makeup

Rimmel Sculpting Palette – First Impressions

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Hello my little buttons!

Here is my first impressions on Rimmels first sculpting palette. I bought the shade 002 Coral Glow for £6.99, from what I could gather this was the lightest shade avalible from the two they had.

The mini palette contains a blush, a contour shade and a highlight. I love the packaging, each product is easy to dip your brush into without touch other colours and the rose gold is a nice touch. Although I don’t think it’ll last long as after a day in my handbag some of the rose gold had chipped off, but in all fairness I wasn’t expecting for £6.99 it would be solid rose gold!!

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I adore the shades, so versatile and soft they are perfect for my pale skin. I was suprised of the formula, soft, creamy and really finely milled, i knew straight away they were going to blend into my skin with ease. When swatching there was some slight fall out but when I used brushes to apply the powders to my face there was none at all.

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The blush is so complimentary to pale skin tones, the perfect pinky peachy mix this would go with any makeup look which makes the palette very appealing to take on holiday or to throw in my bag day to day.

When I swatched the contour shade I was suprised to see a slight shimmer, my first thoughts were “what a shame I’m never going to use this now!” well I really shouldnt of been so quick to judge as on the face you couldn’t see the shimmer at all but it gave the skin a lovely glow, which we all know is super fashionable right now. It’s hard to describe but it looks gorgeous. The shade wasn’t too warm or cool and muddy, it was perfect. As predicted, it blended out beautifully and was buildable but still very subtle looking.

The highlight has a gold shimmer and is also wonderful. I dusted it lightly across the tops of my cheek bones as well as on the cupids bow, and spend about 3 minutes just looked at myself. It highlights without a crazy metalic shimmer, its noticable but natural. I think you could even take a big fluffy powder brush and cover your whole face for a dewy effect and it would still look good.

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Over all I’m so impressed with this little palette, it’s a total bargin and I find it quite rare to love every shade in a sculpting palette. The only thing that is a shame is that it’s only avalible in two shades, which is highly unlikely they’ll  match absolutely everyone. Apart from that this is my new go to sculpting palette! I’d love to hear in the comments below, which is your go to palette?

Becca xxx

Rimmel ‘Brow This Way’ Styling Gel – First Impressions

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Hello my little buttons!

Here’s a quick first impressions on Rimmel Brow This Way styling gel. It is avalible in 4 shades including clear, I bought the shade blonde and it cost £2.99.

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The packaging itself is a small mascara style tube with a chunky bristle brush. Once opened I noticed the brush had quite a lot of product on it, which on my small brows was going to get messy. So that was a bit disappointing as I didn’t feel I had as much control as I would of liked without wiping off the excess. On application I noticed a few lumpy bits sticking to my brow hairs, and the more I tried to brush them out with the wand the more product got stuck to my brows which created a big heavy mess!! Second time round I was armed with an extra spoolie which did the trick with the excess product and occasional lump. After lightly running the product through my brows I left it 10 mins to set before I had a good look and I have to say they didn’t look half bad! Most of the hairs were smoothed down and they looked lightly filled in for a natural look.

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The colour is quite a good match too, there was a touch of red in it before it set but that seems to have gone now it’s settled down thankfully!

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As you can see from a distance once the gel has set they look natural filled in, which for “light makeup in a hurry” days is perfect. You don’t get the same results as you would with a brow pomade for example, but from what I’ve read about the ‘Brow This Way’ line the brow gel is the most natural-looking brow product. Designed to smooth and lightly fill, which is something this product does do!

Overall I have to say for £2.99 it’s not a bad product at all. I think once I’ve used it a few times I’ll find it easier to distribute the product evenly and get quicker on application. This is perfect for those days I’m in a hurry or want a light natural brow. I’d love to hear what you think of this product in the comments below.

Becca xxx

£5 dupe for Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow?!

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Hello my little buttons!

