Disappointing Beauty Products #2

Boots 17 Wild Metallic Cream Eye Shadow in Wild Nude £3.99 Boots
While I like 17's powder eye shadows this cream eye shadow doesn't make the cut. It's another example of a high street/drugstore brand manufacturing a cream eye shadow and failing (in my opinion the only high street brand that succeeded is Maybelline with their colour tattoos.)
It is is a good neutral colour. It is also dermatologically tested, fragrance free and cheap. The jar is a clear plastic rather than the MAC and Maybelline glass cream eye shadow pots, making it lighter and ideal for travel. Yet unfortunately all this cannot make up for the fact that it creases incredibly badly and wears off quickly.

Bourjois Effect 3D Lip Gloss in 01 Beige Elastic £5.99

I was on the hunt for a nude lip gloss and picked this up. I really like this formula, mainly for the taste (like sweets no vanilla thank goodness) although it is a little sticky. Unfortunately this look wasn't what I was aiming for, on the lips the colour was too silver and frosted for me.

Ecotools Bamboo Blush Brush £7.99
This will be a controversial opinion as I know Ecotools gets a lot of love for being cruelty free, vegan and affordable. However I found this brush too prickly against my skin. I also prefer the 'old style' blusher brushes where you swirl them around on the face.

Dr Organic Pomegranate Lip Balm currently £3.25 Holland and Barratt
This is moisturising but I hate the smell, it is a heavily perfumed rose meets cheap children's make up sort of smell. Dr Organic is a brand that's had good reviews and I still want to try their other lip balms and other products from this brand.

MUA UNDRESS ME TOO PALETTE REVIEW AND SWATCHES (Naked 2 palette dupe)

 I have Urban Decay's Naked palette, but I decided not to buy Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette because the colours looked cooler (I prefer warm toned palettes) and I don't really gravitate towards taupe colours. This is an inexpensive Naked 2 palette dupe to experiment with. As don't have Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette I can't compare the two palettes side by side.

I can compare Urban Decay's Tease from the Naked 2 palette to MUA Lavish, both are cool brown-taupe- perfect for a cheek contour powder as the colour mimics a shadow. They look exactly the same in the pan but UD Tease does look a bit browner and warmer. UD Tease has more pigment which produces a stronger swatch and ultimately lasts longer on the skin. For this reason I use UD Tease for my face contour.

SWATCHES

Top row (l-r) Naked, Devotion,Shy, Fiery, Lavish, Dreamy

 Bottom row; (l-r) Tranquil, Exposed, Reveal,Wink, Obsessed, Corrupt

Unfortunately the first shadow Naked does not show up on my olive skin, you can see a faint barely there swatch.There are three matte shades Naked (Cream colour), Lavish (Taupe) and Corrupt (Black.) Naked and Lavish apply a little chalky. Corrupt is very pigmented black.The colours Shy (satin white) Dreamy (mid toned copper like a dark 2p coin)  Obsessed (chocolate) appear matte here but they're actually satin finishes. The satin shades apply more smoothly. My favourite is the silver taupe Exposed since I don't have this colour in my collection.Compared to Urban decay shadows these don't last as long but this is easily solved through using eye primer. Some many want more matte shades or more greys but as this is a dupe of UD's Naked 2 palette that factor determined the shade finishes and colours in the palette. All in all a good neutral colour selection for both smokey and natural looks.

Longevity: Not as long lasting, may need eye primer.

Packaging:  Basic looking. This one is white so shows any fallout/mess more easily than MUA's previous black packaged palettes. Contains a mini tutorial for one look on the reverse side.

Price: 12 shadows (9.6g)  for £4 available at superdrug (currently on 3 for 2 offer online) and MUA

Verdict- At this price this is a steal: high quality shadows for a bargain £4. A wonderful neutral palette that is versatile for creating smokey and natural looks. I love neutral eye shadows and feel that even if you generally use warm toned palettes these aren't so cool that they won't suit or work with warmer skin tones.

You might like this if...

• You love cool toned neutrals
• You are on a budget
• If you want a travel friendly naked 2 palette

You might not like this if..

• You only like warm toned colours
• You are expecting more greys
• If you are used to luxury brands and have very high expectations of matte eye shadows
• You want to use an eye shadow shade (i.e. Lavish) as a face contour colour 
• You are olive skinned or darker.

7 FACTS THAT MAY SURPRISE YOU ABOUT LIPSTICK

 

1). During World War II, it was known that Adolf Hitler hated red lipstick. Wearing it became a symbol of patriotism amongst allied countries and a statement against fascism. When taxes made lipstick too expensive in the UK, women would stain their lips with beetroot juice instead.

