Review: Barbara Daly Nail Polish in Starlight

Barbara Daly Nail Polish in Starlight - in natural light

With Flash

This is a gold metallic polish with a lot of subtle glitter.  It's a cool shade of gold, with tiny specks of iridescent glitter.  It's smooth unlike a lot of glitter polishes and is fully opaque after 2-3 coats.


This would be better suited to someone with a darker skin tone, I might use it for doing nail art.  This polish would be great as an accent nail to a nude colour like Grey Suede from Revlon.

Review and Swatches: Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss

This is a Colorburst Lipgloss from Revlon, in the shade 042 Bellini.  The colour in real life is actually more of an orangey pink.  This is a different take on a nude colour, and it has a very subtle shimmer.  The packaging is nice too which is a plus.

The wand has an unusual shaped applicator, it curves inwards on two sides.  I found that it makes the lipgloss easier to apply.  

I don't usually wear lipgloss because I find that the formula is often sticky and wears off quickly.  As for the Revlon Colourburst lipgloss, this doesn't feel sticky at all but it doesn't have much staying power either.  I don't really think this is a problem for me as it's easy to  re-apply.  The colour is nice on, it looks more of  a peach colour on me.  It's bright and different to the usual pinks and raspberry colours I normally wear.  I

Swatch: Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Bellini

Here's a quick swatch of it.  The colour is a bit brighter and has a slight coral/peach tint to it.

Overall I really like this lipgloss.  It's bright, the formula is light and non-sticky and the price is okay too, at around €11.00. 

I bought this product myself and all photos are my own.  

Review: Catrice

Ever since Catrice re-vamped their product line I've been wanting to try some of their stuff out.  I've heard lots of good things about their new lines and so I bought a few Catrice products today.


I got the Limited Edition: Hidden World Eye Soufflé in 02- Yes, I Wood!, the Absolute Eye Colour eyeshadow in 420 Talk Like An Egyptian, and their Ultimate Nail Lacquer in 440 I Wear My Sunglasses At Night.

L-R: Eye Soufflé, Absolute Eye Colour, Ultimate Nail Lacquer

First up is the Limited Edition 'Hidden World' Eye Soufflé in 02 'Yes, I Wood!'

It comes in a round glass pot with a chrome effect lid.  I really like the packaging, it's good quality.  You get 4.9g of product which is good and it only costs €3.99.

'Yes, I Wood!' is a neutral colour, somewhere between a pink and light brown colour, with a nice slight shimmer.

The consistency is like a mousse, it's got a nice light feel to it but still gives even coverage.  This is great for brightening up the inside of a smokey eye, or on it's own for a neutral look.

I put some on over my own eyeshadow, it's on the right side of the eye, and the brown is a Benefit shadow.  I did this really quickly though.  The colour doesn't show up very well in the photo it's a little brighter in real life.  You can see the shimmer in the eye soufflé in the photo.

(Update: I noticed the day after wearing this product that it had irritated the skin on my eyes.  The chemicals in the formula are too strong for my skin and caused a bad reaction.  I only had a reaction like this once before, with an eyeliner marker.  I did a patch test on the inside of my arm, but as the skin on the arm is not as delicate as on the eye there was no reaction.  This reaction may not happen to everyone but I thought I should mention it here as I won't be using this product anymore, even though I really liked it)

Next is the Catrice Absolute Eye Colour, single shadow in 420 'Talk Light an Egyptian'

This is a gold, glittery shadow.  It looks a little yellow in the photo, it is a bit lighter in real life and it's very glittery.  I've been looking for a gold eyeshadow for ages and this is perfect.

It comes in a clear plastic case, which is quite heavy and looks much better in real life.  I really like the packaging, I didn't think I would but it's a lot stronger than it seems in pictures. This cost around €3.40, I can't remember the exact price.

This is the first Catrice shadow I've tried and I really like it so far.  It's very pigmented for a glitter shadow, and the glitter is really bright.

These photos aren't great but I thought I'd put them up anyway.  The colour hasn't shown up (again!) but you can still kind of see the glitter and shine.  I would wear this shadow with a brown smokey eye.

Lastly, I also got the Catrice Nail Lacquer in 440 'I Wear My Sunglasses At Night'.  This is a black polish with purple/light green glitter.  The glitter is very small so in the bottle it looks like a dark purple colour, which I like.  It cost around €2.70.

This nail polish has really good coverage, dries quite fast and is a nice colour.  The glitter takes away the harshness of the black, but it's still quite subtle.  The glitter is small so it won't be too difficult to take off unlike other polishes.

I'll post pictures later because I couldn't take any today.

Overall I really liked these Catrice products.  All of the products are quite cheap.  These three items cost €10.07 in total. I want to try out more of the polishes and some lip products next.

