Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil

I cannot begin to tell you how long I waited for one of these lip oils from Clarins, my word! I first saw them on Lily Pebbles blog and ever since have wanted one of my own. I think I gave up after a little while; little did I know they were supposed to be limited edition. Clarins listened to us bloggers, and everyone else after one, and have released them again. Thank the Lord! I believe I saw someone tweet on my timeline saying they were back in stock and I don't think I've ever moved so fast. I ordered mine from Boots online and soon it was mine.

There is a choice of two scents I will say, technically you could say shades but they don't have any colour. One is Honey scented and this one I have is Raspberry scented. As I said there is no colour to either of them although it does look like this particular one might have, it doesn't. When I ordered this one, the Honey one was already out of stock so I didn't really have a choice but I definitely would have picked this one anyway so I'm really happy.

I've mentioned in previous posts that my lips have been so dry recently so I thought this would be the perfect product to help sort them out for good. It's a pretty pricey product at £18 but in my eyes it's definitely worth it. the applicator is slightly larger than your normal lip product applicator which I love. It means you can cover the top and bottom lip in one swipe on each, meaning easy application. It doesn't feel sticky on the lips and I believe it instantly moisturises the lips. The lasting power of this product is incredible, it lasts so much longer than your standard lip balm. The scent isn't strong on this product, obviously you can smell it but it's very light which is perfect.

Overall this is an amazing product and 100% worth the pricey price tag in my opinion. I now always opt for this over than my normal lip balm, although I do find this a luxurious product so sometimes will try and save this which is difficult as I love it so much. If you haven't already, then definitely go and get your hands on this product, it's available from many different online stores :-)

Origins Super Spot Remover

I've actually had this product for a really long time and it wasn't until recently that I realised I had never written a blog post about it before. This was a product that I had wanted to get my hands on for a very long time and I then splurged my Boots points to buy it. For a spot remover gel I do find it expensive as I believe it is £13 and I must admit to begin with I was like woah, this pot is tiny! I will tell you now, a little does go a long way.

So yes this is a small 10ml squeezy tube which to begin with I was like, seriously? £13 for this teeny tiny tube? But as I mentioned a little goes a long way and you can see how little I have used already, and I've had this for quite some time now. Around the time I purchased this product it was being absolutely raved about in the blogging community which was what made me buy it in the end. I believe this product is still raved about a lot as one of the best spot gels.

I use this most evenings, especially when I have larger spots as I find this product to work better on those kind of spots. You know those huge, red pesky things and also the ones that hurt. I find this spot gel super soothing hence why I think this works so well on the larger, more painful ones. Once applied this is cooling and then it sets pretty quickly on the spot. Once it has dried it does do the standard "make my spot area really stiff" thing, which can be seen as annoying but I do get that feeling that it's actually working because of this.

In the morning, after using this product, I find my spot(s) to have reduced in redness and 9 times out of 10 are not painful anymore. The look of the spot just makes me feel less paranoid about them in general, which is such a huge thing when you suffer with spot prone skin. I can find that this product dries out spots but not all the time which I know sounds weird. But if this is the case and a spot is dried out after using this product then the following night I will just make sure to not use this product again on that particular spot.

Overall this is a great spot gel for those huge, red spots that you just can't get rid of, this product is definitely a saviour for that! Yes it is expensive but in my eyes it is definitely worth it and if you can save your Boots points up then why not spend it on this product. Let me know your thoughts if you've tried this product :-)

Empties #5

Recently my empties just seem to be collecting up rather quickly so I have another empties post for you today. It's not actually been that long since my last one but my little empties basket was full hence this post coming so soon. I do love finishing products and writing these posts as I find I actually think back about what I loved and didn't love so much.

Firstly the Maybelline Baby Skin Primer which at first I hated but recently I went back to using it when my other primer had ran out and actually enjoyed using it. I think now my skin is drier that this actually works better and hydrates those areas. I do however find that my oily t zone doesn't like this product as much but my drier areas definitely do. The texture of this is very silicone-y but if you get over that then this product is pretty good for those of you with dry skin. Next the famous Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish which I absolutely love. This product takes your make up of effortlessly and I'm definitely not a make up wipe user anymore. This product is rather pricey though and considering I use this everyday can become expensive which is a downside.

