Saturday 29 March 2014

The Body Shop; Pink Grapefruit Body Butter, Empty-Review

Empties: Mini Reviews

When I completely finish a product, I upload a quick blog post reviewing it.

Today I finished a mini size of The Body Shop famous body butter in pink grapefruit scent.

A body butter is an all-over body moisturiser I use to nourish my skin usually after baths or showers or just before bed. 


This body butter gives a healthy shine to the skin without that greasy feeling- it sinks fully into the skin. I mainly use it on my arms or legs.

It's useful to have a small pot, only 50ml, good for travel and festivals which was what I mainly used it for last summer, especially as the normal size pots seem to last forever. I think the price is under £5, but usually The Body Shop have 50% deals on so be sure to pop in on those days!


I've been using body butters from The Body Shop for a long time, and this scent is delicious, fruity and not too sweet. They leave a smooth feel to the skin and a non-overbearing scent for a few hours.

Will I repurchase this? Probably not right now because I do have a few body butters still on the go. But the scent is up there with my favourites (along with passion fruit and blueberry) and I will forever rely on body butters from The Body Shop.

Have you tried this product from The Body Shop? What other body moisturisers should I try? Let me know in the comments below.

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Throwing Out: Beauty Treats Glitter Palette

I'm Gonna Have to Get Rid... Glitter Palette from Beauty Treats

New series I'm doing where basically I do a blog post on items I have decided to throw out due to either lack of use or deciding they're off and not something I can use anymore. Either that or they're just awful products with no better home elsewhere. This is different to empties as those are products I've completely finished up. These are not.

This is meant to be a glitter eyeshadow (but they're in cream form) palette. It's definitely aimed towards younger experimentation, and not the sort of makeup I practice now.


I recently had a big room-tidy (so nice to do every once in a while) and regrettably decided to throw this out. I've been keeping it mostly as a aesthetic thing (because it looks so pretty), but I just don't use it and it's an awful product so I put it in the bin.

How the cream glitters come out swatched
Sorry, I'm not sure exactly what this product is called. I couldn't find it anywhere online and I got it so so long ago.



It was a present from my mum many years ago. At the time I was like 'wow! this is the best thing ever!' as you are in a childhood way. But now it just never gets used at all.



It's a shame I have to throw this out but it feels good to de-clutter.

A thick, creamy texture with visibly glitter

Swatched. The texture probably has deteriorated somewhat due to the amount of time I've had it. 

The colour in the pan after one swatch
The problem with this is that the glitter is only there on the surface, so no matter how nice it looks, you only really get 1-2 uses out of it in the glitter form. What's left is a pale creamy-textured shadow and no glitter.

Another example: before swatch
Another example: after swatch
As pretty as this was to look at, it just wasn't something I was getting any use out of. The quality wasn't quite there.

What's the last product you've had to throw out? Let me know in the comments below.

Saturday 22 March 2014

Benefit; Total Moisture Facial Cream, Empty-Review


Empties: Mini Reviews

When I completely finish a product, I upload a quick blog post reviewing it.

Today I finished the 'Total Moisture' cream by Benefit, which is an intense moisturiser I got probably close to a year ago for free (this is a small sample size, nonetheless lasting me for a long time), with a purchase at a Benefit counter. I didn't even ask for it the server just threw it in there for me- thanks!


With combination-oily skin (an oily t-zone), this moisturiser, as the name suggests, was not the one for me. It sunk in fairly well but still left my skin feeling a tad greasy, especially in my oily area, the t-zone. The product is a thick white cream and I only needed to use a tiny bit to cover my whole face.

The full size is around £27 for 48g. This may not seem a lot of product, but with all moisturisers a little goes a long long way, and especially with this one.


If you have dry skin, check this out! I'm sure this would be great for you. Oily or normal skin- probably not.

I'd like to try some other high end moisturisers and skincare, as I usually stick to the drugstore ones (might do a top 5 drugstore moisturisers as I've been through my fare share- is anyone interested in this?), and if anyone has any skincare recommendations be sure to let me know.


