Benefit Perfume Gift Set

I personally received this gift set for Christmas and thought it would be a fitting blog post to write today considering it's Mother's Day in the UK. Although if you haven't yet got your Mother a treat then I suspect it's slightly too late. However whatever the occasion I feel this gift set would be a perfect gift for any female in your life.

This Benefit perfume gift set is available from many online retailers such as; Boots, Benefit themselves and Feel Unique. It retails for around £20 which I think is such an affordable gift price for what you receive. You get three mini's of Benefit's retailing perfumes including; Eva, Lee Lee and Gina. They all come with their individual boxes too so if you were feeling really creative then you could actually separate them and give them to three people.

The only slight downside to these perfumes are that they don't have a spray on the top which annoys me slightly. It obviously doesn't take away the loveliness of the present but it's just the little things. However I think this is such a nice gift, whether you give it whole or separate them, for all you girls.

I hope you're all enjoying your Sunday whether you're spending it with your Mother's or family or not. I can't believe the weekend is nearly over already!

High End Beauty Wish List

Marc Jacobs fragrance
debijenkorf.nl

Sunday Riley anti aging skin care
£52 - net-a-porter.com

Bumble and bumble hair brush
£19 - bloomingdales.com

Clarins beauty product
harveynichols.com

Benefit blush brush
£18 - sephora.com

Lips makeup
£3.90 - nyxcosmetics.com

I cannot stop lusting over a load of new make up recently but with Christmas just around the corner I may just pop these on my list for Santa. These are all beauty products that I've personally never tried before but have always heard/read good things about them. Also some of these products have been on my wish list for a very long time so it would be nice to finally get my hands on them!

Boots and I believe Feel Unique have now launched NYX Cosmetics which made me very excited. It was very difficult to get hold of them in the UK, if at all, so now you can simply find them online is super news. I've always wanted to try something from this brand, and although not classed as high end, I had to include it.

Let me know if you've tried any of these products I've featured in this wish list and your thoughts on them :-) I hope you all have a lovely weekend filled with Halloween festivities!

Benefit gimme brow

The minute I say that I'll be posting more I leave it longer than usual, how does that even work ha ha. I haven't even been on my laptop since Thursday, it's now Monday, that's a crazy amount of time! But I've just been super busy so I apologise for the lack of posts over the past week or so but I'm back with this beauty from Benefit.

This marvelous invention has added fibres which help give the appearance of naturally thicker and fuller brows with just a few sweeps of the brush. Easy huh? Benefit say:

"Bring on the brows! This innovative brush-on fiber gel adheres to skin & hair…creating brows where before there were none. It builds easily for thick, lush arches, thanks to a tapered brush for blending & precision tip for shaping." 

So the brush, the teeny tiny brush is perfect for brows. It just fits meaning you can really work to build up your brows naturally in all the nooks and crannys, filling any sparse areas. With this brush there are no worries about getting it all on the skin around your brows due to it's size. I find this small brush so easy to work with meaning I can really focus on shaping and filling without worrying about getting it everywhere. 

This product comes in two shades: light/medium and medium/deep. I have the shade medium/deep as naturally my hair is a very dark brown so this shade suits me perfectly. Benefit say that to match your shade get a section of hair from right underneath near the roots to get the best colour match. The darker shade can be quite dark once built up so it's best to get the right shade for yourself.

The formula of this product is just great, a tinted gel with the added fibres just glide onto your brows effortlessly. It's super quick and easy to apply making those dreaded brows a nice job in your make up routine. It's not an overly wet gel so it dries quickly and evenly but also you're not left with crispy looking brows, which is not a good look. The tiny fibres in this product really grip to your brow hair leaving them instantly fuller looking and just magnificent. Everyday I'm impressed with the results from this product and due to always having that morning rush to work I love that it's so quick, quicker than any other brow product but with amazing results.

Overall I am in love with this product and I will definitely repurchase this in the future. It's just so effortlessly brilliant and I'm all for an amazing, easy make up product. This just ticks all of the boxes for my brows and I couldn't recommend enough. Go buy it!

High end beauty wish list

 

1. Origins Clear Improvement Mask

2. Benefit Hydra Smooth Lip Colour

3. Benefit Stay Flawless Primer

4. MAC Crosswires Lipstick

Hello! It's been another busy week for me again and yesterday was my first day off in two weeks! My god I was (and most probably still am) shattered, the whole uni, placement and work is getting to me but fingers crossed hopefully I will soon get into the swing of things and keep posting regularly. Since having a few evenings free I simply find myself lusting over new things and now I'm not working full time due to uni, I find myself with less money = problem. So I've built up a small high end beauty wish list.

