Feel Unique Pick and Mix Sample Service #1

Hello Everyone! If you haven't already heard Feel Unique offers a Pick and Mix Sample Service. It works like this - you can choose 5 beauty samples for free and you just pay the postage and packaging which is £3.95. Then Feel Unique will send you a voucher for £3.95 which you can use on any future purchase (but not the Pick n Mix.) It's almost like you get to choose what you want in a free beauty box!

So you can only use this once a month and it's limited to UK customers for now. If you order on the 8th the next time you can use it will be the 9th of following month. It's not a subscription service so you can dip in and out whenever you want and choose whatever you want! Items are mostly high end and mainly skincare, body care and perfumes. There is a search function that can search by sample type (vial, sachet, tube, card and pot) which is really helpful as then you know what size sample you've chosen which helps you to get the most product for your money. You can also search by brand or by department (e.g. make up/ fragrance) which may save you time as there are around 300+ samples to choose from. Just so you know the Pick and Mix system doesn't let you buy two of the same product. There is also a selection of products for men- mainly aftershave, cologne, shower gel and moisturisers although some products are unisex. The products do change throughout the month but I've also seen products that I've  missed out on come back. Brands that are currently in stock include Caudalie, Elemis, Isadora, Charlotte Tilbury (foundation), Kiehls, Dr Hauschka, Emma Hardie and many more.

Here are the items I picked up....

Elemis Nourishing Omega Rich Cleansing Oil 2ml
This cleansing oil is 90%  jam packed with oils that include sunflower seed oil, castor seed oil, rosemary leaf oil and patchouli leaf oil. The Omega 3, which nourishes and calms the skin comes from the rose of winter oil and chia seed oil. The pomegranate extract is rich in Vitamin C which helps detoxify the skin and boost collagen.

This is the first cleansing oil I've tried. You apply it to dry skin, add water to emulsify the oil so it becomes a milk and then rise away with warm water. I've used it three times at night and once as a wake me up morning cleanser. It smells like essential oils and in particular of grapefruit which is very refreshing. Elemis describes their cleansing oil as a 'non stripping, gentle formula.' It did not irritate my sensitive skin and made my skin feel soft. However it wasn't great at removing makeup but this might be because I didn't use enough. I'm a bit on the fence with this one- however I will say that although Elemis is a luxury brand, the amount of product in the full sized bottle for the price is very generous with 195ml for £31.

Caudalie Moisture Recovery Cream 2ml
I added this to my basket as my skin felt a little tight and dehydrated. Caudalie Moisture Recovery cream aims to restore the hydrolipidic film and strengthen the skin barrier function, leaving skin soft and moisturised. The grape and borage oils, grape-seed polyphenols and sodium hyaluronate all hydrate the skin.This also has matte finish to the skin. I wasn't keen on the smell, it smelt a bit like cinnamon mixed with other essential oils but the smell isn't overwhelming so it's OK. I have sensitive skin and this didn't irritate my skin and I felt it did a good job of moisturising my skin.

Caudalie Vine Body Butter 7ml

This body butter contains Caudalie's trademarked Vinolevure which is extracted from wine yeast and helps to keep the skin moisturised while reinforcing the skin's immune defenses. Other key moisturising ingredients are shea butter and grape seed oil. The orange blossom and orange wood smells fresh and invigorating (although it smells a little like grapefruit to me.) The texture is like a lightweight cream rather than an heavy balm or butter and absorbs very quickly into the skin. Caudalie claims that this body butter offers 32% hydration after 8 hours. While it mositurised pretty well, I didn't find that that the hydration lasted 8 hours later. To be honest I found that The Body Shop's Mango Body Butter much better and it keeps the dry skin on my elbows moisturised for much longer.

Isadora Nude Sensation Fluid Foundation in 16 Nude Almond 3.5ml 
This is a yellow based foundation but actually looked peach/orange on me which was a shame. It is fragrance free and smells neutral or a little bit like water paint. It gives medium coverage.

Nars Laguna bronzing Powder 1g

I saw the words Nars and Laguna so I popped this into my basket without realising the sample was on a card. The powder is long wearing and very pigmented and needs some blending.  It suits my tan/olive skin tone but  I think it may be too dark for those with pale skin tones. It also contains glitter but this is not noticeable when applied onto the face. I can see why it's so coveted and it's something I will probably buy in the future.

