Revlon Colourstay Foundation Review

Ok, so I'm a little late to this party. I know people have raved about this foundation for ages and I've watched loads of reviews and tutorials on Youtube and read loads of reviews on blogs but I just never really fancied giving it a go. Mainly because I've never been the biggest fan of Revlon make up, well apart from their nail polishes which I love.

I've been hoping it would go on offer for a while cause the thought of paying the full £12.49 for something that I more than likely would hate really irritates me but it seems it just never goes on offer so I just had to take the plunge and go for it. 

I purchased the shade buff which seemed pretty close to my skin colour.

I'm going to start of with saying that as soon as I took the lid off I was gutted, its not a pump you have to pour the foundation out. I hate that so much, I always end up pouring too much out and wasting loads of product. Its quite runny so does come out quite quickly so as soon as I opened it I was a bit put off. 

I have no idea why I never picked up on this when watching the videos, but I'm always more focused on looking at their skin before and after. 

So I poured some out (too much) onto my hand and used the Real Techniques stipple brush to start applying it to my face. I had heard that it dried fairly quickly so you are best to do one section of your face at a time so after the first section was done I realised that using a brush to apply wasn't the best so I moved on to using my fingers.  

By the time I had done my face I have to say I was completely in love. Its the best foundation I have ever used and blows my Lancome and YSL out of the water.

 I got the formula for combination/oily skin as I have a terrible time with shine on my t-zone after about an hour of wearing foundation. I am currently up to 10 hours with this foundation and there is no shine to my skin whatsoever and thats with no powder! It still looks just as flawless as it did when I put it on this morning. 

I'm genuinely over the moon with this product. I am currently suffering with some horrible spots and rashy nastiness on my chin from using a new product range and have been finding it really difficult to disguise even with concealer. This covered it beautifully. I've been so conscious about my chin because by the end of my work day its all showing back through and I look like I've got really bad acne. Not with this baby. It leaves my skin with a perfect matt finish without looking cakey or heavy.

 I really can't say enough about it, I will definitely be repurchasing it and my higher end foundations will have to take a back seat. I don't know how Revlon have pulled this off because it truly is an amazing foundation and I totally get all the hype about it now. I think I'll definitely be giving more Revlon products a try in the future, especially I have heard people raving about them.

Max Factor 2000 Calorie Dramatic Volume Mascara

I decided to do a quick review on one of my favorite mascaras ever. I'm surprised how little this mascara is talked about as I personally think its one of the best high street mascara there is. As well as being a great mascara its reasonably priced and readily available at most stores.

Picture borrowed from here

I picked this up in black brown by mistake and my Superdrug wont take make up back even if its still sealed so I had to use it. I usually go for black but this has been fine. Its meant to give volume to your lashes but it lengthens my stumpy lashes too. I will put up a couple of photos below. (please excuse the crappy photos, I've been ill for the last couple of days and I'm still not feeling great so the make up was applied at 8 at night whilst ill but you get the idea)

I don't have anything bad to say about this mascara. It thickens, lengthens and separates my lashes and it doesn't flake throughout the day. You can buy this here from Boots its currently at £7.99 but they have 3 for 2 across all make up.

Just keeping this review short and sweet today with me not being so well but I just wanted to give it a bit of credit that it deserves because it really is an all around good mascara.

Hello_TerriLowe A BOOT-iful Giveaway

This is my entry for a giveaway by Hello, TerriLowe, you can find more details of the giveaway here on her blog!

I thought this was going to be super easy to do, I'm really picky with shoes. I will usually go onto a website and only be able to find one or two pairs max that I actually really like so choosing is never really too difficult for me. I went on to the Barratts website to find the shoes that I would buy if I won the giveaway and it has taken me forever to do. They were so many shoes to choose from that I actually really liked but here is what I came up with.

I went for heels for the upcoming Christmas season. How could you not love these bad boys. Sexy and stylish with some rock chick studs. 
The boots I thought would be great for winter with either leggings or a dress with tights. I love the ruching and the oversize buckle, they look super comfy, really stylish and good quality. What more could you want?
Finally I opted for some flats, I could use these for the office or for a casual lunch with the girlies. I really like the beading at the front, I think it makes them look a little more dressy that plain black pumps.

