Cream Eyeshadows!!!

Hi all,

Now cream eyeshadows are not new, but they seem to be taking over the beauty aisle at the mo, either in pots, stick or other forms. I love maybelline color tattoos, but was always envious at those in the USA who had a wider variety of colours than what we had access to in the UK. I won some limited edition shades in an instagram competition a while ago, but always wanted to expand my collection. I was in Superdrug recently when they had 3 for 2 on beauty products and to my amazement found any expanded shade range of color tattoos. After a visit to 2 superdrug stores I ended up purchasing 6 new shades, adding to the 3 I won and 1 previous shade I purchased. I now have a collection of 10 color tattoos and 2 other cream eyeshadows, one from Mememe and another from B, both available at superdrug.

Previously owned colours:
Barely Beige                                         Mossy Green
 
Rich Mahoghany   

On and On Bronze

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Autumn Smoulder                                                                                         Bittersweet

New shades of color tattoos:

 

Mettallic pomegranate

24K Gold

Timeless Black

Everlasting Navy

Turquoise Forever

 

Endless Purple


I'm absolutely loving cream eyeshadows, great if you're new to using eyeshadow, as a base/primer for powder eyeshadows, also great if you're in a hurry. I especially love color tattoos, they just don't budge, the rest of my face could be melting off, but these eyeshadows stay firmly where you put them. They are also the cheapest of the brands featured, £4.99, and will last ages. Not all these colours are going to get daily use, but they are absolutely beautiful and great if you want to be more daring, or to add a pop of colour to your eye look.

How many color tattoos do you own? Are you as cream eyeshadow crazy as me?

 

Thanks for visiting today

 

Alex

Benefits fake up!!!

Hello everyone,

By now most of you would have heard of Benefits latest release, the hydrating crease-control concealer, Fake-up. I was in need (want) of a new day-to-day use concealer and decided to try this one, especially as asos had 30% off all beauty on there website, which meant this £18.50 concealer was even cheaper. This concealer is different in that it is surrounded by a hydrating ring, which contains vitamin E and apple seed extract, benefit claims it hydrates, conceals, is long lasting and won't crease among other things. The shade range is limited, light, medium and deep, I knew I would be using this as an under eye concealer so opted for the shade medium to brighten and highlight my under eye area.














I love Benefits quirky packaging, which makes this concealer easy to use and travel/handbag friendly, great for touch ups throughout the day. I dab it straight from the tube under my eyes and blend it out with my finger, I then set it with either my MAC mineralise skinfinish powder, my hourglass ambient ligthing powder in Dim or both.

With FlashWithout Flash

Initially when I applied the concealer, it creased a very tiny bit, but I blended it out further with my finger and it's not been a problem since. I really like this concealer, once blended it doesn't crease and is long lasting, I was worried it would make my combination skin look greasy and oily, but it gives a gorgeous, luminous glow to the skin. I can't comment on whether it conceals dark circles, as I am using it as a highlighting concealer and my dark circles are only bad when I've had periods of poor sleep.

Set with ambient powder in Dim.

 

 

Have you tried this concealer yet, what did you think? Any further questions please feel free to post a comment below.

 

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

 

Alex

 

Brazilian Blow Dry Keratin Treatment!!!

Hi all,
Hope you've been enjoying the good weather we've been having recently.

I had heard of this treatment a while ago, but never really gave it a second thought, until recently. I'm always on the look out for new ways to best manage my hair, after a youth of abuse, I've done it all. Numerous colours ranging from the average black to shocking purple, relaxer, buzz cut, braids you name it. Currently I tend to hide my very dry hair away in the winter with the use of weaves and leave it out and relax it in the warmer months, with a trim or cut and weekly deep conditioning, I try to aim for something low maintenance being a working mum.

Being that I love to try new things I did a bit of research, sourced a reliable hairdresser Ozzy Tudo via Soraya of style is my thing fame and decided to take the plunge into getting a brazilian blow dry, also known as keratin treatment or brazilian blowout etc. To give some background my hair is relaxed, I do it every 3 months when my hair is not in a weave, prior to this treatment my hair was last relaxed in July 2012.