Review: Make-up Brushes

It can be hard to find good brushes.  There are loads to choose from and sometimes the really expensive ones aren't as good as you expected.  Here's a little about brushes I've tried out, what to buy and what not to buy.

1. Eyes Lips Face: Total Face Brush and Blending Eye Brush  
          

      

                            Total Face Brush           ELF Blending Eye Brush

I bought these two brushes from eyeslipsface.com about a month ago.  I'd heard really good things about ELF and these were part of my first purchase from them.

I like the Total Face Brush.  It's big and fluffy so it doesn't take off your foundation when applying powder, which is good.  It can be used for any powders, bronzers, shimmers etc.  The only thing I didn't like was that the brush sheds a little but.  It's not a big problem though and overall I thought this brush was very good.

The Blending Eye brush has a smallish, fluffy head.  I quite liked this for appyling eyeshadow all over the lid.  It's a blending brush though and I thought it did quite a good job of blending around the eye, but it can be used as a general eye brush too.  The only thing is that this brush is a little bit big so you should be careful when applying dark shadows so that you don't end up putting on way too much.  This brush also sheds a little but I'd imagine that after a bit more use this might not shed as much.

I've only tried out two brushes but I really like them.  I've heard that some more of their brushes are brilliant so I want to try a few more out.

I've ordered a couple more ELF brushes for Christmas and I'll post about those when I get them!

2. Stila: Crease and Liner brush

I love this brush!  I use this everyday, it's the perfect brush for eyeshadows.  One end has a crease shadow brush and the other end has an eyeliner brush.  I use the crease side the most.  It has tightly packed bristles and doesn't shed.  I find that it picks up eyeshadow easily and applies the colour really well.  It's precise and puts the perfect amount of product onto the lid.  You don't have to use this in just the crease, it can be used as a general eye shadow brush too.

  

I don't really use the eyeliner side much.  When I wear liquid eyeliner I do a very thin line.  This brush is for doing a thicker, 60's style line or for wearing with false eyelashes I think.  You could use it for a thin line if you wet it though.

I use this brush dry, for doing small details around the crease. I put a small amount of the darkest colour into the crease using the eyeliner end of this brush.

Overall I absolutely love this brush.  The only negative thing is the price- it costs £21 (although I got mine for around €6 online).  I think it's worth the price because it's amazing quality.

Boots 17: Powder Brush

I bought this to use as a powder brush, but it wasn't good.  It applied the powder in patches and wasn't packed tightly enough so it bended a lot when I was using it.  I use it to apply blusher now, which is much better.  It applies the blusher quite well, not too dark and not too light.  I don't really like this brush though, but it does work.  It doesn't shed much either.

I think it cost around €5 in Boots.

More Brush Brands!

Here are a couple of very popular, reasonably priced brush brands; Sigma Brushes and Crown Brushes.

  Sigma Brushes:

Sigma is a really popular brand at the moment.  They have every kind of brush and tool available and they're not that expensive. I've heard really good reviews on their products.  The product I've seen recommended most often by bloggers is the Complete Kit.

It costs $90 which works out to be around €68.  For a complete set of 12 brushes this is great value.  You save $53 on individual prices.

This set is often recommended as it has everything you need.  

There are loads more brushes and products available on the official Sigma site: here

You can buy the Complete Kit here: here 

This set would make a great Christmas present.

Crown Brushes:

I've heard quite good things about Crown Brushes.  They're an affordable brand but they are good quality.  They sell good sets, such as the Purple Rain set, £30.  They also sell individual brushes, make-up, and have quite good sales.

Review:ELF Beauty Book Neutral Edition

I posted a few weeks ago about the ELF Beauty Book I had bought.  I've tried out most of the colours by now so

The palette I bought is the Neutral Eye Edition.  I think there are some new palettes available for Christmas.

Here's all the colours.  The colours are a bit different in real life though.  Top row from left; cream, gold/brown, metallic brown, dark purple with grey/brown undertones.

Second row from left: peach/nude colour, pink, purple/pink, purple.

Bottom row; brown/peach colour, rust, mauve, dark purple with black undertones.

I found that these eyeshadows were good quality.  They were generally well pigmented and the colours in the palette complement each other well.  Most of the colours have some shimmer in them, which I liked, and there are a couple of matte shades too.  I used the ELF Eyelid Primer underneath the eyeshadows which made them show up much brighter and made them last longer. 

ELF Eyelid Primer

                                  

It also comes with a mini eyeliner in Coffee, which is a dark brown colour. 

I really like these shadows.  I've been using this palette loads since I got it.  The packaging is really nice too, and there's a guide which shows how to contour and highlight too.  It's only about €6.80 I think and you get 12 shadows, an eyeliner and a mini brush/applicator.  This would be a really good idea for a Christmas present.

Review: New; Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit

Two weeks ago I won some products from Neutrogena's new line of Visibly Clear products, Pink Grapefruit from another blog.

