Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette

I wasn’t expecting to love this palette as much as I do, I saw loads of hype about it from US beauty bloggers and I had just decided I needed to try to work with colour a bit more. Of course when choosing any great eyeshadow palette you go with Urban Decay.

I was deciding between this one and the Vice 4 but I chose the Gwen Stefani one because it just seemed to have more pros than the Vice 4 did. I like that it has a few matte browns for blending, it has some great glittery shadows, a couple of bold colours and well Gwen Stefani helped design it so it just felt that bit more special!

Stark and Anaheim are the blending colours I seem to reach for the most in the palette, they are lovely ,slightly cool toned browns. Punk is also a great shadow for deepening up your crease and in the outer v, it’s an unusual burgundy brown that looks great on the eye.

The bright colours are brilliant for a bit more of a statement eye, I’ve used the blue a few times under my eye. I’ve only used it on it’s own but I think it’d look great if I used a white or blue liner as a base underneath. I haven’t tried the other bright colours properly yet but I’m looking forward to having a play around with them.

I will quickly mention that whilst very buttery and pigmented, they do have a small amount of fallout so I like to do my eyes first. It happens mostly with the shimmery/glittery shadows but it's nothing you can't easily fix with a cotton pad.

If you are still thinking of getting this palette then I would definitely recommend it! Even my mum said it looked awesome, I can't wait for the rest of Gwen Stefani's collection to be released. I'm definitely eyeing up the blush palette and some of the lipsticks.

Let me know what you think of the palette or are you going to be getting something from the newer pieces of the collection?

xoxo
V

Bee Good Cream Cleanser

Bee Good-Honey and Propolis 2 in 1 Cream Cleanser-£11.50

Here we go then, the first review of 2016, this cleanser was an accidental find but it turns out to be a bit of a gem.
Basically my beauty and skincare stuff didn't get packed in to the car during the Christmas madness, I was looking for the Burt Bees cleanser but Waitrose didn't seem to stock it so I ended up grabbing this instead.

I wasn't expecting big things from this but as I read the box now it does say it doesn't contain any mineral oils, silicone or parabens. These are all ingredients I tend to steer away from because they tend not to suit my dry skin. The price is also great for the amount you get and it does include a cute little muslin cloth.

So onto the actual product, when I first applied this I used way too much, you really do need the smallest amount because it seems to cream up really thickly and to twice the amount. For dry skins this is the bomb! It's so luxurious and creamy making it really lovely to apply to my dry skin to remove every last bit of make up. I'm seriously impressed by this accidental little find and will definitely be using up every last drop. The muslin cloth is a great added bonus too, I'm intrigued to try more products from this brand having never seen it before.

Lush Twilight Bath Bomb

Lush Twilight Bath Bomb-£3.35

I had high hopes for this Lush Twilight Bath Bomb, it was recommend for people that have difficulty sleeping so I was expecting it to be like the Blackberry Bath bomb, which I love. I expected something very calming and it smelt nice when unused but when I put this in the bath I couldn't really smell anything.

It did feel quite nice on the skin but it hadn't quite had the effect I was hoping, compared to the Blackberry bath bomb it just wasn't as calming and relaxing. If I buy a bath bomb I tend to want it to smell and work well. 

It wasn't terrible but I wouldn't repurchase it personally but that doesn't mean it wouldn't work for you.

What other Lush products should I try?

My Top Lipbalms

I love lip balm and I can't go a day without it, in fact I struggle to go a few hours without applying some. I have a breathing problem which I think I have mentioned before, it's mainly to do with my lungs but I also breathe mainly through my mouth which causes dry, flaky lips.
I use lip scrubs to get rid of flakiness and when I want to wear certain lipsticks but I find the best way to keep my lips looking good is to reapply lip balm all the time.

By Terry Baume De Rose-£39.00

My top lip balm of choice is the By Terry Baume De Rose, it is pricey stuff but it is the thickest, creamiest, most loveliest lip balm in the world! It's definitely one of my holy grail items. I did a fuller blog post recently so you can read more about it here. I can honestly say though if you have very dry lips then give this a go and hopefully you will love it as much as I do, it's worth every penny.

Nivea Lip Balm-£1.55 and Nivea Lip Butter-£2.00

The next few lip balms are all high street, the first are the Nivea lip balms in stick form. I love these and they come in a variety of different colours and strength of hydration. These are so easy to get in deals at the super market, I make sure I always pick them up when they have an offer on. They are great to have chucked in your make-up bag or in you handbag. I have a few of these dotted all over the house!

