Review: Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundations

Hello ladies,

For me foundation is that one must have piece of make up. I love a flawless full coverage look so I was bound to try these products at some point.

These both cost £28.50 so I didn't rush into buying them. Estée Lauder counters will usually have samples of foundation you can take away with you, they will also book consultations where they find the perfect foundation look and colour for you and allow you to wear it out for the day and see how you get on. 

Shop Smart: On the Estee Lauder website you will get 2 free samples with orders under £50 and 4 free samples with orders over £50 as well as free shipping.

Maximum Cover Camouflage Makeup (Blue Tube) If you hadn't already worked it out this one has the most coverage. I know a few people that are not too keen on the maximum coverage as it takes out the natural pigmentations of your skin such as blush and freckles. Personally I love that no concealer is needed and  blush and bronze can always be added.

The consistency of this is lovely. I have found most other full coverage foundations stay a little dewy on the skin as they are very thick. This seams to just soak in to my skin, even if you touch your face a lot it does not rub off at all.

Stay In Place Make up This comes in a glass bottle which looks lovely but honestly I do prefer a tube or pump. The coverage I would say is medium, but buildable. You definitely cannot build up to the coverage of the Maximum Cover, but if you are one of those ladies that don't want to hide your freckles but still want full coverage then this may be the one for you.

This has a thick liquid consistency rather than a creamy texture. Alone this stays in place just as well as the Maximum Cover, but ironically when applied over a silicone based primer this does not stay in place at all. I would say rather than using a primer with this product just use a thick moisturiser. Really though neither of these foundations require a primer.

I do have to wear concealer with this foundation, again this is not a full coverage it is a medium. A lovely everyday foundation, perfect for school or work where full make up may not be the dress code.

Everyone seems to talk about Double Wear as it being a really heavy foundation. It is heavier than other products but if it is full coverage you want then try the Maximum Cover, it is still much lighter than other full coverage foundations. If you are happy with a little less coverage then the Stay in place is not heavy at all once it has set.

For reference I use shades Bone or Sand in the Stay In Place foundation, dependent on how tanned I am, and shade Rattan in the Maximum Cover, much too dark for my natural skin tone but perfect when I am wearing fake tan.  

Ciao

  xxx

Review: Bourjois Colour Boost Lip Crayon

Hello lovelies,

 

I love a good lip product but for some reason I had never tried one in chubby stick form (hangs head in shame).

Everyone raves about Clinique chubby sticks but I couldn't justify spending £17 on something I had not tried before, so thought I would get a drug store alternative.

 

Bourjois Colour Boost Lip Crayon shade 4 Peach On The Beach

 

Price: £7.99 (buy here)

 

Good: This shade is perfection! It is an almost luminous coral orange, braver than the normal nude lip but perfect for spring.

The reason I chose this over similar drugstore products was its glossy look. In fact it almost looks like a gloss, but instead of feeling sticky this is like melted butter.

I love that this has an SPF of 15. It is so important to protect your lips but lets face it, sun cream tastes yuk and hardly any of us use SPF lip balm. I think all lipsticks should have sun protection.

 

Bad: These are not very long lasting, the intense moisture and full pigment lasts about half an hour. The product lasts a approximately 2hours before re-application is needed; not 10hours as the packaging states. I would also suggest only applying one coat, if you try to apply another its glossy texture will actually wipe away some of the pigment. One coat is enough though, any more and your lips may feel a little greasy.

I am also not a massive fan of how massive they are. lipsticks are nice looking and compact, where as these are not so luxurious looking and not overly travel friendly. Annoyingly, due to it's lack of staying power you will have to try and fit this in your travel make up if you have any plan to wear this all day.

 

As a side note, I cannot find a lip liner to match this shade anywhere. I personally don't mind, I use this kind of as a lip balm, but I know this may be a down side for some.

