Illamasqua Once review and FOTD

By now I'm sure you've seen Illamasqua's Once collection.  It's one of their tamer collections, which to be honest disappoints me a little.  I'd have loved to have seen a couple more 'out there' products mixed in to the collection.  I only picked up two items - Melange nail polish and Bibelot Vintage Metallix.

From the moment I saw Melange nail polish I knew that I had to have it.  It's the only item from the collection that really jumped out at me, and I have to say that I love it just as much as I'd hoped.  It's a lovely medium teal with gold shimmer running through it.  The website says it's a matte finish but I don't really think it is (it photographs more matte than it looks in real life).  I've have to try putting a matte top coat on it soon.

It applied easily and was opaque in two coats.  I've managed to go 24 hours so far without chipping it, which is fairly impressive for me.  If there is just one thing you're going to splash out on, make it this!

I also decided to pick up a Vintage Metallix, their new cream-gel eyeshadow.  I opted for Bibelot which is described as 'vintage green', which is pretty accurate.  It has the gold-bronze shimmer running through it, as is really pretty.

Application however, was interesting.  I found that the best way to apply this is in thin layers, buffing it out with a tapered blending brush.  Usually I'd apply a cream shadow with a synthetic flat shader brush, but I found that applied the colour unevenly to begin with.  I did one or two layers with my finger, blending it out, then patted some more onto the lid with the flat shader brush, again making sure to blend out.  Fortunately the shimmer doesn't disappear when blended out, although I did get some fall out.  I love the way it looks, but it was quite a lengthy learning process.

For a cream shadow it does wear well.  Usually cream shadows crease like mad on me within the first hour, even with a primer.  I did apply Bibelot on top of my Nars eyeshadow base, but even so I have been pleasantly surprised at how it wears.  There was a little fading in the crease area at around the two hour mark, but I've hit 7 hours now and there isn't much difference.  Not sure I'll be picking up the other two though.

I paired it with Illamasqua's Naked Rose blush (also part of this collection) and MUFE's Lab Shine Gloss in Shimmering Beige.  Liner is Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Scorch.

Revolution lipstick in Divine - Review and FOTD

My skin has been going absolutely crazy this week so I've haven't really felt like taking photos.  To cheer myself up I splashed out a whole £1 and picked up Revolution's matte lipstick in Divine.  

It's a light peach, which just leans slightly pink.  This is about the lightest colour I'll go for on my lips, as anything paler tends to look a little corpse-like on me.  Mattes seem to be the toughest finish to get right, and when I first applied this lipstick I was expecting it to be drying as it was on the stiffer side and dragged across the lips a little.  I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable it was though!  I wore it without a gloss on top and didn't ever feel the need to add some hydration, which for me is very impressive.

It's not the most forgiving lipstick, and even though I prepped my lips you can still see where it shows up dry skin that I thought I'd gotten rid of.  It wasn't noticeable from a distance though, so providing you exfoliate and moisturise it's wearable.  I've reached for this lipstick a couple of times, and I'm eager to pick up a couple more shades.  They're so cheap that I won't feel guilty for treating myself!

The look is using my usual face stuff, and my Naked 3 palette with Urban Decay's Demolition and Zero pencils to smoke it out. 

Part two of my haul review! Collection nail polishes and NYX Extreme Lip Cream.

Onto the second part of my haul!  I picked up two Collection nail varnishes, Fairy Dust and Scorched Copper.  I really like their Work The Color polishes as they apply evenly, dry quickly, and have fairly good wear time on them.  And all for £1.99 each!

Fairy Dust was a little bit of a disappointment to be honest.  It's a beautiful shimmering colour, but it's just so sheer!  I'm not a fan of sheer polishes, so I'll probably use it layered over another colour.  Below is four coats and my nail line is still clearly visible. It still looks super pretty, especially when the sun catches it, but I wish it was more opaque!

Scorched Orange on the other hand is fantastic to work with.  It's a bright coppered red which was opaque in two coats.  Due to it's metallic finish brush strokes are a little more visible, but not to the point that it bothers me.  A really nice autumn shade!

