NOTD: Minty Green and Icy Silver

Today's mani is featuring a lovely nail polish from last year's Dior summer collection (no. 402 from the Samba mini polish duo) as well as GOSH Holographic Hero and Black Cat Lacquer Cancer, a glitter topper with matte white and grey glitter as well as small holographic glitter.

All 3 polishes were easy to apply, although the GOSH one you have to be careful with as it can pull a bit, but with 3 coats, everything was even. I used 2 coats of the glitter topper for added sparkle. The mani lasted well for 2 days, I removed it at the end of the second day. Removal was okay, I always use the foil method if I wear glitter.

See more pictures after the jump!

Mac Glamour Daze Extra Dimension Eyeshadows and Fluidlines - Review and Swatches

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post this review, but it's been pretty hectic in my house. So to speed things up I've decided to review the eyeshadows and fluidlines together.

As you can see, I bought 5 of the Extra Dimension eyeshadows and all 3 fluidlines from the collection. I decided to skip the silver, black and burgundy ones because I felt that I either have similar colours or won't wear them anyway. The fluidlines were just too sparkly to leave behind.

The eyeshadows I got are A Natural Flirt, Ready To Party, Stolen Moment, Divine Blue, Stylishly Merry. They are all pretty pastely colours except for Stolen Moment which is a gorgeous taupe. First of all, let me just say, these eyeshadows are absolutely tiny. The eyeshadows originally released in the In Extra Dimension collection were 2 g whereas these are 1.3 g, but the price remained the same (£16.50). Not cool, Mac. They are still bigger and cheaper than the Estee Lauder Gelee Powder eyeshadows which are only 0.9 g for £19.00, so I guess that's something. It's not that you necessarily need 2 g of eyeshadows, but if you reduce the quantity, then reduce the price as well!

Anyway, now that's out of the way, these are actually rather lovely and if you haven't tried the liquid powder hybrid formula, then they're worth checking out. These ones didn't feel as soft as the Estee Lauder ones to me, but I didn't actually re-test the EL ones, so my memory could be tricking me. They're not cream eyeshadows, but they are very smooth and buttery, and even the lighter colours are pretty well pigmented. I wore them over primer (Too Faced Shadow Insurance) and they lasted well all day without fading or creasing. I wore Stylishly Merry in the crease by the way.

I also got all 3 fluidlines: Catch My Eye, Little Black Bow, Feminine Edge. They are all very sparkly, in particular Catch My Eye and Feminine Edge. Little Black Bow is the least unique, it's a dark grey with sparkles, pretty, but not that special. Catch My Eye is a gorgeous sparkly taupe and Feminine Edge is a very shiny, sparkly cool pink.

I've only worn Feminine Edge so far, it was a quite hard to spread smoothly and the line ended up broken with chunky glittery bits rather than a smooth line. I think that shade in particular would work better as cream eyeshadow/base. It stayed on my lids and didn't fade or crease as a liner, but I haven't tried it as cream eyeshadow yet. (EDIT: I've been wearing Catch My Eye as a cream eyeshadow today (Sunday) and it's stayed creaseless and hasn't had any fallout all day.) You get 3 g of fluidline for £15.50 which is definitely a better deal.

So here you go. I will aim to do a post about the look I did with most of the eyeshadows and Feminine Edge fluidline tomorrow and will also review the nail polish you can see in the pictures soon.

In the meantime, see loads more pictures after the jump!

17 Blemish Balm All In One Magic Make Up Review - This One Is Good!

After the disappointment that was the Garnier B.B. cream I swore I wasn't gonna buy another one, but somehow I ended up getting the new 17 B.B. cream. I actually like this one though, so it wasn't a waste of money.

The formula is much thicker than the Garnier one and as a result provides a much better coverage. They claim it's full coverage, but I wouldn't go that far, however you certainly get a decent medium coverage. It feels more like a foundation than a tinted moisturiser to me actually. I got the light shade and it's a very good match for me, but I suspect it will be too dark for those who have a lighter skintone (I'm a Mac light medium (NC/W20-ish) in winter). I think this only comes in light and medium, so there won't be a match for everyone for sure. It lasted very well on me, and I only had to touch up my oily bits once, but that's the same with other foundations too (if I'm lucky). This certainly doesn't make my face look oily or dewey like the Garnier one did, so that's a major plus too. It also hasn't made me break out which that did, so another plus goes to 17's B.B. cream.