 

I guess it is a bit of a personal preference with this product, while the colour is beautiful and the creamy texture is lush I am not really a fan of it's crayon like appearance or size. I would say it is a cute spring summer purchase, but as lip products go there are much better all year rounders.

 

Let me know what you think of chubby sticks, have you tried this one

 

Ciao

  xxx

March favourites

Hello lovelies,

I hardly ever do favourites, but this month I just thought I would share with you a couple of new finds and a re-kindled love of mine.

So as you can see my Yves Saint Laurent Eyebrow Pencil gets a whole lot-a-love the shade 4 ash is a perfect match for me. The consistency is better than any (of the many) other pencils I have used.

The Double Wear stay-in-place foundation is a recent find but I keep reaching for this. It has the lowest coverage of all my foundations but it is very buildable and just feels lovely on the skin.

The Kick Ass powder from Soap & Glory you know I love. I reviewed it recently (read here!), I just had to remind you of how good this is not only at creating and keeping matte skin but at combatting that orange glow that pressed powders can give.

I reviewed the bareMinerals Ready Blush in shade 'the one' a few months ago, and I still can't get enough of this shade. it is a perfect natural looking blush which is great for spring.

Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner This is my re-discovered love. I had not worn gel eyeliner on a regular basis for about a year! I recently got a Lancôme smudger and liner brush which has perfect precision and so I have fallen back in love with this long lasting creamy textured gel liner. I warn you this does smudge so I use a bit of mac fix+ to keep to prevent this. (brush review / Fix+ review)            

Benefits Badgal lash mascara has overtaken all (the billions) of mascaras I have got at the moment. This thick wand, that I normally hate, makes my lashes look so voluminous. It is by far the best mascara they make. For reference my lashes are relatively thick, long and curly already but honestly this mascara is the business.

It was so hard for me to narrow down my favourite Jour Cosmetics products this month, I am really enjoying them at the moment but I wanted to mix up the brands for you so these are my top 2. The products are all super luxurious but in particular the lip glosses. They are a gorgeous creamy texture and nicely pigmented, shade nude is my fave shade. The bronzer is also lovely, possibly a little orange if you are very pale but applied lightly it looks great and keeps foundation looking matte.

Comment bellow and let me know what your march favourites were and what you think of these products.

Ciao

  xxx

New/ up to date bloglovin account

Hellooo beauties,

As some of you may know a few months ago I changed my blog URL from vazquezb.blogspot.co.uk to its current buymebeautiful.blogspot.co.uk. I did this to make it more easily memorable; as it is the name of the blog, and because while I know how to spell my last name I know it is not the simplest in the world to spell.

I did not realise till the next day that bloglovin does not let you change your URL and while the past couple of month I thought I will just have 2 bloglovin accounts, I keep getting new followers on my old one which does not update with new posts :(

I am really sorry for the confusion, in 3days time I will deleting my old account and would love if all 60 beauties would re-follow me on my up to date account!

my link is  http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11699969 hope to see you there!

thank you for following
xxxxxxxx

Urban Decay Naked3; review, swatches and make up look

Hello beauties,

This palette has been reviewed so much now I didn't want to do the usual pictures and swatch post so I thought I would share with you my favourite look using this palette as well as my humble opinion on it:)

Price: £37 (buy here). As with the other Naked palettes Urban Decay has added a little extra product to soften the blow of the price. This palette comes with 4 sample eye shadow primers; Original, Eden, Sin and Anti-aging. The samples will last you up to two weeks each if you use a little every day. I have just put mine into little pots so they don't get ruined.

You also get a double ended brush with a crease and shadow end. To be honest I am not a massive fan of the brush, the bristles are really stiff which makes it a little hard to use. I have been using the shadow side to apply shadow in my inner corner and the crease brush for applying shadow on my lid. As a crease brush it has to be the worst brush I have ever used for blending. (see the last picture; crease end on the left and shadow end on the right)

The palette itself has 12 shades, a mixture of mattes, shimmers and glitters. Here are some swatches in order that they come in the palette from right to left...