This post is Not Sponsored by Feel Unique and I bought the products with my own money.  

4 Beauty Products That I Don't Get The Hype

I realise that for some people, some of the products on the list below might be someone's Holy Grail/ Ride or Die / Couldn't Live Without On A Desert Island Especially if Bradley Cooper Was There Product which is fine. Don't stop. While I love the brands below and have bought other products from them that I love to death these were the ones I didn't like enough. 

Stila Lip Glaze
These are one of Stila's bestsellers and were included in Harper's Bazaar's Beauty Hot 100. I have this in Raspberry and the colour is really vibrant and the taste isn't too bad, I'd describe it as a mixture between raspberry ice cream and cherry drop sweets.

The reason why I dislike these Stila lipglazes is because the formula is too thick and too sticky. I know the stickiness helps to make them more long wearing but my lips almost stick together when I talk and it is just a sticky mess if it comes in contact with your hair (e.g. on a windy day.) I am also not a fan of the packaging. You have to twist the end so that it clicks and dispenses the product. This is supposed to give you the right amount of product, Stila tells you to " Twist the pen until it clicks 10 or more times until the glaze appears on the brush. For top-ups just click a few times." Ten clicks is actually a bit of a faff and I find it annoying. I remember Ruby and Millie had similar packaging for their lip glosses as well. Another complaint is that you get so little product just 2.4ml for such a high price of £15. These are so overpriced in my opinion.

Benefit Cosmetics Benetint
Bentint is a rose tinted liquid cheek and lip stain. It is one of Benefit Cosmetic's bestsellers and was originally made for an exotic dancer in the 1970's. This gives a natural looking flush on the cheeks and a pink colour to the lips but actually it isn't very pigmented. Benefit claim this is long wearing but it doesn't last all day and on the lips it doesn't last long after a drink or snack. In fact you could say that it doesn't really stain anything.The fact that it's not very pigmented or long lasting made me feel really underwhelmed by such a cult product. I think that this is incredibly overpriced at £25.50  for a product that doesn't even live up to it's claims. 

Nars Blush in Orgasm 
This is a nice blush but it's a bit over-rated. I'd describe the colour as mid pink with gold shimmer. The colour would suit many skin tones. It's also long wearing. My main gripe is that this has a lot of gold glitter in it so it can get really sparkly. I think I would rather spend my money on a dupe where the gold is more of a gleam rather than sparkly glitter.

Nuxe Huille Prodigieuse
This is the number one dry oil in French pharmacies and a global hit. Nuxe Huille Prodigieuse
does have a lot of good ingredients- it contains vitamin E as well as tsubaki oil, almond oil, camellia oil, borage oil, hazelnut oil, macadamia oil and argan oil. It is free from mineral oil and silicones. I like the fact that because it's a dry oil it is not as messy and it drys fairly quickly.

My main problem with this product is that it's so strongly scented it's basically an oily perfume. Because of this it reduces the amount of ways I can use this "multi-purpose" dry oil on my sensitive skin. It is too strongly perfumed to go anywhere near my face. I have used it on my elbows which has moisturised the dry skin and made it soft, but it doesn't beat the powers of The Body Shop Mango Body Butter which leaves my elbows soft and moisturised 24 hours later without having to top it up with more product. I have used this to try and massage my finger joints when I was suffering from Repetitive Strain Injury but found that I needed something thicker like a cream. For a shoulder massage this could work. On my hair I used this as a 10 minute hair mask before I washed my hair. It made the lengths and ends of my hair softer but they still felt dry. If it was fragrance-free or less fragranced it would be more useful. I do like the smell of magnolia and vanilla but it's overpowering and the scent verges on traditional granny perfume. Putting oil in a glass bottle is also not that practical in a bathroom environment either. 

Let me know what products had that didn't live up to the hype?

