Holy Grail Foundation - Too Faced Born This Way

For so long I said 'you know what? I don't need a high end foundation, drugstore foundation works for me and I'd rather spend my money on other things'. I'm here to tell you that I was so very, very wrong and that Too Faced have shown me the error of my ways.

Since starting my job I've spent entire shifts looking longingly at all of the beauty counters and their offerings, whilst promising myself that I don't need a new base, that I'm good with my trusty Rimmel. Then one day I bit the bullet and asked the lovely lady who worked for Too Faced to match me up. I was originally torn by that and the Bareminerals Serum foundation, but the promise of long-lasting medium to full coverage for a similar price won me over.

As she applied a primer (the Laura Geller alternative to the Hangover Primer which she didn't have to hand) she promised me that dry skin patches would be a thing of the past with this foundation, and I didn't believe her for a minute. There was no way that an oil free full coverage foundation wouldn't make my already dry skin look dry.

I was proven wrong, even after applying it with over my Seventeen Skin Wow 3 Way Highlighting Primer (which I may come back to in another post, hint hint) which can by the teeniest bit drying.

On the website, Too Faced claims:

• ''Medium-to-full undetectable coverage
• Oil-free
• Coconut Water helps delicately replenish skin’s moisture levels without overhydrating—for the look of radiant skin
• Infused with the resilient Alpine Rose to brighten the skin’s appearance and promote elasticity
• Hyaluronic Acid helps balance skin for a smoother, more youthful appearance'

My skin looks F L A W L E S S after application, and you really don't need a lot to achieve that look. It doesn't crease under eyes, and it sets to a pretty much matte finish. I am so in love with this foundation, I feel like a changed woman. Yes, £29 is a lot for a foundation, but if like me you like to have a bit more coverage sometimes, for example on nights out, and you want it to last, then this is for you. When I say it lasts, I really mean it lasts. There's a nightclub where I live which stays open til 5am, and it is literally a sauna in there. My foundation remained flawless until after I left the club and physically took it off with a cleanser. For those of you who know which place I mean, that's a victory and a half.

Even the packaging is lovely. It feels luxurious (which it should, for the price!). The shade range in the store I bought it from was lacking somewhat. The shades were all on the yellow toned side, and the lady told me the shade I got (porcelain, the lightest shade they stocked) was more on the pink side, but it is still a little bit yellow on my to be honest. It's not too bad though, and I can forgive it as it looks so lovely when applied despite the undertone. The Debenhams website has a lot more shades - 18 I think-  ranging from pale to dark skin tones though, so they are trying to cater for all.

I've thrown in a classic half-face photo so you can clearly see the level of coverage from just a light layer. I used under half a pump for this but it's definitely buildable to full coverage. Unfortunately I decided to take the photos at night as I'm going away for the week but wanted to get this post up anyway so the photos aren't great thanks to the abysmal lighting in my house but hopefully you can see the effects anyway.

Before and after using half a pump of the foundation. While the photos aren't great you can see it as evened out my skin tone and covered any redness and blemishes, although not my pesky moles.

A very awkward and bad photo taken outside my bedroom where the lighting is slightly better. You can definitely see the difference though.

For effect I'm adding in a few photos that I took on Saturday night for a Halloween look I did. The foundation photographs beautifully and lasted throughout the night.

This is the first Two Faced product I've ever purchased but I've definitely got my eye on a few (or maybe more) other products, including the Christmas sets (no, Paige, you don't need more

eyeshadow palettes!)

Any Two Faced products you recommend? Have you tried this foundation?

See you again soon!

Paige

July Glossybox! Updated (mascara mix up)

The postman literally just delivered my Glossybox and I really wanted to write about it this month. All the excitement of getting a kitten has kept me busy and I haven't made a post since my I Heart Makeup Giveaway (still open til the 14th of July by the way!) so I decided to jump in and get writing while she's fast asleep - and looking as adorable as ever.

First of all, I love the way the Glossyboxes are packaged, they always look so chic and it's like getting a present once a month!

The theme is Summer, and the first product I picked up out of the box is all about that. It's the Utan & Tone Nourishing Night Cream (RRP £12.50). It's a clear and odourless night cream that gives a gradual tan overnight! I'm super excited about this product because I'm currently using the Garnier Summer Body gradual tanner but I don't like using it on my face because I have really sensitive dry skin, especially on my face, so I think this will be ideal for tanning my face without drying out the skin, as it contains hyaluronic acid, vitamins and anti-oxidants, and while I'm not an expert on skincare, those ingredients are supposedly hydrating and good for skin repair so it sounds great to me! 

The next product in the box is the Soft & Gentle Hair Minimise Anti Perspirant (RRP £2.99), which while being a regular anti-perspirant is supposed to also reduce hair growth, through the inclusion of something called Keliosoft. Looking forward to seeing the effects of this, because (and I know I can't be the only one) I hate having to shave every day, it's such a chore, so if this helps then I'm all for it, especially as it's so affordable.

