BLAME IT ON NARS! [Cheek Palette Review]

Hello everyone! Today’s review is of the new Blame it on NARS Cheek Palette (£45) which is a Selfridges exclusive in the UK. I don’t know how long it’ll be around, so I wanted to review it as soon as I had gathered my complete thoughts on it. It was quite an impulsive purchase I have to say, I was umming and ahhing about it, but in the end I was clearly sold!

Firstly let us admire the packaging, I love this new rectangular box design from NARS, though a little bulky, it is sturdy and less prone to foundation finger prints like regular NARS stuff. The beautiful paint design behind the text is certainly a sight for sore eyes. It’s what drew me to this right away, the strokes of coloured paint merging together with splatters here and there, a perfect artistic mess. For some reason it reminds me of the very essence of makeup, how you can be so creative, so free to express yourself through this art and how there really are no rules. A little deep for a makeup box? Maybe, but that’s how I feel when I look at it. I love it so much so that I almost bought the other two palettes (sets of three lip pencils) because they are just as beautiful...then I remembered my bank account was already mad at me and well that calmed me down pretty quick ._.

So anyways, on to the palette, we have four powders and a mini ITA brush, with a large mirror on the inside. Although it’s pretty bulky, I still find that it’s good for a weekend away because the large mirror means I can comfortably do my whole face makeup looking at this. The powder sizes are pretty generous, with the Casino bronzer having the most - 4.5g and the other three containing 4g of powder. A standard single NARS blusher contains 4.8g of powder and costs £23 each, so you really are getting a lot for your money - especially as the casino powder is just 0.3g less than a full size!

had to take another photo to show you accurate colours of the blush pans!

The palette contains a Highlight shade - Satellite of love which is a permanent in their line, Casino Bronzer which is one of the main reasons why I picked this up, because more often than not they add laguna in their cheeks palettes and I already have a couple! The two blushes are Day dream a matte peachy shade and New Attitude a previously limited edition, blue-toned pink. I will run through more in-depth descriptions of each shade a little later, now on to the mini Ita brush. I’ve been looking everywhere for a post which compared the full sized Ita, which costs £43 (far more than I would EVER be willing to pay for a brush) and the mini Ita. The best comparison I’ve found is here from which, as you can see there is a slight difference in length, the full sized one is a teeny bit longer and also less thick. I don’t think these make a huge difference in the effect the brush has overall, so the mini Ita brush has satisfied my craving for owning the full sized one, without dropping a lot of cash on ONE brush! It’s shed around 2 hairs but aside from that I have had no issues with it.

The powders:
Satellite of Love: This is the biggest disappointment for me in the whole palette and I wish they had included Albatross instead. It’s a warm toned highlight which deposits more glitter than actual... well highlight. I thought it was one of those shades which just swatch badly, but on the skin it looks just as meh. I don’t really know who this would look good on, perhaps much deeper skintones however it’ll take a lot of building up and with that will come a lot more glitter on the cheekbones. If you do pick this cheek palette don’t say I didn’t warn you D:

Casino Bronzer: I LOVE this bronzer, in fact I think NARS do some of the best bronzers on the whole market. I recently picked up the NARS Tahiti Laguna Bronzer and it’s gorgeous, gives a sunkissed look all over but it can also be used to contour with some building up. Casino is a good few shades deeper without being red or orange toned, like the other NARS bronzers making it look very natural. It blends effortlessly and though it is darker, I find it much quicker to get defined features, without any sort of muddiness whatsoever! It swatches a lot more orange than it appears on the skin,

Daydream: I love this shade, it’s probably my second favourite powder from the quad and it’ll look wonderful on all skintones. It was a shade included in the beautiful Guy Bourdin Holiday palette, which I didn’t pick up at the time so I’m pleased to have it in my collection. A matte peach with no shimmer or sparkle, meaning you can apply almost as much highlight as you like without it clashing with a shimmery blush and having the whole thing look like a disco ball on your cheeks! Peachy blushers are a dream on warm skintones and this one is no different!

New Attitude: This is a blue toned pink, which has a matte but not flat kinda finish like daydream. I was worried it wouldn't work well on my warm toned skin, but as always you shouldn’t judge a blush by what is in the pan! Although it’s very different from my normal favourites - deep throat and Torrid, it still looks lovely on the skin and the advantage of having it in a palette means you can mix it up if needs be. It’s beautifully pigmented, not powdery and blends like a dream as with the other two (we aren’t counting the highlighter glitter fest here). Overall a blush with the beautiful NARS quality I have come to love!

