Whats new in my makeup collection?

So there is nothing better in life (for me anyway) then buying new make-up. It's become a very bad and expensive addiction for me since the age of 18 and studying make-up in college. The only difference is now I like to splurge on what I would class as "normal" make-up opposed to the face paints and fake blood I used to buy back in the special effects days!

Anyway I'm starting to blab so lets get into my new purchases!

I picked up three of the NYX cosmetics Lip Lingerie Liquid lipsticks in the following shades:

(from left to right) Embellishment, Teddy and Exotic.

These were £6.50 each from Boots.

I have seen many Instagrammers showcasing these and I just had to get my hands on some of the shades.

I will be doing a swatch an review post on these so keep a look out!

Following my lipstick obsession I noticed Soap and Glory have released and repackaged an entire new range of the Sexy Mother Pucker Lipsticks so I decided to try one out and picked the colour Cinnamon Beige which is a brown nude. These are currently retailing at £9.00 in Boots which seems a little pricey for a drug store brand but they always have offers on!

To be honest I only purchased this because I am a sucker for packaging! 

So again for purely for packaging reasons which really pains me to admit! I purchased the Rimmel London Sculpting Palette by Kate in the shade #003 which is a combo of  highlighter, shading powder and a blush. The product is beautiful and well worth the price of £6.99 in Boots

Futhermore I was asked by Maybelline to be apart of the Maybelline Squad, of course I said yes and a few weeks later I was sent an amazing package filled with goodies such as the entire range of their Vivid Matte Lipsticks, the Baby Lips Moisturising lip gloss and a few other products which are yet to be released!

Let me know if you would like a blog post on all the products I received including swatches!

Love Jess xx

Urban Decay Through The Looking Glass Palette Review

 So it has been several months since my last blog post (sometimes life just gets in the way) and i thought what better way to bounce back with a new release from Urban Decay.

The above palette is the new Through The Looking Glass palette which is in collaboration with Disney's release of the new Alice in wonderland film: Alice Through The Looking Glass. It is also a sequel to the original palette Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows.

 The eye shadow palette is current retailing at £43.00 on various sites including Selfridges (where i purchased mine) and Debenhams.

So lets first talk about the packaging which is what initially drew me in to wanting to buy this palette. The palette is covered with colorful, kaleidoscopic artwork woven out of flowers and butterflies and includes several quotes from the film. It has many textures varying from gloss and embossing which shows alot of work went into this. One thing that could be a slight downfall is the fact it is all cardboard and can damage easily but for me it's nice to see that Urban Decay have taken it back to their older products.

 The palette contains 20 ALL-NEW shades varying from soft matte shades to bold,bright shades which feature on the different characters such as the Mad Hatter. It also features the standard UD double ended brush for application.

 Each Eyeshadow features Urban Decay's Pigment Infusion Systemâ„¢, the proprietary blend of ingredients that gives every shade its velvety texture, rich color, serious staying power and blendability.

• Shades included:
• Alice shades: Looking Glass (pale pink demi-matte), Reflection (soft peach matte), Dormouse (warm brown matte w/floating gold micro-sparkle) and Metamorphosis (vibrant periwinkle blue w/micro-sparkle)
• Mad Hatter shades: Hatter (vibrant green w/tonal micro-sparkle), Gone Mad (aubergine w/pink iridescent pearl), Paradox (vibrant orange w/gold pearl) and Cake (saturated blue-pink w/silver micro-shimmer)
• Mirana shades: Lily (opal pink pearl), Duchess (peach w/pink shift and micro-sparkle), Kingdom (copper-bronze pearl) and Chessboard (medium brown matte)
• Iracebeth shades: Heads Will Roll (vibrant turquoise w/gold micro-sparkle), Bandersnatch (deep teal matte), Salazen Grum (metallic crimson) and Royal Flush (pale beige shimmer)
• Time shades: Time (black-navy satin w/soft iridescent micro-sparkle), Dream On (metallic purple-silver), Chronosphere (metallic deep bronze) and Mirror (gray-taupe satin)

I have to say I love every shade in this palette and i don't really own many other shadows which are like these. I found with this palette that the shades containing more glitter are a lot more sheer compared to the metallic like shades which are insanely pigmented.