I still don't like the use of the word magic in the title because quite frankly it's not. It's a decent tinted moisturiser/foundation, but I see nothing magic about it. It's great that it has SPF25 as I'm lazy about my suncream in winter, so that gives enough protection for me. I can't really say if it's moisturising, but it's certainly non drying, and I would also disagree with the weightless formula because it actually feels a bit heavy on my skin, but like I said, at least this way it gives a good coverage.

You get 30 ml for £6.99 which makes it more expensive than the Garnier B.B. cream, but it's on par with 17 foundations, so it's fine (plus I'd much rather pay more for a better product anyway). So all in all I would recommend this, but I really need to add that this is in no way a miracle product, so as long as you're not expecting one, you'll be fine.

See more pictures after the jump!

Garnier Miracle Skin Protector Daily All-In-One B.B. Cream Review

I hadn't even heard about BB creams until just a few months ago (I know, call myself a beauty addict?), but once I read up on them and realised that there were a few coming out in the UK, I thought it was time for me to try them out as well. So I bought Garnier's Miracle Skin Protector Daily All-In-One B.B. Cream (from now on just BB cream). As my skintone is light to medium, I picked up the colour light which actually suits my skintone pretty well.

My problem with this product, that once the word "miracle" is in the title, it's hard not to expect just that. Having heard that BB creams are these fantastic all-in-one cream/foundation/primer/magic potions, I had huge expectations for this one. Did it live up to them? Sadly, no.

I mean, it's not a bad product, it's a decent tinted moisturiser, but I'm afraid it did not live up to all the claims. It's supposed to immediately perfect my skin, giving an even skintone and healthy glow, blur imperfections, hide redness, smooth the appearance of fine lines, hydrate for 24 hours and protect the skin with SPF15. It is hydrating and it does give a glow (ie leaves my face shiny), but it did not cover up any imperfections on my face whatsoever and my skintone was not evened out in the slightest either. Once I set it with Mac MSF Natural, it looked fine, but to be honest, my skin would look the same with normal moisturiser and Mac MSF Natural. The coverage is so light, I really can't say it's an all-in-one product, because I still need a concealer and foundation to cover the redness and imperfections. I also has some breakouts while using the product, but I can't say for sure whether it was related or not.

It's not too expensive at £9.99, but equally not that cheap for something that doesn't actually live up to its claims. You get 50 ml, and little goes a long way, so it will last you for a good while, but I just can't see myself reaching for this regularly I'm afraid.

See more pictures after the jump!

FOTD: Make A Splash With Rimmel Colour Mousse!

Here's a quick and easy look I've created with Rimmel Colour Mousse in Splash. I used it as cream eyeshadow and just added a bit of highlighter, coloured eyeliner, mascara and voila! As this mousse eyeshadow is absolutely brilliant, it doesn't need a primer and still stays put, doesn't crease or fade all day. It's very easy to apply and I absolutely love this colour, it has a gorgeous gold sheen to it. Just to add, I don't think Rimmel Colour Mousses are waterproof, but I think they'd probably be okay with a bit of splashing.

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Rimmel Colour Mousse in 004 Splash
Mac White Gold pigment to highlight browbone
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Zero on lower lashline
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Electric on lower waterline
Diorshow Black Out mascara in black
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Cheeks:
Bobbi Brown Apricot Shimmer Brick

Lips:
Mac Thrills lipstick

Sorry, no idea what foundations and setting powder I used for this look, probably Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid and Mac MSF Natural. Anyway, let me know what you think of this look in the comments!


See more pictures after the jump!

Finished! The May edition

This month's damage: 5 products. Well, 4 and a half. I'll tell you why in a minute. But first up here's something I have repurchased many times in the past and will do again. One of my favourite perfumes ever: Yves Saint Laurent Paris. I have loved this since I was about 18 and in fact this was my very first "proper" perfume. I love the bottle, I love the scent, I love everything about it. Even though I own 40+ different perfumes, I know I will repurchase this one as not many other scents have come close to it in my heart.

See what other products I've finished after the jump!

Laura Mercier Portofino Summer 2011 eyeshadow palette and cream highlighter review

I've recently purchased these two products from Laura Mercier's summer collection named Portofino. I'm a big fan of this brand and have quite a few eyeshadows, palettes, lip products and face products (including her Shimmer Blocs which are a variation on Bobbi Brown's Shimmer Bricks). I bought Golden Pink Sheer Creme Glow and Riviera eyeshadow palette.