Would I repurchase this again? No. I'm sure it's a great moisturiser but just not for my skin type. Benefit, if you're reading this (lol), it would be great to do a moisturiser for normal or oily skin, as this one is only really suitable for dry skin, or perhaps normal skin if only a little bit is used.

Have you tried this product, or will you be picking one up? What benefit products should I try next? Let me know in the comments below.

Thursday 20 March 2014

Current Nails: Barry M Silver Foil

Currently I am wearing on my nails:

This is a metallic silver shade from Barry M labelled 'Foil Effects Silver Foil'.



As you can see, it really does look like a silver or aluminium foil.

Barry M have an amazing colour and effect selection, and they're not too expensive either. They're around the £3 mark.


Once again my nails are disgustingly short, but I'm woking on it okay!


My nails currently have a basecoat and one coat of this polish. It's fine like this, but more even with two coats.

I love this polish, it's great quality, looks amazing and most importantly, this literally dries in 20 seconds. And I mean completely dry! Same with the gold foil one that I also own.


Have you tried this nail polish? What are you wearing on your nails at the moment? Let me know in the comments below.

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Top 3 Neutrals Palettes

My Favourite 3 Palette Picks

On a day-to-day basis if I wear eyeshadows at all they are almost always neutral shades, so these palettes as well as my neutrals mac palette (see the blog post) are my most used. 

I usually wear light shades over my lid for a wash of colour, and sometimes but rarely attempt dark eyes (it washes my light skin out).

Into my top 3 most used neutrals palettes, in no particular order.

1. Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette



A Naked Palette being in here probably isn't surprise to anyone, however this is probably my least used palette of the three.


In hindsight I think the Naked 3 with rose-hues would have been the best for my pale skin. However the colours in this are amazing, there's no doubting, and I can create so many looks with this.

The transition colour Tease is amazing, as is Foxy for an all over wash of colour or browbone highlight. I also use the matte black Blackout quite a lot.


The price is around £40 which actually for 12 full sized amazingly creamy quality eyeshadows is not something I see as too expensive. 







The pigmentation is amazing with every single shade, even the matte ones.


I highly recommend this palette! Check out the naked palettes and see which of the three will best complement your skin tone. If you wear eyeshadow, buy one of these! Nothing beats Urban Decay for eyeshadow- they're definitely even better than Mac.



2. Sleek Makeup Storm Palette


This is a neutrals palette with a twist- the possibilities are endless. You can do a classic brown smokey eye, a blue one, a pink one or a green one. But I still count this as a neutrals palette.


The price is around £8 from Superdrug, and the quality is amazingly creamy. It has a lot of similar colours to my next palette, and the Naked 1 as well.

I actually like using the sponge-tip applicator on occasion as it applies a dense amount of highly pigmented creamy colour- using a normal brush with these can be problematic.

I use the two matte shades for my eyebrows- they're perfect for that and it lasts all day.




12 shades, £8, you do the maths. That's a great deal. Also Sleek Makeup have many fab palettes to choose from- you will find the one for you. I find this to be the one I'd use most.

The colours I use most in this are the second one along- a lot like Stila's Kitten and amazing in texture, and the two matte browns for transition colours and my eyebrows.


Sleek is worth checking out- I swear by their stuff and it's not gonna make you bankrupt.



3. Stila In the Light Palette


I love this palette, and with the others in this list this is well loved by beauty bloggers. I loved the look of this and had to get it.


These palettes are creamy in texture, but not chalky. None of them are duds- they all are amazing. The palette is priced at around £25, which for 10 shadows really isn't that much at all. Worth it? Definitely.



The colours resemble those in the Naked 1, and also some of them are very similar to the ones in the Sleek palette.

If you like the colours and think you'll get a lot of use out of them, definitely pick this up! You can buy it online from loads of stores, and even find it in some of the bigger Boots.


