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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

March beauty favourites 2016

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Hello my little buttons!

I realised I hadn’t written a favourites blog in quite a while, so thought I better get back on track. The past month I’ve really been enjoying playing with makeup, I’ve got some fab products I just can’t put down that I’d love to share with you! I think I have reviewed most of these products but I can still give u a mini break down of why I think they’re awesome. I’ve tried quite a few eyeshadow palettes this month, I’ve really been feeding my addiction lol, so I’m going to do a separate post on my favourite palettes from the month.

Product number one had to be Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow in the shade blonde. This stuff is incredible, it’s the perfect shade for me and is so easy to apply. Personally, I line the outside of my brows with a thin slanted brush, over drawing them slightly giving myself more of an arch. I then use the remainder of the product on the brush to fill the rest in. It’s so quick and easy and I love the end results. I’ll add a photo below. It lasts the whole day with zero touch ups which is fantastic, even in the rain there’s no smudging what so ever. Don’t get me wrong I’m not claiming to have perfect brows or to be a ‘brow queen’ but this definatly helps! It’s priced at £15 and I bought mine from Beauty Bay. If you are after a cheaper alternative Freedom Makeup London also do a brow pomade which does exactually the same thing for only £5!

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Next on the list is eyeliner pens. I tend to prefere a wet liner with a small brush but recently while looking at my eyeliner stash I realised I have quite a few eyeliner pens I’ve not even tried. So this month really has been the month of the pen, I’ve actually found it a lot easier to use than I used to. A few favourites have been Elfs new liner pen (it’s lost in my house at the moment it’s driving me insane not being able to find it) the formula is super dark and the nibs long and flexible with a super fine tip which is great for winging it out on the upper Lash line.

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Another range I totally forgot existed is Avon super shock liners, I have 3 colours and all three are easy to use and last really well throughout the day. I wouldn’t recommend the dark green although it looks gorgeous on it stains really badly!! I’ve found the pens that are the best to use are the ones with a long nib and fine tip, you have more control and they glide over the lids a lot easier.

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I do own a Rimmed Scandal eyes pen which has a short flat applicator, I found this a lot more challenging to glide across my aging eyelids lol they’re not as smooth as they used to be!!

Highlighters, highlighters and more highlighters. I just can’t get enough, highlighting and strobing is huge right now and I have officially jumped on the band wagon. I couldn’t pick one favourite as I’m rotating my collection but I can definatly recommend a few. I have a several highlighters in stick form that are super quick to apply, the one I’m reaching for most is Collection ‘Speedy highlighter’ in the shade ’01 Pearl Sheen’ it’s a beautiful peach pearly colour which is really flattering on my skin tone.

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For the creams I’m loving Makeup Revolution Ultra Strobe balm, I have the shade Euphoria which is a pinky toned highlight. An old favourite which I’ve mentioned many times is Essence Soo Glow which is a gold highlight, the cream to powder formula feels like a dream. Both apply evenly and blend in beautifully over makeup.

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For the powders I’m reaching for my Elf baked blush, which is a pinky toned blush but I also double as a highlight as it has the prettiest rose gold shine.

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I would also highly recommend the Makeup Revolution highlighting trio palette, it contains 3 huge pans of product including a gold pink and purple highlight. They last all day and look stunning. They also have individual baked highlighters if you wanted to stick with a certain colour.

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I’ve been reaching for my Freedom Makeup London Setting Spray a lot too, it helps my makeup last as well as De cakes my face if I’ve over powdered. I like that it’s not a huge bottle it’s great to throw in my hand bag to freshen up through the day.

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L’oreal Infallible matte Foundation is giving me life right now!!! I love the coverage, a little goes a long way and it makes my skin look amazing. It’s a great Base for any contouring or highlighting I feel like doing that day. It’s stays matte through out the day and doesn’t dry my skin out, it will forever be in my top 3 favourite foundations so I just had to mention it.

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So there we go, there was quite a few bits in this month’s favourites but I really couldn’t leave any out. All amazing products and none that break the bank. Total win win. What’s your monthly favourites I’d love to hear in the comments below.

Becca xxxx

Elf Lash tint mascara review

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Hello my little buttons!

If you read my blog posts you’ll be aware that I’m working my way through Elfs new beautifully bare collection. The line is meant to be natural flawless looking makeup for your ‘no makeup makeup’ days. In this review we’ll be looking at the Lash Tint Mascara in ‘naked noir’. When I recently put an order in with Elf I received this for free as they had a special offer on, to buy it would of been £5.  I tend to go for big chunky mascaras that will give me as much length and volume as possible so I had to change my mindset when trying this product, I thought of more natural and fluttery lashes that would look nice with toned down summer makeup.