As you can see the shades all have a pink tone to them, this is completely different to the other Naked palettes and probably the best pink palette available on the market at the moment. 12 shades of creams, pinks, rose gold's and purples I don't think can be found in any other palette. Off course you can find similar mac shades but it would be much more expensive to build a 12 piece palette of shadows from mac.

Blackheart is described as black matte with red micro-glitter but it applies as a gorgeous deep purple. I like to transition this shade with Factory as this smokes it out without loosing its vibrancy.

Trick is a beautiful rose gold shade that looks amazing when it shimmers in the sun and lovely with coral lipstick and accessories.

It is really difficult for me to swatch the shade Strange as it is so close to the colour of my skin and it is matte so no shimmer to catch the light either. Hopefully you can see it a little better on the pictures bellow; I used this shade on my brow bone. I love wearing it all over my lid for a no make up look. This makes my lid the same colour as the rest of my skin without the worry of creasing if I used a concealer.

There are so many looks that can be created with these 12 shades, they all complement each other perfectly and look great worn alone for simple looks. This is just one look I am loving currently, please comment if you would like me to create a few more for a post in the future.

I used Maybelline gel liner applied with a Lancôme double ended liner brush (review) and Benefit They're Real mascara (review).  I used the shadows lightly for a subtle day look but adding more product would deepen the pigment for a dramatic evening look.

What's your favourite shade ladies? Comment me your links if you have done a look post using this palette, and don't forget to follow to be updated with more of my ramblings.

Ciao

  xxx

The Pro Hygiene Collection Make Up Antibacterial Spray

I recently discovered this antibacterial spray for make up whilst browsing cult beauty and got instantly exited. I realise some girls will think that it is a little strange but I think it is an amazing idea and a beauty kit essential.

This retails for £15 for 240ml like I said you can find it at cultbeauty here. I have also seen this on feelunique who stock a 100ml bottle as well for £10 buy here.

I realise £10/15 is extortionate for what essentially is a small bottle of antibacterial spray. However, this product dries in 60 seconds and does not ruin your product at all and it kills 99.99% of germs and you only need to do a small spritz to clean your products. I have been sitting my products face up on a table and spraying this once from about 40cm away. This way one spray cleans about 3 products.

What to use it on: The spray works on all kinds of makeup; powders, creams, lip sticks and gels etc. however they do not recommend using this on mascara so make sure you stick to your use by dates. They also do not recommend use on lip glosses. If you are using it on a lipstick or eye/lip pencil then spritz, wait 60seconds and wipe on some clean tissue prior to applying it; you don't want to get the spray in your eyes or mouth as it taste rank and stings like hell; yes I am one of those idiots that doesn't look which way the lid is pointing before I spray. You can also use this on tools, like tweezers and eyelash curlers, but at £10 a bottle your probably better off just using regular cleaner on them.

How often to use: The spray prevents the regrowth of germs so will kill nearly all bacteria in between uses. If you use a product all the time once a week is ok but if its something you do not use regularly just spritz after each use then you know it is germ free while it is in storage. If you share your products with anyone then it is always better to clean it after every use to prevent spreading all your germies!

I realise this will not excite everyone as it did me, but keeping products clean not only helps them last longer but will help prevent blemishes.

Hope you found this useful ladies, if you did, make a blogger smile and hit follow :)

Ciao

  Xxx

Glamour Freebies

Hellooo,

Bit of a random little extra post. As my twitter followers will know I'm ill at the moment. My voice has gone and I have a stinking cold and am feeling very sorry for myself. 

 

As I am a girl there are very few things that make me feel better; blogs, youtube/films, tea and magazines!