1. Origins clear improvement mask is something I have wanted to try for a very long time, having that problematic skin prone to break outs I've heard this clay mask works wonders for this. I've never tried an Origins product but it's always the website I check up on and always a brand I've wanted to try as they are so lusted over. Alongside this mask I'd love to try the spot treatment which many people rave over too.

2. Benefit hydra smooth lip colour is a relatively new product from benefit. They are lipsticks which come in different coverages such as sheer, medium and full. As soon as I saw these hit the internet they instantly caught my eye due to the unique packaging and range of colours across different coverages. Although the packaging looks very unique and different I feel it could be a bit clumpy and large but that doesn't stop me wanting to try it! It has a slightly special feeling about it and I've tried many benefit products before and loved all of them.

3. Benefit stay flawless primer, another Benefit product! Since this primer was released I've tried to reason with myself about whether or not to purchase but to be honest I really just want to try it! Again another pretty packaging from Benefit and I like the fact that it's a primer on a stick and not a liquid based primer. I think this is one of the reasons as to why I'm intrigued into trying it!

4. MAC Crosswires lipstick, I can't tell you how long I've wanted to purchase this particular lipstick or simply just any other lipstick from MAC. Yes you heard right, I've never tried a MAC lipstick and my lord I so want to. They are obviously so raved about everywhere in the blogging world and out. Since I haven't really been into lipstick for that long, I now think I need to purchase one to see what all of the fuss is about! I've had my eye on Crosswires but I can't get over how many there are to choose from! I think I really need to head down to my nearest counter and have a real nosey! That is one downside to MAC for me, there is only one counter which isn't too close to me so it's rather annoying to get my hands on!

So there we have it, probably only a slice of my beauty wish list right now! There probably are many more but these are the four I've wanted to try for the longest amount of time and which I've heard the best about :-) Let me know if you've tried any of the products that I've mentioned and what you think about them, I'd love to know! xo

The One and Only Tag

I enjoy doing Tag posts on my blog and also reading them amongst many other blogs. I simply just find them fun to write and some of them really get me thinking mainly about beauty products. I asked on Twitter for a new tag to feature on my blog and Angelica from One Little Vice replied with this tag called 'The One and Only'. I loved this idea and thought it would be lots of fun to think of my absolute make up staple items. The idea of this tag is to think of one, and only one, make up product from each category. So here goes!

The Question is: If you could only have one ... what would it be? And, in a few words, why?

Primer

I've not tried that many primers as they're quite new to my make up essentials but I'd definitely have to say the Benefit POREfessional. It's so easy to apply, makes your face feel so smooth and keeps make up in place!

Foundation

Definitely Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum. This is my all time favourite foundation, although I am currently trying another of their foundations which I think I will equally love!

Concealer

It has to be the infamous Collection Lasting Perfection. I have two shades; one lighter for under my eyes and one my actual colour for spots and blemishes. It really is just such an all rounder.

Powder

Rimmel Stay Matte, I've literally used this for years. It was the first make up item I think I ever got and I've used it ever since! I suffer from oily skin and this really does keep it at bay.

Blusher

Now blusher is one of the things I always change up in my make up routine, I never stick to the same one for very long, then go back to them after a little while. So at the moment it's 17 Blush in China Pink, I definitely think I need to invest in a more autumnal shade though as this one's quite summery.

Bronzer

Honestly I never really use bronzer, it really is just one of the make up products that I'm not fussed about. But if I did pick it would be MUA Mosaic Bronzer. It's got light and darker tones to it which I like as it's not too heavy.

Highlighter

Again not something I use in my everyday make up but I do love Benefit High Beam. It's such a gorgeous pearly pink and really easy to apply. I definitely need to branch out a bit more with highlighters as I do think they are really pretty on the skin!

Make up brush

This is pretty easy, it has to be my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. It's such an amazing brush, gives a lovely flawless looking finish and is easy to blend with. I use this also for my concealer sometimes which works really well too.

Eyebrows

It's a new one for me but from now on a definite staple. It's Soap & Glory Archery in Brownie Points. Oh my it's my new favourite toy, it's so easy to apply and I love having the pencil and tint altogether in one product.

Eyeshadow

Again not an everyday product but I'm really trying to change this. My current go to is the Maybelline Color Tattoo's, I'm especially loving On and On Bronze but another newbie to my collection is Metallic Pomegranate. These are super easy and quick to apply for everyday which is why I love them.

Eyeliner

This product was again a very early purchase and one that I have repurchased for many years is the Collection Fast Stroke Liquid Eyeliner. It's amazing, stays on all day and is super easy to apply giving thicker or thinner lines.

Mascara

This is the hardest one for me, I never seem to buy the same mascara more than once unless I truly love it. And the one I've repurchased more than any others is the L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes. The formula is amazing and really curls my lashes, also keeps them curled all day!