I think you should consider picking this palette up if you’ve not tried many NARS blushes, or the casino bronzer and also if you want to try the Ita brush. There really isn’t a huge amount of difference between the mini and full sized, both allow you to create a contour line and blend out the powder with ease, though don’t expect the bristles to be super soft. The firmness means you can create structure and I must say it’s perfect for adding a tiny bit of definition to the sides of the nose too, once you start you can’t stop trust me xD. It’s my first ever cheek palette from NARS and value wise I am pretty chuffed to have this in my collection!

What do you think of the Blame it on NARS cheek palette?

Overall Rating: 8.5

Pros: Good value for money, the powder sizes are very close to single powder sizes and the quality is just as good. It’s one of the first palettes they have made which doesn’t include Laguna, so I finally got to try casino without splashing out a large amount on the full size and the bronzer itself exceeded my expectations! The ITA brush is awesome, I never really considered purchasing the full size because of that hefty price tag attached to it, but this mini Ita is practically identical and does a great job, especially on the go. The blush shades are beautiful and versatile too, with the matte-but-not-flat finishes, ample pigmentation and at least 7-8 hour lasting time on the skin I couldn’t ask for more.

Cons: That dreadful highlight shade - glitter for days! It’s kind of what I would expect from a cheap brand for a couple of quid. Not my cuppa tea at all.

Repurchase? Well it’s L/E so I won’t be able to! But if this disappeared and I still could then yes I would repurchase it. Despite the disappointing highlight shade, I really think the other three + Ita make up for it.

 

Thank-you for reading ♥

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July Update

Phew, July flew by so quickly and it’s been so jam packed I’m still in shock that we’re already at August! I don’t know about wherever you are in the world, but here in the UK the weather has been in its usual ‘can’t make my mind up’ state, with stiflingly hot days during the final part of Ramadan, and torrential rain two weeks later! As usual I’m gonna try and sum up my month with the use of my camera roll and the occasional DLR snap as usual and hopefully I don’t turn this into a full blown essay like June’s one!


 Look at that beautiful Eid card! My mum’s work colleagues kindly gave it to us, I love the beautiful design and it was so thoughtful. Ramadan, as usual ended too quickly and it’s always really strange to eat during the day on Eid and the day afterwards! I had avoided going shopping during Ramadan because its pretty much an unnecessary way of getting tired and thirsty, so after Eid I treated my sister to a Krispy Kreme donut. I can’t believe how expensive these things are getting y’know! But it was a delicious little treat no doubt - mine is the one that looks like it’s been covered with lipgloss lol.

Since Eid it’s been non-stop busyness and I’ve been trying to clear out my room a little, get things in order and address my overflowing dressing table/desk situation. I eventually decided that I just have to get myself a little more Muji - I’ll have a full post on it later in the month but please meet my new base holder! Oh acrylic storage, how you make my heart happy ^_^ In the last year or so I’ve collected a rather large amount of bases and having them all in one place makes it easy to see what I have and order them on shades and finishes etc.

This has got to be my favourite thing on the net for a while, taken from tumblr I just had to share it with you pahahaa. We all feel fragile sometimes right hahahahaa *takes a minute to calm down* okay enough enough

 Last weekend we went to a Wedding and it was lovely, sometimes I feel like we only get to see 80% of people we know at weddings but that's a part of being Asian and 'knowing' hundred of people I guess. It also got me thinking about going to other weddings, as in not Pakistani weddings. I’d love to go to an English wedding, an Arab wedding just OTHER weddings to see their cultures and traditions.

 Whilst in London for the wedding, we decided to stay for two nights and spend some time with the family. It’s always nice to sit with the younger cousins because they grow up so quickly. This time the elder lot decided to go bowling which was so fun (though it did bring to my attention the next day that I am getting horrendously unfit, my arms were aching!!). After we walked to grab a #cheekynandos har har. Nine of us squeezed onto one circular table with the tenth pulling up a chair. It was a rare meal to all eat together like that, really enjoyable though.