I recieved the Pink Grapefruit Cream Wash (150ml), Facial Wash (with pump, 200ml) and Daily Scrub (150ml).


I've been using the Cream Wash and Daily Scrub for the last couple of weeks and so far I like it.  Normally I use Simple, because it has no scent or colour, and I usually use facial products like that.  This line of products has quite a strong scent of grapefruit, which is okay but I'm not that keen on it.  The Cream Wash has a minty smell too, which some people like but I don't really.

Overall I quite like these.  They work well, the packaging is nice too.  The thing I don't like is the scent.  I much prefer brands like Simple who don't use any perfumes.

Lots of people will like this product, I'll keep using mine for now, but I don't think I'll buy them afterwards.

Review: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Gel Foundation

This is Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Gel Foundation.  I bought this today in Boots when I went to buy the normal Healthy Mix Foundation.  I'd never seen this before, and hadn't heard of a 'gel' foundation either.  It was at an introductory price of €11.50 but is normally around €15 I think.

Swatches:

This foundation is quite sheer.  I didn't notice the coverage guide on the back until after I'd bought it. I normally wear foundation with good coverage I was a bit scared of this, it was 1 on the guide, 1 being the lightest coverage.

I tried it on and I quite like it so far.  It's quite moisturising I think, and looks really natural on.  It gives a nice even colour but you would need concealer with this too.  It feels light on the skin and I noticed that this goes a bit further than the usual Healthy Mix Foundation, so you don't need to use as much.  It has a slight fruit fragrance which I don't mind, I think it's better than the chemical smell off of some foundations (e.g I think MAC smells like facepaint).

I haven't worn this properly yet so I don't know about how it wears, according to the bottle it lasts 16 hours (they never do though) so I'll see if it lasts for a day of school tomorrow. 

Apart from this I like it so far.  The colour is a good match for my skin too.

 I'll update tomorrow with the results :)

 

Update: It lasts ages! I was really scared about the sheer coverage because normally I don't wear sheer foundation but it was fine.  It lasted all day (I did top it up a little but I normally do that anyway).  I wore this foundation at school today and to the gym and it lasted through that too lol.  Overall, so far I'm happy with this foundation.

Review: Benefit High Beam

I got this mini bottle of Benefit's 'High Beam' in this month's Glamour Magazine.  I don't ever buy Glamour but I thought it was worth it for Benefit products.

I'd never used High Beam before, but since it's a ~cult Benefit product and I usually like Benefit makeup, I thought I'd give it a whirl.  When I told my mum it was a highlighter, she thought I meant a pen :P

        

Swatch:

I applied this by dotting the highlighter under my eyebrows and blended it in with my finger.  This can also be used to highlight cheekbones and just above the cupid's bow of your top lip. 

I liked this product, it's a bit of fun and it does brighten up your makeup.  I think this would be most noticable/useful for a night-time makeup look as it would show up more.  Also, I think if you're wearing a lot of makeup this helps to make it look a bit more 'natural' by adding a different dimension to your makeup so your face is not completely the same colour.

Review: Soap & Glory: The Fab Pore Facial Peel

This is 'The Fab Pore' facial peel from Soap & Glory.  I've been using this product for a few months now and I really like it.  I'm not so sure what it means by 'facial peel', to me this is pretty much a mud face mask.

I use this about once or twice a week.  You just apply it like a face mask, leave for 5-15 minutes and rinse off well.  This is a thick formulation and it has little green beads in it.  According to the box it contains Fomes Officinalis extract to tighten pores, Salicylic Acid to loosen up dead skin cells, Kaolin which is clay and Vitamins E & C.

I really liked this product.  It didn't irratate my skin as a lot of masks have done, and my skin felt much better after using this mask.  The tub lasts ages as you only have to use a small amount because the formula is quite thick.  Again, I love the retro packaging too!  I think I will definitely be buying this again when I've run out :)

Review: Benefit Lipsticks

So I have two Benefit lipsticks to review today.  These are two of my favourites: Benefit Full Finish Lipstick in 'La La Land' and Benefit Silky Finish Lipstick in 'Nice Knickers'.

From left: Silky Finish Lipstick in 'Nice Knickers' and Full Finish Lipstick in 'La La Land'.

The Silky Finish lipsticks have good colour and quite sheer coverage.  They don't last very long though, and would be suitable for people who don't usually wear lipstick but want to wear bright colours instead of lipgloss.

The Full Finish lipsticks are much thicker.  The formulation is quite creamy and is really nice to wear.  This lipstick has good pigmentation and lasts ages.  'La La Land' is quite a dark pink/brown colour and I found that, worn with a creamy lip balm, it came out a cute nude pink colour which is nice for daytime.

Swatches:

From left: 'Nice Knickers' and 'La La Land'

Overall I really like these.  I also love the packaging, as usual with Benefit i's really cute and retro.