Bumble and Bumble Thickening Hairspray Review

The Bumble & Bumble Thickening Hairspray retails at £21.50. Which is stupidly expensive. And honestly, there’s a similar thickening spray available on the market that’s much more affordable. Blue bottle, yellow top, and it’s last name is Frieda…however if you’re still interested in B&B’s version, read on.

It’s a lightweight setting spray that will give you hair extra oomph, a bit of volume and hold. This sounded perfect as I like volume, and use rollers often enough to appreciate a product that’ll help hold my style at the same time.

I like the fresh smell, although it doesn’t linger. Be careful not to apply too much in one area (hello crunchy hair!), I spray it all over and then blow -dry using a large round brush. My hair does feel thicker, though not as much as other products I’ve used in the past. However on the off-chance, the lady at the counter at Boots did offer to style my hair. And in the right hands you really could achieve a lion’s mane of volume if you so wish with this product. I prefer more sutble volume rather than va-va-voom hair and I can achieve this at home by myself.

It also works really well with heated rollers. If you’re going to straighten, then you’ll lose the volume this product provides.

So all in all, a versatile product. Looks pretty. Smells good. Expensive though.

Too Faced Brow Envy Kit Review

I wish I had actually managed to photograph this before using it – terribly unprofessional of me, however about two weeks ago I accidently plucked a chunk of hairs out of my eyebrow (I sneezed, and genuinely have no idea what happened) and have since used this everyday. Nobody, except myself and the boyf, knows that I made a big boo-boo whilst shaping thanks to this little genius kit.

Packaging is beautiful, compact and as sturdy as a cardboard box can be. I especially love the little bottom drawer. The magnetic closure means you won’t have the contenct spilling out into your makeup storage/bag.

The kit comes with two powders, one for blondes and one for brunettes. I use both, mostly blonde and then just a tiny bit of brunette to darken it as blonde alone is too light, and brunette all over is too dark. There’s a highlighter, which I never use but it’s pretty, and a setting wax. It also comes with a small angled brush, a spoolie, mini tweezers, a mini brow pencil and eyebrow stencils. Basically everything you need for well groomed eyebrows.

Despite being small, the tweezers are surprisingly good, and the pencil included in the bottom drawer is creamy and easy to use, although it probably won’t suit many blondes.

The stencils come in three different shapes, just choose the one that suits your natural eyebrow and you can use them to fill/shape your eyebrows to perfection.

Initially £28 seems pretty expensive. However as I’ve been using this everyday for about two weeks, not to mention the countless times I’ve used the stencils to help a dummy like me shape my brows, it’s worth it. I would definately repurchase if I ever lost this little kit.

MAC Ladyblush Cremeblend Blush Review & Swatches

I’m currently having a love affair with cream blushers, especially Stila’s Convertible Colours. They last all day on my cheeks, and can be applied sheer or built up for a pop of colour. So I though it was time to try a different brand’s cream blush to compare. I choose one of MAC’s Cremeblend blushes, in Ladyblush.

Ladyblush is a warm neutral colour that leans a little bit peachy. Perfect if you want to go for a dramatic eye, or bold lip colour but don’t want your blush to draw any attention away from all the drama. The Cremeblend formula is really creamy, smooth and buttery and applies like a dream. Like most cream blushes, it applies sheer but it’s buildable and blends out beautifully. MAC cream blushes stay creamy, which I love as cream to powder formulas tend to turn matte and I prefer the dewy glow a cream blush can give you.

Staying power isn’t as great as the Stila Convertible Colours, but it’s still really good. It’ll last most of the day, and it’s so easy to touch-up. Just dab and blend with your fingers when you’re on the go.

I’m not blown away, but if there’s a colour I see that I simply must have then I wouldn’t be afraid to spend the cash. I’d prefer it if MAC’s Cremeblend blushes lasted longer.

MAC Fix+ Review

MAC Fix + is a mix of vitamins and minerals spritzer infused with green tea, chamomile & cucumber. A few months ago, after finishing my first bottle I didn’t think I’d be repurchasing, but another two bottles later I can safely say this product has sneaked it’s way into my everyday routine.