Then I picked up the Collection Supersized Fat Lash mascara (£2.99). I didn't receive any information on this as on the little leaflet you get with the box it actually says I should've received the Icona Milano waterproof mascara (which if I'm honest I would've preferred because my eyes are so bloody sensitive, the slightest thing sets them off and then my eye makeup is all over my face), but I have contacted Glossybox so hopefully I'll find out why I received the wrong product. I'm not sure what to expect with this mascara. It claims to be volumising but from looking at the wand I'm expecting to get more length than volume, but I'll give it a go anyway and get back to you!

The penultimate product in the box is the Hairon De-tangle Brush (RRP £6.99), which is designed to detangle wet hair without breakage. I have quite brittle and breakable hair, so hopefully this might help. It looks suspiciously like the tangle teaser, but I never got round to purchasing that so I'll get loads of use out of this product. I love the pastel blue colour of it as well.

Lastly, and potentially the item I was most excited to receive, is the Blank Canvas F20 Flat Bush (RRP £11.95). Just from looking at it I feel like it will be my new favourite brush for applying foundation. The brush feels really nice and heavy, so it just feels more sturdy. The super soft dense synthetic fibres supposedly give a 'flawless HD finish' and that's what I want from my foundation, I'm sure you'll hear more about this once I've tried it.

Glossybox is £10.00 plus p+p, so it's really good value for money, and for someone like me who loves trying different products, its a great way to try a variety.

Any of these catch your eye?

See you again soon,

Paige x

UPDATE - 26/07/2016

After a few back-and-forth emails with Glossybox concerning my unboxed hairox brush and incorrect mascara (or product card as they claimed), they finally sent me the Icona Milano mascara (which I absolutely love for daytime fluttery lashes!), and a new brush in its box this time (my original hairox brush wasn't boxed) and although  the box it came in was battered I can't blame Glossybox as that's more likely due to the courier.
They also sent me the Talika Photo-Hydra day moisturiser (30ml), which is a beautifully light weight but rich moisturiser (retailing for £25 on the Glossybox website) that I'm loving, as an extra little gift to apologise for the mix up. It might have taken a little while but overall I'm happy with how it was handled and I will be continuing my subscription because I love the variety of products!

I Heart Makeup Purchases and Giveaway!

If you read my post on Makeup Revolution, you'll know that I'm pretty much in love with the brand (don't tell my boyfriend), so if that's anything to go by I was bound to love the I Heart Makeup range. As expected, I've got nothing but love for the products I bought. The ones I chose were those that are pretty much dupes of Too Faced products, those that I like to admire from afar but can't justify spending the money on. I'll try to show comparisons of the Too Faced and I Heart Makeup products, but I don't own the Too Faced alternatives so I won't be able to swatch them. You can easily source them yourself with a quick google search as these are quite well known dupes!

First and foremost, the I Heart Chocolate palette, which is an almost direct dupe of the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. This was the product I was most excited to get out of the range. I adore the packaging, the melted chocolate bar is so cute, and I actually kind of prefer it to the Too Faced one for that alone! Then there's the price difference, it was only £7.99! For that price, the quality of the sturdy packaging and pigmented shadows is unbelievable. While I can't compare the pigmentation to the Too Faced one, I can tell you that these are very pigmented, very buttery and easy to blend. Such incredible quality! I will 100% purchase more of the Chocolate palettes as there's a few more from I Heart Makeup, and I might try a few of their others too. I've been reaching for this non-stop since I bought it.

Just look at the packaging! So cute.

Such pretty shades. Unfortunately the shimmers aren't picking up in this photos but there are some beautiful gold and pink shimmers, as well as some more brown toned ones. If you want a more clear photo then try the product page on MUR's website.

Another product that I was VERY excited to try was the Blushing Hearts Triple Baked Blusher in Candy Queen of Hearts, £4.99. This is a dupe of the Too Faced Sweetheart Blush and it's beautiful. The packaging is adorable, and the blush itself is made up of three shades that can be used separately or together if you swirl a brush in the blusher. It's very pigmented so use a light hand for sure, and it's also shimmery so you could use it alone or very lightly over a matte blusher for a pretty glow. It's bloody beautiful, honestly. Again, I've been reaching for this pretty much every day, and also it just looks pretty in my makeup drawer.

So cute!

Last, but not least, the Lip Lavas. I've lusted after the Too Faced Melted Lipsticks for so long, yet I've never been able to justify purchasing them. Then I spotted these bad boys, and I'm so glad I did.

They come in five shades, and there's an option to purchase all 5 on the Superdrug website at a discounted price. 

Left to right - Forgiven, Tremor, Unleash, Shockwave and Firestorm.

All of the shades are bright and glossy, and last for quite a while, but wear down really nicely, leaving a pretty but faded version of the shade on the lips. They aren't matte so do transfter, but are quite moisturising and for £2.99 each you really can't complain!