And last but not least is NYX Xtreme Lip Cream in Candy Land.  I've read loads of reviews that rave about these, and I have to say that I'm also a fan of the formula.  They're lovely and opaque, but unlike other liquid lipsticks it doesn't dry down.  It feels to thick and creamy to be classed as a gloss though, and I didn't find this at all sticky.  Wear time was 3 or 4 hours, and my lips felt nice and moisturised.  I'm so picky about lipsticks that it's always nice to find a cheaper formula that I love!

I also picked up Revolution's Pink Lights highlighter today.  I doubt I'll do a review on it as highlighters are tough to photograph, but I love it and I'm sure it'll be used in future FOTD!

Revolution eyeshadow and blush palettes review

My lovely boyfriend took me shopping the other day for a couple of makeup bits.  I picked an NYX Xtreme Lip Cream that I'd been wanting to try, and a couple of new nail varnishes.  In Superdrug I spotted a new display of a brand I hadn't heard of before; Revolution.  They didn't have any testers out, but the prices were s good that I just had to try them!

The first thing I'll note about these palettes is they were both sealed.  One of the reasons I dislike buying drug store makeup (particularly from my local Superdrug) is that a lot of it has been opened and played with.  No worries with that here, the boxes were wrapped in plastic, the cardboard boxes taped closed, and then the palettes within the cardboard were wrapped in plastic too!

The palettes look nice, sleek black plastic with simple gold lettering.  They're weighty, making them feel more expensive.  The plastic does show finger prints really easily though.

They had so many eyeshadow palettes, but in the end I opted for Eyes Like Angels, a 32 pan palette.  The eyeshadows are on the smaller size, but I have so many eyeshadows that I rarely finish a pan.  There's a good mix of colours and neutrals .

The palette is a mix of frosts and satins, with some nearly matte shades.  As with most shadows, the frosts have better colour pay off than the matte shadows.  They're nicely pigmented, soft, and easy to blend.  I am blown away by the quality for the price!  I'm sure I'll be picking up more of the palettes soon.  

Black Stars, Green Dream, Peach Cream, Orchid

Sophisticated Pink, Dream, Pink Glow, Peacock Dream

Silver Star, Emerald Night, Lilac Shimmer, Purpled!

Cream, Pink!, Lilac Frost, Award

Pearl Necklace, Night Stars, Blue Sheen, Pink Frosted

Moss, Molton Chocolate, Choc!, Green Stars

Green Envy, Copper Dream, Bold Purple, White Light

Orange!, Aqua Dream, Truffle, Silver Dream

 I also picked up the Sugar and Spice blush and contour palette.  This palette is pink shades, and despite it's name, doesn't really have any contour shades.  There are 6 satin finish blushes, one frosted highlighter, and one frosted blush.

Like the eyeshadows, the blushes are soft, pigmented, and easy to blend out.  I'm in love with the highlighter.  I've been after a pink powder highlighter for quite some time (think powder version of Benefit's High Beam).  I'm tempted to pink up their baked highlighter in Pink Lights soon.

Overall I'm really impressed by Revolution's offerings, and I'm sure I'll be spending some of my pay check next month on a couple more items.  You can pick up the eyeshadow palette for £8, and the blush palette for £6 from Superdrug.  Their website also ships internationally!

I'll be putting up swatches of the lip cream and nail polishes tomorrow.

Majorette FOTD

I finally got around to wearing Majorette yesterday, but was super ill in the evening so didn't get a chance to post.  Blush is always a hard one to show off in pictures, without looking like a clown in real life, so you'll have to put a little faith in me when I say that it's a super pretty blush.  I applied it with a normal blush brush, and found it really easy to slowly build up and blend out the colour.  I like blushes that are a bit on the sheerer side as I find they work better with your individual skin tone.  The peachy colour is so pretty that I'm not sure I'd want to put a blush on top, but I'm sure I'll do some playing around in work.  Wear time was about the same as your average powder blush (5-6 hours before fading).  The scent didn't linger for very long at all, and whilst I like the smell, I was pleased that it disappeared, therefore not interfering with whatever perfume I might be wearing.