So what is a brazilian blow dry? It is somewhat controversial as it contains formaldehyde, but the one used on my hair does comply with EU regulations of containing less than 0.2% and seeing as it only needs to be repeated every 3-4 months exposure for myself is minimal. I was informed it also contained argan oil and Ozzy was adamant that this treatment is much better for the hair than a relaxer, obviously it also contains keratin a protein naturally found in hair, skin and nails. It is also not permanent like a relaxer, so if left your hair will eventually revert to it's former texture, good for anyone wanting to go natural and manage two different hair textures. The process involved washing my hair with a sulphate free clarifying shampoo, then having the treatment applied to my whole hair section by section, blow drying my hair with a round brush and then straigtening it. In all it took about 2 and a half hours, but this can depend on the length and thickness of your hair, once the blowdrying starts some fumes are emitted that can sting the eyes (window were opened and a fan was on to reduce the discomfort). This was bearable for me and stopped once the blow drying section was complete, you would need to ensure the area you are doing this in is well ventilated though. The worst part for me was actually the blow drying, it was extremely hot and kept burning my scalp, but all in all the fumes were not as bad as I was expecting.

Following the treatment my previously very thick roots and frizy ends were straight, my hair felt soft albeit lacking in volume, but my hair has never been known for being volumous.

(Double pictures are immediately after treatment, single picture is on the third day, prior to wash)

I was told not to wash my hair for at least 3 days following the treatment and ensure any kinks left by hair bands etc are straigtened out at the soonest convenience, some might find this difficult, but I did have my hair in a ponytail one of the days (very loosely) and found it not to be a problem. I was then informed that sulphate free shampoos are to be used to prolong the treatment and to at least blow dry my hair after washing to activate the keratin.

I used Keracare sulphate free hydrating shampoo and mask as a conditioner, colouring my hair in between with a semi-permanent colour, which I was informed was fine to do after having the treatment 3 days prior. My hair feels extremely soft, my roots seemed to semi revert back when wet, but I used the babylis big hair air styler. I'm loving my hair even more after washing, as it now has some volume, it is soft and shiny.

Have you ever had a brazilian blow dry or are intrigued about getting it done? Please share your experience in the comments section, any further questions do not hesistate to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

Alex

Get To Know Me:The Beauty Blogger Tag!!!

I have seen a couple of these tags and when I was reading through Beauty Broadcast's Blog, aka Emily Noel, she decided to tag everyone.  I agree with her that it'll be a great way for you to get to know a little more about me, so here goes.


1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight? I've been relaxed for many years, so it's straight. I haven't relaxed my hair since July 2012 as it's been in a weave mostly, I plan to get a brazilian blow dry very soon, so I'll let you all know how that goes.

2. Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon? I haven't dyed my actual hair for a while now, but my weave I dye myself, however in the past I've done both on my actual hair.

3. Do you wear the same style everyday, or do you change it? I'm quite low maintenance when I have a weave in, hence why I have it in, it pretty much stays the same until I revisit the hairdressers.

4. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon? At present I do my own, years ago I use to have acryllics done and after that gel polish, as a treat I might go get the odd manicure now and again.

5. How often do you change your nail polish? At present I change it weekly, being a working mum it's hard to find the time and until recently I was also studying, my toes can go even longer especially in the colder months.

6. Do you polish your toes in the winter or just summer? Kinda already answered this lol!!! I polish them all year round, but less often in the colder months.

7. How long does it take to put on make-up? I think I take a fair amount of time to get ready, I'm always running late, lol!!! I have never actually timed myself, I'd say about 15 minutes in the morning, depending on how late I'm running. If I'm going out in the evening then it can take even longer, drives my husband crazy lol!!!

8. What do you do first? Face or eyes? Always tends to be face, if I remember or think about it or want to do particularly heavy eye make-up I might do eyes first, but on the whole I do my face.

9. Do you collect make-up or just buy what you need when you need it? Definately collect it lol, one of the reasons I decided to start blogging, might as well let people know how the products worked out for me and gives me even more of an excuse to buy more make-up (shhhh don't tell my hubby).

10. How often do you wear false eyelashes? As often as I can get away with lol, I don't wear them to work, but for an event I definately will. If it's a day time outing, then it just depends on where I am going, what it's for, my mood etc.

11. Do you do a full face of make-up everyday? No, some days if I'm home all day I don't wear any, if I'm just running errands I may just do something light tinted moisturiser, mascara etc.

12. Do you wear make-up when you're home alone or with family? Sometimes, I wear make-up if I'm home alone if I'm testing out a product, just feel like experimenting or the mood takes me. With family it depends on the event, my mood etc.

13. Will you leave the house without make-up? Yes, I never want to be bound by make-up, but I do really enjoy wearing it.

14. How many high-end products do you own? I have never counted, but my drugstore range definately outweighs the high-end brands, however I do have a ponchant for luxury.