Overall I am looking forward to creating some bold looks with this product and I am glad I have added it to my collection.

Please leave your thoughts below!

Jess xx

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NYX Matte Lipstick's Review

As a massive NYX cosmetics fan i thought i would do a review on one of their products which fuel my love for the brand! Introducing the NYX Matte Lipsticks, retailing at around £6.00 which you can find here. 

As a make-up artist and collector for make-up i'm always on the lookout for things that are affordable and also of a decent quality, so when in need of a few shades to top up my kit i stumbled across these matte lipsticks on the NYX website. At £6.00 a pot i couldn't resist picking up a few of these and can i also say they have a great colour range to choose from! 

I picked up ( from left to right ) Shocking Pink, Maison, Nude & Pale Pink. On first impresson i thought the packaging was pretty good, i like the fact you can see the colours of the actual lipsticks in the centre.

(Shocking Pink, Pale Pink, Nude & Maison)

The formula of these lipsticks are matte which not everybody likes i know but for me i love how matte lipsticks look but there's always that risk of them being drying and not highly pigmented. These however are extremely pigmented, the above swatches are from one swipe only. Also they are in fact non-drying causing them to glide on the lips perfectly & they are pretty long lasting! The only down fall is that the colour may not come quite as it appears on the website but that's what reviews like these are for ;)

I highly recommend these lipsticks :)

Have you tried Nyx before? What do you think if so?

Nip + Fab Dragon's Blood Fix Plumping Mask Review.

When shopping the other day i ventured into boots as it was triple points & quite frankly it was rude to not take advantage! So i picked up the Nip + Fab Dragon's Blood Face Mask as i have heard a lot of good things about the serum seeing as its a favourite of Kylie Jenner's (Nip + Fab brand ambassador) & thought i would try the face mask! This was retailing at £14.95.

As far as packaging goes its pretty simple but as for the bold burnt orange tone i really like it, as i can associate it with the thought of dragons blood! Also i like Nip + Fab packaging as its pretty quirky and modern.

What Nip + Fab say:

An intensely hydrating gel mask combining multiple skin perfecting complexes to plump the look of wrinkles and refine the
skin's appearance for a brighter, more youthful looking complexion. Contains: Dragon's blood (from the Croton Lechleri tree):forms protective film on skin to protect against environmental aggressors Salicylic acid: cleanses pores + aids exfoliation Hyaluronic acid: hydrates + refines skin texture Glycerin: draws water to outer layer of the skin keeping it moisturised + helps restore skin suppleness TEGO Cosmo C 250: brightens skin + fades age spots

So when first trying the product it came out quite thick in a clear liquid form and the smell i would describe as a spa like smell fairly strong and not particularly appealing but something you can deal with. Nip + Fab instruct you to apply it in a thick layer for 10 minutes & then rinse with warm water but you can also leave it on overnight and rinse in the morning. 

When the mask was on it left your face shiny and the texture was sticky but it felt pleasant on the face, as someone with sensitive skin it didn't irritate me at all.

Afterwards my skin felt very soft and refreshed & also looked brighter. But the main thing i noticed was how it plumped up my skin and the laughter lines around my eyes ( not wrinkles ssh) were a lot less noticeable. Any masks which hydrate my skin are perfect in my eyes!

 

What do you think of Nip + Fab products? x

Rimmel Provocalips Review

So i picked up a couple of the Rimmel Provocalips because quite frankly i needed cheering up after a bad week and what better than a lipstick purchase! I picked up the shades "730 Make your move" (above right) & "310 Little Minx" (above left) These were £6.99 each in Tesco.