Lip product

Again this one is pretty hard but I think I'm going for Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Notting Hill Nude. It really is just an everyday colour which I love as I'm not a very bright lip girl unless I'm on a night out! I've also got this same product in Sweetheart Tulips which again is such a gorgeous but brighter colour.

Lip Balm

How is this possible? Lip balm's are things I always buy and literally must have hundreds of them! I think I'm going to have to be boring and say Vaseline Cocoa Butter. It's simple does the trick and smells nice. For tinted Lip Balms I'd go with the Maybelline Baby Lips though.

Nail Polish

Again, how can I choose just one? I cannot choose a specific colour but brand wise it would either be Essie or Rimmel Lycra Pro. Ah I can't decide between the two! Essie definitely have more of a colour range so maybe I'd go with them!

Right so there it is! My all time favourites, it was actually quite tricky and I definitely wanted to choose more than one for quite a few of those questions, but I came out of the other end, completed! I hope you enjoyed this tag post and I'd love to know what your products would be. So having said that I'd love to tag you all to do this and let me know in the comments if you do! :-)

My top 3 mascaras: L'Oreal, Benefit and Maybelline

Oh it's been a long day, completely dragged and as the day went on I slowly deteriorated with tiredness. But alas I am determined to finish this post tonight! I would also just like to mention that I recently just reached 300 followers on my blog!! Eeee, I was so excited and as cringe as it may sound, I am very happy about this so thank you to you all who follow and read my ramblings! :) Also this week I set up a facebook page for my blog so I would love if you would take the time to like it! https://www.facebook.com/SimplyjustnatalieBlog

Onto the post, basically I love mascara and unless I'm having a really bad day, I don't go a day without it. So what a better post for me to write than one all about mascaras! These are my 3 most favourite mascaras of all time and like I've said before it's very hard for a mascara to impress me so these bad boys have done extra well, round of applause. So without furthur ado...

1. L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes - I first purchased this mascara many moons ago and this is the only mascara that I've ever repurchased more than once! This means it has definitely served me well and well it has. The brush is plastic and super easy to apply. I love the formula of this mascara, it's completely clump free which I love. I know some mascara's which can be clumpy but can be managed to be brushed out when you apply more coats of mascara, but this one they just don't exist. It also completely volumises my lashes, as the name of the mascara would suggest, it covers all my lashes and makes them look thick and lengthened which I love. Basically I would say this mascara is an all rounder, it does pretty much everything you would want your perfect mascara to do! Hence why I've repurchased this so many times and it's definitely my go to mascara. It retails at £9.99 I believe so can be considered at the higher end of the drug store prices but I would 100% recommend this and it's totally worth the price tag.

2. Benefit They're Real - I received this mascara for Christmas and have been using it since then. It was one of those products that you apply and instantly love. This brush is also plastic but also has a rounded end of which you can use for your bottom lashes and/or your slightly smaller lashes on the inner and outer eye. I personally don't apply mascara to my bottom lashes but I used the rounded end on my normal lashes and thought it was a rather nice touch to the brush. It was easy to use and I also used it to separate some of my lashes if they ever got stuck together or to just reposition them. The straight part of the brush is also just as good, it gives you tips on the box to wiggle the brush from side to side to get extra volume and length and I really agree and think this works a treat! If there's ever a knack for a product then this is the one, it's brilliant! Slightly more clumpy but as I said can be worked out when more layers are applied. I have found that since using it from Christmas it is slightly drying out already which is a slight downside as I believe they're meant to last 6 months at least. The price tag on this one is slightly pricey at £18.50 but there's always time to treat yourself right?

3. Maybelline The Rocket Volum' Express - I recently reviewed this mascara in full on my blog (you can read that here) This is a rather recent purchase but already has made it's way into my favourites! I absolutely love it, the brush rather scared me at first but it really is simple to use and extremely voluminous! It makes my lashes look super full at the roots and then flare out which is a look I personally love. It's super easy to work with and you barely need two coats, although this product is still relatively new which may be why I don't need so many coats! But nonetheless it's brilliant. This one is the cheapest of the lot retailing at £7.99 although when I purchased it it was on offer for £5.99 which is super worth the price tag.

I hope you enjoy this post and it gives you a little insight to my 3 favourite mascaras! And I hope it inspires you to spend some wonga and purchase one of these beauties, trust me you won't regret it :) I'd love to know if you've tried any of these mascaras and what you think and also what your favourite mascaras are! Have a lovely weekend xo

Benefit Boi-ing Concealer Review

 

Over Christmas I made a little splurge on some 'higher end' make up, this Benefit concealer being one of them. I'm always on the look out for new concealers as my skin is very spot prone I tend to find it hard to find 'the one'. I think with every bit of make up, like mascara, foundation etc, there's always 'the one' and that hunt can be a bloody big one! I'm always buying different drug store concealers when I've run out to try and achieve this.