Golden Pink Sheer Creme Glow is a cream face highlighter in a light warm pink colour with slight golden shimmer. It's really pretty, so I just couldn't not pick up, even though I don't use cream highlighters much. It's housed in the same compact as the eyeshadow palette, basically the brown signature palette almost all Laura Geller products come in. You get 8 grams for £29.00, so it's likely to last a very long time.

Riviera is a 4 colour eyeshadow palette consisting of dark blue, sand, light blue and white colours which appears to have been inspired by the seaside. There is a wavy pattern on the palette like the one the sand has after the waves have washed onto the beach. Very pretty. The shades are a bit on the sheer side, I had to swatch both twice to show up properly, but I have to add that I have not tried them on my eyes, so I don't know what result you get with a brush. It's definitely a nice summery colour combination and easy to wear. You get 8 grams for £31.00 which is actually pretty big seeing that a Dior quint is only 6 grams and I would consider that already pretty good. (Mac single eyeshadows are 1.5 g for reference.)

As I said, I have not worn these products, so I can't really tell you how long-wearing they are, but I really wanted to show them to you and there are some swatches for you to see after the jump. Do you like Laura Mercier products? Are you tempted by any of these?

Rimmel Colour Mousse eyeshadow review take 2

A few days ago I told you about these new cream eyeshadows from Rimmel (you can find my initial review here) and promised I would let you know how they wore once I had a chance to try them out. Well, today is the day!

I don't normally use cream eyeshadows, or if I do, I use them as a base, but some mornings when I don't have time to do a more complex look, I just use one colour on my lids and if I have time I build on it later with powder eyeshadows. I normally use Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin or Urban Decay cream eyeshadows as they're both excellent bases and look lovely alone too.

But today I decided to try out my new Rimmel eyeshadows, so I can write up a review. The verdict: the are GOOD! I used 005 Glitz all over my eyelid and it applied pretty evenly (also, you only need a tiny amount, so these will last you ages) and didn't crease on me at all.

I took the following pictures after 3 hours of wear and there's really no creasing as you can see. Please do keep in mind though that my eyelids are quite wrinkly (and that is especially visible when using more shimmery eyeshadows) and I have hooded eyes and loads of folds, so if you think you see creasing, it's just my eyelids! :)

I decided to play with it a little and added 012 Mocha in the crease, although it was a little hard to blend because these shadows do dry very quickly. Although I suspect if I had done the whole thing in one go, it would have been easier to blend the two colours together. I do like it that they dry quickly though becasue it means that they don't crease once you open your eyes and with my folds and wrinkles that's a pretty useful thing! :)

Here are some pictures of how the two colours looked together:

Not too bad, but maybe a little rough around the edges. So to finish the look off, I used a highlighter (I used the shimmery side of my Mac MSF Natural and Shimmer powder, but any highlighter or light coloured powder eyeshadow would do) and voila! I think the finished look is really nice. Also, I took these pictures 3 hours ago and I've just checked, still no creasing. So that's 6 hours now since I applied the first colour. I think we're gonna be good for 8 hours (although I hope we'll be good for another 3 on top of that because that will take me right through to supper time and I normally expect my eyeshadows to last until then).

I would definitely recommend these mousse shadows, I think they're nice and make a good creaseless base, although a little hard to blend as they dry quickly. However, with a bit of highlighter, this can be remedied easily.

See photos of the end result and let me know what you think!

Edited to add: After 12 hours still no creasing or flaking. Yay! :)

Rimmel Colour Mousse cream eyeshadow review

I purchased three of these eyeshadows for £4.99 each (2 for 3 offer in Boots) and I have to say I'm pretty happy with them. I bought a couple of the new Estee Lauder cream eyeshadows (blue and purple), but at £15 a pop I didn't feel like buying the beige and brown colours as well. But when I saw these shadows in Boots (especially the brown shade, Mocha caught my eye, which I couldn't buy as they only had some that were already open - hey guys, use testers!), I decided to pick some up. I especially like 006 Get Fresh, a nice light pink shade and 005 Glitz a beige/sandy shade, and while 004 Splash is nice too, it's the least pigmented. They are very soft and glide on nicely, but I can't tell you how longlasting and crease proof they are as i haven't worn them yet. They do claim to last for 8 hours though, so we shall see.

Edited to add: I've found 012 Mocha in my local Superdrug, so added some more pictures. I will let you know how they wear when I've used them.

Anyone's used them? Like them, love them, hate them?

See some pictures...