Tuesday 26 August 2014

When Broken Makeup Happens to Good People


I think we've all been there when you unassumingly peer into your makeup bag and are met by a disheveled, powdery explosion which can only mean one thing, something has smashed. It's always a severely emotional time, there's stage one: disbelief, stage two: wailing over wasted money, stage three: acceptance and then finally stage four: throwing it away, or, if you're like me, there will be a stage three-and-a-half which involves a blog post. I've never actually broken any products before up until now where three items broke in one week, but, to be fair, two were from being in my bag when I was dancing (if you've seen me dancing you wouldn't call it that) and jumping at a music event where I can only imagine they were knocked around continuously. Ah hindsight.


First to be crushed into smithereens was my GOSH Multicolour Blush in Bronze Pie, a blusher/bronzer made up of four colour segments: a peach, a pale pink, a golden beige and a purple brown. I used this product non-stop during the Summer with it being the only cheek product I kept out in my everyday makeup box as using the three lighter shades gave a really nice bronzed, peachy look. I avoided the more purple-toned shade as it was too overpowering when used but aside from that it was great quality and really long-lasting when worn so is something I would definitely repurchase (if I didn't already have so many cheek products).


Next to be ruined was Natural Collection's Eyeshadow in Crushed Walnut, my ultimate eyebrow powder. When I discovered I'd smashed the eyeshadow I feared for my eyebrow's lives and, for a few days, I tried to make do without it by trying alternatives I had stored away but quickly repurchased it after being left disappointed. Fear not eyebrow hair follicles, you are dark and defined again.

Lastly is a really new product to my makeup collection, Essence's All About Matt! Fixing Compact Powder. I must have only had this powder for a week when the metal on the hinge (for lack of a more appropriate word haha) of the packaging broke meaning there's now no way of closing the product securely. Technically this product isn't broken, yet, but it's definitely heading that way and what remains is a dented powdery mess, soon to be in Makeup Heaven.

I'm quite impressed that over the years so much of my makeup has survived considering how clumsy I can be with my bags and products and these are the only fighters that didn't quite make it. What makeup have you broken in the past, if any?

Monday 18 August 2014

Review: Mac's Relentlessly Red


I've added yet another lipstick to my collection (slaps wrist) this time being one I'd resisted for a few months, Mac's Relentlessly Red. Was anyone aware that Mac lipsticks have gone up another 50p?! I nearly keeled over when I looked at my receipt and saw £15.50 staring back at me. Moving on from my near-breakdown Mac describe Relentlessly Red as a bright, pinkish coral and is from their fairly recent collection of Retro Matte finishes.


The first time applying the lipstick I wasn't expecting quite how drying it felt; I own Mac's Lady Danger which is a Matte finish but with this one I felt really conscious of my mouth and it felt like quite a bit of effort to talk, probably not the best route to take when I had to serve customers for 5 hours. Rookie error. Since wearing the lipstick quite regularly now though I've got used to the formula and it feels completely comfortable to wear but is a heads up if you find lipsticks can be drying in general.


Truthfully I've found the lipstick application a little difficult to master, scrubbing and applying lipbalm beforehand leaves my lips a little too greasy causing the colour to appear faded and smudge outside of my lips but not exfoliating makes for a hideous, flaky sight. Layering the lipstick can cause it to gather and so I've found it best to scrub my lips with my toothbrush instead of my Lush Lip Scrub and then applying the lipstick in small sections on my lips instead of all at once. The lipstick does drag on my lips sometimes and can leave an uneven edge so I pair it with Barry M's Dark Pink lipliner which is a near enough match and helps to clean up the look.

The lipstick's wear time is amazing, I swear I applied it before I had work at 1pm and it was still there at 10pm looking as bright and vivid as it did when first applied. I remove my makeup using Garnier's Micellar Water and even using that the lipstick still left a stain to my lips, I don't even understand how it's possible to last so long but I love it as once it's on it's so hassle free. I can eat and drink without worrying about the colour fading and even ate a greasy Chinese and it was still in place.


The two lip swatches showing the colour when in different lighting

The shade has quickly become one of my favourites as it brightens up my face and is an all year round wearable shade, I've read many people saying it looks different in different lights and it's true, sometimes it looks like a dark pink and sometimes a sort of neon coral. I originally kept resisting buying this shade as I thought it was too similar to Mac's Impassioned which I also own and, there's no point beating round the bush, the shades ARE similar and I probably don't need both but Relentlessly Red gives a much more intense colour pay off compared to Impassioned's Amplified finish.

