try this for ages and couldn’t believe my luck at seeing a full sized product in this box. Sadly though it didn’t quite live up to expectation. It has such a fine nib but unfortunately I found it hard to work with and it felt like it was dragging my skin rather than gliding on like my Soap and Glory one does. A no-no from me on that one.

While there was a couple of no-go’s I did find some gems and I can’t wait to start using them properly.

Unfortunately this box is now sold out.

Are you a fan of beauty boxes? Are you a fan of any of these products?

 

 

Makeup Tips for Glasses Wearers

Glasses used to be seen as being “uncool” and “geeky” however times have moved on and now glasses are seen as a trendy fashion accessory. I’ve had pretty bad eyesight for around 10 years now *gasps* and so glasses are more a “necessity” rather than a “fashion accessory” to me however I would feel strange looking without them but whatever the reason behind them there are a few cautions to look out for when it comes to applying makeup. Eye makeup always makes me feel that little more confident and when it comes to applying makeup for glasses wearers, one thing; its all in the eyes!

1. Mascara – Depending on your vision eyes can appear either smaller or bigger with glasses. Being short-sighted (close up vision) my eyes appear smaller so its important to me to make my eyes appear wider. Mascara is a great way in opening up your eyes and using eyelash curlers can also be a further help.

2. Eyeliner – Eyeliner is very important. The tip is to match the thickness of your eyeliner to the thickness of your frames. As I have pretty large frames I tend to go for a more thicker line of eyeliner. Also adding a white or nude eyeliner to the inner corner of your eye can help them look wider. Also if you tend to adopt a cat-eye winged eyeliner look ensure that the flick can be seen from your glasses and isn’t hidden behind the frame for those with smaller frames.

3. Eyeshadow – Wearing glasses means that the focal point is straight to the eyes so its important to keep things neutral. Try to avoid bright shades of eyeshadow and stick to more neutral shades so if you don’t already then think about asking for Urban Decay Naked palettes for your birthday, they are a treat! Also avoid applying eyeshadow higher than your frames reach.

4. Eyebrows – Eyebrows are important when it comes to wearing glasses as they are more noticeable so ensure they are kept tidy and are shaped to the style of your frames.

5. Concealer – If you are prone to dark circles or bags under the eyes be sure to conceal this area to get an even colour (i.e  Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer) and also use an under eye brighter such as the YSL Touche Eclat or even a highlighter to bring a little life to your eyes.

6. Cheeks and Lips – And last but not least, by leaving the eyes neutral don’t be afraid to add a pop of colour to your cheeks and lips. And also ensure to add a little highlight to your cheekbones 🙂

I hope these tips were helpful. Everyone has different preferences and its up to you how you apply your makeup.

How do you adapt your makeup when wearing glasses?

 

 

 

August Favourites

Can you believe its September already! I felt like summer only began and now its reaching the end, crazy! Anyway its time to recap on my favourite items of last month. August has been one crazy month but I did celebrate my birthday and go shopping (a lot!).

This month I finally got my hands on the Maybelline color tattoo eyeshadows which are fantastic. I got three shades but my favourite has to be On and On Bronze which is a neat shimmery bronze colour. I recently did a review on the three shadows which you can check out here. The shadow is highly pigmented and long lasting so if you haven’t already then I suggest you pick this up!

Another item I got in my recent haul was the Soap and Glory Supercat eyeliner. I am going to put my hands up and admit I am terrible with eyeliner. I have tried every medium of eyeliner available from pencil to liquid to gel and I have still not mastered the winged eyeliner. However I thought I would try Supercat which is a felt tip style eyeliner which I had not previously tried. This has to be the best eyeliner I have ever used, its so easy to apply and great for people like me who are hopeless with eyeliner. I can now say that I am getting a lot better with the winged eyeliner look 🙂

As I stated earlier I celebrated my birthday in August and I received this cute pastel necklace from a friend. I had been looking for a nice big jeweled necklace for a while now at a good price but I kept holding it off so it was nice to receive this as a gift and even better that pastels are here to stay for fall so I can continue to keep this beauty on!

And last but not least I also got this bag for my birthday. I had been looking for a new bag for a while (well to be honest I am always looking for new bags!) and my mum kindly bought me this cute colour block bag from New Look. Its a great size for all my essentials and comes with a handy adjustable shoulder strap.