Recently I purchased Anastasia Beverly Hills dipbrow in the shade blonde for £15, soon after that I found out Freedom Makeup London also did a blonde brow pomade for £5, naturally I ordered it lol! The past two weeks has been the battle of the brows, to see how these both perform side by side and if Freedom Makeups version could really be a good dupe for me to recommend. I blogged a first impression of the dipbrow and long story short I loved it, so easy to use, great colour, lasts litrally all day. It really does something magic to your brows, if you have used it you know what I mean! It is avaliable in 11 shades, you receive 4g of product and it has a 6 month expiry after opening. I ordered mine through http://beautybay.com and received free delivery (I’m in the UK)

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The first thing I noticed about the Freedom Makeup brow pomade in comparison to dipbrow was how similar the packaging is, both are cute little glass pots with sleek black lids. The next thing I noticed, that really shocked me was how similar the colours were!

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Freedoms was a hair darker (do you see what I did there haha) but the similarity is impressive. Anyone with blonde hair/brows knows that most drugstore ‘blonde’ products really aren’t blonde, and even if they look blonde in the pan when you apply them they seem far darker. Don’t get me wrong these are still a darker shade of blonde but thats perfect for my brows and I imagine if you had lighter brow hair it would appear lighter on the skin. Getting back to my original point it’s hard to find affordable blonde brow products but the Freedom pomade was spot on. They felt very similar in texture and throughout the day both swatches lasted equally as well on the back of my hand, once they had set they didn’t budge. I also thought it was fab that Freedom also carried 11 shades, which again for drug store is a rarity. There is less product though, you get 2.5g but the product expires after 12 months instead of 6 so if you didn’t use it every day it’s still good for twice as long as the dipbrow and it is £10 cheaper. I ordered mine through http://freedommakeuplondon.com

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Next up are the brow swatches, again super impressive! They both acheive a very similar result which I wasn’t expecting. I found the Freedom pomade adhered to the hair slightly more than the skin but after good comb through with my spoolie it evened out nicely. I found the dipbrow adhered to skin and hair more smoothly but I would still brush them through so really it doesn’t matter too much. With both products you can lightly fill in your brows or go full on defined “instabrow” depending on what you prefer.

In conclusion I think the Freedom pomade is a brilliant dupe for the more pricey dipbrow, both are fantastic and get the job done. They both wear well and last all day with no flaking or running all over your face in the rain (nothing worse than loosing your brows!). The shade range in both lines is unbelievable there really is something for everyone, what more could you want for your brows? What’s your fav brow product? I’d love you hear in the comments below!

Becca x

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Manna Kadar conditioning lash primer review

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Hello my little buttons! 

Recently I have been reviewing a lot of mascaras so I thought after received this Manna Kadar Conditioning Lash Primer in my August Glossy Box it would fit in nicely. As next week I’ll be reviewing an eyeshadowpalette, while trying to use up all my new mascaras! I haven’t really dabbled with lash primers so wasn’t sure what to expect. I decided the test this with my current favourite mascara, Rimmel Extra 3d Lash, I thought the rubberised brush would be handy for separating my lashes if the primer stuck them together.

The primer applied smoothly and evenly with very little clumping, the product is white so although it was harder to see I could already tell it had added length. I left it for a few seconds to dry slightly then added my mascara. I instantly noticed a difference in volume especially towards the roots of the lashes as well as toward the ends. There was some added length and it really helped hold my lashes up almost like lash hair spray!!  I was really pleased with the finished look, it was just enough umph to make a difference. 

One tip for the product, don’t apply your mascara when the primer is too wet or too dry, the best result I found was when it was somewhere in between! This product was $24 for 4grams and is avalible from 

http://www.mannakadarcosmetics.com

 

The world scariest mascara ever???

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Hello my little buttons!

Welcome to the frightening world of Avons Mega Effects Mascara. I have been literally itching to try this for the longest time. The cute little brush and novelty of this mascara had me intrigued, I wanted to see how it would apply and if it was as fun as it looked. A good friend didn’t use hers to offered it to me, I bit her hand off!! 

