Lip Smacker Lip Balms // Disney Collection

LiP SMACKER are a complete blast from the past for me. Reminding me of the days on the school bus with my best friend where we would sit there putting layers upon layers of lip balm before we got to school. You just have to look at my school photos from 1997 onwards to see that it would have taken more than a shiny layer of balm to get me looking picture perfect but alas, I digress!

I received these in the post and I've had the Minnie one in my handbag since the second I tried it out.

This Minnie tube is Cutie Pie scented and Cinderella is Vanilla Sparkle. You can just about see from the picture above that Minnie is a sheer fuchsia pink and the Cinderella balm is a frosted light blue/white, but it barely shows up on the lips.

Minnie is my absolute favourite of the two as it's sweet and leaves a light gloss in its wake. It's not overpowering at all and is just nice as a little sweep of pink alone or with make-up.

These have an RRP of £2.50(*) which is an absolute steal if you ask me. You can find them in Claire's, Topshop or Accessorize this Autumn, just in time for some little stocking filler ideas on the run up to Christmas!

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(*) I was sent these products for review purposes. All views are my own and are completely honest.

Previously Posted Products - Still loving....

I did one of these a couple of months ago (click here to read) and had such a good response so I thought it was about time for another!

Firstly something I stumbled upon before Christmas - the I Love.... Strawberries and Cream body spray (click here to read original post). This still sits on my dressing table and has been chucked into numerous overnight bags. It's easy to transport as it's a plastic bottle and it's super inexpensive

Secondly the Marilyn Monroe x Mac blusher is still in use in my make-up collection. I try to use it sparingly but it's one of my favourite blushes (click here to read original post).

Finally, the heaven sent Bioderma cleansing water (click here to read original post). I use this every single day before using my Clarisonic. It's pretty much idiot proof which is perfect if I'm stumbling to bed in the early hours. I still try to wash my face after using it and before applying my moisturiser but I know a lot of people use it alone without rinsing off after. I've featured it in a number of posts since first using it and I plan to use it foreverrrrr!

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First Impression : Clarisonic Aria

Okay, so I caved... I've been considering getting a Clarisonic for a while but haven't felt I could justify it. I've read loads of reviews and tried to figure out which model to go for and finally settled on the newest release, the Aria.

The handheld device is a sonic facial cleansing system. From what I understand it doesn't spin but it vibrates and pulses to deliver a deep cleanse to the face. With an easy to use brush head and timer this product does actually look like it could do the job of fully cleansing my skin and ridding my life of blackheads without over complicating my cleansing routine.

It comes with a drying stand and a magnetic charger that can be slipped into the stand to make it a charging stand. The cable is a USB so it can be plugged into any USB friendly device to charge. This makes travelling with it much easier as there's no fussy plugs to worry about! 

My first impressions have been something like this : "Ooh, okay. That's weird and kind of new to my face." After the initial getting-used-to-it period it's actually quite therapeutic to have this little thing buzzing away at your blocked pores! I've tried two liquid cleansers and ultimately have been left with smooth skin so far... What I'm really interested in is if it clears blackheads and milia (tiny little calcium bumps) as well as encouraging all the gunk to get out of my pores so spots don't form.

I'll be updating you on here under the tag "Clarisonic Aria" with my opinion on the Clarisonic every week so check back next Monday for how I'm getting on!

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Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm & new product photos!

Look! Just look at the new Burt's Bees range of Natural Lip Colours. The shade selection is gorgeous and it's all right up my alley with the shades of pink.
The glosses in the bottom right photo are so smooth and non-sticky. My favourite is the one at the bottom, Wink. It's the perfect shade of milkshake pink.

I've got a couple of swatches photographed however I don't have the whole range because..... I'm doing a giveaway! And I don't want to open a bunch of lip glosses if they're for someone else because that's kind of gross of me.