So all in all a busy pretty intense month, which I ended with a trip to a Safari park with my bestfriend. It was such a fun day out and a nice way to catch up with her too as throughout Ramadan I pretty much stayed at home. There is nothing like seeing animals so close up, from rhinos to elephants (they do actually hold onto each others tails when they’re being lead in a direction - the cutest thing to see!). The big cats were pretty disappointing I have to say, they kept to themselves as far away from the path as possible, clearly bored of the vehicles going in and out every day. My favourite? The giraffes OFC!!! and this particular safari park has like 12 of them. I was in my absolute element, especially as they’re so chill. They don’t care about cars driving on the path, they’re happy to walk across the road doing their own thing, bending over in the most hilarious manner to get at a particular branch on the grass. I know the whole blushing giraffe thing isn’t really that relevant to make-up but guys GIRAFFES REALLY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL! From their long lashes, to their graceful walk and even their tails are pretty.

Also driving through the Monkey area is one of the most entertaining parts of the park because just look how adorable they are! These two were cuddling so close to the path I had to take a photo. The thing is though, these monkeys are darn snobby - the only cars they were jumping on were the big 4X4, the Mercs, the BMWs and the Range Rovers. My humble 3 door Toyota wasn't good enough to be a climbing frame for the little things. Still the advantages of that was we could see them having a whale of a time climbing all over big cars just half a meter away from us. There was this one purple car, on which a large monkey sat on for at lest 10 minutes, and he was actually bending down and peering into the side window looking at the driver - idk I think that would scare me a little xD

And that is the end of my July! August should *fingers crossed* have some sort of mention of working out, here’s hoping....and perhaps a little event or two hehe.

How was YOUR July?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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July Update

Phew, July flew by so quickly and it’s been so jam packed I’m still in shock that we’re already at August! I don’t know about wherever you are in the world, but here in the UK the weather has been in its usual ‘can’t make my mind up’ state, with stiflingly hot days during the final part of Ramadan, and torrential rain two weeks later! As usual I’m gonna try and sum up my month with the use of my camera roll and the occasional DLR snap as usual and hopefully I don’t turn this into a full blown essay like June’s one!

BLAME IT ON NARS! [Cheek Palette Review]

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My Z Palette ft. Sleek

Hello everyone,  apologies for the second palette post in a row but I wanted to share another way to make your own custom palette and although it was a bit of a faff it’s been so worth it! I LOVE Sleek eyeshadow palettes, they are some of the best on the market and worth a lot more than the £7.99 price tag. The Ultra Mattes palette was the first ever eyeshadow palette I got from my 17th birthday and since then my collection has rapidly grown, including a few beautiful limited edition palettes. The only problem I have with them is they all look the same from the outside, so when stored away and stacked neatly its hard to distinguish one from the other - meaning that unless its a special occasion I rarely reach for them. They just weren’t getting enough love, so when I saw that my lovely fellow ethical blogger (and talented MUA) Tamanna had made her own custom Z palette I couldn’t help but be inspired to do the same!

 I bought my Z Palette from Lovemakeup for £15.99 (I’m sure there was some sort of discount code I used though) and you can get the same thing from beautybay for £15.95. What is so appealing about these palettes are the clear window making it easy to see exactly what is inside, as well as the magnetic backing. You can purchase shadows from MUG and Inglot and slot them in here with ease, as well as move them about. The magnetic lid is very sturdy and keeps products safe and protected. Also you can pretty much put ANYTHING that is in a pan in here. I have seen the coolest wet’n’wild collections in Z palettes, in a rainbow order as well as blushers and bronzers that have been depotted. This saves space and allows a lot of your collection to be condensed into one place meaning you will actually get a lot more use out of it! If I spot any random sales from beautybay I’ll be picking some more up to hopefully make a blusher palette too.

The issue with Sleek palettes is that the pans are not magnetic, meaning you’ll have to stick a bit of magnet sticker onto each pan. A long and slightly annoying process to say the least but the Z palettes come with plenty of magnetic stickers making it worth the price. (I ended up cutting the stickers in halves, making things even more tedious but I got there in the end). I won’t be explaining how I went about depotting the eyeshadows, as you can read how to in Tamanna’s post here which is very useful ^_^

However I’ll offer you two bits of advice:
1. Be patient, especially when trying to get the black packaging off it takes ages and can be a little painful too ._.
2. It’s a messy process, so wear old clothes and cover surfaces well.

You have to be really really careful when trying to depot and it’s almost unavoidable to smash a couple of shadows in the process. I ended up fixing a couple with surgical spirit (an alternative to rubbing alcohol) but also I chucked out duplicates, as most sleek palettes come with a black shadow and I only needed one. Although the fixed shadows don't look as good, like that beautiful purple/maroon shade on the right, they still work just as well. I also have in the top right corner a bronzer sample from Birchbox, which luckily is already in a magnetic pan. That shade is a brilliant transition colour for the crease (Lord and Berry - Sunny).