Despite the name, I don’t really feel as though MAC Fix + actually helps to prolong the wear of your makeup, or “fixes” it to your face. Personally I use if after applying powder to set my makeup. The spray works to refresh, and eradicate that powdery/cakey look if sometimes I’m a little heavy handed. I also spray it on to my makeup brushes if I want to apply my eyeshadows “wet” rather than actually dipping the bush into water. And of course, if we actually had any hot weather here in Not-So-Sunny-South-Wales, it’d be a great pick me up after a few hours out in the sunshine. (It feels weird talking about Summer, when Winter is very nearly upon us)

For £13.50, it’s not nearly as expensive as other beauty sprays, and if you’re still not sure about splashing cash you can get a travel-sized version.

Sleek Pomegranate Powder Blush Review & Swatches

This is my first blush from Sleek. It’s a vivid berry colour that’s perfect for Autumn/Winter. It does have some fine gold shimmer however it’s barely noticeable and certainly doesn’t highlight pores.

Inside the sturdy packaging is a whopping 8g of powder blush. It’s silky and long-lasting. You wouldn’t have guessed this was a drugstore blush that cost £4.49! Sleek blushes are well known for being highly pigmented and I can’t disagree. I apply lightly, and then blend blend blend. If I feel I need a little more colour, I’ll dab it on tentatively, building the colour up. This blush is not for the heavy-handed!

Would look great on all skintones. Definately worth checking out the rest of their blushes.

MAC Hue Lipstick Review & Swatches

(I’m wearing Bourjois Healthy Mix, MAC The Perfect Cheek blush, and MAC Hue)

MAC Hue is probably one of the most talked about lippies ever. It’s a pale, nude pink that leans towards the warmer side. The glaze formula means it has a creamy finish and subtle sheen. A decent amount of coverage, you’ll either love it or hate it. Although it’s definately worth a swatch if you’re passing a MAC counter.

Worn best with either a smokey eye, or natural daytime look, Hue can be built up if you need a pinkier lip. One downside is the buttery, creamy Glaze formula – they tend to wear off quicker than other MAC formulas, however if you’re a fan it’s not going to be a major problem.

I’m not entirely convinced that this shade suits me. It’s too “nudey” and barely noticeable. It doesn’t really look like I’m wearing any lipstick. Maybe I’m just so used to seeing brighter colours on my lips.

Clearasil DailyClear Vitamins & Extracts Wash and Mask Review

It’s been a long time since I bought a drugstore face wash – they never did much in my teens, and I moved swiftly on to more expensive brands once I became a student with a loan to spend. I still have adult acne, which has improved so much over the past 3 months thanks to my pill poppin’. But before I started doing that, I used this product from Clearasil.

It can be bought from pretty much anywhere that sells skincare, your local Supermarket should have some in stock. Or Boots. Or Superdrug. Costing at just under a fiver, this really could have turned out to be an amazing bargain according to all the rave reviews I’ve been reading across the blogosphere.

Described as a gentle cream face wash, it can be used everyday or as a 3 minute face mask. I’ve tried both, and would probably only recommend using it as a face wash. It works quite well at cleaning the skin, removing grime and makeup, but it sometimes left my skin feeling too dry and a little tight.

As a mask, it’s way too harsh for my skin. It left my skin very blotchy and angry looking afterwards with the same dryness and tight feeling that I’d get after using it as a face wash. I’ve tried leaving it on for longer (a big no no!) and for the suggested 3 minutes, with little difference. The worst bit was the cystic, painful acne that started to appear around my chin jawline that I had never experienced before.

I only use it now and again these days. I pretty much stopped using it after the cystic acne appeared. If I do use this product, I only use the smallest amount and as a face wash only. I wanted so bad to like this Clearasil product, but I’d rather spend an extra couple of quid and get something that doesn’t make my skin feel so dry, red and tight after using it. Maybe it works better with oilier skin.