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I really like the packaging is this line, the sleek silver mirrored tube looks great although the finger print aspect is starting to annoy me lol. The brush on this product is TINY, I mean really really tiny. Here is it next to a Freedom Makeup London mascara brush to show you in comparison.

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Elf claim that “this innovative and revolutionary applicator expertly combs and coats each individual Lash for weightless coverage. The micro fibre infused formula creates buildable volume from root to tip.” I’m afraid I have to really disagree with that!!! The information is all very conflicting, by the name ‘lash tint’ you would assume it litrally tints your lashes black for a real natural ‘your lashes but better’ look. Yet on the back of the packet it’s claiming buildable volume? I wasn’t overly impressed with the brush, I found it actually started uncurled my lashes when applying. It did separate most of my lashes but there wasn’t any volume going on, I do have to say the mascara colour is very black which I did like and even noticed later on when I looked in the mirror. But even if I could get past the minimum volume and straight lashes, I hate to say it as I love Elf, the formula sucks. My lashes took about half an hour to dry, this is not exaduration even after the half hour they were tacky and sticky to touch. While they were drying everytime I blinked I felt like my top and bottom lashes were trying to stick together which was really irritating and uncomfortable. Here are some photos of what it looked like on.

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It didn’t look horrendous and if it wasn’t for the sticky formula I would of proberly given it another few goes but I couldn’t stand the feeling of my lashes sticking together so sadly this is a fail for me. I recently review the Beautifully Bare Total Face Palette which I loved if you were interested in reading reviews on other products in the line. I will also be reviewing the beautifully bare blush this week too.

Becca xxx

Makeup Revolution ‘Fortune Favours the Brave’ eyeshadow palette by British Beauty Blogger!!

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Hello my little buttons!

Well well well hasn’t there been some huge online hype around this palette!!?? I have to say I’m not suprised, it was created by British Beauty Blogger for Makeup Revolution and as you can see it’s beautiful. There were lots of sneek peek preview photos of this palette from Makeup Revolutions birthday party  all over instagram which in my opinion really hyped this product up!! As I own way too many eyeshadow palettes I’m more selective with which ones I buy these days but after seeing the palette for myself at the party I knew it had to be mine.

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The packaging is really unique for Makeup Revolution, it’s matte gold with a shiny gold design, it feels and looks more luxury that most of the other palettes within their range. The palette is equipped with a hefty 30 eyeshadows as well as a big mirror and an eyeshadow brush. Not the best brush but by far not the worst, the flat side is perfect for packing colour onto the lids. I used it slightly damp for the swatches and as you can see it really gave the colours even bolder pigmentation.

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I think the colour selection is fantastic, there is a bit of everything!! Light to dark neutrals, pinks, mauves, blues, greens, metalics.. it has it all. You can create so many different looks with this palette it’s a great all rounder. There’s a fab selection of mattes and some really pretty shimmers, although the stunning baked marbleised finished eyeshadows in the palette are what really caught my eye, I think it’s what also makes this palette so appealing and different.

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To swatch most of the shadows were pigmented and smooth, there were a few stiffer colours that require more work to build up the pigmentation which was slightly disappointing but for less that £10 for 30 eyeshadows you can’t complain. Some of the colours that were more difficult to swatch with my finger applied much better with an eyeshadow brush and we’re lovely and blendable. Because of the fantastic colour selection it’s super easy to create a whole eye look without reaching for any other eyeshadow products. It drives me crazy when I buy a beautiful palette and to complete a look having to reach for other shadows to get either a matte or shimmery cream or even a crease colour. This palette has it all! You definatly need a good primer for these shadows to last but thats something I would use every day anyway. Overall a lovely little palette, again slight shame some colours require more work but this is the case with most affordable palettes. Using them slightly damp really helped with this issue. I will add some photos of the different looks I have achieved with this palette down below. Do you own this palette? What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts the comments below!

Becca xxx

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For this look I played around with the greens on the palette for a smudgy  olive toned smokey eye. To add some lilac I used Makeup revolution eyeliner in ‘depraved’ on the waterline.

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For this look I used the peachy colour with a shimmery white inner corner highlight and to line my eyes I used some of the gorgeous navy shades. To finish the look off I used Makeup revolutions blue eyeliner in the shade ‘baddest blue’.