15. Do you plan your outfit of the day every night or decide when you wake up? No matter how organised I try to be, I will eventually end up planning my outfit in the morning.

16. How often do you change your handbag? My work handbag pretty much stays the same, but for all other events I decide depending on my outfit.

17. What time do you wake up and go to sleep? I go to bed between 11-12pm ish and wake up at about 6.30am. I get about approximately 6 hours a night, even on weekends, my 16 month old doesn't know the meaning of a lie in.

18. How often or when do you workout? Hardly ever, people don't believe me when I say that though, I've been to the gym once since my son was born. I tried the squat challenge recently and got to day 8. *Gotta start that back up*

19. Left handed or right? Right, but for some reason I've always wished I was left handed.

20. How tall are you? 5'5

21. Do you speak any foreign language? Yoruba (from Nigeria), wish I spoke more languages.

22. How many pets do you have? None, like the idea of getting a dog, maybe one day.

23. How often are you on blogger? I read blogs on blogloving several times a day, on my own blog less, trying to post more often.

24. Do you read comments posted on blogs? Yes, not all if there are loads, on my blog all comments, I don't get that many lol!!!

25. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts? Yes, I have a list in the notes section on my iphone, it very long lol!!!

26. How did you come up with your blog name? It's a play on my name that came about with a friend in college, couldn't think of anything else that I liked, so thought why not. It's now the same name I use on my twitter.

27. What kind of camera do you use for your photographs? Mostly my iphone, I also have a little canon, but mostly my iphone.

28. How often do yo clean your house? Feels like all the time with a husband and a 16 month old, mostly at the weekends, with general stuff during the week after work.

29. What's your favourite colour? It was purple, but I'm really falling for teal at the moment, and I think any shade of orange looks nice against my skintone.

30. Do you swear? I use to have a real potty mouth years ago, much more toned down now though.

31. What are you doing with the rest of your day? Well it's 11.12pm so I'll finish writing this post, probably peruse the internet a little more, then go to bed.

Wow!!! Thats the end of my first tag, if you read all the way to the end thank you, if you have done one of these yourself let me know and I 'll take a look. I tag everyone whi wishes to do it!!!

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

Alex

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder - Dark Skin

To date this is one of the most confusing things I've had to test out for review, when I heard about the hourglass lighting powders I was super excited (sad right?) and couldn't wait for them to come to the UK. I wanted to see them in person, being a darker skin girl when you hear 'universal shade', you're always sceptical. I called my local Spacenk and was informed the powders were not in store until May and I could join the waiting list (WHAT???), the beauty consultant however reassured me that she had seen them on all skin tones and they were fine. With this information and armed with £5 Ndulge reward I ordered Dim light online, the one that seemed to be the most suited to darker skin tones with minimal shimmer. This powder costs £38 for 10 grams, which for hourglass is not too bad, it's paraben, talc, fragrance, gluten and nanoparticle (whatever that is) free.

Box

Hourglass' claims:
A wardrobe of six universal finishing powders that recreate the most exquisitely flattering light, powders capture, diffuse and soften the way light is reflected on skin, brighten the appearance, and conceal skin imperfections infused with technologically advanced soft-focus particles that help make skin appear younger, even-toned and radiant. Unlike traditional powders that use opaque pigments, Ambient utilizes “photoluminescent technology” – micron-size spherical particles that refract light and create transparent coverage, while each can be worn for day and night.

ETHEREAL LIGHT is an opalescent sheer, cool white powder that mimics a moonlit glow – even in broad daylight
DIFFUSED LIGHT is a soft, warm, pale yellow powder that conceals redness and gives skin clarity – like a soft ray of morning light
DIM LIGHT is a neutral peach beige powder that blurs imperfections and highlights a radiant complexion with the perfect balance of warm and cool tones
MOOD LIGHT is a soft, sheer lavender pink powder that mimics the softest most forgiving light and reveals your brightest complexion
LUMINOUS LIGHT is a champagne pearl powder that creates a soft, incandescent candlelit glow – day or night
RADIANT LIGHT is a sun-kissed golden beige powder that enhances the overall complexion with believable, subtle warmth, and also extends a summer glow.

Compact

The packaging is nice, but not as heavy as I was expecting from the luxury brand, and it's very susceptible to finger print marks. Each time I used the powder I felt differently, sometimes I felt I could really see the blurring and soft focused effect and other times I wasn't so sure. I used it to set my make-up, but also as a finishing powder after make-up had been set with another powder (worst result), it seemed to work best for me as a setting powder. My combination skin is currently normal to dry at the moment and this powder gave a nice satin finish to the skin, not as glowing as I was expecting, but great for all over the face and something I'll appreciate once my skin gets oilier with the changing season. I tried this over different bases, Sleeks BB cream, lancome's teint visionnaire and my maqpro palette (click the links to see reviews), but I really noticed exactly what it was doing to my skin when I tried it on alone.