Inside the little circular cardboard tubes there's a lip balm - the swatch is of the shade Rose. It's tinted and smells absolutely gorgeous - fruity and floral!

It's really pigmented, especially for a lip tint. It's hydrating and leaves a slight stain as well so even if you don't top up for a while the stain remains on your lips.

These lip tints are £5.99 and you can view the whole colour range here (click!) - there are so many pinks that I don't know which to choose!

I'll be posting about the giveaway this week so keep an eye on twitter for the links to the details when it's live.

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Bobbi Brown Old Hollywood Eye Palette

 I haven't bought Bobbi Brown cosmetics for a while, but I used to be absolutely obsessed with the brand when I was first hitting the high-end beauty counters. I think that was because Bobbi Brown make-up appeals to all ages; I first used the brand when I was around thirteen. I used to be able to just see pieces I could add to my make-up bag like a volumising mascara or a black eyeliner pencil. I liked the little treat of spending more money that I on the average kohl pencil from a pharmacy make-up brand.

I received this for Christmas and overall I really like it. The colour selection is certainly Old Hollywood with the shimmery golds and the dusty grey and beige. It feels very Gatsby-esque and glamorous.

Retailing at £59 this does look like it lives up to its price tag with the golden edges of the palette and the sleek black and gold exterior. It contains 9 shades each labelled individually in the photo above, five of which are shimmery and 4 which are matte. My three favourite shades out of the nine in this palette are ivory, golden pink and opal.

I use ivory as a base shadow and blend golden pink into the crease. Opal is better as a highlighter in my opinion but it does have some shimmer particles that can cause some fallout from the brush.
The same thing can be said for the majority of the colours with a glitzy shimmer - if the brush I am using is harsh or has some abrasive bristles (I'm thinking of the Real Techniques Duo Fibre eyeshadow brush here) it means that picking up a decent amount of pigment can be difficult. I prefer to use the regular Real Techniques eyeshadow brushes for these shadows. Using the softer brushes is definitely a better option for applying these shadows as it allows the brush to blend the shades together on my eyelid without being harsh or flicking specs of the shadow onto the rest of my face.
I think this is the perfect palette for a Hollywood smokey eye if you used ivory, opal, fog and eclipse. If I'd been going out on New Year's Eve I would have reached straight for this palette.

You can buy this palette from a number of retailers for £59 - click here for the Bobbi Brown website to buy it directly.

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Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

The Naked and Naked 2 palettes have been make-up staples for pretty much everyone I know. I'm not sure how I resisted both of them but somehow I did...I think it's because although they're super neutral palettes that can be used to create almost any eye look I was unsure as to how much use I'd get out of each one when I've got a stock pile of single eyeshadows in my make-up organiser.

A couple of weekends ago I was returning some items with my mum and we both decided this would be a worthwhile purchase. We weren't wrong! My mum and I have different skin tones, she is slightly more olive toned than I am but this palette is used every day by both of us. The colour range is perfect to create a quick and simple every-day look or to blend the darker colours to make a smokey, night time look.

My favourite shades are Venus and Naked 2 - I use these daily for my no-make-up make up! Venus goes in my inner corner and under my eyebrow and Naked 2 is blended into my crease.

All of these have a very smooth but slightly chalky texture apart from Venus... It's very soft but I tend to experience a little bit of fallout or grittiness with the shimmery shade. Once it's applied it doesn't really shift until I take it off though so it's manageable! There's also a strange smell to my palette, is that just me? Let me know in the comments so I know I'm not alone!

What's your favourite shade from Urban Decay? There are a ton of new releases in individual pots which are certainly next on my shopping list!

L'Oreal Nude Magique Eau De Teint

After the huge hoo-ha surrounding the US version of this product, marketed as Liquid Powder over there, I knew I wanted to try it from the first reviews I saw online. A product that's lighter than water? What does that even mean??