• Forgiven is a beautiful nude pinky-brown, very wearable and on trend for summer. 
• Tremor is a very pretty pink which I didn't think would suit me but I stand corrected. It's supposedly a dupe for the TF shade 'Peony', and again it's very wearable. 
• Unleash is a vibrant peachy-orange shade.
• Shockwave is an intense light purple shade, which I liked more than I expected to.
• Firestorm is a b e a utiful deep red shade

The product is squeezed out of the tube onto the sponge applicator on the top of the tube and can be applied straight onto the lips, which is really simple and pretty fool proof for those who struggle with applying liquid lipsticks. I loooove these. I love the formula and the gorgeous bright shades which are perfect for summer and festival season (I know they will be coming with me for Reading festival!)

I have literally nothing bad to say about any of these products. They're all so pretty and I'm so happy that Makeup Revolution are making such good quality makeup at affordable prices, making on trend products so accessible. 

I actually have an extra set of the Lip Lavas, so to win those enter below! The giveaway will open midnight tonight UK time and will be open for a week. Good luck!

Paige x

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Makeup Revolution Collection!

Anyone who knows me also knows I'm a huge fan of Makeup Revolution, particularly for their eyeshadow palette offerings. The quality of the eyeshadows is spot on, particularly the shimmers. Thanks to the price of them I've been able to afford to buy multiple palettes, which means I tend to reach for them more than my Naked palette, just for the variety. I've also recently bought a few brilliant products from I Heart Makeup range, but I'll talk about those in another post.

A few from my little collection

I'll start with the Redemption Palettes. They're 12 shade palettes, and they're just £4 each! Which is how I justify owning Iconic 1, Iconic 2 and Iconic 3, and will continue using this excuse to justify buying more. The best part is that they're incredible dupes for the Urban Decay Naked Palettes, which are nearer to £40 each. What more could you want? The pigmentation, especially in the shimmer shades, is AMAZING. As with most budget eyeshadow palettes, some of the shades are a bit hit and miss, but honestly I really don't mind at all considering how cheap they are!

Top - Iconic 2, Bottom - Iconic 3

Another dupe that I own is the Iconic Pro palette, a dupe of the Lorac Pro palette and a fraction of the price. This palette also has a nice big mirror in the top, which is great for travelling. It also came with a double ended brush, not those horrendous little foam applicators that I throw out as soon as I spot them. I love the colours in this palette, but I recently dropped it and snapped it in two which left me very upset, but I'm sure I'll end up replacing it at some point, as it's £6 so it doesn't really break the bank. (I also don't have this one with me to photograph but when I get it I'll edit in a photo, sorry!)

One of my more recent eyeshadow palette purchases from Revolution is the Fortune Favours the Brave palette, by BritishBeautyBlogger. This palette deserves a moment of silence while we all admire its magnificence. There are 30 shades, a mix of matte and shimmer, pressed and baked powders and I love it. The pigmentation, range of shades, the marbled effect of some. There's nothing I don't like about it and I will continue to treasure it. It was only £9.99, but I used all my saved up superdrug points and got it for £3.99, which I was obviously ecstatic about, but I'd have happily paid the full price for it as it's 100% worth the money!

I took these photos of the Fortune Favours the Brave palette a while ago, hence the different background. The writing on the front has since worn off unfortunately.

Makeup Revolution are also famous for it's baked highlighters. They're absolutely stunning, and only £3 each! I also purchased the Radiant Lights powder compact in Breathe (£3) the other day, and if I'm honest I thought it was a highlighter, which it can be used for, but I actually have been using it as a face powder. Stay with me here. If you do a heavy swatch, you can see that it can be used as a subtle highlight, but when dusted over my face it set my foundation and left a beautiful natural looking glow that I fell in love with and I've used it every time I've done my makeup since. I did purchase the Pressed Powder a while ago for £2 when I had gone away for the weekend and forgotten my Rimmel one, and actually really liked using it for ages, but I love the radiance that Breathe provides. It's a similar concept to the very sought after and horrendously expensive Hourglass Ambient Lighting powders.

Radiant Lights - Breathe

Another Makeup Revolution product I use every day is the Ultra Sculpt and Contour Kit in Ultra Fair, which I've mentioned before. It's small and travel friendly, and contains both a contour powder and a highlight as well as a pretty light rose gold blush. It's a really simple, quick and easy everyday contour set and I'm a big fan, especially of the highlighter inside. MUR you win with highlighters, congratulations.

Ultra Sculpt and Contour - Fair

I shamefully haven't tried any mascaras from MUR so you'll have to forgive me for that, although I've heard that the Amazing Curl mascara is a cheeky dupe for the Benefit Roller Lash so I might have to give it a go! In terms of eyeliners, I'm very fussy. I have the most sensitive eyes in existence, as soon as I leave the house my eyes water and my eyeliner decides to vacate the premises and instead live all over my entire eyelid, so I'm always on the look out for one that will stay put. Now, I haven't tested this properly yet but I swatched the waterproof liquid eyeliner (£1.50) and it did not budge no matter how much I wet it, so I'm hoping I'm onto a winner here! It's nicely pigmented, but the brush is quite stiff so I don't know how that will affect the application. If felt tip's more your gig, I've heard nothing but praise for the Thick and Thin liner from my friend Megna. She said 'it goes on silky and super pigmented and pretty', and coming from the expert of liquid eyeliners I definitely trust her opinion.