So here is what Rimmel say about the Provocalips:

• Kiss-Proof, Transfer Proof, Trouble Proof. Up to 16 hours of lip liberation. Weightless Non drying colour for endless comfort!

Now as a lipstick lover this sounded like music to my ears so i had to try them out and see if what they said was really true!

So above i have both shades on my lips! My favourite of the two is probably "Make your move" (Top) as its a neutral pink shade and something i would wear daily, so i decided to test this one first.

When applying you use step one which is the colour and then leave this for 60 seconds with your lips apart, then you apply step two which locks and shines the lip.

On first impressions i found the colour part quite liquidy so you have to apply it carefully otherwise you look like you have just come back in from a night out! But after applying the step two i was quite amazed at how it transformed the lip gloss, it felt soft and moisturizing but as if it wasn't going to budge!

• So firstly i tested the kiss proof! & yeap it really was kiss proof and did not budge!
  • After eating a sandwich and a roast dinner the lipstick was still there perfectly!
  •  12 hours later my lipstick was still on and looked pretty good, maybe not as shiny but i would say that's pretty good going, i didn't test it for 16 hours but i have no doubt in my mind it still would be there!

 Overall a fantastic product and i will be buying all the shades! what do you think if you have tried the Rimmel provocalips?

Illamasqua Silhouette Gel Sculpt Review.

Introducing the new product which has revolutionized how we contour: Gel Sculpt Silhouette by Illamasqua.

A unique contouring gel creation that offers subtle definition to cheeks with ease. The hue of Silhouette creates a delicate shadow under cheekbones and along the jawline which can be blended with ease to achieve beautiful, natural contours - Illamasqua.

Okay so first things first this product retails at £22 which is an average price from Illamasqua's range. Three colours are available, Silhouette which is a contour shade, Charm and Fluster which are blusher shades. 

I purchased Silhouette as this was the product that intrigued me the most as it seemed such a unique way of contouring. I love Gel products so as soon as i saw this i thought YES PLEASE!

The product comes in a stick form with a plastic cap, you must keep this on when your not using the product as it keeps the make-up hydrated and stops it drying out!

When first opening the product i was a little hesitant as it seems so dark! But Illamasqua have designed this shade so it suits all skin types as the idea is to create a shadow where your natural contours lie and Silhouette is perfect for this. 

As you can see above the product comes up a lot lighter on the skin, i use the Heart of Your Hand technique which Alex Box uses with this product. The idea is to place the product on the palm of your thumb as above and then rub both of your hands together in the same place. You then place the palm of your thumbs underneath your cheekbones and push up to create that natural contour, you can see a video of this here: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152644081551567&set=vb.32415626566&type=2&theater

I have the product on in this photo and as you can see it creates natural shadows where my contour is! The product is so easy to blend and doesn't come out orange or too muddy and is also very light so you can build it up to how you like it! Illamasqua really have made a game changer here! tell me what do you think if you've tried the product?

Jess xxx

Clinique Cheek Pop Review - Berry Pop

 Hi Guys, welcome to my blog & my first post! I thought i would kick start my blog with a review on the Clinique Cheek Pops!

I only have one shade from this range & that is Berry Pop which is a lovely vibrant "Berry" pink shade which goes perfectly with my fair skin tone and blonde hair!

The packaging is very elegant in a clear casing and the Clinique logo as you can see in the pictures, the blush it self is shaped in to a daisy which makes it very pretty & looks fantastic in your make-up collection.

 The texture of the blush it self is not to be expected! You expect your typical chalky texture for a powder but no this is between a hard and soft texture almost feeling satin like. When swatched the product shows its vibrant colour but in a lovely sheer way giving a "pinched" look to the skin.

These Blushes retail at £16.50 each & currently there are 4 shades available although I believe they will be releasing 8 new shades which are currently available on sephora for the rouge members.

So overall i love this blush and will be purchasing more as they are so gorgeous & a must have product!

I hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think of these blushes if you own them :)

Jess xx