 

PowderNo Powder

Above is the powder on my skin with no other make-up on whatsoever (Scary!!!), I noticed how it really blurred the imperfections and gave a lovely satin finish to the skin, it doesn't flashback or leave a white cast on my deeper skintone.



 

This is a picture of the powder over my maqpro palette foundation. I am really loving this powder, my first hourglass product and now want radiant light, hourglass also have a brush they are selling with the powders for £30, but I have been using Elizabeth's Arden mineral powder brush (had it a while) and its been fine. The idea is you lay the powder across the skin, rather than buffing it in, so it can reflect light.  

 

Have you tried any of the ambient powders, what do you think, which one did you try.

 

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

 

Alex.

Maqpro Mandy Gold Palette!!!

I have heard Wayne Goss (gossmakeupartist on youtube) talk about maqpro products for quite a while, so I finally decided to take the plunge and buy the mandy gold palette from preciousaboutmakeup.com (PAM), especially as I've been in need of a corrector. The palette consists of 6 shades totalling 55 grams of product, for £27.50, which is great value for money. These foundation are wax based and suppose to be suitable for all skin types, my combination skin is currently a little dry and this foundation feels great on my skin, I look forward to using it in the summer when my skin is a little more normal-oily as it's meant to be great for oil control.

                 
 

Maqpro is a french based company, not to be confused with Mac cosmetics, I think there products were more tailored to make-up artists but are becoming more accessible to us mere mortals. As you can see the packaging is nothing fancy, but it's very sleek and flat so I can imagine great for make-up artists to travel with, I'm not sure how sturdy the plastic is I've had it for about 2 weeks and it's fine, but I don't tend to carry my foundation around with me.

     With flash and without
 

















The orange shade is the corrector, if you are of a deeper skintone and have areas of pigmentation, any the orange shade can brighten these areas prior to applying your foundation. It also great for dark under eye circles, I always have my foundation go ashy around my mouth area and this prevents that. This palette contains all I need for concealing, highlighting, correcting, contouring, bronzing, blusher and foundation, you can also tailor it to the amount of coverage you want/need, great and compact for travel. I have found a use for all the shades except one, 3rd on along on the top row, but this will probably depend on your skintone. I can also use the orange and bronzing shade (2nd on the top row) as a blusher, the 3rd shade on the bottm is a great contouring shade due to it's grey undertone, but the shades can also be mixed to create the perfect colour for what ever you want.

 

Foundation a few hours after application.

 

The foundation goes on beautifully and blends like a dream, you don't need much, but initially you might think you are not picking up very much product due to it's consistency until you start to notice all your flaws disappearing. I have used both the beauty blender and the real techniques expert face brush and they both work great to blend and buff the foundation into the skin, you can set it if you need too, but I've worn it both ways and it looked great.

 

This palette is catered to darker skintones, but there are others on the website for other skintones, lighter and darker. If you're in the market for a new base, and also in need of a corrector, I highly recommend this product.

 

Have you tried any Maqpro products before? Let me know what you thought.

 

Thanks for visiting my blog.

 

Alex

 

Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer!!!

The Kevyn Aucoin SSE is not new to the beauty world, but it's one of those products that can take a while to get the hang of how to use it, it's so versatile that it can actually be rather confusing and if used incorrectly can make you look very cakey. It's a small pot of richly pigmented product that can create a very light tinted moisturiser type coverage or full no skin on show coverage, it can also be used as a concealer.

    

 

This small 18g tub costs £36, but you need such a small amount that it will last quite a while, I have two out of the fantastic 18 shades (SX12 and 15). As you can see from the ingredient list it does contain mineral oil and its the first ingredient on the list, so this maybe a problem for some, its available in SpaceNK stores and on there website.

With flash and without.

I've had shade SX12 (lighter shade) for a while and its still going strong, although I don't use it daily, I use it as an under eye concealer or all over my face, it blends well when used as a light coverage. It has strong yellow undertones, I either dot it lightly and blend with a brush or damp beauty blender sponge or mix it with a clear primer, like the one from elf and set it with Mac's mineralise skin finish powder in dark (this warms the product up slightly and tones down the overly yellow undertones. SX15 is a more recent purchase (January '13), I use it to contour my face, it blends well into the skin and the colour can be controlled by how much product is used and how well blended it is. I scoop out a small amount of product and place it in a small tub, to maintain the hygiene of the product, and since I've taken the first scoop I have not had too go back for more. Again these are not used on a daily basis, just because I'm a beauty junkie and have a few options of other products to choose from, but they are great products and I love them for there versatility.

