freedommakeuplondonreview

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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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

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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Freedom Makeup London Pro Studio Moisture Cream

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Hello my little buttons!

I’ve been on the lookout for a good moisturiser for some time now, I have fairly oily skin but due to the cold weather have started getting dry patches which my foundation is loving sticking to. I normally use really light products such as hydrating gels or mattifying creams to stop the oil slick thoughout day but this wasn’t helping the dry patches. I tried a few other creams that I had samples of and although it was helping the dry patches the rest of my face wasn’t thanking me for it, they were too heavy for my combo skin type. I noticed that one of my fav brands, Freedom Makeup London had a half price sale on so thought this would be a great opportunity to try some of their new skin care and hopefully find a moisturiser to be a staple in my collection. I chose the Pro studio moisture cream, normally £7 but as it was half price I paid £3.50. (the offer is still on at http://freedommakeuplondon.com) I was happy with the price as if I did like this product it would be easy to replace. There’s nothing worse than loving a sample size skin care product and finding out the full size is £50, I know you know what I’m talking about lol.

The cream came on a big glass pot, simple white and silver packaging, I liked it. Under the lid is a smaller removable lid that fits right over the opening of the jar which I have kept to keep out air and bacteria as much as I can. I usually go for creams in tubes so I’m not touching and contaminating the product inside, but my hands are clean whenever I apply my skin care products anyway and I don’t share them with anyone so it’s not put me off. The cream contains ‘skin nourishing’ ingredients such as ‘olive derived squalane and shea butter’ to ‘firm, protect and rejuvenate’ and you get 50ml/1.69Fl. Oz.

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I have been using the cream for a few weeks now and think I’ve got a pretty good feel for it. This cream is awesome!! I’ve been using it daytime as well as night, my dry patches have gone and i’m not a dripping greasy mess. I can wear it alone or under makeup, it’s a great all rounder! Even my makeup is going on smoother, my skin looks so much better than it did and the fact I’ll cream my face up before makeup is a testament to the brilliance of this cream. I’m so pleased to have found a cream that I can use everyday that is affordable and works with my skin, I’m 28 and I’ve not started wrinkling up yet but it is inevitable so the more I can do to help my skins elasticity and texture, the better!!! I also think it’s going to last me for ages, as you can see in the photo after 2 weeks I’ve hardly made a dent, a little goes a long way and it sinks in nice and quick too. Its got a lovely light scent to it, it’s fresh but not over powering. A lovely little cream I will happily recommend! 

Have you tried this cream? I’d love to hear in the comments below! I’ll be reviewing a few other Freedom skincare items I bought throughout the week so of you’d like to read more scroll down my blog until you see this:

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And sign yourself up for email notofications. You can also follow me on instagram ‘buttonnailslovesmakeup’ Hope your all having a fab weekend!

Becca xxx

My review on Freedom Makeup London ‘Rose Goddess’ makeup course @ House Of Glam Dolls!!!! 

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Hello my little buttons! 

The wonderful Freedom Makeup London offered me the chance to attend one of their makeup courses at House of Glam Dolls in London. Naturally I jumped at the chance. There were four courses to choose from, each offering step by step training on different makeup looks. I went for ‘Rose goddess’ as I love rosy makeup and was drawn to the face chart, who wouldn’t want to look like that?!

  
As well as the course I also got a nice big bag of goodies with key items for the Rose goddess look as well as other bits and pieces, which was very well received and a nice touch to the already amazing afternoon. I am not a makeup artist, nor have I had any makeup training so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it be a ‘sit and listen’ kind of thing? Would it be interactive? Would I be so nervous i’d shake and couldn’t do my liquid liner? All these thoughts crossed my mind on the train journey up to London, but I really shouldn’t of worried. The building itself was fresh and modern and very easy to find using my trusted Google maps, and a phone call to the creative director, Chinyee Chu. Who, before I even entered the building made me feel so welcome and at ease. When I entered the space I thought I had died and gone to heaven, the room was STUNNING. Colourful, eclectic, vintage, modern, creative, imaginative… Incredibly well put together. 

  
Every nook and cranny was filled with beautiful interesting pieces, I could of spent all afternoon exploring and admiring, from the furniture to the wall art to the large cabinet of vintage and beautifully packaged special edition makeup, there was even a gorgeous unique shed/cabin! The space was designed and created by chinyee chu which to me made it even more personal to the brand.

  
  
Just being in the space inspired me, it made me want to get stuck in and be creative. I later found out this was Glam Dolls goal with the studio design, they well and truly hit the nail on the head. The space was spot on for learning and really pushing your creative boundaries. For a classroom it was freaking awesome!!! For those of you that don’t know im a nail technician who specialises in nail art, I was not expecting to come away from this course with a million nail art ideas but I’m already attacking my customers! This place is something special and a wonderful environment to learn in. 

The course was being run by David Horne, the other creator of House Of Glam Dolls. I’m actually going to insert a link here: http://www.houseofglamdolls.com/about.html   Which has all the back ground info on the super impressive chinyee chu and David Horne, as I could write a blog purely on what these amazing people have achieved in their careers. After hearing more from David about their history I knew I was in some of the best hands in the industry, and after seeing a framed article of him in VOGUE alongside Lisa Eldridge less than a year from opening their studio I knew I was in the presence of a legend! Have to say I was a tad star struck, which come to think of it I said out loud lol cring. 

  

The training itself was casual but informative. Sadly there was a group cancelation which took the group of four down to just me. Not that I was complaining! It was a relaxed yet professional atmosphere, my nerves melted away and I was comfy asking questions no matter how daft I thought they seemed. A real highlight was when David advised me how to create a wing that was flattering to my eye shape, something I had always struggled with. For someone that really is royalty in the beauty world and has achieved so much (honestly read the link!) he was down to earth and not at all a ‘makeup snob’ he was honest about the freedom products and very quickly I felt I could trust his opinions and guidance.