This next lip balm is one I got in a gift set for Christmas by Marks and Spencers, I actually really loved the gift set but I was so surprised how lovely and soft this makes my lips feel! I just didn't expect to love it as much as I do. They actually do a cute little set of three lip balms for £6.00 which would make a great little present for a friend or family member. ps. I didn't take a photo of mine because my dog chewed the lid and it looks a bit gross, but luckily it's still usable.

Finally I have another lip product by Nivea, this time it's the little lip butters they do. They smell delicious and are lovely and thick so they feel like they are actually working on your lips. I've not been trying these as long but I think I might be hooked! I want to get some different flavours so I can hide those round the house too

What are your lip balm musts?

Makeup Revolution Haul First Impressions

Lip Lava- Makeup Revolution-£11.96 for all 5

Ultra 32 Shade Eyeshadow Flawless Matte- Makeup Revolution-£8.00

So I recently made an order from Makeup Revolution, I'd never bought anything from them before but they have lots of good offers on and they have some lovely palettes. I like that they have lots of colourful eyeshadow palettes for really decent prices, I love doing colourful looks but don't always want to spend loads on eyeshadows.

I bought all of the lip lavas because they were doing a special package deal, I love the pale neautral shades for everyday and the red is also something I would wear. The purple one is a bit more out there but I quite liked using it for this post. I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to wear it out. 

I also got the Ultra Matte Eyeshadow palette which is really useful to use as transitional colours with some of my other palettes, they are a little chalky though and they do have a bit of fall out. I used a couple of the shades on my eyes for this look but I mainly used the Iconic Pro palette. I forgot to take pictures of the palette but I used most of the brown shades for my crease and then some of the grey/ taupe shades for my outer v.

I haven't ever done a make up look for my blog before do you like them? Let me know what you think down below

Lush Buffy Scrub

Lush Buffy Scrub-£6.50/90g

This was one of the first Lush products I ever tried, I hadn't heard anything about it but saw that it was good for exfoliation for dry skin. It was so unusual and I love trying all kinds of exfoliation products so I thought I would pick it up to try. This is the third time I've repurchased this and I love it.

It is quite a rough exfoliation so great for those of you with dry and flaky skin, if you like a gentle soft exfoliation then this isn't for you. What I particularly love about it is that because it's ground rich and other scrubby bits built into an essentials oil filled butter it leaves you feeling very soft afterwards and not like a dried up prune.

It lasts a good long time and I always come back to it when I'm feeling particularly dry because nothing else seems to do the job quite as well! I always buy the small size because I find it easier to use and the bigger version is quite a chunky block to work with.

Have you tried this scrub? Let me know in the comments below

My Top 5 Pinky-Nude Lipsticks

 A bit of a different post today than my normal reviews, here I have picked out my top 5 pinky nude lipsticks. I don't really wear just nude lipsticks I tend to lean more towards a pinky nude because otherwise I look so washed out! So I actually seemed to do this in order of opaqueness, I did this totally by accident but I think it worked quite well.

Seventeen Mirror Shine Lipstick-Belle-£4.79

 This first lipstick is by Seventeen, I picked this out because of the gorgeous deep pink shade but it came out as a sheer wash of colour. This one I'll pick when my lips are feeling dry or flaky because the texture is so creamy and it's almost like a gloss in lipstick form. I don't actually have much of this left but when I run out I would definitely go out and get it again. It also comes with a little mirror too which is great for on the go application!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain-Honey-£7.99

 Next up is this Balm Stain by Revlon, it's sort of like the chubby sticks by Clinique or you could compare it to a crayon you might have used in nursery. When I first got it, it was easy to use because the end was a sharper point but now it's a flat stub, that might just be because of the way I apply my lipstick though. It's a bit more pigmented than the Rimmel Mirror Shine Lipstick but again quite a sheer hydrating lipstick, great just to whack on without a mirror or quickly before heading out the door.

Seventeen Supreme Shine Lipstick-Barely Blush-£4.99

 Apparently Seventeen do good pinky nude lipsticks as I have two! This is such a lovely light pink nude and the price is so good for the quality of this lipstick, it has a medium pigmentation so not too sheer that's it's more like a gloss but just enough to make it a lipstick. Great if you want a hint of colour and again very creamy and easy to apply.

Mac-Brave-£15.50

 This is probably my favourite of the whole bunch, I have only had it a few months and it's already looking a bit on the low side, it has great coverage so definitely an opaque lipstick and the colour is a lovely shade of light rose pink. It is slightly matte but not drying on the lips at all, in fact it feels very buttery on the lips.