Amazing Eyeliner Waterproof - Black

Lastly, on a whim I added one of the #LIPHUG lipsticks to my online basket in the shade 'Still missing my baby' which is a deep plum shade, and cost £2.50. It's beautiful, glossy and super moisturising. The shape of the bullet makes it a little hard to apply accurately but I think with the help of a lip liner it'd be a winning lip for the cooler months.

#LIPHUG - Still Missing My Baby

Still Missing My Baby
Top - One Swipe
Bottom - Several Swipes

If you haven't tried anything from Makeup Revolution before I sincerely encourage you to do so, for the price of the products you really can't go wrong! I've heard on the grapevine that there are some really exciting products coming soon so look forward to those, I know I am!

Have you tried any Makeup Revolution products that you'd recommend?

Paige x

Matte Liquid Lipsticks

I'm jumping on the bandwagon a bit here. I've wanted to do a post about matte liquid lipsticks for a while, but I wanted to wait until I had a decent range of them that are easily accessible to UK shoppers, because like many I'm a bit unsure when it comes to purchasing from outside the UK. I've ended up with 6 in my collection so far, each from different brands, but I expect I'll be getting my hands on more soon because I have to say I'm a big fan of matte lips, particularly nudes, and I love the feel of the liquid ones.

Tranquility, MUA LUXE - £3
This is a slightly brown nude shade, which is the shade Tranquility by MUA LUXE, from their Velvet lip lacquer range. The packaging kind of reminds me of the Gerard Cosmetics Hydra Matte lipsticks, with the frosted glass and gold lid. It's a very pretty nude shade. I did find the formula was a teeny bit thin, but still opaque when applied to the lips. As you'd expect with budget liquid lipsticks, I did find this a little drying after an hour or so of wearing, but nothing a little bit of lip balm can't fix. Although I do prep my lips with a scrub and some balm I always find my lips to be a little dry anyway, so I can't blame the lipstick entirely. In terms of longevity, this did need touching up quite a bit, and if you wanted to keep it perfect you might have to remove it and reapply it completely after a few hours, especially after drinking, but for the price you really can't complain.

Tranquility

Stockholm, NYX - £5.50

The next shade is a slightly more peachy toned nude, Stockholm by NYX from their Soft Matte Lip Creams. The colour is beautiful, and I didn't expect one so light to suit me, but I actually find myself reaching for it quite a lot. The little doe foot applicator allows it to be applied precisely and quickly, and I didn't find this one too drying. After maybe 4 hours I wanted to apply some lip balm but it was manageable. Again, it did wear a little once I'd eaten and drank, but as I said before, for the price I'm not complaining. This is one of my favourites, and I'm desperate to get some more of these!

Stockholm 

Birthday Suit, Sleek - £4.99
It wouldn't be a matte liquid lipstick post if I didn't include this bad boy now would it? Every blogger and their dog raves about these and I can see why. They're long lasting, non-drying, and come in beautiful shades. Birthday suit is a pinky nude shade, and it looks beautiful on the lips. It doesn't settle into the lines on your lips, but glides over and ah I love it, and the Matte Me range is less than £5, so it's definitely worth buying! My only niggle with these are the shape of the applicator, which I find makes it a little more difficult to apply, but I can live with that seeing as the product itself is so nice!

You can see from the swatch of Birthday Suit that I struggled to get an even layer due to the really thin applicator but it's slightly easier on the lips.

Nude Flush, Maybelline - £6.99
Now, I have to say this isn't one of my favourites. The shade is amazing, I love the colour and the pigmentation. I didn't think it dried well enough down to a matte on the lips however, and it certainly isn't transfer proof, which means it isn't long lasting. That being said, I've seen quite a few reviews from people who said they absolutely loved this, so maybe I'm just doing it wrong? I'm swatching them all as I go along, and by the time I've looked back at each shade so I can remind myself of the colour etc, they've all been at least partially matte, whereas this one just isn't doing it for me. Sorry Maybelline, I still love you.

Nude Flush - Maybelline.
 I waited to see if this would dry matte to take another photo of the swatch but it still hadn't dried.

Just in Love 335, Max Factor - £10.99
Slightly pricier than the others I've mentioned but the Max Factor Lipfinity Longwear Lipsticks are well worth the money. I started a shift at work not long ago and swatched one of these just to see what they're like, and that evening the swatch was still pristine, despite me working, washing my hands, and even rubbing off other swatches with makeup wipes! Longlasting doesn't even cover it, but while it means they take a while to remove, you can apply it and not have to worry about it all day long. They even give you a lip balm in the set to apply throughout the day to alleviate dryness should it occur but I don't find this one to be too drying either. The shade I have is a kind of bright pink shade but I actually really like it on the lips. Also, as weird as it sounds, the doe foot applicator is really soft, so I really enjoy applying it!

