I ❤ Drugstore Makeup Tag

Hello! 

So I haven't done a tag in a little while and I've been meaning to get around to this one for a long time. The world and his wife have done this task so I'm going to dive straight in and add mine to the bloggersphere. 

So first up: 

1. What is your favourite drugstore makeup brand overall?

This just HAS to be Maybelline. They're absolutely taking hold of makeup by the horns this year and with their mid-range pricing I find myself just gravitating towards them when I'm in Boots. Plus, they're lipstick range looks pretty impressive on display; there's just so many! 

2. What are your favourite face, cheek and lip products?
  
 My face products are constantly changing as my skin battles the classic British weather. My old favourite isn't going anywhere. I always try to find a foundation that I love more than my MaxFactor Xperience Weightless Foundation. The colour range always seems to match me and it really keeps that matte finish going all day. After all the hype I finally caved and swapped from my Collection 2000 Illuminating Touch Concealer to the Lasting Perfection Concealer. At the moment I'm loving them both for different reason, I may just have to have both! That's when my spending ban is over. (Which is going well by the way!) And lastly I've jumped on the Rimmel Stay Matte powder bandwagon as well. 

For cheeks I'm going crazy over the Topshop cream to powder blushes, more on those here: From Comfort Food To Comfort Face. 

For lip product I'm going to be terribly boring and say Burt's Bees lip balms. They smell divine and make my lips feel ridiculously hydrated. 

3. Least favourite product?

I know I'm probably going to be showered with shocked faces but it has to be the Revlon ColorStay Foundation. I just hate it. No matter what I apply it with or how I apply it I just cannot get it right. It's far too thick and considering it only had an SPF of 6 it smells so strongly of sunscreen that I can barely stand to have it near my nose. It's an expensive drugstore product to go in the bin but for me it is by far the worst, over hyped product out there at the moment. 

 

4. What is the best makeup bargain?

By a mile the best bargains out there are coming from MUA. Their blushes for £1 are just amazing. They're very pigmented with a slight shimmer. If you need a blush on the go, then these are your best bet. 

5. What is your favourite underdog product? (Something you love that often gets overlooked?)

There is definitely not enough hype out there for Natural Collection Eye shadows. I love their texture. Their eye shadows have a matte finish but if I look really closely I'm convinced there is a minute glitter in them. I especially love the eyeshadow duo's.  

6. A drugstore product that is overpriced?

I would say that Soap and Glory's lip glosses seem a little pricey. Perhaps I'm being stingy, but I would always expect to pay less for a drugstore lip gloss than I would a drugstore foundation. Soap and Glory's most expensive lip gloss is ten pounds. I think their far too sticky plus for an extra two pounds I could get my favourite Urban Decay lip gloss. They're on the wrong side of the price line for me. 
 

7. Show your best drugstore dupe(s)!!

So my dupe is the most obvious one out there but it has to be Revlon Just Bitten lip balms as a dupe  for... you guessed it, Clinique Chubby Sticks. Let's face it, they're the same product. 

8. Drugstore product that isn't worth the hype?

Other than the Revlon ColorStay as I said above however, what is all the craze about Maybelline Fit Me Foundation? Firstly, I followed Maybelline's match guide to the very letter and it doesn't match very well. I think their foundation shades are a bit off and last but not least, it oxidises like a crazy thing after you've had it on for an hour. 

I'm not going to tag anyone to do this because there isn't anyone who HASN'T done it already. My word, I am behind!

From Comfort Food to Comfort Face

February is upon us and I'm sure we're all looking forward to that special day; when we come home to find our loved one hot, sizzling and drizzled in chocolate sauce.... I am of course (ya naaaasties!) talking about Pancake Day! For those of us who are not going to be graced with a big box of Ferrero Rocher on the 14th of February we can start our celebrating two days earlier with some equally tasty treats. Pancakes are indeed delicious but they are also the perfect comfort food to get us through a months worth of loved up couples so today I'm going to share with you my comfiest makeup picks.



 Eyes - As I'm currently in the first week of my AuNaturel Challenge I've rediscovered a mascara and eyelash primer that I am in love with. This duo just makes my lashes so feathery and stops those nasty, uncomfortable clumps that fall into your eyes all day. Makeover Essentials Mascara Duo takes the number one spot on my ultimate hassle free eye makeup.