2) Dark reddish brown lipsticks are often named after dark emotions, urban places or intense forms of music. Purple lipsticks are often named after mystery, distance and things that are difficult to see/understand e.g. Chanel 'Phantom.' While dark purple often involves a name that is sexually mysterious e.g. Vamp or Siren.

3) The Queen (Elizabeth II) had a special lipstick made for her coronation in 1952, it was red-blue and called 'The Balmoral' after her Scottish home.

4) Coco Chanel believed the number 5, was lucky. After launching the famous Chanel fragrance no 5 on the 5th of the 5th month (May) in 1921, she launched her No.5 lipstick in 1929. This time she wasn't so lucky, the stock market crashed. However good fortune won out in the end as it has been one of the highest selling lipstick for nearly 70 years.

5) Make Up Brands feel that even the sound of the click when closing a lipstick is extremely important. In 1995 Harper's Bazzar article documented the search for the perfect click. Guelain tested 10-20 lipsticks and decided on a soft metallic sound. Givenchy's Oliver Echaudemaison describe the brand's click as 'a heavy click more metallic than plastic.' Guerlain's creative director Anton-Phillip Hunger explains 'We didn't want our lipstick to click so loudly that it would draw attention to a woman who's retouching in pubic.' 

6) Urban Decay made a lipstick called 'The Wedding Singer' for Drew Barrymore to wear in the film of the same name. American brand Lorac made 'Long Kiss' lipstick for Geena Davis in the film 'The Long Kiss Goodnight.'

7) During a meeting at Benefit Cosmetics, the agenda was naming a lipstick, someone jokingly came up with 'Ms Under Stud.' They left the room and the consensus was to change the name to 'Misunderstood' in case it was deemed offensive. However this absent staff member wasn't clued in, resulting in a shipment to a Chicago store of 'Ms Under Stud.' The lipstick was a best seller and the buyer reordered 5,000 more. When Benefit informed them of the proper name the buyer no longer wanted to place the order.


Source :Lipstick a Celebration of a girl's best friend by Jessica Pallingston

Bobbi Brown Oil Free Even Finish Compact Foundation Review

Bobbi Brown claims "this foundation never looks fake or makeup-y, just like smooth, even skin. With 12 hours of flawless, oil-free wear, all you see is your skin-at its best."

Bobbi Brown Cream Compact Foundation in Warm Sand 2.5. Price £32 

This fooundation is available in 19 shades. It has won awards for

• Best Base for Black and Asian Skin, Sunday Times Style Beauty Awards 2013.
• Best Foundation Range, The Guardian Best Beauty Buys 2013.

 The Packaging-

This is the first compact I've had and it does make me feel like a lady. It's sleek and shiny with a mirror and sponge to apply it with. It contains 9 g. although the website shows the new compact is now 8g.

I chose Bobbi Brown because the range of foundations are yellow toned and I have a warm olive skin tone. At first I tried the moisturising foundation (I was persuaded by a Bobbi Brown make up artist with dry winter skin) this broke me out around my nose so I bought this oil free compact instead and had more success with it. However I do try and avoid putting this around my nose.

This is the first cream foundation I've used and it took a little time getting used to it. At first I applied it using the sponge provided but I found that this wasted a lot of product on the sponge and tended to look thick and cakey. Then I used a damp Real Techniques brush and this thinned the application producing a light-medium coverage. For light coverage I painted my face in downward motion and for more coverage I buffed it onto my skin. This covered red areas on my cheeks and around my mouth if I buffed the foundation and it can cover spots.
Basically coverage is buildable from light to heavy and dries to a matte finish. It does give smooth appearance covers ay bumps and doesn't cake (unless you are using the sponge provided which I recommend that you don't)  or cling to dry areas (I use a moisturiser before using.) I have sensitive skin but this hasn't caused any irritations or breakouts.
This foundation lasts about 12 hours or 8 hours without powder. I haven't got into the habit of powdering yet but I would recommend that if you are particularly oily, I would suggest powdering your T-zone.

Conclusion
This is a versatile foundation where you can decide how much coverage you need. It's a good everyday foundation.
This compact has lasted me at least 6 months wearing once to three times a week however for a friend who used it with the sponge provided and wore every day, it lasted a month.
I love the versatility of this foundation and will definitely re-purchase. I would recommend this foundation as a great all rounder.

You might like this if....

• You have yellow tones in your skin-tone
• Like the idea of a versatile foundation

You might not like this if...

•  You are on a budget and want full coverage everyday.