All these 3 pairs came to a really surprising £67.50, I'm sure you'll agree that is an absolute bargain for 3 quality pairs of shoes.

Which shoes would you buy?

Glossybox is here!! October box

My Glossybox has just arrived!

I've been looking forward the this box for the last couple of days after seeing what a few other people have received. I'll be honest its the first time I have been excited about a Glossybox for months.

On opening the box I saw a little peek of something, can you see above? 

 The little GB sticker also shows that they support breast cancer care.

Here are the contents:

 Skinetica Anti- Blemish Treatment 10ml Sample
Anatomicals Don't Just Clean It Woman, Scrub It - Body Scrub 75ml Scrub
Dr. Jart+ Premium BB Cream - Very generous 15ml sample
Yves Rocher Lipstick in 106 Mauve
Olay Regenertist 3 Point Treatment Cream - 7ml sample

I was looking at the Dr. Jart BB creams last month in Boots but decided against it because of the price considering how disappointed I have been with all the other so called BB creams I have tried so I'm really excited to be able to try this out first.

The next product I am looking forward to trying is the Skinetica Anti Blemish Treatment, if you read my post yesterday you will know that I am currently struggling with spots on my cheeks. Here is what the company claims:

Skinetica is a genuine product that actually does what it says on the bottle!

A unique new solution that clears unsightly breakouts with visible improvements in 2-3 days.

• No harsh chemicals
• No side effects
• Kind to skin
• Dermatologically tested
• Non Toxic, non staining, non greasy

That's some strong claims, if it works in 2-3 days I will be over the moon, hopefully it will work in 2 days as I have a wedding on Saturday night. Fingers crossed!!

 

The lipstick is also gorgeous. Whenever I get lipsticks in a beauty box its always colours that I would never wear or just don't suit me but this is lovely its exactly the type of colour I have been purchasing recently for autumn/winter. The packaging looks a little cheap in my opinion but I suppose its the product that matters and it really is a nice lipstick.

 

 Onto the Anatomicals. I have tried some products from this brand before, it was two eye creams from what I remember and I'll be honest they really did not blow me away. The packaging is not the greatest and looks a little tacky. I spent a good couple of minutes squeezing the tube thinking that it must be the thickest scrub in the world until I realised I hadn't actually taken off the seal. Doh!
I like the smell, its very grapefruity and fresh, I would think it would be nice in the morning if you have time for a good scrub in a morning, but it isn't scrubby enough for me. I will use it but I doubt its going to be on my repurchase list.

 

Finally the Olay, I honestly actually didn't know what this was, I gathered it was a moisturiser but I wasn't sure what the 3 point thing was all about so I did a quick Google and here's what I found.

Regenerist 3-Point Treatment Cream is specifically designed to give dramatically younger-looking skin for areas most prone to ageing—eyes, jawline, and neck.
- With a formula containing high levels of aminopeptide complex
- Treats difficult areas
- Achieves dramatically younger-looking skin with high levels of amino-peptides  

Sounds interesting. I don't have any issues with my jawline or neck at the moment, although I do like to moisturise them. I have noticed a few fine lines around my eyes so I will be interested to try this out. I don't think I will get to see the full effects of the product with the size of the sample but if it doesn't cause me any problems with my skin and seems to moisturise my face then I'll be happy to buy the full size and give it a proper go.

Overall I'm really happy with my box. There is 2 products that I love and will definitely get full use out of and the others I will definitely try and hopefully will be pleasantly surprised. Well done Glossybox, Octobers box is a winner for me!

Have you got your Glossybox yet? What did you think?

FOTD and mini review

I thought I would do a face of the day today, I also used a couple of news products for the first time so I thought I would also give my first impressions of them.

I'm off work today and just wanted a quiet relaxing day so I went for a really simple and natural look.
I'm currently having some issues with spots, and lots of them. My skin has always been quite good but recently I have been breaking out alot and I end up with clusters in one area of my face. They are currently quite enjoying living on my cheek. So brace yourselves for a close up photo of my spots to come.
Because of the spots I wanted to try a new foundation. I read some good reviews on the Vichy Dermablend Foundation, its supposed to be good at camouflaging problem skin such as acne scarring and dark circles so I thought it may cover my spots.