I was surprised how small it was for some reason I thought it would of been bigger, which is a bit daft really as it goes near your eyes lol. After removing the grey lid it reminded me of a brush in a pot of paint, you give the brush a wiggle and out come the bristles with a flexible handle so you can get at the right angle. I thought this was awesome, in the same way you might like looking at a pointless little ornament or miniature dolls house furniture. 

I went straight the the mirror to try it out, it was then I realised how impractical this mascara is!! It felt as unnatural as pushing a new born baby back up yourself. From a young age you train you hand and eye coordination to use a mascara wand a certain way, it takes time, dedication and a lot of messy black dots on your face. Using this mascara felt like someone else was waving the wand near my eyes, I had to move super slow and couldn’t take my gaze off the mirror for even a second. Another thing that was irritating is there was no where to wipe the excess off so I was worried about big clumps but it was fairly easy to brush them through. I do have to say I did kinda like the end result, my lashes looked longer and the mascara itself was super black which is something I love in a mascara. I will definitely keep trying this crazy contraption out to see if I can get used to it but as it stands today im just baffled lol. 

I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts on this mascara! Please comment down below and subscribe if you’d like to read more! 

My HONEST review on Younique Moodstruck 3d fibre lashes + mascara! 

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Hello my little buttons! 

I was sent the brand spanking new Moodstruck 3d fiber lashes + mascara from a lovely presenter called Asia I met on Instagram, her account is @asiamwh. Asia started selling younique so she could stay at home with her 7 month old gorgeous baby, she has been selling since May 2015 and lives in the USA. 

I was really intrigued to see how this mascara would perform as like most people on the online beauty community I have seen it EVERYWHERE!! I was also rather sceptical as some presenters (please do understand I do only mean some) are incredibly pushy, and flood my page with ‘check out my new mascara!’ I almost didn’t want to like it!!! But as the open minded person I am I didn’t want to punish presenters such as Asia and the product itself because the actions of others. I also loved that the new formula is gluten, soy, paraben and sulphate free and is 100% hypoallergenic. The wand is now cone shaped to reduce clumping and it’s made in the USA.  

I really liked the packaging, the product was presented in a lovely black box and the two mascara tubes came in a soft black bag which is great for storage to keep them together and for travel. It’s a nice added little luxury that made it feel very high end. There was one tube of transplanting gel and another tube of fibres. The tubes had a rubberised feel and were matte black which looks awesome. There is also windows on both tubes to show what was inside and how much you have left. There was a handy instruction sheet of how to apply the mascara step by step with pictures. 

  

I had heard from several people that ‘at first it can be tricky to apply’ and ‘you’ll need a bit of practice’ but first impressions I was surprised how easy it was!! The transplantation gel even on its own looked great it felt like applying any other normal mascara and really lengthened my lashes. I then applied the fibres, which I was fairly nervous about as I didn’t want to get any in my eyes and wasn’t sure how they would adhere to the gel. Again I was surprised as they stuck perfectly on the gel, they were scattered all over my lashes with zero in the eyes. I then used the gel again to smooth the fibres over and to stick to my lashes and seal them in. I repeated the process again and was really impressed with the final result. They didn’t look like big chunky spider legs, it’s looked gorgeous! Adding volume and length and really lifting the lashes up. I didn’t use the fibres on the bottom, I added a touch of gel and I felt that was enough. 

 
The next time I used it I tried out one coat and was pleased with the natural look the mascara achieved. On lot of photos on Instagram I had seen huge built up lashes which for a dramatic or night time look is great but for day to day I prefere something lighter and wasn’t sure this mascara was up to the job but I was pleasantly surprised at how diverse this product is. 

  

For this smokey eye I wanted to added lots of volume to my lashes so I added 3 coats of the mascara. It layered up great with very little fiddling and playing about. The most time consuming thing is chopping and changing tubes but even then I think it is well worth the added few minutes. 