  
As David demonstrated on his beautiful model Dan Fitzpatrick, who was a student at the school and is now being mentored by David to co host the freedom makeup courses (jealous much?) I was applying my own makeup step by step with lots of tips, tricks and advice on how best to apply the products as well as how to get the most out of them. There were lots of options to really personalise the look too, for example I chose half lashes instead of full (house of glam dolls own brand, they were beautiful and easy to apply!) , I also had white liner on the waterline instead of black and with David’s recommendation I didn’t use mascara on the lower lashes. It really opened my eyes up making me look bright and awake!   

  
I was impressed with the quality of the Freedom products I used and received. Some of which are already staples in my collection others I had been itching to try. One favourite  product from the day has to be the eyeshadow palette, the colours were pigmented, smooth and easily blended. The range of shades work so well together I will get a lot of use out of this bad boy. The eyeshadow primer was already a favourite of mine as well as the concealer palette. The only item I didn’t think much of was the foundation as I like a really matte finish whereas it was more dewy, so I ended up using a Mac foundation instead. I also loved the blush and lippie, which for the price you really can’t go wrong. Another exciting thing I learned was that glam dolls will be working with freedom makeup to help develop more products in the future. I will be purchasing these as soon as physically possible!!!!

Overal it was a fantastic experience I would recommend to everyone and anyone, you can never learn too much about makeup! As well as being wowed with the quality of the Freedom products I was 100% charmed by House of Glam Dolls and am seriously thinking about signing up to one of their MANY courses they have on offer. If you would like to know more about House of Glam Dolls check out their page: http://www.houseofglamdolls.com 

If you would like to have a look at what Freedom Makeup London has to offer or to book onto a course similar to mine, check out their page: http://www.freedommakeuplondon.com 
Disclaimer: I attended the course to review curtesy of Freedom Makeup London but that does not 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. 

Mini Naked 3 Dupe! With Swatches! 

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Hello my little buttons!

Here is my side by side swatch review of Urban Decays Naked 3 and Freedom Makeup Londons Pro Shade & Brighten Stunning Rose Kit mini eyeshadow palette. My Naked 3 is one of my favourite palettes, I love rosy makeup and what ever combo I choose in this palette I’m always happy with the end result. I was hoping they would do a basics palette but so far it’s not been mentioned. Now I have found this Freedom palette I’m not even sure if I would buy it! As soon as I laid eyes on the Rose kit i recognised the first half of the naked 3 instantly, when I put them side by side I was wowed at how similar they were. Or should I say identical! I feel the only thing that’s missing from the Freedom palette is a darker shade like factory or darkside but for day time looks its perect. When I swatched them side by side I was even more impressed.

  
 As you can see this is a swatch of the first shades in both palettes, freedoms is slightly more yellow and although both are pigmented urban decays did apply slighter better. This is one of my favourite base colours from urban decay Iv nearly hit pan on it I use it that often. 
 Second shade in both palettes, urban decays really is more of a glitter dust whereas freedoms is more metallic and there’s more colour behind the glitter. You can’t really tell in the photo but in real life I think that’s the only slight difference, although once they are blended out on the eyes they do create the same effect.  Freedoms is more creamy but there is more fall out because of this. 

 Third shade in the palettes, these are the closest match in colour, freedoms is maybe a hair darker but it’s not noticeable at all. Fab dupe!! 

  

Forth shade in the palettes, there is quite a difference here. Freedoms is darker, more pigmented and leans more towards a brown. Whereas urban decays is more of a smoky purple and is defiantly lighter on the skin.

  
I love these shades! Fifth colour in the palette, both seriously pigmented although the freedoms is slightly darker. Once on the lids there is no difference. Both shades have fall out but it’s so worth it! 

 Here is the last dupe shades in the palettes, and it really is Freedoms triumph! Look at the pigmentation!!!!! It’s super metallic, there is quite a lot of movement fallout in the pan when I put my finger/brush in where it’s so soft but I really don’t care because that colour is perfection. I’ve always found this shade in the urban decay palette to be quite stiff to work with and freedoms really is the total opposite. 
 Here’s a close up so you can stare a bit longer!  

I would also like to touch on prices and packaging, the naked 3 is £38 and you get 12 shades. The packaging can’t be beat, a pretty sturdy pink tin that snaps shut really securely and a large mirror. There’s also a great selection of darks and lights, mattes and shimmers. It’s really well rounded there is so much you can do with it, the quality of the shadows are also beautiful. Pigmented and long lasting, there is slight fall out but that really doesn’t bother me I just do my eyes before my face, problem solved lol. 

The Rose Kit is £2.50 and you get 6 eyeshadows and a highlight shade. It’s a cute mini sized palette great for touch ups throught the day in you handbag, I like that the lid is clear so if you have a selection of them you can tell which is which. It’s a shame there’s not a small mirror as I would need to carry one separately, but for £2.50 I really can’t moan. The shadows are jammed with pigmentation and with a good primer last really well. As I said earlier it’s a shame there’s not a dark colour but as the fourth shade comes out darker than it looks in the pan it helps even out the final look. 

So overal both palettes are a win for me, I like that I can use my naked 3 at home in the morning and take the Rose kit on the go in my bag for touch ups. They work so well together!  I hope you enjoyed this comparison to see more like it please subscribe! xxx 



Disclaimer: The Rose Kit by Freedom was sent to me but that doesn’t remotely effect the honest review I have given I have not been sponsored or paid to promote this product. The Naked 3 I purchased with my own money.