 This was £15.50 from Boots and I went for the shade 15 Opal as it was the lightest shade that they stocked in my Boots, they do some lighter shades but unfortunately they didn't have them. It matches my skin quite well after blending it out.

This is a before and after picture of my face. This is just the foundation on my skin. I think I was expecting a little too much out of this foundation and I was thinking it was just going to cover everything and make my skin flawless. It doesn't do that but it does cover up quite well, it doesn't really take away any of the redness of the spots and I did still need to use concealer to cover them up a little more.

Onto the FOTD, here is the finished look

Here is what I used

Vichy Dermablend Foundation

Mac Mineralize Skin Finish in Medium Plus

Mac Peony Petal Blush

Mac Mineralize Skin Finish in Lightscapade

Mac Cross Cultural Eyeshadow (eyebrows)

Bobbi Brown Navajo Eyeshadow (brow bone highlighter)

Mac Painterly Paint Pot (eye primer)

Urban Decay Skimp (all over the eye)

Urban Decay Spotlight (centre of eye)

Urban Decay Wreckage (outer corner and crease)

L'oreal Volume Million Lashes in extra black

Mac Rebel Lipstick (applied lightly with a brush)

Now onto a little review of the mascara. I have heard so many good reviews on this mascara but never got round to trying it so I picked it up yesterday to try out. 

 I wanted to love this mascara so much especially with it costing over £10. I have tried some of the Natural Collection at Boots mascaras for £1.99 and been in love so for almost £10 more I was expecting a lot. Did it deliver? I'm still undecided. It definitely separated my lashes and it did so very well but it didn't give me any added length or volume which I was hoping for. I did also find that it clumped a little on the second coat. I'll continue to use the mascara and hopefully I will find some way to make it work for me.

I hope you enjoyed my little combined FOTD and mini review today.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win a Mac lipstick of your choice!

First haul post

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and I had a bit of money left over so I popped into town after work to see what I could find. I'm really happy with my purchases and can't wait to try them all out this weekend.

First I went into Boots, I knew exactly what I wanted from there so I was really happy to see they had one left!

This is the Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal Eyeliner in nude. I used this today to line my waterline for a more natural looking alternative to white liner and I love this and it lasted all day, something that I very rarely find with high street brands. This is priced at £3.99 - bargain!

Boots currently have an offer on 3 for 2 on make up so not one to miss out on a bargain I picked up a couple of other products to take full advantage.

 These are the Barry M Hi Shine Gel Effect Nail Polishes, I think these I fairly new. I got them in Pomegranate (left) and Blackberry (right). These are really thick polishes, I tried them each out on one nail. The purple only needed one coat to be completely opaque but the pink would definitely need 2. They seemed to dry fairly quickly, however after coming out of the bath they both peeled off in one strip. I didn't put a base or top coat on as I was only testing the colour so this may help but I will be doing a full review of them shortly.
These were also priced at £3.99 so all three items came to a total of £7.98.

I then decided to take a trip into my local TK Maxx, I do love this shop and they sometimes have some real gems hidden but the beauty section in mine always has so many items that have been opened or smashed and its just really annoying. Having said that I did find some amazing (in my opinion) bargains that were in perfect condition.

First up I spotted these hidden right at the back of the shelf. It was a pack of 3 China Glaze nail crackles, they were £5.99. I've only ever tried the Barry M crackle polish and I wasn't overly impressed but I thought that with these being glitter and China Glaze they may be better.

As I was heading over to the till I spotted another shelf so went for a look and was really shocked to find it packed full of Urban Decay palettes for £12.99 each. I picked up this one as it had the most colours that I would actually use. Alot of the others had lots of greens and purples which I already have a lot of.

I love all these colours, this palette is called the Mariposa Palette and retailed for £26 so not bad at all for £12.99 I don't think.

The next item is the one that I was most excited about, I was actually looking at this online the other day but didn't order for whatever reason.

 I've wanted the Urban Decay liner in perversion for a while. Its supposed to the blackest black liner. The full size liner retails for £13 so I'm really happy to get 5 for less than the price of 1 full size to try. They are quite large for travel sizes (0.8g the Rimmel pencil is 1.2g) so I don't think I will even get through the travel sizes.

All in all I'm really impressed with my haul, I'm hopefully going back to TK Maxx this weekend to see if they have any other UD products in. I will be doing a full review of each item shortly.

