Benefit: The Pore fessional

All Benefit products have to be blogged about, their advertising team do such a good job of making us feel lost without the entirety of a benefit counter inside our make up bags that I just had to give this a whirl. 

For reference, I personally have combination skin, my tee zone is oily and the area around my eyes is really dry. One thing I don't have is really big pores and I wasn't sure if this would do much for me, so my sister has tried this one along with me. She also has combination skin but has large pores on and around her nose.

I really wanted to like this product, it came along with the mandatory Benefit hype but to be honest it just does nothing good for me. This glides on beautifully, but it doesn't do anything I want from a primer. It actually made my foundation slip off and look greasy more quickly. I have tried a few silicone based primers now and if longevity is what you are after I don't recommend them. I didn't want to give a fully negative review though when clearly so many people love this so thankfully my sister has fallen for this and is now using this on a daily basis. 

She applies this just around her nose area and does not wear any other base product when wearing it. She found that this minimised the appearance of her pores so well that her skin looked even enough without needing to wear foundation. 

Both of us have noticed this makes our skin a little more dry so perhaps only use this on the areas you have pores, but she is really happy with this product overall. It is very rare that a product has us so divided, but it just goes to show that most products will have some use to someone. It is always worth making a note of ingredients that work well or badly with your skin. I know I will not be using a silicone primer again. 

If you do want to give this a try, it retails at £24.50 for 22ml which I would say is very costly, but if you are looking for something to combat the appearance of your pores, it comes with my sisters high recommendations. Buy Here 

Ciao

  xxx

Natural Collection Blushed Cheeks

Time for another favourites post, this one is about my favourite everyday blusher. The Natural Collection Blushed Cheeks can be bought from Boots and costs just £1.99. The brand have some great quality products, however I personally only purchase blushers, face powders, polishes and eye shadows by them, I find some of their other products are not as high in quality.

The shade I use is pink cloud, there are five other shades available of which I have tried a couple but this really is the perfect shade for pale or lightly tanned skin tones. It is a really girly colour and can be made to look like a really natural blush when applied lightly.

I have been using this blusher for years now, I find it is great at providing subtle blushed cheeks for summer natural looks and is easily build-able for a more dramatic pink shade if preferred. Bellow I have applied some with my finger and a lot with the brush, you can see this can be a really intense pink the more product you apply. 

The product is rather powdery in consistency, I personally think this is great, I think blusher should be applied as a light dust and then worked on, there is nothing worse that applying perfect foundation and then applying too much blush.

I like to apply this with the Real Techniques Blush Brush, it is nice and fluffy so great at applying just the right amount. There is not much more to say about the product itself, it is great quality and really affordable. Buy here

Ciao

  xxx

Review: The Body Shop Vitamin E range

Hello lovelies,

 

For those of you that don't know I have combination skin but my dry skin can be really painful and tight sometimes, particularly in the cold weather. I have used many different oils and creams over the past few years and have recently looked into using vitamin E products.

 

Benefits: Vitamin E is great for our health but not many people know just how good it is at looking after our skin. It has anti-aging benefits as it helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Lotions containing vitamin E also hold some benefits in preventing and treating sunburn, by protecting the epidermis layer of your skin from ultra violet light damage. Creams containing the vitamin have also been promoted for the treatment of scaring from surgery, acne and stretch marks. It also helps maintain the skins oil balance. Vitamin E can be taken orally and holds many health benefits, however if you are looking to improve your skin, using lotions etc. are a better for allowing the vitamin to be absorbed by the skin and allowing you to apply it where you feel you need its benefits.

 

Moisturising Cream: This costs £10 for 50ml;  buy here. I was a little disappointed initially as this cream does not have a nice smell, it does not smell bad but I am so used to Body Shop products smelling lush that it is noticeable. Fortunately the cream itself is amazing, it is moderately thick and soaks in to the skin in an instant. It makes your skin feel really nourished and smooth and I have noticed that my skin has been much healthier since using this.

 

Cream Cleanser: This costs £8 for 200ml, and is also available in 60ml bottles for £2.50; buy here. This smells and feels like baby lotion, again it is relatively thick for a cleanser but it soaks up instantly. I love this cleanser, my skin is left looking clean, fresh and healthy. I have used other cream cleansers of similar quality but I think the combination of this product with the toner does give you beautiful skin.