From left to right: Relentlessly Red and Impassioned

Overall, this lipstick can be a little temperamental, one day I can apply it and it will make my lips look horrible and chapped no matter what I do but on other days I can apply it in one swipe and it looks perfectly fine and so, for those glorious days where it applies nicely, it will earn a place in my lipstick display. Feel honoured Relentlessly Red.

Do you own this lipstick? What are your thoughts?

Monday 11 August 2014

L'Oreal's Nude Magique Eau De Teint Foundation


A few months ago Asda had L’Oreal’s Nude Magique Eau De Teint Foundation  on offer much to my delight as I’d been wanting to try it out. I’d been looking for a lightweight foundation to wear on warmer days when heavy makeup tends to feel annoying and overdone that gave my skin a natural look but would still smooth out my complexion. The foundation claims to have a ‘fresh feel’ giving ‘weightless bare perfection’ while also providing SPF 18 which is really useful for when Summer actually lives up to expectation (alert: it has).


At first glance the foundation bottle appears to be quite small but a little goes a long way with this formula; you're told to shake the bottle and then apply just one drop, now, I have a pretty small face as far as 19 year old faces go but one drop definitely isn't enough for me. The runny formula does mean that the product covers a much bigger area than you'd expect but I prefer to use two, three or four drops depending on how much coverage I want.

The foundation blends quickly with minimal effort (perfect for me as I am always running late) and leaves my skin feeling pretty much like my own skin when I'm not wearing makeup but smoother. I like to use my fingers to apply it as when using a buffing brush it feels as though the product disappears too quickly and doesn't achieve anything. I picked up the shade Warm Ivory, which I believe is the second to lightest shade, as they didn't have Porcelain in stock but am so glad I bought the slightly darker option as it give my skin a hint of colour which I really like (bronzed Goddess I am not) but due to the lightweight formula I don’t have to worry about blending the foundation down onto my neck.


When initially using the foundation I wasn't all that impressed as it didn't seem to give much coverage compared to what I was used to and so felt using it wasn't achieving anything. However, now that I've been using it for about two months I find it really helps to even out my skin tone and gives a nice base for everyday events and is much better for my skin than caking it with something much heavier. If I am going to wear cheek products then I like to fill in my eyebrows to pass time and allow the foundation to set slightly then I apply a little powder over the top otherwise products can apply quite unevenly without it. Throughout the day I do tend to get incredibly oily on my nose, I do usually get oily on my nose but with this foundation it seems to be exaggerated by about 10,000 and the foundation completely wears away so if you suffer with oily skin it might be best to avoid. For a night out wearing this foundation would be a disaster as the foundation leaves my skin looking glowy at the end of the day and this would translate into 'crazed sweaty wreck' on camera so I will still use heavier coverage foundations.


My skin has improved a lot since using this foundation and has made me realise that I don't need to cover my skin as much as I did in the past but at £9.99 I may not repurchase it as I want to try out another light foundation to compare, most likely Revlon's Nearly Naked Foundation.

Have you tried this foundation, if so what do you think?

Friday 1 August 2014

Back with a Vengeance

I haven’t blogged in such a long time due to a painful reversion to the Stone Age, also known as 'The Loss of Internet’. I was supposed to move house in May and so we ended our internet contract thinking we'd be gone but we actually ended up moving on the 3rd of July.  I’m not entirely sure how I’ve survived but through a combination of strategically using 3G on my phone, stealing wifi by parking in a McDonald’s car park and lurking outside my friend’s house with my laptop, I’m still standing. Feel free to burst into song.

In the time I’ve been gone I’ve visited my friend at Lincoln University and nearly finished myself off going out five nights in a row, finished an awful college course much to my delight, moved house, spent a lot of time with my friends who are home from uni, went to EDC (an all day music event), passed my driving theory test and done a heck of a lot of overtime at work. Can I just take the chance to say that moving house was so stressful and I have new found empathy for everyone thinking of moving or preparing to move.

I have seriously missed blogging and reading all the posts on Bloglovin’, I feel so out of sync with the beauty world and am so unprepared when I see new releases in Boots/Superdrug. There has been a positive to me not having access to blogs though and that is the amount of money spent on clothes and makeup has seriously decreased as I’m pretty much unaware of everything but I'm certainly making up for it now (cough just made a big Missguided order).

I’m surprised I can even remember how to write up blog posts to be honest but I’m glad I can as I plan to blog a lot more and also write some housey posts as I have been really enjoying trailing round shops looking for cheap little bargains to make mine, my mum’s and brother’s house look nice and homely. I also missed my one year blog milestone which was on the 3rd of July, dang.