Stila Liquid Lipstick-Patina-£15.00

 Finally a liquid lipstick by Stila, great staying power as it goes on wet and then dries very matte and it does not budge after that, it doesn't even lose any of its colour throughout the day which is great! This is almost more of a mauve pink nude colour and some days it looks more mauve than pink, I think it depends what make-up you are wearing with it. I love this is if I don't want to be reapplying lipstick throughout the day the only problem with it is that the shade is almost always sold out, so keep a sharp eye out for it!

Those are my top 5 pinky-nude lipsticks, any lipsticks you recommend I try?

By Terry Lip balm

By Terry Baume De Rose-£39.00

Going into the shop knowing I was going to purchase this was probably one of the hardest things I've had to go and do. Ok, a tiny over exaggeration maybe but it is not easy parting with £39 for a fricking lip balm I can assure you! It's one of those 'beauty bloggers made me do it' purchases, the vlogger that did it for me was INTHEFROW, I'm currently obsessed with both her and her blog, I mean damn look at that gorgeous purple hair. I just want everything she recommends lately, not good for the bank balance.

I've always struggled with dry, flaky lips and nothing seems to cut it except for a few that I've recently been trialling. (Let me know if you'd like to see a post on my favourite lip balms in the comments below.) So when I bought this I hadn't set my hopes up  too high, I mean yes I wanted it to god damn work because it cost so much.

I walked into SpaceNK knowing it was coming home with me, I went straight over to find it, smelt it, dashed to the till out came the card, out came my money and there the little black bag of guilt was mine!

But was it worth it? Well that's the worst part. I absolutely adore it! I could NOT be without this now, the smell is delicious, the texture is thick and creamy, the packaging is oh so posh and what more is that it works!! It doesn't get rid of my flaky lips entirely but medically I don't think they ever will be, but this leaves them soft and preps my lips perfectly for lipstick.

So there we go that's an addiction I may live to regret! Anybody else tried this? Thoughts?

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette-£56.00

I adore these Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders and this palette is to great to try out more than one shade and to get to know the powders before maybe buying a full version. It's also a great palette to travel with because you can use the different shades for different parts of your face.

The shades from left to right are Dim Light, Incandescent Light and Radiant Light. My favourites are Dim Light and Incandescent Light, I use Dim Light more all over my face whereas Incandescent Light is better to highlight. The Radiant Light Shade is almost like a glowy bronzer and I don't use this as much as the other two but occasionally if I fancy a bronze glow I will use this powder on top of my contour.
My Incandescent Light powder has a serious dent in it and I can imagine I would buy the full size of this because I love how it brightens my under eyes and can also be used as a highlighter on the high points of my face.

The texture of these powders is so dreamy and buttery, they may be glowy powders but they don't have chunky pieces of glitter just a light, beautiful sheen.
I would definitely recommend trying out this palette, especially if you haven't tried the Ambient Lighting Powders before.

Would love it if you left a comment and maybe you'd like to follow me on bloglovin?

Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub

Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub-£5.50

I have naturally really dry lips and they always get so flaky so I decided to repurchase a Lush lip scrub. I have previously had the popcorn lip scrub from Lush and loved it so much but once I had used it up I didn't get around to buying a new one until now.

The bubblegum flavour smells and tastes so delicious, much better than the popcorn one that I had loved. I don't use this every day but I use it a couple of times a week to get rid of any flakiness on my lips. I think if I used it every day I would have no lips left. It always leave my lips feeling much softer and makes lipstick application much better.

I don't think there are many lip scrubs for sale but another one I love is the one by E.L.F. which is in a lipstick form and gives you a bit more control of the product. It does give a slightly better result in my opinion but the Lush one smells and tastes much better. Wouldn't it be great if Lush could do their scrub in a stick form?

L'Oreal Brow Artist Plumper

L'oreal Brow Artist Plumper-£5.99

I haven't ever tried a coloured brow gel before, usually I go for the clear mascara from Miss Sporty and use that to 'tame my brows.' But more recently I noticed it's really thick and gloopy and I'm not sure it keeps them in place anyway, so I thought I'd try a brow gel product.

I'd heard really good reviews about this Brow Artist Plumper so decided to try it first, I have it in the shade light/medium which admittedly is a bit too light for my dark brown eyebrows so next time I would pick up the darker shade.

The product itself though is great and really grooms and keeps your brows in place all day long, I usually use this after filling in my brows with some brow powder but if I'm in a rush I will just use this on it's own and the finishing result is really good.