Just in Love - Max Factor

Hot Brownie, Essence - £2.30
Last but not least, The Velvet Matte liquid lipstick from Essence in Wilkinsons. I picked this up on a bit of a whim, because not only did I love the look of the deep plum/red shade, the scent is beyond delicious. Some people aren't a fan of that fake vanilla kind of scent but I love it, although the scent doesn't transfer to the lips, so if that would put you off, don't let it worry you. Again, it doesn't dry completely matte so it isn't transfer proof, nor is it long lasting, but for £2.30 it's a nice lipstick, I just wouldn't say it was a matte one.

Hot Brownie - Essence
You can see where it smudged a little because it doesn't dry down completely matte.

I'm hoping to try more high end ones soon, maybe some of the popular US offerings like Jeffree Star, Colourpop and Kat Von D, so look out for those in the future. Also apologies for the swatches, I'm still figuring out the best way to do those. Hope you enjoyed this. I've got some nice little posts on the way so I'll see you again soon.

Paige.

Shoutout to Adam for fixing my laptop by taking it apart and putting toilet paper and sellotape inside it, lets hope it doesn't set me on fire. xo

My most used Make-up Brushes!

With my makeup fanaticism, comes my obsession with makeup brushes. So, I thought I'd tell you what my favourites and recommendations are. To be honest, my collection mostly consists of the Real Techniques collection, but I do have the Bold Metals, a few MAC brushes, and then a few randoms that I've picked up along the way. If you're just getting started with brushes, I'd fully recommend the Real Techniques kits, as they contain everything you could need to get started!

A few of the gorgeous brushes from the Bold Metals Collection.

Foundation and Concealer brushes, and the B. blending sponge.

Foundation/Concealer

For foundation I tend to use a nice dense buffing type brush, like the RT buffing brush from the Core collection. I really like the coverage this brush gives, as it's good for medium coverage. I would like to try their Expert Face brush, but with the amount of brushes I own I really don't need another foundation brush. I also like using the RT sculpting brush. I got this in the contour set, but I don't really rate it for contour because it's so wide, but it's surprisingly nice for foundation due to the density of it.  

Concealer

If I'm using a separate brush for concealer, which I don't always do because I'm too lazy, I use the Primark stippling brush. It's actually really good quality for something like £1/£1.50. It's soft and blends both foundation and concealer really nicely, but as it's small I tend to use it for concealer.

Blending sponges

I've tried a few blending sponges. My all time favourite was the original Beauty Blender, but the price tag (£16.00) is too high for me to justify repurchasing it. Now I use the RT complexion sponge (£5.99), or the B. makeup sponge from Superdrug (£4.99 but £3.32 until 28/06) if I'm only using it to make sure my foundation is completely blended.

Finishing Brush 

My all time favourite powder brush is the RT Bold Metals Arched Powder brush in 100, shown in the first picture. It's the softest thing I've ever blessed my face with, and doesn't pick up too much powder so I can get such a light dusting of powder which prevents caking. Plus it looks gorgeous in general. 

Blush Brush

The RT Bold Metals collection gets a shoutout again here, with their Tapered Blush brush in 300. Rose gold packaging is a winner either way, but the brush itself is again incredibly soft, and it's the perfect size for popping blusher on the apples of my cheeks. You can see this too in the first photo.

Eyeshadow Brushes and Eyeshadow Blending

Eyeshadow 

This is a difficult one for me. I have quite a few eyeshadow brushes now, but a few brushes stand out for me for general application. 

- RT Bold Metals Oval Shadow 200: a really big fluffy brush, perfect for those single eyeshadow days. Again, beautiful to look at.

- The bigger, fluffier side of the brush from my Naked palette. Really like it for packing eyeshadow onto the lid.

- RT deluxe crease brush: again, great for packing on eyeshadow, and I particularly favour this one for applying cream shadow bases. 

- MAC 213 brush. Fluffy, soft, slightly dense, lovely application. 

I also own the Eco Tools Eye Enhancing Duo, which contains 2 double ended brushes. One of the brushes has a blending brush on one end and a smudging brush on the other. The second brush of the set has a fluffy brush on one end and an angled liner on the other. It's a really good all round set, and the brushes are good quality and super soft, so I use these a lot too.

Eyeshadow Blending 

I've only recently really gotten into eyeshadow blending properly, so I haven't really invested in blending brushes, but I have 2 favourites for this so far. My favourite for crease blending and application is the MAC 226 - I find blending so easily with this brush! The other is a MAC brush, but I don't know exactly what it is, because it's a tiny brush that came in an eyeshadow palette from MAC. I think it's the 217, but I can't be sure.