The Boots Botanics Lavender Pillow Spray has really helped me recently when it comes to drifting off to sleep, so much so that I have repurchased although I couldn't find the exact same in Boots so I think they may have changed the packaging or something as it's the same scent and brand. This smells lovely and is just nice and relaxing to spray onto your pillow before you drift off to sleep. Then the Bourjois Volume 1 Second Mascara which I really enjoyed using and found that it definitely helped with volumising my eyelashes. I did find that it dried out rather quickly which is rather annoying. Next is the Elizabeth Arden Night Moisturising Cream which I used religiously from when I received it until it was all gone. It was a thick night time moisturiser which I like as I found it helped keep my dry patches hydrated throughout the night. This even worked well on my oily patches which was a bonus.

Next is the Bach Night Rescue which I have recently done a full blog post about so I won't go into it too much. It's a great product for helping me drift off to sleep when I find myself fidgeting and it taking hours to do so. It can be quite expensive but I do find that it lasts a long time. Finally is the Dr Brandt Pores No More Moisturiser which my mum actually gave to me as it didn't suit her skin type. It was aimed at oily skin therefore helped my oily t zone but wasn't so great on my dry patches. Although saying that it wasn't terrible on them therefore I continued to use it all up. I just found that throughout the day my dry patches wouldn't last as long as my oily t zone did, if that makes sense. I'd never heard of this moisturiser before and don't think I will be repurchasing but it was a nice moisturiser to use in between myself buying a new one.

And that's all my empties! I hope you enjoy reading this post and find something that you may be interested in trying. Let me know if you have tried one of these products and your thoughts or if you are going to try something :-)

Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer

I had been after this concealer for quite some time after hearing lots about it and it also being recommended to me. I'm always after a good concealer that will cover my blemishes without leaving them looking caked in make up. I had recently purchased the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer which I absolutely loved but have found that recently as I'm using it more and it's getting older that it's becoming more dry. Therefore leaving it not looking as flawless on my blemishes as it used to look when I first started using it. This prompted me to try this one from Urban Decay and also I had a £5 off voucher on Feel Unique so couldn't help but spend it.

Urban Decay say that:
"Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer gives you buildable, even coverage with a luminous, demi-matte finish. Ultra lightweight, this high-tech formula melds like a second skin effect and gives you full coverage in an instant. For complete coverage, just keep building; no matter how much you apply, Naked Skin Concealer always blends beautifully and won't settle into fine lines."

This description to me sounded pretty perfect and the last part of that description completely sold me. The fact that it states that you can apply as much as you need to build the coverage up without it leaving lines or looking cakey was exactly what I was looking for. Firstly the packaging of this concealer is simple but I really like it as it's nothing to in your face. I really think the simple yet classic packaging of products really makes them look a lot better and more expensive. This concealer is relatively expensive and does cost £17.50 but compared to other high end concealers it is one of the cheapest.

I've been using this concealer every day since I received this in the post and can say that I have really been enjoying using it. It really does feel light on the skin, not heavy at all considering it is classed as a full coverage concealer. I use my Real Techniques sponge to blend this into my foundation and it does so effortlessly. On some of my blemish/problem areas then I will build this up slightly but not by a lot and I do agree that it doesn't look cakey. If I have a blemish that is particularly dry then I won't do this as it just won't look good but on a normal blemish then it works really well. I find this concealer lasts a relatively long time on the skin, it does just tend to slip on the oilier parts of my face.

Overall I'm really impressed with this mascara and love that it can be built up or left depending on what you wish to cover up. It is on the pricier side but I am really enjoying using this concealer and find the colour matches me perfectly. I would definitely recommend this concealer if you're after a full coverage, buildable finish. You can buy it here from Feel Unique. Let me know you're favourite full coverage concealer and your thoughts on this one if you've tried 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

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

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Review

Hello Ladies! After the annoying but pretty snow fall it's back to work like normal again for me. After only working 3 days last week due to being ill and not being able to actually get into work, I felt like a slob and now it's only Monday evening and I already feel shattered! Monday's are always the worst, well it's dragging although I'm currently watching my all time favourite programme.. Miranda!

To begin.. this is my first ever MAC product and I really am impressed. I had been humming and haring about which MAC product to start with first. I asked many of you on twitter, the main answer was a lipstick.. But to be totally honest I'm not a lippie kind of girl. I wish I was but I just feel like it doesn't suit me, but that may just be me because I never wear it! So I opted for the second most popular product that was requested and just in time too as my normal powder was just then running out.