I wouldn't go back to using clear mascara any more because I don't think it does as good a job and if you were after a clear gel then L'oreal Brow Artist Plumper does do a clear shade which would be great if your brows are quite full looking and you just need to tame them.

Has anybody tried this Brow Plumper? Or are there any other brow gels you would recommend? Please leave a comment below

No7 Stay Perfect Shade And Define

No7 Stay Perfect Shade and Perfect-£8.00

Firstly I'd like to apologise for these poor quality photos, I am on the road to improving my photos and hopefully I will be getting better as I learn more about photography.

Anyway I had to get a post up about this eyeshadow pencil, I had seen this floating around the bloggersphere as a dupe for the By Terry Ombre Blackstar in Misty Rock which I thought was stunning, but really £29.00 for an eyeshadow stick?!
I have the shade No7 Shade and Perfect Stick in Cool Rock and having seen swatches there really isn't much difference between them, the By Terry ones look like they have more pigmentation and admittedly do look that little bit prettier.

I picked this up using one the No7 £5 off vouchers, so it only cost me £3, I then got another voucher and used that one to get a purple shade which I also love. They are always giving out these vouchers and I am definitely going to try and use them a bit more now, it is a free £5 after all!

I think if I manage to use this shade up I might invest in the By Terry one because it is such a dreamy shade.

What I love especially about these eyeshadow pencils is how quick and easy they are to use, if I am ever in a rush or don't fancy a full on eye look then I will reach for this. A quick sweep across the eyelid and a bit of blending and I'm good to go.

Have any of you tried the By Terry Ombre Blackstars? Or the No7's Stay Perfect Shade and Perfect sticks? What do you think? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Lush Blackberry Bath Bomb Review

Blackberry Bath Bomb-Lush-£3.25

So this was one of the very first first bath bombs I properly tried from Lush, I went for it because it was meant to be good for anxiety and that immediately made me want to give it a go.
In fact I went straight home and used it that very night it's a very simple purple, bluey bath bomb but when thrown into the bath it explodes and turns the bath a lovely vibrant purple!

Now my sense of smell isn't that great so I wouldn't be able to smell it and then tell you exactly what was in it but from what Lush website tells me I can see that it contains frankincense and bergamot oils. These oils are used for anxiety, depression, tension and is supposed to relax and uplift you whilst you enjoy the bath. It also helps you calm down your breathing which is great for a gal with only one properly functioning lung aka me. Sometimes I forget to concentrate on breathing calmly and this just helps me relax and breathe a little better, obviously it's not a miraculous cure for me but it helps.

No for someone with a poor sense of smell I can definitely get the aroma of this bath bomb and I immediately calm down and relax.
It's now a bath bomb I can't be without, I always have to have a back up and everytime I go into Lush it is the first thing I add to my basket!  I have also got my grandad hooked on it because he likes to have a nice chill out before bed, I mean who doesn't?

Any other good relaxing bath bombs I need to try? Let me know in the comments below.

 

House Of Glamdolls GlamBase Wheel 1

 

House Of Glamdolls GlamBase Wheel 1-£25.00

After watching tutorials for years I've always watched make-up artists use cream contour products to create beautiful contours onto the face. I always thought this was something that was best left to the pros but when I saw the Pixiwoo sisters use this in a tutorial and recommend it to us mere make-up mortals so I thought why not give it ago. It was either going to go horribly wrong or I might miraculously get the hang of it.

When this arrived my initial thoughts was that it was very small and would I be able to fit my brush into it? well the answer is no. I had planned to use the new Real Techniques Bold Metals Contour Brush which was the brush Sam used in the tutorial but when I tried the brush was going into the other shades and messing up my contour.

I then tried it out with a Real Techniques domed eye crease brush just to apply the shade then used the contour brush to blend it all out. I actually found it pretty easy to do, I find with time I get better and I know where to place contour and highlight better now than I did at first.

The actual creams are so creamy and pigmented which just makes blending them a dream and for me that's pretty important because I can struggle with blending products onto my face because if they are difficult to blend then I tend to move my make up around and I start looking patchy. Also the creaminess is great for my dry skin and also helps with the blendability.

How do you feel about cream contours? Just for professionals or is it ok for everyday?

Review: Collection Eyes Uncovered Palettes

Collection Eyes Uncovered Palette-Nude Grey-£3.99
Collection Eyes Uncovered Palette-Nude-£3.99

These little gems are the new edition to the Collection family, these eyeshadow palettes include a few matte shades and also some shimmer shades. Here I have the Nude Palette and also the Nude Grey Palette, there is one more in the collection but I wasn't as keen on the shades and I really didn't need three new palettes, heck I didn't really need one but that's besides the point.