Now for some pros and cons, I liked the finished look it was better than I expected and I really liked that you have control on how big you want your lashes to go. Several times I was asked if I was wearing falsies and that’s a big thumbs up in my book. I didn’t notice very much eye irritation, although after maybe 10 hours or so I did have some fall out and my eyes did get a bit itchy but then again even with normal mascara my eyes get sore and tiered by the night time. On the odd occasion I did get a fibre in my eye it’s wasn’t painful and was easy to remove so this wasn’t an issue for me. I did notice that during the day I had to keep my hands off my eyes, if I accidentally knocked my lashes I was at risk of loosing the extention of fibres that were on the end!! 

Overal I think this mascara is a big win, I’m not sure if I’d wear it every day but for an event, big day out or night on the town I’ll definitely be using this when I don’t fancy wearing lashes. It was comfy to wear and you really can get the look you want with this product it’s not just for big crazy lashes, although it’s very good at that too!! I can see why it’s so popular and how several of my friends (in real life) swear by it. Such a clever idea that doesn’t take long to master. I can also see how it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea as it does take longer to use than regular mascara but as I said before the final look far out weights the additional effort! 

If you’d like to give this mascara a go for yourself you can order it from: 

http://www.youniqueproducts.com/asiaholcomb  
  
Disclaimer: This was sent to me to review but that doesn’t remotely effect the honest review I have given I have not been sponsored or paid to promote this product. I would not sell my soul for makeup. 

My July favourites!! 

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Hello my little buttons!!

Here’s a count down of my favourite products from the month of July 2015. This month for me has all been about trying new things, as well as lightening up my makeup for the summer. I’ve been super busy with work and the kids so I’ve needed practical products that get the job done fast. 

  
The Pro Decadance Magic eyeshadow palette from Freedom Makeup London has been a staple in collection, I have done an in depth review on this on my blog recently so if you scroll down it should be there! To keep it short and sweet, fantastic quality all shades are pigmented blendable and just stunning I really can’t praise it enough. For £6 I was bowled over.

  
Blush highlight and contour palette from Makeup Revolution £3.50 I have owned for a while but rediscovered this month. Beautiful shades that are easy to work with, I would say use a light hand with the contour shade (I would use this more as a bronzer or for suble contour) as it’s highly pigmented. The highlight is pretty and also works very well as an eyeshadow, the shimmer is to die for! The blush is a dupe for the sleek blush rose gold, side by side there is very little difference. 

  
I might have found my Holy Grail liquid eyeliner, again a Freedom Makeup London product, the brush is perfection. It’s a rubber tip that is mainly firm to get your line straight but the end is flexible to get your wing on!! It’s really helped with my eyeliner application  and as you can do very fine lines with ease I can do for a lighter look without it going wrong and ending up super thick, you all know what I’m talking about!!!! 

  
I will have a review up soon on this product as I have bought a few other colours, this is the Bourjois Color Band eyeshadow and liner 2 in 1 pencil. I LOVE this pencil, the rose gold colour is so metallic and smooth to apply no matter how I wear it im always happy with the result. It’s sets really well and lasts most of the day even on my oily lids. Can’t wait to try more looks with the other colours they are quick and convenient, great for if your in a rush. 

  

Another Boujois product that I can’t believe I’ve not mentioned sooner in a favourites as it lives in my handbag and this is my second one!! Color Boost Lip crayon in Proudly Naked. Balmy, creamy this glides on the lips with just the right amount of colour. It’s sheer but packs a punch it’s my perfect pinky nude and the best thing is you don’t need a mirror to apply, it also goes with nearly every makeup look so it’s very diverse. 

  
 
I have an in depth review on this product too which I wrote recently. The swatch speaks for itself, if I could paint my whole body in this I would. Super affordable, the cream to powder formula feels good on the skin and works well over liquid and powder foundations. 

  
Last but defiantly not least is House of Glam Dolls lashes, here I’ve used the half strip. I’ve always struggled with applying lashes, mainly getting the glue tackiness correct. The glue that goes with these lashes is the bomb, it applies blue and is ready to be instantly applied. It also holds them in place all day with zero slippage. The lashes are made with natural hairs and are light and comfy to wear there is also a huge range of styles to suit everyone and anyone. At £5 a set these were my deal of the month! 