 

I do love a good magazine and Glamour is one of my favourites. Really I just wanted to draw your attention to the freebies :)

 

1) 25% off ladies wear at H&M :D the thought of a shopping trip when I get better brought a rather large grin to my face

 

2) A MODELco product. I chose the lip illusion lip liner enhancer worth £15, which is a natural colour and is supposed to make your lips look fuller. They also have a mascara worth £16, a eye liner worth £15 and two shades of lip gloss worth £15. I have previously got one of their lip glosses as a freebie and think its lovely so I wanted to try another one of their products.

3) No magazine is complete without a perfume sample; this edition has an Alien Eue Extraordinaire sample; a new fragerance from Teirry Mugler, and his and hers samples of L'Eau D'Issey by Issey Miyake. I like to cut these out and put them in my travel make up bag for perfume emergencies.

 

4) Lastly a Smashbox camera ready cc cream SPF 30 dark spot correcting 1.5ml sample. I love smashbox primers and I have been wanting to try out a CC cream so I was really pleased with this sample.

 

This is issue number 157 April 2014 and I just thought the samples were really good and that you may want to go and get 25% off H&M and try out some MODELco products. You can't go wrong for £2, and on first impressions I am loving the lip liner it is a lovely neutral shade.

 

Ciao

  xxx

Soap & Glory Kick Ass Powder

Recently I have been on the hunt for a mattifying powder that lasts as close to all day as possible. With my super oily tzone I figured this was a lot to ask, especially from the drugstore, but Soap & Glory seem to have the answer with this bizarrely named compact.

At just £12 this is an absolutely amazing product. It is a yellow toned translucent setting powder, so this does not add any coverage rather just mattes the finish of your base whilst making things a little more cool toned. 

If like me you have extremely pale skin this is great at making your bronzer and contour appear less harsh. Not only does it help to blend it in but the slightly yellow tint of the powder makes the bronzer appear less orange. 

I apply this using the Estee Lauder Powder Foundation Brush, this is a really dense but soft brush which evenly applies the powder. I apply this after my foundation and then again after my blush and contour or bronzer. This then setts all your make up and keeps things looking matte, but not too matte, for up to 5 hours-ish. 

Of course we all have different skin, if yours is on the dry side you may not even need to re apply this, but for fellow oily girls 5 hours without having to re-apply is amazing; I highly recommend trying this next time you're in Boots. Buy here

Ciao

  xxx

Lancôme brush review

Hello beauties,



We all love a good brush and while realTechniques, mac and sigma take the spotlight, I thought I would review some brushes for you that are not spoken about all that often but are amazing quality.

 

25 Cheek And Contour Brush £28 buy here

This is my kit essential brush for all lovers of contouring. The bristles are natural hair and very gentle on the skin. The cheek and contour brush has long oval shaped bristles gathered flat on the sides to allow you to get perfectly chiselled cheek bones with buildable application. The flatness of the brush also provides the perfect shape to apply an even amount of blush to the apples of your cheeks.

The joue and contour brush is 'supposed' to be used for highlighting, I personally would only do so on the bridge of my nose with this brush as it is rather small. I do however find it perfect for applying concealer. It is great at buffing in the product, be it liquid or cream. It is also great at contouring the sides of your nose, again it buffs the contour in rather than creating a line to be later blended. 

17 Blending Shadow Brush £21 buy here

 

This is such a lovely brush with long and super soft bristles. I would compare this to the 224 tapered blending brush by mac which is £22.50.The bristles are maybe a little more flimsy on this brush which allows for softer blending when used gently.

Both brushes have natural hair bristles which are tapered (the bristles come to a slight point) which allow you to get right into the crease of your eye. I personally like both brushes but this is £1.50 cheaper so if you are on a budget but looking for a great brush then this is the one for you. This brush can also be used for sealing under eye concealer with setting/loose powders, as well as for blending eye shadow.



24 Double-ended Liner Smudge Brush £18 buy here

This brush is such good value for money, a mac 210 eyeliner brush is £16.50 and only has the one brush. This dual ended brush means that you can create a perfect slim line or smudged out line for smoky looks.