Cheeks - Cream blushes are always more comfortable than powder for me because I know they're going to stay were I put them all day. As I have combination skin I'll admit I haven't experimented much with cream blushes but recently - before my spending ban - I purchased Top Shop's Blush Duo (Which is now sold out!) in the sale for just £3. The colours included in the set are Morning Dew (left) and Head Over Heels (right) I think... Either way these melt into the skin all lovely and when applied with a stippling brush are so comfortable to wear.

Lips: What would I do without my Clinique Chubby Sticks? I received the five piece Chubby Stick set for Christmas and these things are just a dream. They're super moisturising and the perfect mix of sheer and pigmented. I love. Simple as.










Nails: This will seem like a weird one, but although it's bold I feel the Korres Dark Red Nail Polish is the perfect 'go with everything' shade. I've been wearing it constantly since I got it from my Secret Santa this Christmas. The only thing I don't like is the name - I got mine in a set called 'Black Cherry' which is much more exciting that 'Dark Red'. Each to there own, I suppose.









So those are my comfiest of comfy makeup products. All of the above are stress free and make me feel ready to look gorgeous whilst I curl up with my pancake mountain.

Have a good day!

Party Pins

Merry Christmas!

Tis the party season and although shaving (whisper it) is often a bit of a taboo subject we've all looked at that dress that's more air than material and thought 'That's beautiful, I wish I had the legs to pull it off." Well the truth is, you do. A good close shave can turn those everyday things you walk around on to your best accessory and below I'm going to share a few tips on how to get perfect party pins.


1: Good Skin.

If you have a good skin care routine for your face, you're makeup is always going to wear better. Well it's the same for your legs. Good, healthy skin is always a good starting point. No, you don't need to start face masking your legs but there are a few things that you can use long term to keep those legs in ship shape condition. The first is moisturiser. Moisturising regularly improved skin by preventing flaking skin, especially around the knees and ankles that can become quite awkward, and often painful when you start taking a razor over it. Make those skin cells last longer and treat them to a body butter. It's a bit of a cliche but if you like results with a good scent to keep you fresh all day then Bodyshop have nailed it.  The next is toning. So you may not have cellulite just yet, but it's okay to take preventative actions, especially if you're lucky and are sporting a Marilyn Munroe figure. (Most just an excuse to insert a picture of the beautiful lady in question.) There are a lot of firming creams and gels out there but Nip + Fab's Cellulite Fix does exactly what it says on the tin. Apparently.

2: The Razor.

A quick tip is to take your time, don't just pick up the ones being thrust in your face by that sales woman who says, 'This is what I use' when you just know she probably doesn't and it's the most expensive blade on the shelf. Below are three examples. I prefer a mid priced razor. Cheap razors like example 1 rust easily, and usually have a single or double, poor quality blade that cuts you to ribbons. Expensive razors, the Venus Breeze (Example 3) springs to mind, are so overloaded with shave gel bars and other oddities that we don't really need prevent the blades from even getting near the skin. They claim that it's a comfortable shave, and that it may be, but you're still be left with stubble later. Example 2 however won't cost the earth but has the lovely handle, like a Venus, but with three blades that will actually do the job.

3: Scrub.

Skin cells are renewing all the time and it's likely that there are always dead skin cells just waiting to flake off. Gross, I know. However a body scrub, and this doesn't have to be anything special - although I am loving the Clinique Sparkle Skin Body Exfoliator - will leave your skin smooth and prepare for that ultra close shave. Here's the science. Imagine your skin as many layers with hair follicles buried deep below the layers. You shave away any hair above the top layer of skin, but then when you exfoliate and remove that top layer, there's just going to be a layer of stubble left. Moral of the story, always exfoliate your skin before you shave.

4: Tan.
The colour of our skin can often vary over our entire body. Our legs can often differ from our arms, or our neck and if you've found that having your legs covered during the winter months has led to a bit of a pale hue that doesn't quite match up, then you may be reaching for the fake tan bottle. However, an easier way to give legs a non-streaky radiance boost in gradually tanning lotions. These can be found in many different brands with varying degrees of sparkle to give legs that Jennifer Lopez glow, especially under party lights. However, if you are going for an all over fake take then don't forget to moisturise! Without moisturiser your skin will produce excess oils, which oxidises with fake tan and help create that not-so-delicious biscuity smell.