 

Hydrating toner: This also costs £8 for a 200ml  buy here but can not be bought in a 60ml bottle which is a little annoying if you wanted to use these while traveling. This is unlike any other toner I have used, it also smells like baby lotion and instead of drying out your skin it too makes it feel nourished. After using this I don't feel the need to use a primer on my skin it just leaves it feeling lovely and smooth. This is defiantly worth a try, I will be repurchasing this.

 

I am really happy with the three products I chose, I have noticed a vast improvement in my skin compared to last winter. My skin is much less oily around my tee zone and I have not had trouble with the dry areas of my face and my hands since using the cream.

 

The Body Shop has a massive Vitamin E range these are just three products I knew I would use every day so I wanted to try these first, I will certainly be buying some more products from the range. Let me know if you use any of these products if you think I should try them or if you want me to review something.

 

Ciao

  xxx

Travel make up

Hello lovelies,

I think most of us ladies have to do some traveling at this time of year even if it is just for one night so I thought it was the perfect time to show you my travel makeup. I travel home every weekend for work so I am a bit of a pro :P of course you can switch these products up for your favourites.

As always, all products I have reviewed will be linked so you can see why I love them :)

Foundation: No 7 Beautifully Matte foundation

Powder Foundation: Estee Lauder Double Wear stay-in-place powder make up

Contour: Benefit Hoola bronzing powder

Blusher: bareMinerals Ready Blush in shade The One

Lipstick: MAC shades Hue and Honey Love

Mascara: MAC Studio Fix Boldblack Lash

Eye Shadow: bareMinerals The Epiphany palette containing A-Ha and Foreshadow (or/and Urban decay Naked palette depending leftover room)

Eye Liner: L'Oreal Super Liner in black lacquer

Eye Brows: YSL eyebrow pencil

Primer: bareMinerals Prime Time foundation primer + Urban Decay Primer Potion

Brushes: realTechniques blush brush for my powder foundation, my duo-fiber contour brush for my blusher, and duo-fiber face brush for my bronzer (duo-fiber review). I am only taking realTechniques base shadow and pixel-point eyeliner brush for my eyes. The rest of my make up I can apply with my fingers, but if I have room I may pack my Cosmo blend perfection sponge.

Other: Elizabeth Arden's All Gone Aye and Lip Make up Remover and visible Difference moisturising eye cream, I am taking these because they are the smallest ones I have.

Throughout the rest of the year I do carry around less expensive products just in case of damage, however, this season is prone to the odd group shot or selfie so I like to keep my best products close at all times.

Hope you enjoyed this post ladies, follow, share and comment bellow, let me know what type of posts you love reading I love getting requests.

Ciao
  xxx

Preventing Clothing Frays

Hello lovelies,

 

Not so much a beauty post today, but I thought this would be really useful for some of you ladies. Most of us beauty addicts tend to love clothes too so I hope this post is helpful to everyone.

I wear a lot of sheer fabrics, thin polyester for example. I have found that with a lot off my shirts the material sometimes tries to fray around the bust buttons and around the arm stitching. I do wear oversized but I am slightly top heavy and just from lifting my arms, playing with my nephew, general life etc. they do tend to fray. Even on expensive tops which is even more annoying! The material does not have any give in it at all so I started thinking of how to prevent this without having to wear 3 sizes to big instead of 2.

 

Hemming tape has been my saviour, I buy mine in wilkinsons its about £2 for 4.5m, you can buy this everywhere I think I saw it in Tesco as well so you don't have to go out of your way to buy this.

All I do is Iron a stip on to each side of my shirts overlapping the shirt and button panel (the shiny side needs to be face down on the shirt). This completely prevents fraying fabric. I have been doing this for about a year, it stays fine even once you have washed it a few times. It is just a really simple and cheap way to make your shirts last longer.

You can buy this in black and white, I have not seen it in another colour but ask your local sewing shop if you are in need of more shades. It comes with a little list of how long to iron this on. To be honest I ignore it completely and iron over a couple of times on a low temperature. You can not see this at all from the outside. One thing I would say though is if you ever plan on wearing one or two buttons open on a shirt do not iron it on this section, as not only will you see it but it will make the fabric stiffer and it would look a little odd.

Hope this has helped lovelies. Comment bellow if you like little tips and tricks I use to clean or keep things nice etc. I will try and do a few more in the future.