Have you managed to bag any bargains from anywhere recently?

My top 5 products

So onto my top 5 products, this was a difficult one but these are the ones I decided came out above all the rest. They are in no particular order as I love them all equally.

 

I chose this palette because quite frankly I'm sick of wearing nude shadows on my eyes, since the day I purchased my Naked 2 palette the only eye looks I did was a nude and it was just boring. I bought this to change things up a bit and I'm so glad I did.

 

The palette includes 6 colours and retails for £31.50, you can find them here on the Boots website.

The colours in the palette are

Bliss - Matte beige

Putty - Taupe

Blacktop - Black with glitter

Mist -A shimmery very pale lilac

Royal - Dark matte purple

Nocturnal - Royal blue with glitter

I was a little disappointed at first as I felt that they weren't incredibly pigmented for the price. However the shadows are very blendable and easy to build up and the colours complement each other very well and make it really easy to achieve a smokey eye. On the back of the palette you can also peel back the label to find instructions on how to create a smokey eye which I think is a great idea if you are a beginner or just want a bit of help.

 

This is a fairly new addition to my collection but it has gone straight up there to my favourite foundation ever, this is the Max Factor Xperience Foundation. I usually wear Lancome on bad skin days and Yves Saint Laurent on good skin days but this is now my all round foundation. It offers excellent coverage without looking like I have piled on the make up and I don't find the need to powder at all with this. The colour match is also perfect for my skin. Max Factor say:

Love a full coverage but hate that heavy foundation feel? 

Well treat your skin to a new Xperience. 

Weightless to the touch and flawless to the finish it's what your skins been waiting for

The cost of this foundation is £9.99 and can be found at Boots here. Its almost a third of the cost of my usual foundation so I am really happy to have found this little gem.

 

I don't have a lot to say about this product other than it does what it claims to do. It really does make my pores to appear reduced. I have large pores on my nose and cheeks which I am quite conscious about but this product is a little miracle in a tube. You smooth a small amount over your make up and they disappear. I have no idea how this product works all I know is it does. I'll definitely be repurchasing this product over and over.

 This can be purchased at Boots here for £18.00. If you have enlarged pores I would definitely recommend giving this a try.

I've only recently purchased this at my local CCO for the bargainous price of £9.25. I am absolutely in LOVE with this lipstick. I usually go for the my lips but better shades of lipsticks and never really branch out into the brighter shades but this is amazing and really brightens up my face. 

This swatch does this lipstick no justice as its just a stunning shade and I think it would suit most skintones. 

Finally I have chosen Mac Breath  Of Plum blush, this is the perfect blush for me for autumn/winter. Its blends really well. I can be a little heavy handed with blusher sometimes and have to spend a while trying to tone it down but this can be built up from very sheer to more dramatic if required.

 

 

 This blush is £17.50 and can be purchased from Mac here.

So here is my top 5, as I said it was extremely difficult and I do have a lot of other products that come incredibly close to these but these just pip them to the post ever so slightly. Are any of your favourites featured in mine? I'd love to hear your comments.

Giveaway

I've been thinking hard about what I wanted to do for my first main post, so I decided on doing something a bit fun and what could be better than a giveaway.

The winner will receive a Mac lipstick of there choice, any colour (in the permanent line) all you have to do to enter is follow my blog and comment below with your favourite beauty product of all time. It can be a specific product such as Mac Rebel lipstick or a general item such as mascara. You can also add why its your favourite item. 

The winner will be chosen at random and will be announced on 1st November.

Good Luck!!

My very first post

Well, this is rather exciting! My first post on my new blog. The majority of post on this blog will be beauty related although there will no doubt be some random ramblings about other things occasionally. My first post will be coming soon so please come and check this out and follow me.

A little bit about myself to start off with. I'm 26 years old, married with 2 gorgeous boys. I work full time and when I'm not working or being a mummy I like to treat myself to beautiful things. 

I love reading beauty blogs and after reading hundreds of other blogs I decided to give it a go myself, I love seeing what people have gone out and purchased and reviews of products are always helpful. Hopefully you will find my blog interesting and useful. Please link your blogs below too so I can follow you, I'm always looking for new blogs to read.

Thanks for reading and will see you again soon shortly!