Heavily swatched, with flash, without flash below.

Blended into the skin, with and without flash.

If you have a medium black or asian skintone, with strong yellow undertones this will work well for you, buying more than one shade also means you can mix to get your desired colour making it work all year round. You can also mix these with other bases, tinted moisturisers, foundations etc to adjust the colour and/or coverage.

Have you tried the sensual skin enhancer yet? How do you use yours? Any further tips on how to use this product?

Thanks for visiting the blog today, if you have any further questions put them in the comments section below and I'll do my best to answer.

Alex

Ben Nye Translucent Face Powder in Topaz

Now the Ben nye banana powder is infamous across youtube and blogging communities, but the one you don't hear as much about is the translucent face powder in Topaz. This is a orange tinged powder than can be used to set the entire face or your under eye highlight depending on your skintone, also the hint of orange is great at reducing ashy areas that can happen due to hyper-pigmentation on asian and deeper skintones or using white based translucent powders, also great at reducing flash back in photography.

                                                             

I bought this powder from makeupeffects.co.uk for £8.10, which is amazing value for 2.85oz/80grams of product, it comes in a sifter type bottle which can cause some waste, but I tap a little into the lid section of my mac mineralise skin finish powder. I also have the banana powder, but I definately reach and use this more often to set my entire face, you can also tap a little onto your current face powders to brighten the complexion, warm up the complexion etc depending on your needs and skintone.

   Heavily swatched                                  Blended out slightly.

I absolutely love this powder and happy that I got my hands on it, I thought I would use the banana powder a lot more, but this one is definately slipped in my day-to-day routine as I don't like over highlighted looks for daytime. It helps with oil control, but won't cling to dry patches, as long as you don't apply too much, if you do just spritz your face with a bit of water, Mac fix plus or the like. Have you tried this powder or any other in the ben nye range, what are your thoughts?

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

Alex

Lancome's Teint Visionnaire Foundation Review!!!

I'm sure you've heard by now that Lancome have brought out a new foundation called Teint visionnaire, it contains 2% of the active ingredient in there visionnaire serum, which contains 4%.



BoxIngredients


It's a concealer/foundation duo that comes in a sturdy glass bottle, not great for travel, but then I don't tend to carry my foundation around with me on a day-to-day basis. Plus at £36 you want to feel like you are getting a luxury product, Lancome claim this foundation will reduce the appearance of pores, dark spots and wrinkles over time, all while giving you flawless coverage and SPF 20. 

 
 This foundation gives a medium coverage with a slight dewy finish, it lasts all day, although by the end of the day my combination skin is a little shiny in the t-zone area if I don't touch up at all. If your skin is more on the oily side you may need a good primer and setting power, probably touch up's during the day or opt for lancomes teint idole.


The high coverage corrector contains vitamin CG, which is meant to aid reduction of dark spots, dark circles and imperfections. It's a very thick concealer that is best applied with fingers, if you own Benefit's boing concealer its a very similar consistency. Lancome recommend applying the corrector first and foundation over the top, I would recommend using stippling motions with your brush to avoid moving the concealer applied underneath, I have used real techniques expert face brush and buffing brush and both work really well.

  
Concealer, foundation, Teint miracle in 10 and Teint visionnaire in 006 beige cannelle (No flash/flash).

Above I have swatched this foundation and concealer in shade 10 praline, I'm a shade 10 in teint miracle (this is more yellow) and this new foundation comes up slightly warmer in the same shade, I also swatched the shade below 10, 006 beige cannelle (there are no shades in between). The 006 was too light and too beige, so I had to get 10, once applied it blends well and matches great as it is slightly warmer I'll probably get away with wearing this shade all year round.



I really love the finish this foundation gives to the skin, it covers well without looking heavy or cakey, I don't have much to cover, but I do have pigmentation around my mouth that bothers me and can make foundation go ashy as the day goes on, by applying correcting concealer first this is less of an issue. Lancome recommend using the foundation daily for 4 weeks to see results, I haven't used it long enough so can't comment on whether the pigmentation has or will reduce, wrinkles and pores are not an issue for me at present, so I also can't comment on this.

Have you tried this foundation, what do you think, will you be trying it?

Alex