For the look I used Illamasqua's Paranormal palette, and Precipice from Illamasqua's Reflection palette.  Love the colours, but they crease so quickly that by the time I'd finished doing the rest of my makeup they were already looking worn.

Benefit Majorette sneak peak!

Now that the hype over the They're Real Liner is dying down I thought I'd give you a sneak peak at what Benefit have in store next.  Majorette is a peachy cream to powder blush.  I haven't had a chance to wear it yet, but I can share with you a couple of pictures!  

The packaging is typical cutesy Benefit, with a marching band theme.  I was a little unsure about the colour when I first saw it as it looked quite dark and orange toned (it reminded me of MAC's Spaced Out blush).  Luckily it's lighter than it looks and isn't nearly as orange, so I think it will work well on cooler tones too.

This blush is designed to 'amplify your flush', so can be used either on it's own or as a base under your powder blush.  My manager says it looks great under Rockateur!  It also smells amazing - peach and pomegranate.

I'll do a proper look with this and get a more detailed review up on Tuesday, so watch this space!

My holiday haul

I can never go to France and not pop into Sephora while I'm there.  I didn't go too mad.  I had to pick up another Aqua Brow, as it's my go to brow product.  I'd heard great things about Sephora's Cream Lip Stains, and as I'm a sucker for anything sparkly I picked up a glittery pink eyeshadow, and another MUFE Lab Shine lip gloss.  I also popped into Yves Rocher for their Coconut eau de toilette .

I don't have an awful lot to say about the eyeshadow!  It's a proper girly pink, and it's soft, pigmented, and blendable.  The tester in store seemed to have more glitter than this one though.  I'm hoping it's more glittery further down.

This picture shows off the sparkle in the eyeshadow and lip gloss!

I chose Lab Shine gloss in Shimmering Beige and I'm in need of good nude lip products.  It's a pinked beige with golden shimmer.  It goes on fairly sheer, and I'm sure it'll look great with a smokey eye.  Lab Shine glosses smell really sweet, which I quite like.  They're tasteless, which means I don't have the desire to lick it all off as soon as I put it on!  They're non-sticky too.

After reading a few reviews I went in knowing that I wanted to get one of Sephora's Cream Lip Stains, and after much deliberation and swatching, I chose Strawberry Kissed.  The name is spot on as it's a bright pinked-red, just like fresh strawberries.  It goes on opaque in one swipe and dries down to a matte finish quickly.  Once it dries it feels like you're not wearing anything at all on your lips.  Staying power is amazing.  Once dry is totally transfer proof.  No leaving marks on glasses!  It holds up through a meal well, providing it's not oily food (oil removes pretty much all makeup).  I'm so impressed with the formula that I wish I could get my hands on more colours right now!  I've been on the hunt for years for a good transfer proof red lipstick for my kit for brides, and this is perfect.  I seriously recommend trying these out for yourself!

Behind the scenes - Benefit They're Real training

Last week I posted a short review of Benefit's They're Real Push Up Gel Liner (find it here).  Today I had another training day on it.  This training was a little different (and more exciting!) to that which I received last week, so I thought I'd do a post about what went on.  At the end of the post is a couple more product pics and my initial thoughts on the They're Real Remover.

I arrived in Bristol city centre at 9am to find the they're real lorry parked up in the middle of all the shops.  This lorry has been touring the country, and I think it's the closest Benefit actually get to advertising.  It certainly got people talking, as the lady who served me in Boots spotted my bright orange goodie box afterwards and wanted to know all about it.

Out from the box came our trainers, dressed up and acting as cops.  After lining us up we were all 'branded'.  These are the hash tags that we're to use when posting about the products and our training on instagram/twitter etc.

Once on the lorry we all had to don not so sexy orange jumpsuits.  We had little work stations set up, and it was here we did our training.  We watched various videos including the advert (which was directed by the guy who directed 300 - see it here) and learning about everything that went into making the liner.  Then it was time to put liner on each other.  I said it in my review but I'll say it again here, this liner is so easy to use!