Since making this palette, I have used the shadows over and over again. It’s so useful having a couple of palettes combined together and being able to order the shades in their colour families. Sleek eyeshadows are very pigmented and blend together easily. A little goes a long way and having so many shades in one place means I really do use them a tonne more! In this palette I have at (most of the shadows from) the Au Natural Palette, the Oh So Special Palette - reviewed here, the Vintage Romance Palette and a few of the shadows from the Ultra Mattes 2 palette.

I highly highly recommend getting your hands on a Z palette if you have a couple of eyeshadow palettes that you just don’t seem to reach for enough, or if you have lots of singles/duos. Putting them in one palette will mean you are definitely going to be using them more! Plus its like your own unique custom palette, without spending a tonne on buying new shadows ^_^

Have you got a Z palette?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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My Z Palette ft. Sleek

Hello everyone,  apologies for the second palette post in a row but I wanted to share another way to make your own custom palette and although it was a bit of a faff it’s been so worth it! I LOVE Sleek eyeshadow palettes, they are some of the best on the market and worth a lot more than the £7.99 price tag. The Ultra Mattes palette was the first ever eyeshadow palette I got from my 17th birthday and since then my collection has rapidly grown, including a few beautiful limited edition palettes. The only problem I have with them is they all look the same from the outside, so when stored away and stacked neatly its hard to distinguish one from the other - meaning that unless its a special occasion I rarely reach for them. They just weren’t getting enough love, so when I saw that my lovely fellow ethical blogger (and talented MUA) Tamanna had made her own custom Z palette I couldn’t help but be inspired to do the same!

My Inglot Freedom System Palette

Since I first saw the custom Inglot palettes I knew that one day I had to make my own. With a HUGE selection of colours to choose from, the possibilities were endless and to create your own palette with colours you know you’ll actually use is perfect. The trouble is the nearest Inglot store to me is...well not all that near, so when I did finally get the chance to visit one, years later (sounds dramatic but its true lol) I jumped at the chance to create my own! Actually seeing all the shadows in-front of me was both exciting and slightly overwhelming, it took a good half an hour to settle on the shades I wanted. I knew I was going to put together a neutrals palette because lets be honest, they’re the shades I reach for the most and I have to say I’m over the moon with my final palette. From the beautiful, sturdy, magnetic design to the fantastic quality of the shadows, I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

There are a variety of palettes that you can create from a full 40 pan, 20 pan, 10 pan, 5 pan, 4 pan, duo and single pans. There are also other mix and match sizes and you can see the whole selection here. I didn’t want to invest in a 10 pan because it was rather a large amount to spent (the palette itself costs £12.00 and then each shadow cost £5.00 each making the total amount of a 10 pan adding up to £62!). Instead I opted for the 5 pan, which costs £8 and they had a deal on in store where they charge £30 in total for the palette and shadows - you only save £3 but hey that’s still something. The whole idea of the freedom system is that you can mix and match eyeshadows, blushers, concealers and essentially have the freedom to create a custom palette which works best for you. Each of the freedom system palettes are sleek, matte and look so good! I like the fact that the lid of the palette is made of frosted glass, making it easy to see the colours if you have several in your collection. They can also be easily stacked due to the magnetic design which is a great feature for makeup artists and it shows real thought has been put behind the design. The shadows come separately packaged and you can slot them in whatever order you prefer. The single shadows cost £5 and you can also purchase the ‘rainbow’ range which cost £6.50 and have an ombre of one colour (eg. deep orange, mid tone orange and light orange).

The palettes are reusable, making them environmentally friendly, although its a little bit of a mission to actually get the pans out! I got home and quickly tore the packaging off, putting the pans in the order I wanted....only to realise I hadn’t written out the numbers of the shadows .___. which was a silly mistake. I then had to try and gently prise the pans out from the palette, without damaging the shadows and it took a couple of YouTube videos and a lot of patience to finally get them out. Won’t be making that mistake again! The eyeshadows are all numbered which is a shame, they could have come up with creative names instead, but they matched each to a number (and they don’t exactly seem to be ordered in any way??). Each eyeshadow pan contains 2.3g which is almost double the size of MAC’s and they cost half the price! Most of you will know I’m boycotting MAC anyway, but even before I started boycotting them I despised the amount they charged for their shadows. The quality of Inglot shadows are just as, if not better than MAC’s and you are given a huge array of choice.