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For the top look I used a damp brush and packed on a metallic pink (very similar to a colour in the urban decay naked 3 palette) with a bronzed gold on the outter corner, a light brown in the crease and a matte cream on my brow bone. I also used a Makeup Revolution lipliner in the shade ‘the one’ in my waterline. To add to this makeup for more of a night time smoked out look, I used the darkest marbleised eyeshadow which is black with metallic red running through it and pressed that into the gold shadow. I also added a shimmery white on my brow bone.

Freedom Makeup London and House Of Glam Dolls eyeshadow palette in ‘Vintage Doll’

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Hello my little buttons!

Freedom Makeup recently did a collabe with House of Glam Dolls to create four ‘all in one’ palettes. For those of you who don’t know, House of Glam Dolls is a makeup training academy in London. When Freedom first launched I was invited to a makeup course there using all the new Freedom products. It was run by David Horn it was absolutely fantastic I would highly recommend their courses,  there is a blog about it further down the page! (my blog is getting a revamp soon to make articles easier to find!!)

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The palettes are £8 each and avalible in four different colour choices. I chose Vintage Doll as I’m quite pale and thought the blushes would suit my skin tone. On reflection I wish I would of gone for Fairy Doll as I love bright coloured makeup but I did think I would get more day to day use of Vintage Doll.

Each palette contains 4 brow powders, 3 highlight shades, 4 lipglosses, 2 blush and 10 eyeshadows. I don’t normally buy all-in-one palettes as they remind me of kiddie makeup and I just don’t seem to reach for them but as I love the vast majority of Freedom Makeup I really wanted to give them a go, and for £8 it was a bargin.

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I really like the brow powders, there is a shade for nearly everyone. They apply smoothly and have great pigmentation. Another bonus is although I would only use one, maybe two shades on my brows these double up as eyeshadows. I liked using the lighter shades in the crease and the darker shades to add demention and smoke things out!

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Here are the swatches of the blushes, I feel these steal the show in this palette. They actually remind me of Sleek blushes, which is a big claim to make! They are so creamy and pigmented you only need the tiniest dab on your brush, they blend out beautifully and last really well throughout the day. They leave a slight stain which helps with the staying powder.

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One of the issues with having lipglosses next to shadows in a palette like this is that is you know within minutes you will get powder, dust and random bits stuck to the products. I think the only way it works is if there is a separate flap covering the lipglosses. The colours themselves show up lighter than they appear in the pan which is a shame, but it was expected. They’re nice for a light wash of colour and last for maybe an hour or so. I like that you can mix the colours to customise your own shade but I don’t think they are needed in the palette and could of been left out.

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The eyeshadow and highlight layout in the palette did confuse me slightly so I’m lumping them into the same category as both products are multi functional. It’s funny because when I saw the palette online I thought ooo pretty, but when it was in front of me it took me a while to think of what do with it! As you’ll see further down the page I managed to create quite a few different eye looks with this palette but it was rather confusing that I didn’t feel inspired straight away. I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like it. There’s a good selction of shimmers and mattes, most shades are pigmented and looked really pretty to me after I swatched them but a couple were quite stiff so required more time and effort. I have found this tends to be in case in most drug store palettes so it wasn’t a deal breaker for me. Infact I’ve even found it in a few high end palettes too!!!

Although this is not my favourite palette in the whole world, it is a decent product. I think it would be great for someone starting out in makeup as it has 5 products for only £8! You can really experiment and practice with different colours and looks while not worrying your money’s being washed down the sink as it’s so reasonably priced. Another thing I think this product would be fabulous for is travel, it’s a small sized palette so even if you bought all 4 you could slip them in your suitcase or carry on and have endless looks at your finger tips. I do think I would take this on holiday it just seems so convenient taking one product, apose to 5. I’ve enjoyed creating different looks and seeing how much I can get out of this palette.

Becca xxx

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Elf Beautifully Bare Total Face Palette

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Hello my little buttons!

After seeing Elf cosmetics were back to the UK once again after solving shipping issues I was very pleased. I really missed the brand, as they’re so affordable, have awesome deals and products as well as free gifts ordering is quite addictive!  I recently placed an order with lots of new goodies to play with, the Total Face Palette being one of them. It is part of their Beautifully Bare collection, the idea being that each of the products are light and natural creating a “no makeup makeup” look. Showing off your natural beauty….. with a tiny bit of help lol.

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Here is a photo of the order I placed from my Instagram, as you can see the palette is in the top left of the frame. The packaging is cute and simple, the palette itself is in a mirror effect compact, with a real mirror inside. It costs £8 which I think is good value as it contains two blushes, a pinky shade and a coral shade, a subtle highlight and a contor powder.