Brow Brush

I've been using the RT Bold Metals 202 brush, which is an Angled Liner brush, but it's so small and thin that it makes it super easy to get really natural hair like strokes for my brows. This is the silver brush on the far right in the first photograph. 

Contour Brush

In terms of contour, I'm not much of a pro. I tend to stick to using small blush/bronzer brushes, such as the MAC 116, but I do sometimes use the RT Bold Metals Flat Contour brush.

RT Fan Brush and Setting Brush

Highlighting

My all time favourite highlighting brush is my RT fan brush, I just love the finish it leaves on my cheekbones, it's lovely and soft. It's a pretty brush. No complaints at all. I do sometimes use the setting brush from the same collection, as it's a small, fluffy brush that can be used to create a beautiful glow.

Like I said at the beginning, it really isn't essential to own a load of brushes, I just like to experiment and find which I like for application, and you might not like some of them that I do. Are there any that you recommend? 

The next post will be about liquid lipsticks so keep your eyes peeled for that! 

See you soon!

How To Use: Sleek Cream Contour Kit

After I posted the Sleek cream contour palette review, people requested that I do a little 'how to' post, with pictures of me applying it. Now, I'm definitely not a pro when it comes to applying my makeup. Neither am I 100% confident in my skills. However I thought I'd be brave and give it a go! 

Some of the products I used for this look, and a treat for editing!

I both cleansed and exfoliated my face, using the B. Men Charcoal Face Scrub from Superdrug, which is technically my boyfriend's but I wanted a nice deep cleanse and it was the best I had to hand. The product itself is branded as a man's face scrub but lets be honest, it's just a decent charcoal scrub, who cares who it's meant to be for. I then applied my Olay Hydration and Radiant Glow moisturiser, which is a nice light moisturiser for summer as it contains SPF 15 and adds some radiance to my skin. 

After I'd given time for that to sink into my skin, I applied my base products. I used the Primark Miracle primer (of course), and then my X-ceptional Wear Makeup Foundation from GOSH, which is good for a light, sheer base (even though you can build it up), and then applied the Maybelline Eraser Eye concealer on my blemishes. 

This is my face with only the base products applied

 I then went in with the contour kit, following the guide that they supply with each palette.

It says on the sheet to use an angled contour brush. I do own the Real Techniques contour brush but I find it a little too large as my face is quite small, so as I said in the last post I use a MAC angled flat foundation brush, which is MAC 193. 

Cream Contours when initially applied

As you can see, my lines and shames really aren't that neat at all, but once you've blended them it doesn't matter. You really don't have to be a pro to apply these! If I can, anyone can.

Cream Contour after blending

I blended all the shades using a damp beauty blender, starting with the light shades and working into the darker shades.

Here I've set the creams with powder

After this, I applied the GOSH Velvet Touch prime 'n' set loose powder over my highlighted areas, and applied a Makeup Revolution contour powder over the top of the cream to set it all in place. I then went ahead and did my eye makeup (taking photos of my eyebrows in the state they were in was almost traumatising). While I did this, the translucent powder worked to both set and lighten the cream highlight. Once the rest of my makeup was done, I brushed away the setting powder and 

applied some blush and my MAC mineralize skinfinish in Lightscapade as a highlight. 

The finished look

This was the finished look! I think it really slims my face, and I just like how it looks. It's a bit nerve wracking to post photos of me actually using the products and I was a little hesitant to post this one, but hopefully you all enjoy it! 

Would you try the cream contouring kit? Let me know if you have and how you found it. 

Paige x

Sleek cream contour kit review!

It wasn't that long ago that in my first ever post I said I wanted to try the Sleek cream contour kit, and now it's sitting in front of me. I just couldn't resist when I saw that they were on an incredible offer in Superdrug, as they are included in the 2 for £10 Sleek deal. That's an absolute steal considering the palette on it's own is £10.99! I bought two in the shades 'light' and 'medium' and gave the latter to a friend who I thought it would suit more - hope you're enjoying it Shannon! £5! Absolute bloody bargain.

Sleek Cream Countour Kit - Light

I wanted to try it a few times before blogging about it, which was apparently the right thing to do, and I'll explain why later on. The first time I tried the palette was on friday, before a night out when I knew I'd get away with a heavier makeup look. I primed my face using the Primark PS Pro Miracle primer (which I reviewed in a previous post and I'm still head over heels in love with it!). I then applied a very light layer of the MAC Studio Fix foundation to make sure that when I applied the contour it didn't cake up on my face. I skipped concealer because I believed the contour would give enough coverage.

