17 'Bashful' Cheek Stamp Blusher Review And Swatches

Hello everyone, today I am bringing you a review of a fab new product from 17, their Cheek Stamp, a powder blush with a sponge stamp applicator. They retail for £4.99 and are available in Boots.

At first I wasn't sure about the whole stamp concept, but the more I use this, the more I fall in love. Bashful is a beautiful matte peachy bronze shade, and on my skin tone it comes up very peachy, which I LOVE. Bashful is perfect for brightening your complexion, and warming it up. Personally I find the best way to use this, is to stamp it on your cheeks and then blend it out with a brush. They blend seamlessly, and last around 6 hours before they start to fade, but even at the end of my 13 hour day it was still visible. The packaging is really nice and compact, I love how there is a mirror on the top so perfect for on the go use, my one and only criticism is that the shade name is only on the box, not on the actual product. 

Here is a swatch of  one layer on my cheeks, picture was taken in natural light

Bottom Line:

Price- 10/10 £4.99 is a bargain for such a great blush

Packaging- 10/10 Small compact, like the fact that the colour on the outside, co-ordinates with the blush colour, love the mirror

Pigmentation- 9/10 Just the right amount of pigmentation to give colour, whilst being sheer enough to build intensity.

Texture- 8/10 Soft, smooth

Lasting power- 8/10 6 hours before starting to fade, great for the price!

My Top 5 Spring 2014 Nail Polish Picks

Hello everyone, spring is in the air, one of my favourite seasons not only because of all the beautiful flowers, but also because it is the season of pastel colours. So I thought I would share my top 5 spring nail polishes with swatches, enjoy :)

 The first is Revlon Minted nail enamel. A straight up mint, beautifully glossy with opacity in 2 coats

Next is Essie We're In It Together. A gorgeous baby pink with micro silver and blue glitter. Two coats gives a nice coverage whilst still letting some of your natural nail shine through ( as shown in the picture), three coats gives complete opacity.

 The third, is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Yellow Kitty. A baby yellow, that just screams Daffodils. Again two coats is a nice coverage with natural nail shining through, and complete opacity is achieved with three coats.

 Fourth is Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Pure Silver. As the name suggests it is straight up silver, looks gorgeous when it catches the light, is opaque in 1 coat but I prefer to add 2.

Last of all is Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme in Lovely Lilac. A pastel blue toned lilac. Super glossy finish and opaque in 2 coats.

Revlon Colorstay Normal/Dry Skin Review And Swatches

Hello everyone, today I am bringing you a review of the oh so famous Revlon Colorstay foundation. It retails for £12.49 and is available in Boots and Superdrug.
I HATE this foundation, it is one of the worst I have ever used. I put on the tiniest amount and it was immediate cake face, I hate the fact that it doesn't have a pump, it clung to my dry patches, dried out my skin, transferred onto everything, and never seemed to set in place. The worst thing was that instead of covering my redness it made it even worse, and all of imperfections were bought out. Despite all this I managed to fight the erg to take it off immediately and test it out through the day, about 3 hours in and it was slipping and sliding all over my face and settling into random patches, I looked a mess and finally took it off. This really shocked me as my skin isn't even oily, and for a foundation that is supposed to be formulated for dry skin, I would expect it to moisturise instead of drying it out. I really don't understand the rave about this foundation, I have had better performing £3 ones !

The blended swatch is very misleading, as on my arm it looked great, just not when I put on my face.

Bottom Line:

Durability- 1/10 Absolutely rubbish!

Coverage- 1/10 instead of covering, it bought out all my imperfections

Colour Range- 7/10 It comes in a wide variety of shades, probably the only good thing about this foundation

Price- 0/10 I wouldn't even pay 50p for this, completely not worth £12.49

Smell- 3/10 Chemically

Cakeyness- 0/10 COMPLETE CAKE FACE!

Packaging- 2/10 No pump but alright 

Look Beauty Triple Hit Eyeshadow Trios Review And Swatches

Hello everyone today I am bringing you a review of the Look Beauty Triple Hit Eyeshadows, they retail for £7.50 and are available in Superdrug or on the Look Beauty website.
I really like these shadows, they are super shimmery, smooth to the touch, blend like a dream, and everything you need to create a smokey eye in one compact! I would recommend using a base underneath to get the most out of the pigmentation, and also to avoid creasing; as I do find they crease after 3-4 hours. The packaging is very bulky and quite heavy for an eyeshadow, however this doesn't bother me too much as the shadows themselves are so beautiful plus you get a massive 10g of product.

The first trio is Sexy Smoke. This trio contains a deep satin charcoal with micro shimmers, a mid tone neutral tan- not the most pigmented but nice for a natural look, and a frosty white.

This is an example look  I created using Sexy Smoke, with no primer or base. I used the charcoal and white on the lid and the tan along the lower lash line.