What this seems to translate into is that it is a very watery product. It has a very light amount of coverage but has a really soft finish, both in the appearance and in the feel of the liquid. Eau de Teint doesn't come with a pump so that's not ideal for some people but it applies incredibly evenly when applied to the skin. I just buff this in with my fingers rather than a brush because it really is so runny that I don't think a brush would do it much good!

I purchased this in the lightest shade, 100 Porcelain but it's actually got quite a lot of colour given it's a pale shade. I've swatched it alongside Liz Earle's Signature Foundation in 01 and Collection's concealer in Fair to show the colour difference. It does look incredibly dark in these photos but it's quite a good match on my face and actually matches better than the Liz Earle foundation (which is strange because the LE foundation seems to get darker even though it's lighter!).

Packaging wise it's not the most logical...a glass bottle without a pump isn't ideal for transporting or for anyone with a full make-up bag. The design on the packaging is also completely different to the US product - this isn't called Liquid Powder and the bottle isn't frosted white near the top but I think the actual product is generally the same kind of thing.

I'd say this provides around 6 - 7 hours of wear with the usual additions to the face ; bronzer/blusher/highlighter etc but if I were to wear this for a longer time I'd want to wear a powder on top to ensure it would stay and would be much easier to top up without the added stress of not spilling the liquid everywhere.

Overall this is probably a 6/10 for me. The packaging isn't particularly user friendly but the product itself does the job for an everyday work kind of make-up look.

This is on offer for now for £6.99 at most drugstores but usually will sell for £9.99 after the introductory offer is over.

PS: I am sorry for the lack of posts in the last couple of weeks. I've been super busy with work but I have also just come down with a horrible cold, woe is me! I hope to resume proper posting in the next week or so, thank you for sticking with me xoxo 

Origins VitaZing SPF15

Origins is not a brand I'm particularly well acquainted from personal use but like most brands I've read a ton about them on the internet.

Last weekend I was looking for a new foundation or foundation alternative and this was suggested to my by a lady at the Origins counter in Debenhams.

It is essentially a tinted moisturiser but for review purposes we'll look at the real name of "Energy boosting moisturizer with Mangosteen". (I have no idea what Mangosteen is...).

When first applied it is a thin, white liquid but on closer inspection it has tiny black speckles in it. You're supposed to apply it in the morning to clean skin and you don't need another product underneath so it's a replacement for both a moisturiser and a skin base like a light foundation. It replaces missing pigments in the skin to create an even skin colour and contains SPF15

The main reason that VitaZing was recommended to me was because I struggle to find a good colour match for my foundations; some products oxidise over the course of the day or are too orange to begin with etc. The idea that this would just automatically match to my skin was great because it was such minimal effort on my part! I haven't had any issues with the colour match so it ticks that box for sure.

For me this is a really good product for "weekend make-up". It's a little dewy which is fine but I like to add a powder product over the top so I still opt for my Naked Flushed palette to add some blush whilst dampening the dewy effect on my cheeks and forehead. It doesn't boast a particularly high coverage but for under my eyes or on blemishes I just apply my concealer to even everything out and I think it works really well.

I would recommend applying this with clean hands rather than with a brush, it would just get lost in the bristles of a stippling or foundation brush. I apply mine with my index finger and rub it in circular motions to ensure that I haven't missed anywhere. My only warning is to make sure when you're finished that you rub across your face gently to make sure that there's nothing that's clogged together to create a darker patch. I have found that if I don't check I could leave with a slightly thick patch that looks too dark on random areas of my face.

Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone with relatively clear skin who wants a quick and fuss-free make-up base that literally takes about a minute to apply evenly. I can't comment on fine lines or wrinkles because I don't have any but for me once it's on, it's on. Its staying power is aided by whatever products you apply over the top (like I said, for me it's a dash of my Naked Flushed palette) and the staying power of those products individually but for me it lasts between 4-6 hours depending on the environments I find myself in.

You can buy this with a price tag for £28.00 /50ml from Origins counters and the Origins website here (click!).