As you can see the wand is angled making it much easier to draw a perfectly straight line. The bristles are much shorter than most other brushes I have seen, allowing for more precision, and allowing you to make much smaller lines. I always think its nicer to build on make up rather than ending up applying too much and having to brave a bold liner or re do your eye make up.

The smudger brush also has short soft bristles, I use this to apply shadow over my liner to smudge slightly but also to create a more matte look. This can be used to apply gel liner as well if you want to create a thicker less precise looking line.

 

I hope this has been useful, please comment if you would like any more information on the brushes, and let me know what you think of them if you have tried them.

 

Ciao

  xxx



JOUER blusing beauty palette review

Hello beauties,

 

I have recently been watching a lot of ViviannaDoesMakeup youtube videos, I noticed that she used a few Jouer cosmetics products and as I had not heard of the brand before I was really intrigued. I noticed this product in one video and loved it, it looked really cool and practical and the shades looked really me so I headed over to cultbeauty and made a cheeky purchase :D

 

Jouer: Blushing Beauty Palette limited edition

 

Price: £45 buy here this product is a bargin as it is 7 products in 1, but if that's not persuaded you then cultbeauty.co.uk also offer 3 free samples with orders over £40 and free shipping with orders over £50 so be sure to purchase from them.

 

Good: The Packaging: Firstly this product comes in a really cute draw string bag, which just adds to the elegance all jouer products have. Then we cannot go without mentioning the lego/ interlocking system it has. This makes it perfect for travelling, no more loosing bits of make up in your bag or in fact make up bags, this little capsule is self contained. It's not just the palettes that offer this inter locking system; all jouer compacts and glosses have this, meaning you can interchange your travel kit dependant on the look you are wearing that day.

 

The product: Again I love how this is 7products in one. I especially love the face compact, it's nice to know that your contour colour is the right shade for your skin tone. I think a full face palette like this is great for girls that maybe are not sure which colours go together, as they have already matched it all perfectly for you.
The gloss is lovely, it is in shade 'cherish', it is not too sticky in texture, and has a subtle to medium pigment. The eyes compact only has two colours but they have picked the most used shades that can be applied to create so many different looks. The pale skin toned shade 'peach' is matte and gives a lovely warm tone to the lid, while the dark brown shade 'chocolat' is really shimmery. The shimmer has a gold tone to it allowing for more subtly of the shade if applied lightly with buildable colour for smoky looks. The tint and highlighter compact was the one I was most pleasantly surprised by. In the set the highlight looks rather dark but when applied it is so shimmery it looks amazing. It has a bronze gold tone to it and gives a beautiful tanned look to the skin. The tint is also shimmery which means that the two look really nice together. The shimmer takes away from the strength of the pigment when applied giving a naturally flushed glowing look.
I would say this is the perfect day palette and would look amazing during the summer where the shimmer will catch the sun. 

 

Other Palettes Available: 

Little Black Dress great for sultry or girly pink looks

In The Red  perfect for a red carpet glam looks

Bare Beauty Collection for more natural make up looks

 

Bad: While I cant fault the quality of the products in the set, I do prefer a lipstick over a gloss so maybe the set would have been better with a cute lipstick instead. Having said that, I love this gloss, and I just bought a matching lipstick to get free shipping :) The lipstick I got was the Jouer Lip Sheer lipstick in shade Capri. It is a really subtle coral and incredibly buttery in texture, it matches perfectly with the palette. It costs £18 and can be bought here.
The other negative I would say is that the face compact is only for lighter skin, this is not a problem for me but I like it when brands are inclusive of everyone. If you want one of these palettes and you have a darker skin tone then the bare beauty collection palette is best suited as it has a translucent mattifying balm for the face compact.

I hope you enjoyed this post, if you love discovering new brands like I do, I urge you to try Jouer Cosmetics; all their products are really high quality and they offer some lovely shades for lovers of neutrals.

Ciao
  xxx