Now, when I first took the palette out of the box I found it a little bit daunting. I've never dabbled in cream contouring before and had no idea how I was going to use all six shades. The wonderful people at Sleek know that we aren't all makeup artists though, so they've provided a nice little guide in each kit, and it's really easy to follow! To apply them, I used a little flat foundation brush by MAC, wiping it down with a makeup wipe in between shades. This wasn't ideal of course, but I don't really have loads of little flat foundation brushes hanging around and I doubt many people do, and it worked for me! I followed the guide step-by-step and then blended the shades using a damp beauty blender afterwards. I think for the price the pigmentation was really nice. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy they were to blend. My only little niggle was that I wasn't quite as happy with the coverage as I'd have liked, so the second time I used the palette I made sure to apply my concealer first and after that the coverage was much nicer, but both times I was pleased with the look.

Ultimate Contouring Guide by Sleek

I used my Makeup Revolution powder contour kit to set the contour and applied my GOSH setting powder on the highlight to 'bake'. I then did my eye makeup before brushing off the excess setting powder and brushing a little over the rest of my face to set it all. A nice little tip I've learned from reviews/tutorials is to do let your highlight 'bake' by leaving a loose translucent powder under your eyes over your highlight, because not only does it brighten your under eye even more but it means you can simply brush away any fallout from your eyeshadow with the excess setting powder! I applied my MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade by spraying my Real Techniques fan brush with setting spray, allowing it to almost dry and then applying my highlight, as that way I get such a beautiful glow.

I was really pleased with the finished look. I wasn't used to looking so sculpted but I think I could get used to it! The palette is really very good value for money, even more so on the current offer at Superdrug! I wouldn't do it everyday but that's more personal preference, as it didn't take long at all. I'm a big fan of Sleek in general, their products are such good quality for money, and the packaging is always very chic and, well, sleek.

Are there any Sleek products you swear by?

Just as a little add on here, I'd like to thank everyone for reading, following, commenting etc, and just generally for all the support my blog has received. I'm so happy with it, and watching it grow makes me so proud! I'm so passionate about this, and it's great to see other people appreciating the work I'm putting into it, so yeah, thank you! I'm done being soppy now.

See you again very soon!

Paige x

GOSH cosmetics

I don't often see much hype around the GOSH products, but working in a store that sells them means I've had a chance to fiddle around with the testers, and I really liked the look of the lipsticks, particularly the matte ones. Somehow, I ended up with 3 lipsticks, a lipliner, a setting powder, and some foundation, and having tried them all I knew I'd want to blog about them. When I bought them there was an amazing offer of £2 off all products, which has since ended. They're now buy 1 get 1 half price in Superdrug though.

The foundation I bought was the X-ceptional Wear Makeup foundation, in the shade 12 - Natural. It claims to be 'a soft and creamy make-up that gives the skin a very lasting and even matt glow', and I have to say having worn this for a few days I wholeheartedly agree that it does exactly that. It applies so smoothly, and it really does last for hours. I applied it in the morning, and by the time I'd gotten home from work it was still pretty flawless. It doesn't dry completely matte, which I actually liked, but with a little dusting of powder it is completely matte, without being dull. It's light-medium coverage I'd say, slightly buildable but it doesn't give that fake foundation skin effect that some foundations do when you build them up. I really do like this foundation, I'm only disappointed with myself for buying it in my natural shade just before I applied fake tan, which makes it slightly too light now! It's £7.99, which is a pretty decent price for the quality. As with most drugstore foundations though, the shade range isn't great.

X-Ceptional Wear Foundation - 12 Natural, £7.99

Another product from GOSH that I've actually had for a while is the Velvet Touch Primer & Setting Powder, which is £10.99. This is more than I'd usually spend on a setting powder but I was in the market for a dupe of the Laura Mercier one (I haven't yet tried it but I know it's a holy grail setting powder), and I thought that with it being translucent (it's a very finely milled white powder in the pot) that it would be worth the slight splurge, and I was right. It sets any of my foundations to a smooth, matte finish beautifully, and does improve the longevity of my foundation. I've experimented with using it for baking too, which I quite liked. It doesn't leave an orange tint either like some budget loose setting powders (I'm looking at you, Collection) so it's great for pale skin too. I wouldn't call this a budget loose powder but I'd say it's worth the money and I would repurchase. I haven't used it as a primer because my skin's too dry, but I've been told for oily skin it works really well at creating a matte base to keep oil at bay under foundation.

Prime 'n' set Velvet Touch Primer and Setting Powder - Translucent (£10.99)

Now onto my favourite product to talk about ever. Lipsticks. The GOSH lipsticks were an incredible find, and I know I'll end up buying countless more. I currently own 3 shades of the lipsticks (2 matte and one velvet) and 2 of the lipliners (only one of which I had available for swatching as the other was borrowed). I'll start with the lipliners. I have the shades Antique Rose and Nougat Crisp, and let me tell you, for someone who isn't that fussed when it comes to lip liners usually, I can't get enough of these. They're a total dream to apply; they're so smooth, non drying and beautifully pigmented. I find my lipsticks apply so nicely over the top because they don't budge. Speaking of: 

Velvet Touch lipsticks and Lipliner

Just take a minute to appreciate how sleek and suave the packaging of the lipstick is. Look at them. £6.99! None of that cheap flimsy plastic packaging here. They look far more expensive than they are in my opinion. Don't even get me started on the quality of the product itself. They apply beautifully, they're long lasting (the matte ones in particular), the colours are gorgeous. I'm in love with these lipsticks and I have absolutely no shame about it. I've recommended them to several of my friends who have all agreed that they're incredible. The 3 shades I have are 003 Antique (matte), 010 Smoothie (matte) and 160 Delicious (satin). I could talk about these all day long, but you should definitely go out and get some of these. They're my go to every day lipsticks now. 

