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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

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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