And there you go, four simple tips to getting party pins ready for the festive season. By the way, all of the above work much better with a bubble bath along side.

Happy Holidays.

Clinique Gift Review

Hola!

It's time for me to stop being lazy and start getting on with the Christmas madness. I'm having so much fun buying all of my presents, especially those for my secret santa :) and I couldn't help buying myself a few gifts along the way. Recently I've been spending a long time browsing the Clinique website and adding pretty much all of their Christmas gift sets to my list to Santa. So whilst I was in House of Fraser and I saw they were giving away a free makeup bag with lots of lovely minis inside. I thought seeing as I had two products in mind that I wanted to buy I would and the fact that I haven't used Clinique for a while now that I would just bite the bullet and rekindle my love for the brand.

So here's a little review of all the products inside (because the bag itself is fairly self explanatory) and I'm also going to do a little count up of how much the bag is worth. I'll divide up all the ml's, don't you worry, just leave the maths bit too me.

So starting from the left we have the Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturiser (15ml = £10.40)
I'm not sure what I think of this product. Granted I've only used it for a few days now but I fully intend on replaying my usual overnight cream with thins until the sample runs out to get a really good idea. So far though I am very impressed. Like I said, I haven't really noticed any lasting results but when I put this on at night it just feels indulgent. It's a perfect creamy consistency without being too heavy and absorbs within seconds. It's non greasy as well which makes it more comfortable for overnight as there's nothing I hate more than rolling over in bed and that really heave face cream that refuses to sink in just goes ll over your pillow. Final verdict: gorgeous and fuss free.

The Take The Day Off Makeup Remover (30ml = £3.84) is the star product in this bag for me. I really love oil based makeup removers as they just break down the makeup but this product is a miracle. The smallest amount of this and the makeup just slides of. It feels almost dry when you sweep it across the eye and doesn't tug or irritate the eye area. Plus it's suitable for contact lens wearers like myself so that's a bonus. I honestly have nothing bad to say about this product and it's at the top of my repurchase list.

Just right from the above is the first step in Clinique's 3 step process. The Mild Liquid Facial Soap (30ml = £2.25) I've found pretty much does what a lot of reviews have already said. It feels lovely and lathers up nice but it is a little drying. I wouldn't fancy using this with the very strong Clinique toners and you really do need the Turnaround... Moisturiser to give the skin that extra moisture. However this does leave the skin clean and soft which I like. If all I need is a good moisturiser then I can't complain that this gel wash really does strip away oils.

This next one is a bit of a oops as I haven't actually used it yet. This is definitely more of a first impressions review so yeah, it's the Sparkle Skin Body Exfoliating Cream (40ml = £3.20)

Okay! So after that embarrassment we move one of the products most suited to my picky tastes, the High Impact Mascara (3.5ml = £7) I wouldn't use this mascara alone for a night out because I have a five step system for my lashes (Which I will be sharing later this week, hint hint, wink wink.) but for day time wear this mascara has just about enough lengthening and volumising potential to be a lovely addition to any make up bag. It's definitely not a wonder product for me but it's mane selling point for me is it's defining power. The brush really separates the lashes and the formula isn't clumpy. I just wish it was a full size... *sigh*

Last but not least is the Superbalm Moisturising Gloss in Currant (7ml = £6.76) This lip gloss is much like any other. It's very much bang in the middle of what I like to think of as sticky glosses and wet glosses. The shade is also good, very good for a bag like this in fact as it comes out quite neutral so it'll suit pretty much everyone. I found that one coat of this in the morning really did last most of the day without drying up, settling into lip lines, gathering at the corners, you know, all those things you get with some glosses. Overall, an average product, no complaints but not my favourite.


So with a final total of £33.45 plus the price of the makeup bag I'm really really happy with this gift. With it only being a case of buying two Clinique products you don't have to spend a fortune to get this lovely set of indulgent items and if you've had a break from Clinique like I have it's a lovely way to get back in touch with their products.

If you're thinking of treating yourself this offer, as far as I'm aware, is only running in House of Fraser stores, NOT Clinique as a whole.

Hope everybody's having a lovely run up to Christmas and don't forget to buy presents for yourself too!

Bye. xoxo