Both palettes come with one of those applicators we all hate and usually ditch in the bin, these are no different, they just aren't as good as make up brushes. I have kept mine and used them and found they aren't bad at applying eyeshadow into the inner corner of my eye and also placing eyeshadow under my eye and smudging it out.

These palettes are great and even better they are so affordable, usually the high street brands struggle creating good quality matte eyeshadows so tend to stick to shimmer but these matte shades are great. There is a bit of fall out but even my favourite, expensive Urban Decay eyeshadows do that. The packaging isn't the best, it's cardboard which isn't very durable and includes a brush that we all could do without even though I've managed to make use of it. I think it'd have been great if there had been a little mirror because it's so small and compact to great for travelling but you would need a seperate mirror.

Overall I think this is a fantastic budget buy, great for those starting out with eyeshadow and want to get something cheap to begin with. It'd be great for travelling with but you'd just need an extra mirror and just be careful of any fall out falling onto your face. Definitely worth checking out.

Have you tried these palettes or do you have any budget buys you think I should try?

Review: Mac Prolongwear Concealer

Every woman and her dog and her dog's best friend has heard of this concealer, I see every blogger and youtuber speak about it highly. At first I was a bit dismissive because I thought it wouldn't work around my dry eyes but then various blogger/vloggers with dry skin reviewed it and didn't seem to find that an issue so I thought I'd bite the bullet and buy it.

Mac Prolongwear Concealer-£17.00

 When I was choosing what shade I was going I wanted to go for something a bit lighter than my skin tone so that I could use it as an under the eye highlighter. The shade I got was NW20 and my foundation shade is usually NW25, I like the shade I got but I reckon I could have gone with NW15.

This is a very light consistency yet gives such great full coverage, and I haven't noticed it looking cakey or creasing. It lasts pretty much all day and I'm pretty much head over heels in love with it. I can't understand how I went so long without this.

I did read some reviews that the pump releases too much product, I would agree with that but after a couple of uses I found a way of just getting a little bit out. The key is to press very slowly and gently. Once applied I blend it out with my finger or a damp beautyblender and then later set it with a little powder. I like to press my powder onto my face because I find sweeping moves my make up out of place

I think this is a new staple product to my make up collection, although I would like to try the new Urban Decay concealer, so maybe I'll try that next. Are there any other good concealers out there that I might like?

Please leave a comment and you can follow if you are enjoying this blog. xx

A Step Into Eyeliner: Revlon Glam'Eyes and Bourjois Clubbing

I am not new to the world of eyeliner but recently I have changed my method and have converted from felt tip to a fine brush. I thought felt tip would be easier because it's more pen like and if I can write with a pen then surely I could do a flick with one. I think felt tip is great for beginners because it is pretty much just like using a pen. Sometimes I felt like it was too thick and not as precise as I would have liked. Also the cheaper ones dry out very quickly and then to get one that doesn't do that you have to spend a lot of extra money.

Revlon Glam'Eyes Liquid Eyeliner-£5.29

Bourjois Clubbing Liquid Eyeliner-£6.99

Revlon Glam'Eyes Liquid Eyeliner-£5.29
Bourjois Clubbing Liquid Eyeliner-£6.99

I wanted to try a different type of brush before I rushed out and bought a hugely overpriced felt tip eyeliner, so I decided to give these tinier more paintbrush like brushes a go. This is the kind of eyeliner if you want a hardcore flick or if you want precision. I can do much smaller and more precise strokes with these liners. For now I will be sticking with these sort of liners as it helps me achieve a matching pair of liner flicks, which I was a bit hit and miss at before.

The first eyeliner is Revlon Glam'Eyes Liquid Eyeliner, this one is the cheaper of the two. For the price it's amazing but I find the brush a little thicker than the Bourjois one and it's just that little bit less precise. I also find it's less black than the Bourjois one, for the price I think this eyeliner is great but I wouldn't pick it up again.

However, the Bourjois Clubbing Liquid Eyeliner is great, a tiny bit more expensive but I'm sure if you kept your eye out you could pick it up on offer. The brush is tiny and so precise that it makes doing my eyeliner so easy. I mean it still takes me forever but I don't find it anywhere near as hard and definitely doesn't take me as long. It also gives off the deepest of black colours and you don't have to keep going over it.

So that's my little round up of my new eyeliner experiences, anybody got any recommendations for similar eyeliners?