Sophisticated Glitter: Nars Galapagos Eye Shadow Review

During a visit to TK Maxx I managed to score this Nars Galapagos single eye shadow for just £7.99! It normally retails at £18 which is a lot of money for a single eye shadow but you do get 2.2g of product and I don't think I'll be hitting pan very soon. The eye shadow comes in Nars' distinctive matte, rubberised compact case. The compact also includes a mirror and while the case is rubber, it actually feels like suede to the touch.

Nars Galapagos was released with the Nars Holiday 2010 collection and is so popular it has remained part of their permanent line. The eye shadow itself is a warm dark brown with flecks of gold glitter. It's a dark eye shadow that's great for adding depth and a touch of sparkle to a brown smokey eye. I know some people have said that the glitter doesn't translate well, but I used a flat eye shadow brush from Primark to apply it (see photo above) and it looked exactly the same on my eyes as in the pan. I think any flat eye shader brush from MAC, Zoeva or Sigma would achieve the same results. For a smoky eye I just patted eye shadow on the outer edge of the eye and into the crease using a flat brush (with eyes open) instead of a pointed or fluffy brush. This eye shadow doesn't kick up shadow when you use it, but sometimes gold flecks of glitter can appear on the cheeks so I'd advise doing your eye makeup first before applying a foundation or a base.

Nars Galapagos eye shadow is rich in pigment and has impressive staying power. I used it without primer and was on my eyes a full 9 hours later, although not as fresh, the glitter could still be seen. I have fairly oily eye lids too and found it stubborn to remove. In my opinion this definitely lives up to the hype and i'd recommend picking it up for the holiday party season.

Nars Galapagos Eye Shadow is available at Look Fantastic, £18 & Space NK.

Save Money: 6 Dupes for High End Products

Guerlain's Les Meteorites pearls are a cult product, finely milled they give a very subtle glow to the skin and more recently they have been available in a convenient, travel friendly, compact form. The refill price though expensive it what I'd expect from such a high end brand but the compact is a whopping £97.20! (from Escentual. In house of Fraser it's around £108!) That means you're paying  £62.70 for the packaging alone! That will buy you another Guerlain product or two or possibly most of Make Up Revolution's entire stock! Kiko offers a budget friendly alternative, with a mixture of  matte and shimmery shades of violet, green and pink that can be swirled together for a champagne coloured sheen. I understand that the Guerlain compact is actually more shimmery than the original Meteorite pearls and from swatches here and here I'd say Kiko's version is more similar to the Meteorite pearls (£37.50) giving a subtle glow.

Despite it's name the Max Factor blush is actually a powder not a cream. The Max Factor Creme Puff Blush in Nude Mauve seems to have the same lasting power as Hourglass Mood Exposure blush and the shades are very similar which you can see in a post by Gemma from Beauty Nook here. The differences are that Max Factor has less product than Hourglass and is also less expensive.

I really liked Benefit's new Rollerlash mascara (you can see the review here) but £19.50 is an expensive price tag. However money savvy beauty lovers have sussed out not one, but two dupes. The first is Maybelline's Lash Sensational Mascara which is the cheapest dupe. They share a similar curved wand (although Maybelline isn't as skinny as the Benefit wand) and you can see just how alike the results are in Elle Sees Blog post here. The second dupe is Max Factor Masterpiece Transform Mascara despite the wand looking completely different the results are very similar which you can see for yourselves in a post by Make Up Monster here.

Although Claire's Valentine Hearts nail polish isn't an exact dupe for Nails Inc Alexa Hearts, they are similar each having red hearts inside which I couldn't find anywhere else. La Femme also do a range of  polish with gold, silver and turquoise hearts in them which you can find here for 99p.

These Maybelline color drama lip pencils are much raved about Nars Velvet Matte lip pencil dupes. Maybelline lip pencils are good quality but significantly cheaper than Nars. Maybelline's Red Essential is thought to be a Nars Cruella dupe and you can see in this post by Make Up Over Mind here that they are very similar in colour. They are great in pigment and texture-wise comfortable to wear and leave a stain. Maybelline's Fab Orange is supposed to be a dupe of Nars Red Square. You can see the swatches on my pintrest beauty board.