Freedome London Makeup Curl Mascara Review

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Hello my little buttons!

Here’s a quick review on Freedom Makeup Londons ‘Curl Mascara’ £2. There is also a volume mascara and lengthen mascara in the range. The first thing I noticed was the gigantic size of the wand, I photographed it next to a lipstick so you could see how long this thing is! I have big eyes but even on my peepers it wasn’t the most comfy mascara to apply, I really had to watch what I was doing so not to ruin the rest of my makeup. I do have to say though true to its name it did curl my lashes, really lifting them up and holding them up for most of the day. It’s super black and the end result was soft fluttery lashes that did look fairly natural. This would defiantly be a ‘no makeup day mascara’ as it opens up the eyes and isn’t chunky or clumpy.  This was a good few coats and as you can see its layered up nicely. Think I’m going to get the other two mascaras and review them all side by side. Might even try them all together for crazy huge lashes! Overal like this mascara for natural days and light summer looks, great price for £2 and oddly enough it smells gorgeous, just annoying the wand is so huge. Please subscribe for me reviews like this! 

Disclaimer: I received this mascara while on a Freedom Makeup London makeup course, curtesy of Freedom Makeup London but that doesn’t remotely effect the honest review I have given I have not been sponsored or paid to promote this product. I would not sell my soul for makeup. 

Makeup Revolution Pro Hygiene Anti Bacterial Brush Cleaner Review 

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Hello my little buttons!

For years I have used the Bare Minerals brush cleaner paying about £10 for 110ml, a friend recommended it and it seemed to be doing the job just fine. I then noticed one day on the Makeup Revolution website they sold brush cleaner, which was £5 for 200ml. I love Makeup Revolution so thought it was worth a try! I let my brushes get nice and dirty to really  test out this product. 

The first thing I noticed was the smell, it was lovely! Really sweet and pleasant I couldn’t smell the alcohol at all, nothing worse than a boozy smelling brush cleaner lol. The next thing I noticed was the spray, it was a fine wet mist which was great for covering all of the bristles. It also had a special top that made it possible to spray from all angles which was really handy. The first time I used it I could not believe how much product came off the brush , way more that would of come off with my bare minerals cleaner. As I went through all the brushes and more and more product came off it really got me thinking, how much was left on my brushes before finding this cleaner?! So gross the thought of rubbing half clean dirty brushes all over my face. I’ve had the bottle for about 2 months now and there’s still product left. Favourite brush cleaner ever, I just love it! 

Here’s the link to super drugs site of your interested in this product:

http://www.superdrug.com/Makeup-Revolution/Makeup-Revolution-Antibacterial-Brush-Cleaner-200ml/p/246410

Essence ‘soo glow!’ Highlight review!

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Hello my little buttons!

I bought this lovely little highlighter for £2.80 from the wilkos website, I’ll put a link in at the bottom of the review! Let’s start with the shade, I own number 10 ‘look on the bright side’ which is a beautiful gold shimmery light reflective colour. The formula is soft and creamy that once rubbed into the skin turns into a soft powder. It can be used with a brush or fingers it’s very easy to work with. You can either go lightly in for a real subtle shimmer or go to town layering it up. I love that there isn’t any glitter in this at all, but it is super shimmery so if you prefers matte highlighters this might not be for u!!  

 
Here’s a photo of the highlight in natural light over a bb cream. Ignore my weird eye lol! But had to use this pic as it shows off the highlight perfectly! I think this highlight is a bargin, for £2.80 you get 4g of product which is a nice big pan. I’ve been using it for weeks now and I’ve still hardly made a dent, whenever I wear this every time I catch a glimps in the mirror I do think ‘Ooo look at that highlight!!!’ It’s also a really pretty inner corner and brow bone highlight so it’s multi purpose, which is great for travel when you have limited space. 

To me this product is a big win! What are your favourite highlighters I’d love to hear below! 

If your interested to buy this product online heres a link to the Wilko website:

http://www.wilko.com/essence/essence-soo-glow-cream-to-powder-highl-10/invt/0410093