We all got out of our jumpsuits and off the lorry pretty quick after we finished.  Even though it was only early, being in a big metal box on the hottest day of the year was a little warm!  After that all we needed to do was have our mug shots taken.  Below is myself and fellow BA, Melissa.

 We were given the whole They're Real set; liner, mascara, and remover.  This is so that we can get used to the products before launch, and also so that we can wear them when we're on counter.

Here you can see the shape of the pen.  It's curved so that it pushes your lashes out of the way, allowing you to get your liner really close to the lash line.

The accuflex tip has a small slit in it which allows product to flow out.  The key to using this pen is not to click up too much product.  Two clicks is plenty, and rather clicking when the nib goes dry, gentle push the nib to one side to use up the product that's still sitting in the end.

Because the liner really does stay put Benefit have also released a remover.  Up until today I've only ever used it on my hand.  The remover is a creamy gel which you massage into the liner.  It gently removes the liner without any tugging or pulling.  You then use a damp cotton pad to wipe away any excess.  You only need a tiny amount, as a little goes a very long way.  I'm going to be honest here, in using this method removal is messy.  You end up with a smeary black mess all over your eye area that you then need to get rid of with a damp cotton pad.  Whilst I know I shouldn't be too bothered about it being messy (cos I'm only gonna take the rest of my face off, right?) I'm not a massive fan.  I'm sure that there must be a better way of doing it, and I am going to make the effort to find it, as it really does break down the makeup well.

The liner isn't out yet, but the remover is available exclusively in John Lewis tomorrow (14th June).  I think it comes out in other stores on the 28th when the liner is released.

Review - Shiro Intertubes and custom lipgloss

Shiro did an offer at the beginning of May to celebrate their birthday where you got a free eyeshadow, May The Forth Be With You, and as my birthday is May 4th I just had to place an order!  I opted for 3 Intertubes which are being discontinued, and one custom gloss.

I have to say that I am so sad at the Intertubes disappearing, as they are so great to wear!  They're super comfortable and moisturising.  They're still available for the rest of this month, so I may place and order and stock up.

Rickrolled is described as a bright red-orange.  It definitely pulls more coral-orange on my lips.  I usually find oranges quite hard to pull off, but this one is really nice.  Super summery.  It's pretty opaque and applies smoothly.  It's got quite a strong ginger scent to it, which I found to be a little overwhelming to begin with.  The website says the ginger can have a tingly plumping effect, but I didn't notice this at all (which I'm glad off, I'm not a big fan of plumping lip products)

Rickrolled

Shoop Da Whoop is my favourite out of  the lot.  It's a bright, glossy, fresh red, that is almost opaque.  This one is unscented, and whilst the wear time is shorter than the others  I can see myself reaching for it a lot, as it's a nice day time red.

Shoop Da Whoop

Sad Keanu is a pinky purple, and the Intertube I had the most trouble with.  I think that the fact that it's darker is the reason behind my struggle to apply it evenly (as you can see from the pictures).  It's a pink toned purple, and it leaves a pink stain behind, which I actually really like!  This one is blackberry scented, although the scent isn't as strong as Rickrolled.  

 Sad Keanu

Sad Keanu stain

Sticking with the purples, I also ordered an opaque custom gloss using Team Rocket pigment.  It's a cool toned purple with blue shimmer throughout.  This isn't quite as opaque as the Ganondorf gloss (seen here), which meant I did have a little trouble getting it to apply smoothly.  I love the blush shimmer in it though, and it's certainly a more unique purple lip colour.  I chose to have it cherry pie scented.  It's a strong cherry scent, and whilst it's not horrible, I don't think I'd opt for that particular scent again.

Team Rocket opaque custom gloss

Overall I'm super happy with my order.  I need to hunt down a good purple lip liner as I think having a good base would mean that Sad Keanu and Team Rocket would apply more evenly.  I'm contemplating buying a back up of Shoop Da Whoop, as well as Why Not Zoidberg and Team Buffy before they disappear for good, as I can see myself getting a lot of use out of them this summer.