Swatches top to bottom - Velvet Touch Lip liner in Antique Rose, Velvet Touch Lipsticks in 003 Antique, 010 Smoothie and 160 Delicious (featuring a half painted nail, well done Jabba)

They're so pigmented, I can't get enough. The shade range for these is incredible, they cater for every desire. 

By the way I'm talking about these products you'd think I was sponsored, but in reality I'm just giving these products the appreciation they deserve. Not only is the quality amazing and the prices decent, but they're cruelty free. Some of their products are vegan friendly, and there is a pdf list of those which are so you can make sure, and I'll link it here: GOSH Vegan Products List. 

I hope you enjoyed this installment of me prattling on about makeup. 

I'll see you again soon!

Primark PS Pro review - No Ragrets (well, maybe some).

Primark PS Pro range

When I heard Primark were releasing a pro range, I couldn't wait to try it out. I haven't tried much from their original PS Love range, because I was doubtful of the quality, aside from grabbing a cheap brow pencil or lip balm every now and then. However, this new range promises professional quality for a budget price. The products range from £2-£5, which is incredible, if the products work.

I bought the lip scrub, the miracle primer and a felt tip lip liner from the range, as well as an emergency brow kit from the old PS Love range that had a little spoolie in, which I've needed for a while.

I went through my regular cleansing routine (let me know if you want a post on that!) so as to ensure that I was giving the products the best chance. Then I went in with the lip scrub. I've tried lip scrubs from Lush, which always smell amazing and taste just as good, however at around £6 each they are slightly more expensive. The £3 lip scrub from the PS Pro collection contains vitamin e and almond oil, so not only does it smell incredible but it is super hydrating as well as working to exfoliate. Big fan of this product.

PS Pro Lip Scrub - £3

The miracle primer claims to 'create a smooth flawless finish, (and) minimises the appearance of pores and fine lines'. When I swatched this in the store, it reminded me of the Benefit Porefessional primer, so of course I was very excited to use it because I'd love to find a good dupe of that, especially if it's at £5 a bottle! The primer itself comes out of the tube as an almost mousse like consistency, but it glides on the skin to create a really nice, smooth canvas. I also think it actually did a great job of minimising my pores, and didn't cling to any dry patches. I'm so happy with this primer! I've used it for a few days now and it really does help the longevity of my foundation, so much so that I've added it to my everyday makeup routine.

PS Pro Miracle Primer - £5

I then applied my foundation (I used the Rimmel Lasting finish 25hr foundation here) with a Mac 193 brush and then blended with a damp real techniques blending sponge. The finish over the top of this primer was incredible, I couldn't stop looking at it. My skin looked clear, even and almost glowing. Of course the foundation is doing half the work here, it's a great medium coverage foundation, but I've used it without the primer and I much prefer it with!

I then decided to try the products in the emergency brow kit, which contained tweezers, a spoolie, a brow pencil and a brow gel. I could only find one shade of brow pencil, but I hoped it would match because I was eager to try the whole set. The brow pencil was the creamiest pencil I've ever used, I had to use the slightest touch to get a huge amount of colour, which actually made it kind of difficult to precisely full in my brows. I used the spoolie to brush them through to make sure the colour was evenly distributed. However when I applied the brow gel because the pencil was so creamy it was all moved by the brow gel brush, which made my brows look ridiculous and patchy, so I left the gel to set so I could come back to them later and fix it, but as I said this wasn't from the pro range so I didn't expect much, and I like the other 3 products so I don't mind too much.

PS Love Brow kit - £2

After this disappointment I was hoping the felt tip liner would be a winner, but alas it wasn't meant to be. I found the colour didn't come out as strong on the lips as when I swatched it in store, and I wasn't able to fill in my lips well enough to wear it on its own. It did last quite a while though and I didn't find it drying, but there are better budget lip liners out there.

PS Pro Felt Lip Liner - £3

Despite the disappointment of the liner, I think some of the PS Pro range is incredible for the price, particularly the miracle primer, which I've already recommended to a number of people and will probably purchase again and again. I'd like to try the mineral foundation, also £5, but they didn't have my shade in stock, so I'll hopefully pick that up another time. Have you tried any other products from the collection that you'd recommend?

I just purchased a few products from the range GOSH, in Superdrug, which I know I love, so I might be doing a review on that soon. See you then!

Paige

(Ps shout out to Lucy for the blog title - she really wanted me to call it no ragrets)