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The powers themselves are smooth, creamy and pigmented, which gives you the option to have a light sweep of colour across the cheeks or really build them up for a more night time full faced look. They all blended into the skin with ease for quick application. The blush colours are adorable I’ve found myself reaching for them most days, I mainly would use a pink or a coral so this covers all bases. The contour shade is really nice too, the shade would work on most light skin tones although it is a tad warm so I’ve been taking it easy with how much product I pick up with my brush. With a light hand it creates a natural looking shadow that brings warmth and definition to the face. It blends out beautifully and you don’t need very much product, again due to the pigmentation. If you wanted really sculpted and defined cheek bones you still have that option. The highlight is super subtle, it only has a slight shimmer that once applied to the face looks natural and radiant. I do love a good shimmery highlighter but it doesn’t always look right with light casual makeup so this is a great alternative.

A few negatives, they really could do with more deep skin tone options as both of the palette shades they offer seem pretty light to me. Unless there were deeper palettes but they sold out so they’re not avalible now?! If anyone knows please do comment below!!!!  I also think the packaging is a teeny bit flimsy but for the price and products inside you really can’t complain.

Overall I highly recommend this palette, the colours they have chosen and the powder consistencies are spot on and it’s a fabulous price. Here’s some photos of myself using the Beautifully Bare palette.

Becca xxxx

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Freedom Makeup London Pro Studio Priming Water

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Hello my little buttons!

A while ago I was sent a priming water from Freedom Makeup London The water is full of nourishing multi vitamins and is prices at £6.00 for 100ml. If you follow my blog you’ll know with primers and foundations I like to thoughaly test them out with a viaraty of other products before I give my verdict so that I am confident in my opinion. This was my first experience with a priming water, it seems crazy that a product with the consistence of water could prime your skin to help your makeup go on smooth as well as make it last. So I was very curious to see how this would perform. My skin is slightly oily and I can get dry patches, although they have cleared up since using Freedoms pro studio moisturiser, if your interested I have reviewed further down my page. I tend to use mattifying primers, again I have reviewed Freedoms further down the page lol. After testing and testing and testing again I have come to the conclusion that this primer is a handy little tool to have in your collection. If your in a rush it’s fantastic to quickly spritz on the face, it’s smells gorgeous which is always nice, and dries fast. My makeup applies beautifully and not only that, lasts really well throughout the day with no dry patches or grease pools around my nose. It also seems to help blur my pores slightly, which as we all know is always a good thing. I’ve mainly been using medium-full coverage foundations recently and I’ve noticed a difference in the overall look as well as the longevity of my face products. You get a lot of product for your money so it would last you for ages, the mist is so fine even after a month or so of nearly constant use I’ve only used a quarter of the product. If your looking for an everyday quick primer to save you time as well as do the job, this could be the priming water for you!

Becca xx

Disclaimer: although this product was sent to me to review that doesn’t remotely effect my opinion of the product. I would not sell my sole for makeup xx

Burts Bees Matte Lip Crayon and Lipgloss

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Hello my little buttons!

Here’s my review of Burts Bees Matte Lip Crayon in the shade ‘Hawiaiian Smolder’ as well as a lip gloss in the shade ‘Spring Splender.’ The Crayons are priced at £8.99 and avalible in 6 shades, the Lipgloss is also £8.99 and avalible in 12 shades. The packaging is adorable, I love how a bee hive pattern has been incorporated into the lids. The formula of the crayon is pigmented, smooth and feels comfy to wear, very creamy like a lip balm. The quality of the product really speak for itself, the colour lasts for ages, it doesn’t bleed out all over your face and unlike most lip Crayons after an hour or so of wear it doesn’t bunch up on the lips or leave that dreaded ‘lip linner’ ring around your mouth. The colour sinks into your lips gradually which is a lot more flattering and natural looking! The colour itself is pretty and perfect for spring, it would also look great on nearly all skin tones. I usually feel a bit self contious wearing bright colours on my lips incase they get on my teeth but I didn’t get that feeling at all with this lip crayon, it stayed nicely in place where I wanted it to. Another bonus of the lip crayon is how handy it is to pop in your handbag and use on the go. It also contains 100% natural ingredients, some of which are very nourishing such as shea butter and kendi oil which is great as I know my lips won’t become dried out and sore. It would say it’s fairly matte but there is still a slight shine, although i don’t mind this it’s almost as if a matte lipstick and a lip balm had a baby! I really enjoyed this product and had to hold myself back from buying all the colours. Pigmented comfy colour with lip balm properties, perfection! In my eyes these are a total win, I would recommend to anyone and everyone. Here are the swatches of the Crayon and Lipgloss:

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Now onto the Lipgloss! It does have a slight pearl shimmer to it but doesn’t massively transfer onto the lips, it can potentially be seen close up in natural light if you were really looking for it but you won’t look like a disco ball in the slightest. The formula is shiney and slick, it feels more balmy than sticky which is a big thumbs up in my book I hate super sticky lipglosses! It contains 100% natural products and has a big boost of natural oils to leave your lips feeling hydrated and nourished as well as super glossy. It has a nice wash of colour that would look good over most lipsticks but also can stand on its own as a subtle sheen balmy product. It lasts fairly well as far as lipglosses go so I was pleased with this product too, it’s great to throw in my handbag if I need a light, pop of colour or if my lips are sore when im out and about. I really love that these products are helping my lips not hurting them, I have noticed my lips haven’t been getting as sore and peely even after spending all day out in the cold.

I think by now you can tell how much I love these little beauties!!! Here’s a few photos of how the colours can look in different lights on the lips!

Becca xxx

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L’oreal False Lash Sculpt Mascara

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Hello my little buttons!

I recently purchased L’Oréal False Lash Effect Mascara after hearing the huge claims L’Oréal were making in regards to what this mascara can do. Allegedly in One STROKE it can tight line at the roots, volumize at the core and fan your lashes out at the tips. My first thought was no way, in one stroke is that possible. After purchasing the mascara I straight away checked out this ‘magic’  wand, it was not what I was expecting at all. It’s quite hard to explain so I will add photos down below, it’s a long cone shape with two small combs next to each other. I was genuinely expecting a big chunky bristle brush or even a Benefit There Real! rubber brush dupe.

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On first application I have to say I was really impressed, the bottom comb almost hooks on to your lashes at the root causing a ‘tight line’ effect, it did add volume and fan my lashes out as promised. I used a few coats as I wanted to reposition some of my lashes but it really wasn’t 100% nessasary. I was very happy with the end result, although do be careful the first time you use it as it does feel different compared to a generic mascara, I did jab myself in the eye!!! On the photo below I litrally have eyeshadow and mascara on, no eyeliner at all.

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But second time round I was prepared and sculpted my lashes like a pro. It built up beautifully and I easily could of added more. When you first pull the wand out there is quite a lot of product on there so I recon it would work with one stroke for big punky thick lashes, I wiped some off for a more defined look. It’s also super dark which throughout the day has been one of the things I really noticed and loved. What I think is super unique about this formula is your lashes stay exactually where you want them to, as an example, I had curled my lashes but thought they needed an extra umph so after application I gently pushed my lashes up in hope they would stay there (which never happens) but omg they did stay up!!! Even when I moved them about to even out the fanned effect, once positioned they didn’t budge at all. It’s almost like hair gel for your lashes!!! Another bonus is later on in the day I could actually add more mascara on top of what I already had on and it looked gorgeous. I’m so impressed with this mascara, my new magic weapon for sure.

Love Becca xxx

Freedom Makeup London Pro Studio Oil Control Base

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Hello my little buttons!

I purchased the Freedom Makeup London Oil Control Base Anti-shine lotion a few months ago, but really wanted to test it out thoroughly before writing this blog. I find primers quite hard to review until I have used them with a viaraty of foundations, bb creams etc. Its priced at £8, the packaging is the same as the Freedom Makeup London skincare range, silver sleek and super functional with a pump. My favourite way to get a product out! Hygienic and you have a fair bit of control on how much primer comes out. It feels like a cooling gel to touch and a little goes a long way, I have tried using my fingers to apply the anti shine lotion as well as a Real Techniques buffing brush and I have found the same results with both ways of application. It actually works!!!! With bb creams and lighter foundations I’ve found I might need a light powdering in the afternoon as apose to the normal 4/5 during the day but with a matte foundation this primer is unstoppable. What I found quite unique is as well as keeping my oily t zone at bay, my skin stayed really hydrated throughout the day. Quite often with mattifying primers/foundations they can cause dry patches on my chin and around my mouth but I didn’t find this an issue at all. I wasn’t having to powder through the day as even towards the afternoon I had a healthy ‘glow from within’ look not an ‘oil slick’ look! If Freedom Makeup could add some pore blurring magic to this primer I would never use anything else again lol. I’ll add some photos of the primer in action! I’d love to hear what your favourite primers are in the comments down below!

Love Becca xxx

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