Another thing I don't do very often is wear foundation, when I have work I always just find myself just using concealer and then using a bit of powder on the top, which I know is a bad habit. I just always find it such an effort to find the 'perfect' foundation. Anyway I got this for Christmas and have been using it ever since. I got it in the shade Medium and it is a lovely shade, not too dark. I find it leaves a lovely finish on my skin and (although I always use primer) it stays in place on my face all day throughout work, almost like a foundation. It also leaves my skin looking natural and to me feels weightless which is always great as no one wants a weighed down, make up caked face.

I must say I really love this MAC product and it has made me want to try other products from MAC. Although the price tag is rather expensive, you pay for the quality. Although I also do believe that you can find some similar dupes in your local drug store. My dupe to this product would be Rimmel's Stay Matte pressed powder which has been my holy grail powder for years! I have heard from other bloggers that MAC products do last a lot longer though so in the long run it may be worth the extra spend and it's always slightly better when Debenhams or another store have some money off their beauty products!

One other thing I love is the packaging to the product. It's much better than any drugstore powder product, it's so much easier to throw in a bag on a night out and you know the lid is not going to fall off and it's not going to explode all inside your bag, which is an obvious bonus. 

Overall I love this MAC product and I think if you are willing to spend the extra then you definitely should, although I won't always buy this product when I run out I think it would be my 'treat me' make up product. I love the Rimmel version, I would say the only difference is the finish on the skin and I believe that the MAC one looks much more natural looking which is something I really love about this product. So I'm hoping that it'll last me a long time and maybe I'll try one of their lipsticks next ;)

I'd love to know what your favourite MAC products are and what you'd recommend for me to try next? :) Happy Monday xo

HD Foxy brow kit review

Hello Ladies! I hope you all had a lovely new year and welcomed the new year in with a bang! I've never really been someone who does an awful lot on new years eve, this year I just went to one of my boyfriend's friends house for a party, it was mellow but seeing as I had to be up at 7:30am the next day I really was not feeling it! New years day at work was a total DRAG, surviving off only a couple of hours sleep it has now caught up with me and right now I am absolutely shattered and after writing this I'm off to bed with my new book I got for Christmas.

Onto the review, I received this product when I was subscribed to Glossybox (after a few rubbish months I was not going to continue paying for my box unfortunately) when I received it I wasn't one for filling in my eyebrows so it was one of those products that just got put to one side for a couple of months. Then one day when I was clearing out my make up draw and came across this and thought I should at least try it out!

The first time I tried this product I really hated it, but I know why I hated it. I'm pretty sure I started using the wrong colour, it was way too dark and when I applied it I took it straight off again. I then went and purchased a Rimmel eyebrow pencil and started using that. I then went back to this product again and using a different colour I absolutely fell in love with it (I use the colour 'Dark Brown' which is the bottom right colour). Literally I find this product the easiest to apply, it really only takes a minute and done! The kit comes with a brush, one end is rounded and the other angled which again makes the application even easier. I mainly use the rounded end just because my eyebrows are more rounded than square. Simple.

I now fill in my eyebrows everyday as I think I'd definitely feel bare without them. You can see from the left hand side picture that when they're not filled in, they're not very full or thick. Before this never would have even crossed my mind, let alone bother me but now, like I said, it's part of my everyday make up routine. After using this product I don't think I'll use any other product on my eyebrows, this really is amazing. Although I'm always prone to trying out new products to see what they're like I think I might just stick to this one. It makes my eyebrows appear more fuller, thicker and literally just stand out slightly more. I would never want to wear something on my eyebrows that would make me look like a clown or like I had a scouse brow, NO NO NO! This product is subtle yet does the job perfectly. If you're looking for a product to fill in your eyebrows I would 110% recommend this product to you. The four different colours are: top left - Nude, top right - Carbon, bottom left - Warm Brown, bottom right - Dark Brown. It also comes in a lovely compact with a mirror so can easily be chucked into your handbag, although when I apply it in the morning, I have never needed to reapply throughout the day so it has great lasting power!

Have you tried this product? What do you use to fill in your eyebrows?

xo