Nars Radiant Creamy concealer is often recommended as a good concealer for under the eye. Maybelline Fit Me concealer is it's high street counterpart. The differences are that Nars offers more coverage with less product, while Maybelline needs to be built up, but both give medium coverage. Maybelline dries slower than Nars meaning you have more time to blend. The consistency differs as Nars is creamier than Maybelline. Nars does give you more product at 15ml while Maybelline has 6.8g but is still worth trying out.  

Top 13 Worst Beauty Product Names

This post was inspired by Jane Cunningham at British Beauty Blogger and her post on Badly Named Beauty products. These are my Top 10 worst product names that I've come across- enjoy! (Updated 2020)

1. Illamasqua Bacterium Nail Polish
   Just what you want to paint on your nails- bacterium- sounds enchanting! To me this just brings to mind all those toenail infections, athletes foot, fungus etc...so very unattractive.

2. Simone Chickenbone Chicken Poop lip Junk  'crafted from ingredients you want to put on your skin.'

Firstly this product does not contain any chicken poop/ poo/ droppings, whatever you want to call it. None. At. All. So why call it Chicken Poop Lip Junk? Apparently the name was inspired by creator Jamie Labor's grandpa, whenever she complained of dry lips he'd tell her 'Put some chicken poop on your lips so you won't lick 'em!'  Despite the fact that it wasn't easy to sell something called Chicken Poop the name stuck. Jamie's perseverance paid off as now over 700 stores across USA, Canada, Australia and the UK have it in stock. It's also not tested on animals and the only animal ingredient is  beeswax.

3. Kat Von D Selektron Liquid Lipstick 
Selektron is an anti-semetic term used by the Nazis to  refer to the selection process in prisoner concentration camps. Because of the rightful furfore the shade was renamed Beloved. Kat Von D's notority (anti-semintism, anti-vaxxer, dodgy rascist boyfriends) became too much for the brand owners which has now re-branded as 'Kindness Vegan Discovery Beauty' and Kat Von D has stepped down from the company.

4. Dr Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips
    I guess this brand didn't want to forget it's roots as a humble balm used to soothe nipples of breast feeding women. From the name it also sounds ideal for runners complaining of nipple chaffing. But with a name like Dr Lipp surely that's all you need? The name is slightly confusing and would probably appeal to a wider audience and to more men if the word nipple was dropped?




5.  Nail Polish in Erektis Klitoris
It sounds like an X rated Harry Potter Spell.

Photo from Bridge Mistress Reddit

6.  Maybelline Color Show Nail Polish in Watery Waste
Talk about running down your product, this is almost like an own goal from Maybelline. This name does not sound good. It makes you think the nail polish will be too runny and that the colour is nothing special and suggests it in fact be a waste of money.

7. Too Faced Granny Panties
Normally Too Faced gets called out for it's sexually explicit names but this one is at the other end of the scale- Granny Panties doesn't scream attractive or desirable. Then there's the scenerio when you get asked what lipstick you're wearing and you reply 'granny panties.'

8.  Bleach Nail Polish called Jizz..and it's white. That is all.

9. Flesh Beauty Firm Flesh Thick Stick Foundation
This sounds like a something you'd hear on a phone sex line 'Firm Flesh Thick Stick Foundation'' Flesh Beauty also reminds me of those American Tan orange brown stockings making the name both sexy and unsexy at the same time what a feat!

10. Urban Decay Desperation Eyeshadow and eyeliner 
I know Urban Decay is an 'edgy' brand that prides itself on being 'anti-barbie' but surely we don't want to actually aim for create the  look of desperation, surely that's not a good look on anyone.

11. Urban Decay Lube in a Tube
    Yes it rhymes and it's catchy but this just sounds gross and tacky. I know Lancome has ownership over  Juicy Tubes but surely Urban Decay could have come up (no pun intended) with something a little more sophisticated and more appealing?

12. Nars Deep Throat Blusher
  Orgasm sounds sexy but deep throat sounds like it would be more attractive to men than women and to me suggests gagging. Surely you don't want to associate your product with gagging?

13. Smith and Cult Nail Polish-Porn-a-thon

There seems to be a tradition to use sexual innuendos to name nail polishes. Smith and Cult 's nail polishes retail at £19 and the name seems cheap and cheesy for a high end brand.