The next trio is Party Fever. I find it really hard to find a good purple eyeshadow anywhere, and these are truly amazing. This trio includes a pale frosty lilac, a cool mid tone lavender, and a deep warm violet.

This is an example look I created using Party Fever with no primer or base. I used the lilac on the inner corner and lower lash line, the lavender on the lid, and the violet in the outer corner and crease.

Bottom line:

Pigmentation- 8/10 good 

Texture- 8/10 smooth

Fallout -7/10 quite a bit, but easily fixed by doing your eyes first

Price- 10/10 excellent when considering you get a whopping 10g of product

Packaging- 7/10 bulky 

NOTW !

GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick Review And Swatches

Hello everyone today I am bringing you a review of the GOSH Velvet Touch Lipsticks, they retail for £6.49 and are exclusively available in Superdrug.
I feel very mixed about these lippies, the formula seems to vary across all the colours, and I find it hard to achieve an even application with some (as shown and talked about in the photo swatches below). They smell faintly of vanilla, and don't taste too nice. However, they do glide on easily, I like the glossy finish, they don't dry out the lips at all, and the packaging is super sleek and compact. I just think these are very middle of the road, nice to have but nothing to get too excited about.

The first shade is Romance, one of their new spring shades. It's a sheer, buildable, pale blue toned pink. I find it hard to get an even application, the wear time is 1-2 hours,and the finish is super glossy.

The next shade is Precious, again one of their new spring shades. A satin, super glossy mid tone blue pink. I think it's a more wearable version of something like MAC's Candy Yum Yum, as it's not so in your face. However, it's really hard to achieve an even application, and again the wear time is only about 2-2 1/2 hours.

The next shade is Kitten Pink. An opaque, creamy, coral-pink. I really like this shade, I think the colour will be very flattering on a lot of people, and for me is the perfect pinky coral. The wear time is 2-3 hours, and there are no problems with application.

Last is my favourite of the bunch, Flirty Orange. A bright, red toned orange. I find the formula of this one to be AMAZING, it glides on like a dream, is super opaque, and last 4-5 hours.

                                                            

Bottom Line:

Smell- 6/10 Faint vanilla 

Texture- 9/10 Soft, smooth

Pigmentation- 6/10 Varies from sheer to opaque

Packaging- 10/10 Sleek, handbag friendly

Price- 5/10 £6.49 Not bad for drugstore, but I feel that they are better lipsticks available for a lot less

Max Factor Clump Defy Mascara Review And Swatches

Hello everyone, today I am bringing you a review of the Max Factor Clump Defy Mascara , this retails for £10.99 and is available in Boots and Superdrug. I like this mascara a lot, it fans out the lashes brilliantly, adds length, definition and keeps a curl all day. When this has completely dried on the lashes, they still feel soft which is amazing, as most mascaras make lashes feel crispy, it lasts all day without flaking yet comes of easily with makeup remover, and it does what is says on the tin, and keeps the clumps away! This is a great buy, and has become one of my staple mascaras.

As you can see the brush has two sides, a flatter side at the top, and a rounder fuller side at the bottom. I like to use the rounder side first to add curl, and length, and then go through the lashes with the flatter side to help fan then out.

Bottom line:

Clumpyness- 9/10 Keeps the clumps away!

Separation- 8/10 Fans and separates the lashes well

Curl- 10/10 Holds a curl all day

Volume- 6/10 Lengthens more than it volumises

Lasting power- 10/10 Lasts all day without flaking off

Brush- 9/10 Easy to use, effective

Smudging- 10/10 No smudging visible

Price- 7/10 quite expensive for drug store, but entirely worth it!

MUA Single Eyeshadows Review And Swatches

Hello everyone, today I am bringing you a review of yet another amazing MUA product, their single eyeshadows. These retail for £1 each and can be found in Superdrug or on the MUA website. These are amazing eyeshadows, they are soft, easy to work with and extremely pigmented. I can't get over how good they are for the price, not to mention that there is a huge colour selection. On me they last all day without any fading, and crease after 6 hours with no primer, which amazing for my oily lids!

From left to right- shade 11, shade 2, shade 31, shade 5, shade 26, shade 4, shade 9, shade 10

Shade 11 is a frosty chocolate brown, with champagne shimmer.

Shade 2 is a satin cream

Shade 31 is a bright blue shimmer

Shade 5 is a bright lime/acid green with yellow shimmers

Shade 26 is a beautiful mix of a turquoise ocean blue, and gold shimmer, this looks stunning on the lids.

Shade 4 (my favourite) is a frosty pinky-purple with a silver sheen.

Shade 9 is a duo-chrome violet / dark blue

Shade 10 is a duo-chrome of deep velvet blue, navy, and purple, with blue and red glitter

Bottom line:

Pigmentation- 9/10 Amazing!

Texture- 10/10 Buttery smooth

Fallout- 8/10 There is some, but nothing major

Price- 10/10 you can't beat £1

Packaging- 9/10 Simple, I like how you can see the colour inside