Korres Lip Butter in Jasmine Review

Korres products are rather difficult to get hold of where I live (in a rather wet South Wales) so imagine my surprise when my local Waitrose extended it’s selection of Korres products, mainly shower gels, to include the Lip Butters. Yay!

Korres is a Greek skincare brand that offers natural skin and hair products. The lip butters are formulated without parabens, sulphates, synthetic fragrances, petrochemical, phthalates, GMOs and triclosan. And definately no petroleum jelly in sight. The carboard box packaging is gorgeous which features some really cool designs.

Available in a wide variety of scents and colours, you’ll be sure to find one that suits you. If you’re unsure of which colour to chose, I’d definately recommend Guava, or like me, Jasmine. Both offer a very neutral, almost clear gloss over the lips. Jasmine just has the tiniest hint of pink, which proved to be a nightmare to photograph which is why there aren’t any swatches.

The product itself is buttery and soft – there’s no need to warm it with a finger before applying. Despite being a nude-pink in colour, Jasmine applies pretty much clear, very much like a gloss. It’s super hydrating and moisturising, and feels lovely on the lips. It even smells amazing, almost like cookies.

I will definately try and pick up some of the more deeper shades to add a little pop of colour to my lips.

Freederm Treatment Gel Review

So a little while back I lost my little bottle of Origin’s Super Spot Remover, and I felt largely gutted and then rushed to buy another product without doing any research. I found Freederm at my local Tesco, and popped it into my basket not really expecting much as I haven’t had much luck with spot treatments that can be bought inexpesively at a local supermarket.

I have since discovered another product that has helped my adult acne, allowing for just one or two small spots to appear weekly, if at all. This is nothing short of a miracle for me, but more on that product later….

For those odd small spots that appear, Freederm has been my go-to spot treatment, even after I found my little bottle of Origin’s spot remover. The product itself is really travel friendly, the small tube is sturdy and survives living in my handbag quite well.

I use Freederm mainly in the evenings, although the instuctions that came with the product suggest morning and night for it to be most effective. This works well for a couple of days, but then it starts to make my skin dry and patchy so it’s best left to once a day. For me, Freederm really helps make my pimples surface – the following morning it will have a whitehead and helps it fade faster. Cystic acne takes a bit longer to heal, but this product still works.

For £4.40 from my local Tesco, I’m impressed. Definately a money saver.

MAC Legendary Powder Blush Review & Swatches

I’ve already swatched and reviewed MAC The Perfect Cheek which was the first blush I picked up from the recent Marilyn Monroe collection, and now I have Legendary to show you.

Described as a “pale, soft coral” I couldn’t agree more. The Satin finish means there’s a slight sheen, a glow, but no shimmer or frostiness. Overall a very lovely and natural finish. It feels so effortless to apply – it required very little blending and looked great on my pale-ish skin. I would imagine that once again this shade would need building up on darker skintones.

For me Legendary is the “grown-up” coral blush I’ve been looking for. Lots of corals are bright, or shimmery and work beautifully during the Summer months, but this one is glowy and works nicely in the colder months without looking like I’m trying too hard.

China Glaze Some Like It Haute Swatches & Review

I’ve been feeling Marilyn obsessed recently this week, not just with MAC’s latest collection, but with her style and image. This lead to me doing a manicure using one of the polishes from China Glazes Winter 2011 collection called Eye Candy – set of six “3D” glitters that should be opaque enough to wear on their own rather than layering.

Above is 3 coats of Some Like it Haute (you see, Marilyn obsessed….) Ilove this polish. It’s more black-blue than a true deep black glitter. It has superfine glitter, and large round holographic glitter in the mix. Two topcoats later and it looks like fireworks on my nails.

Gorgeous.

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Review & Swatches

I’ve become a little bit obsessed with trying new foundations, so expect a few more reviews of different brands over the next coming weeks.