The pigmentation is like nothing else and texture is less chalky than the Sleek palette- you can definitely feel the difference, and why this one deserves to be priced so much more.

*

I always suggest buying palettes, especially if you're just starting out with makeup. Don't bother buying individual shades just get a couple of palettes to start with!

I hope this post was somewhat helpful or interesting to you!

Will you be picking any of these products up? What is your favourite palette? Let me know in the comments below.

Saturday 15 March 2014

Paul & Joe; Eye Makeup Remover, Empty-Review


Empties: Mini Reviews

When I completely finish a product, I upload a quick blog post reviewing it.

Today I finished the 'Eye Make-up Remover' by Paul & Joe which I got for a birthday present probably over a year ago.


It was one of those products I tried not to use excessively all the time because I was aware of how special it was and it just felt expensive, probably due to the extremely chic glass bottle packaging (which I'll have to find some alternative use for; I won't be able to just throw it away it's too beautiful) and even the pattern on the box it came in was beautiful.

As an actual makeup remover, it was good. But nothing amazingly special. It took off most of my makeup but no quicker than things I currently have.


You get 100ml and can find it around the £14 mark. Here is the product on their website.

This was my first and still currently only product I have owned from Paul & Joe, and I haven't heard much about the makeup brand on youtube or blogs at all. I don't think it's a brand I'll be buying more things from right now, as it's more expensive than drugstore prices and there aren't any unique-looking products I have my eye on in particular.


Would I repurchase this product? I'm going to say no. This is mainly because right now i'm in love with the Nivea Double Effects (review coming soon) oil and water mixture which is only around £3 and I haven't found anything better than that so far.

That and my Bioderma are getting me through.

Have you tried this product, or will you be picking one up? What products should I try from Paul & Joe next? Let me know in the comments below.

Tuesday 11 March 2014

Current Nails: Claire's Mint Green

Currently I am wearing on my nails:

This mint green shade from Claire's accessories. It's so pretty, especially for spring.


My nails are so short right now it makes me cringe!! I'm in the process of growing them out- promise!


Sorry, it doesn't say any sort of colour name anywhere on the bottle, not even a number, but it came from a set of 5 minis. I love them all- they're beautiful pastel colours and the pigmentation is great for the price. In the set are a few dupes  for more expensive nail polishes. Also, even though this is only 5ml it's enough for so many uses.


I couldn't find the set on the website but you might be able to find this or something else similar in store. 

Two coats, with basecoat and no topcoat. It's fine with one coat but much better with two.
Have you tried this nail polish? What are you wearing on your nails at the moment? Let me know in the comments below.

Monday 10 March 2014

February Most Used: Nail Polish Edition (Barry M Black Multi Glitter)

Barry M Nail Paint in Black Multi Glitter

Here's a new feature I'm going to be doing every month where I showcase a product (I will have makeup, skincare and nail polish editions) that I have used a lot throughout the month.

In February my most used nail polish was the Black Multi Glitter shade from Barry M.


I've had this for ages, but found myself reaching for it loads in February because it's been cold, and a dark colour seemed right, but this is a subtle alternative to a boring plain black. Black has been a favourite of mine for a few months now, I just find it so cute on the nails.


Clearly this is not your ordinary black! It has amazing multi coloured tiny glitters in which make your nails look really amazingly unique.


Barry M colours are around £3.


Each tub comes with a lot of product and these do last for a while, although after a long time they do become even more thick and gloopy.


You can see the other colours; red, blue, green, lighter blue. It's just unique and beautiful.


The formulation is fairly thick but it does make for an even application which is great.

One coat
Two coats
The other glitters are subtle but when your nails catch the light it's just perfect. This polish is so much more than a simple black.


So there's my most used nail polish of the month of February! I hope you guys like this new feature of mine, and I'll be letting you know my March most used skincare, nail polish and makeup product at the end of this month, or the beginning of April.

Do you have this nail polish? What's your favourite brand for nail polish? Let me know in the comments below.