Ciao
  xxx

Review: Benefit They're Real mascara

Hello lovelies,

I have heard so many positive reviews of this  mascara, ladies with all kinds of lashes saying they love what it does, so seeing as I am a mascara junkie I had to test the hype...

Price: £19.50 for standard size (there are various promotional offers available as this product is so popular so ask in store before you buy for the best deal)

Good: This fans out your lashes and elongates them perfectly. One coat makes them look really long. From close up your lashes look stunning with this mascara. With really simple elegant makeup this can look really effective. I personally wear this with just a light dusting of darkhorse from the Urban Decay Naked palette on my lash line. This creates a shadow effect from your lashes making them look fuller.

Bad: So while this does look nice on my lashes, it does fan them out beautifully and elongates them I do feel that they look rather thin. I personally would rather have really volumulous lashes than really long lashes so for me this is by no means my favourite mascara. However, if you have shorter lashes with tons of volume then this is the perfect mascara for you.

If you already have long lashes and they are not that thick then from a far you will not be able to see your lashes with this product, I think it almost fans them out too much loosing the impact that great lashes should make.

Verdict: I would give this product 7/10 I think it is great in most aspects but I do think that volume is important so it is not quite up there with my favourite Maxfactor False Lash Effect mascara which is just £10.99.

Honestly ladies this mascara is not worth the price tag or the hype. I would recommend Maxfactor's mascara to all girls, they are reasonably priced and have one suitable for any lash type.

Hope you find this useful ladies, please bare in mind most blogs I have read have loved this mascara, I just personally really love mascara when it ups the volume and this just does not do it for me.

Ciao
  xxx

new lipsticks

Hello lovelies,

You all know by now I love lipstick! Not only can it complete a look but it can totally change it depending on the colour. Here are my 3new shades and a new gloss I have also fallen for.

They are all linked so that you can purchase them right away if you like them too.

HONEY LOVE

This is one of MACs matte lipstick so not for everyone. If you want to wear this texture of lipstick you need to have healthy, smooth and moisturised lips. Be aware that these lipsticks dry your lips, so if you have chapped lips then you really should not wear them. However if you do have healthy lips then this can look amazing and super mattified, more so than any other brand. I personally love this lipstick and adore this super neutral shade.

HUE

This I thought was really cute, most neutral shades are beige but this little pink is really sweet. It keeps your lips moisturised and looks great with a subtle blush and simple eye make up. MAC lipsticks are £15, they are high quality and boast a massive range of colours and textures.

Get Ready
This lipstick is really good quality, it has a thick creamy texture and has great long lasting pigmentation. This shade is perfect to vamp up natural day makeup into an evening look.

Sparkplug
The lipgloss is also amazing quality. It too has a thick creamy texture that I am yet to find from a drugstore gloss. The colour is beautiful and has high pigmentation; this is not a gloss to be worn over lipstick it is beautiful alone. Unlike most glosses this does not run at all, so you can get away with not wearing a lip liner if you do not want to. it smelly like mint and feels cold on your lips as you wear it which is supposed to make them fuller.

I have never used a bareMinerals lipstick before but I recently got their All The Faves gift set including both the MOXI lipstick and gloss. The set costs £36 and these two products cost £16 each so the set is really good value for money. 
 

Hope you like my new additions, I am seriously obsessed with lipstick so please comment bellow with your favourites I would love to try them. Don't forget to hit follow :)
 

Ciao

  xxx

 

Review: YSL Eyebrow Pencil

So it may have taken me a long time and numerous mistakes but I have finally found the perfect product for filling in my brows. 

The YSL pencil may not be as thin as the Anastasia Brow Wiz but as my brows are relatively thick it was more important for me to find the right shade than find something I can mimic hairs with. And if you keep this super sharp you can achieve the same precision as the brow wiz.  

Anyone else find most brown brow products to be a little too auburn in some lights? If you do then you may want to try this in shade 4 Ash, it is completely cool toned so your brows look super natural. 

I always run through my brows with the spooley before applying a little colour, but because it is a little creamy to begin with if you comb them through again the product will look super natural. And the pencil sets perfectly in place so there will be no awkward brow smudging.

It costs £20 and can be purchased from FeelUnique , it is costly but unless the drugstore manage to come up with a shade like this, I can't see my collection ever being without it.

Ciao
  xxx