One of the recent foundations to be trialed and tested is a new launch from Maybelline. The main selling point of the Fit Me foundation range is their vast array of shades and colours – hopefully to provide the perfect match. Stateside reviews have been either hit or miss, some claiming a good match but very poor staying power and that it’s “too oily” or has too light a coverage. Others love it.

The British version seems to be totally different, or at least I have not come across the same problems as our American counterparts.

Presented in a gorgeous glass bottle, it’s sleek and comes with a built in pump. The foundation has a medium to high coverage, in fact it covered my acne and scarring really well to the point where I’d skip the concealer. I used the Real Techniques buffing brush that is part of the Core Collection and honestly couldn’t fault the coverage, which is suprising as it’s quite a runny foundation. Maybelline Fit Me foundation settles to a dewy finsih, without any shimmer or glitter (I’m looking at you Rimmel Wake Me Up!!) and feels comfortable to wear.

Shade 120 is just the tiniest bit too dark for me, and I really should’ve picked up 110 (Any shade ending in “0” have yellow understones, shades ending in “5” have pink undertones) but my local Tesco didn’t offer it and I didn’t feel like making an extra journey to Boots. That said shade 120 is totally workable and it’s barely noticeble, just me scrutinising my face far too much.

Wear time is okay. I can work up to 10 hours a day, and honestly wouldn’t expect any of my makeup to look as fresh as I applied it at 6am. I used my usual primer and powder and found that Maybelline Fit Me foundation wore no differently to the vast majority of drugstore foundations. It didn’t sink into or clog my pores, or melt off (as some American reviewers have experienced some “melting”). For £7.99 it’s not half bad.

MAC The Perfect Cheek Review & Swatches

So I managed to grab a couple of goodies from the Marilyn Collection by MAC. This is the first of the two blushes I picked up. The Perfect Cheek is a repromote, this time with the lovely Marilyn packaging. Described as a “natural pink beige,” it comes in the matte formula and is so easy to wear because it looks natural and will pretty much work with any other makeup you’re using that day. The Perfect Cheek could easily be MAC Blushbaby’s paler cousin. Beautiful.

This blush looks amazing on my pale, but warm skintone (I’m a C1 in MAC lingo….) and it really somehow makes my blue eyes pop. I detect something mauvey about the colour, although it really could be just the beige, which makes it perfect for Autumn. I pair it with MAC Pink Rebel if I fancy adding a little highlighter/shimmer to this matte blush. It applies just the right pigmentation for my skintone, but would imagine darker ladies would need to build up this blush if they want more than just a subtle glow.

China Glaze I’m Not a Lion Swatches

(A close up of the yummy holo-goodness)

China Glaze’s 2012 Autumn collection is called On Safari, which inlcudes two glitters. One of them is this little beauty, I’m Not a Lion – packed with gold, silver and holographic glitter. On my nails it practically twinkles in the light.

As with all glitters this one required 3 coats and dries kinda matte. It also completely ate my topcoat – I needed another 3 coats of Seche Vite to get it looking shiny and smooth.

Project 10 Pan – September Empties

Since starting my Project 10 Pan waaaay back in May I’ve used up a current total of 41 products, which feels like such a huge achievement considering I am afterall a beauty junkie. It’s nice knowing that I am using all of the product, not just getting bored and moving on to the next big hyped up must-have. May my good work continue, haha.

So this months sees yet another packet of wipes used. I know they’re the mother of all evil for skincare, but honestly I use them to remove the majority of my makeup before a proper cleanse. Otherwise my cloths get very dirty, very quickly. Also included are two concealers, one my No7 which I’m not terribly fussed on, and my all time favourite Lasting Perfection by Collection (the writing has come off the tube!).

I’m an avid nail painter, so there’s another empty bottle of nail polish remover, an Aptivita face mask (review to come soon), a face moisturiser by Johnson’s and the very over-hyped Vo5 Mircale Concentrate hair oil. My favourite of this month’s empties has to be First Aid Beauty’s shave cream. It’s done wonders for my sensitive skin, and I never get a rash or razor burn with this product. Yay!