So just before Christmas when Debenhams had 10% off beauty I thought I'd treat myself. I went over to Benefit and the assistant helped me choose. At the moment I believe Benefit only have 2 concealers, with Fake Up soon to be released, which are Erase Paste and Boi-ing. The assistant basically told me that the Boi-ing concealer was the best out of the 2 for blemishes and darker areas which you want to cover up. So she then matched me up to shade 2 for a slightly warmer look, as she originally said I could have been either shade 1 or 2 and was between the two shades.

When I first started using this I really did like it, it blended it well with my foundation and at the time I just had the odd one spot so it worked fine. The colour matched perfectly, it's a lovely creamy consistency so was again easy to apply. It's quite a heavy concealer which means it's great for blemishes but I wouldn't want to use this under my eyes as I think it would weigh it down rather a lot. I used this for a good couple of weeks and then my skin had a bad turn and wasn't very nice. I had a lot more blemishes than usual. So when I went to use this concealer thinking it would cover them perfectly, it didn't. I'm not really sure why I guess it just couldn't handle the amount on my skin! But it would just cake the blemish and make it look twice as bad. Like where I had a few blemishes in the same area it's as if the concealer would just stick to the area between the blemishes and not the blemishes. Although when there's just a single blemish it's an amazing concealer and covers it so well! I know this is such a random review but I hope you'll understand where I'm coming from! Ha ha, and if you do have blemish prone skin with just the odd couple of spots then I would recommend this concealer. But if your skin is, sometimes like mine, where you have like small rashes of spots then I'd steer clear.

I hope you enjoy the honesty and are able to understand, he he! I'm also really excited about the launch of Benefit's Fake Up concealer after reading many beauty bloggers reviews after going to the Benefit event! Definitely will be snatching it up, will you? Have you tried the Boi-ing concealer? I'd love to know your thoughts! Hope you're having a lovely week and that this cold weather disappears soon :) xo

Benefit POREfect Radiance Review

Having a couple of days off work in a row is such a rarity these days so I'm taking full advantage and writing this post for you now :) I got this set for Christmas from my mum, she said she picked it up mainly because I'd told her I would love to try the POREfessional. So when I opened this I was very pleased mainly because they're all small samples which I love, as never having tried any of the products before, means I can try them all before buying full size and knowing full well whether I like them or not. Also when I opened this my mother had left the price on so I know she only paid £9.50 for this but I believe there was also a percentage of money off but I thought that was a really great price! Anyway onto the products..

First in the pack you get the Triple Performing Facial Emulsion with SPF 15. This claims to " hydrate, protect and comfort the skin with an oil free lightweight formula. Contains exclusive tri-radiance complex to help develop the skin's reserves of water". You apply this after having cleansed and toned your face in the morning and I must say it really is lovely. This is the product out of the three that I have used the least but saying that I still find it really refreshing. I used this before using the POREfessional the other day and it was a great combo. The emulsion just glides onto your face and sets quickly. It's like a moisturiser, then with the POREfessional on top, it made my skin look and feel healthy.

Secondly you get the POREfessional which says "It minimizes the appearance of pores and fine lines for smoother than smooth skin". To apply this you do so after moisturizing to help your make up stay put and focus on problem areas using your finger tips. This is my most favourite product!! Before I started using this I had read a couple of reviews which both were completely different. One saying that it didn't hold their make up because they had oily skin. So having an oily t zone I wasn't expecting a lot but I knew everyone's skin is different so with that in mind I tried it and fell in love. I now use it pretty much every day although I'm trying to preserve it so it lasts longer so maybe every other day! It really does hold my make up in place all day from the minute I apply until I get home. Obviously on problem areas I may need a touch up but that's probably my naughty finger tips interfering. It's so easy to apply and leaves my skin feeling UBER soft! It really is incredible and think it would suit all skin types if I'm honest. I definitely will be purchasing a full size of this when this little tube runs out :)

Thirdly you get the It's Potent! Eye Cream which is supposed to "work wonders on the delicate skin around the eye area. It fades dark circles and helps smooth fine lines for brighter, younger looking eyes" and all I do to apply this is using my ring finger I just gently dab the tiniest amount under my eye. This is also amazing, you barely need any product as it spreads so far! I've also been using this an awful lot and have really noticed the difference. Literally no kidding I swear within minutes I can see some of the darkness under my eyes disappear! It's really soft and gentle so there's no pulling when you apply this. It doesn't take long to sink into the skin either so there's barely any waiting time. It really is just genuinely a lovely product and I'm thoroughly enjoying using it at the moment.

Overall I love this set and really do love all three products included. I also think these samples will last a relatively long time *fingers crossed* They all work really well together as well which I think is really great and what makes the set work so well. I'd love to know if you've tried any of these products and your thoughts on them :) xo