On to MY eyeshadow palette (finally) - from left to right we have 313, 155, 357, 42 and 327.
Although these shadows are all decently pigmented alone - I never wear eyeshadow without a concealer/base first so I decided to swatch each shadow alone once and then over a base right next to it (the essence I heart stage base was the one was used here).

313 - The perfect base colour, I always dust some shadow over my eyelids no matter what as I conceal the darkness and this shadow does is great for setting it in place. It is a light yellow/ cream colour, a few shades lighter than my skintone and it brightens up my eyes when worn alone. It also makes any colour over the top stand out brighter too. As you can see the base really makes this pop, so a little goes a long way. It’ll probably be the first shadow I repurchase as I use it almost every day. Also it makes a superb brow bone highlight.

155 - I am a huge fan of gold eyeshadows, they compliment brown eyes beautifully and the moment I swatched this I knew I had to have it. 155 is a ‘shine’ type of shadow and its again a yellow/warm based gold colour which is flattering all over the lid, yet also not too dark on my olive skintone to add a pop of colour on the inner-corner. Though its a gold shadow it’s not too striking, which means its more versatile and wearable than a more true-golden shade. My favourite way to wear it is in the inner third of the eye, it adds just enough shimmer and glitz without going over-board for a day-to-day look.

357 - This is the shade I picked up as my go-to crease shade. It is a medium toned brown which has a slight coolness to it. Interestingly, though this is also a matte shade it does seem to change in colour over a base, so you can certainly build it up. I like how the grey in the shade adds a shadow like effect without losing the warmth. Though quite different from the shade salted caramel (too faced chocolate bar palette) which is a wonderful crease shade too, this is a firm favourite. On a standard day I’ll run a little of this through the crease, with 313 as the base and voila I have a perfect matte eye, with no effort at all. It does what I wanted it to do, with a little going a long way so I’ve barely made a dent in it at all.

42 - I wanted to get a shimmery/shine brown shade and 42 is absolutely beautiful. A rich, earthy brown with a bronzy undertone. It is the perfect shade to accompany 155, these two were made for each other! I love this shade for adding more warmth and a touch of darkness, or packed over most of the lid as it’s so versatile. It’s actually appearing lighter in the swatch then it does on my eyelids but it is buildable so it has many uses. Sometimes I like to add a tiny bit and smoke out my bottom lashline and because its not too dark, it doesn’t look super intense!

327 - The final shade I picked up is a dark matte brown, with a pinch of coolness to it. It is perfect for turning a day look to a night look. Highly buildable, so a little can add some great definition to the crease, or you can build a full on smoky eye with this shade. Applied under the lower lash line, it adds more depth and definition and I also like to use this instead of eyeliner for a softer look. When travelling with this palette, I had to use this shade as a brow powder and it looked, surprisingly, really great as it’s not too warm, yet you still only need a little to fill in the sparseness. So its great to know that, if I leave the ABH pomade at home, my brows can still have some structure! Overall another fantastic versatile, deeply pigmented shade.

This post is super super long, but I hope it has been useful for you! I believe the Inglot freedom system palette is one of the best custom palettes/ranges around. You get real bang for your buck as they say, with almost double the amount of product from other companies, for such a cheap price. The range of shades available is phenomenal, and there is a great consistency across the range in terms of quality. They blend together with ease and a little goes a long way meaning these will last me for ages. With a base each of these shades are highly pigmented and I must say the colours I put together work wonderfully. I’ve been using it consistency since I bought it and though I have enough palettes in my collection to keep me satisfied, when I next want to make a custom palette Inglot is the place I will be visiting!

They also have a pretty cool feature where you can do a virtual make over where you can pick a model (or upload your own face) and then choose colours and see how they look on the virtual model, which is vaguely like playing one of those strange makeover games but it’s pretty accurate! I wish there were more Inglot stores widely available though, as I do think swatching the shadows in person is an important part of making your own palette, so when you next get the chance be prepared to spend a good half an hour or so indulging yourself in the huge selection!

Have you tried the Inglot Freedom Palette Range?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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My Inglot Freedom System Palette

Since I first saw the custom Inglot palettes I knew that one day I had to make my own. With a HUGE selection of colours to choose from, the possibilities were endless and to create your own palette with colours you know you’ll actually use is perfect. The trouble is the nearest Inglot store to me is...well not all that near, so when I did finally get the chance to visit one, years later (sounds dramatic but its true lol) I jumped at the chance to create my own! Actually seeing all the shadows in-front of me was both exciting and slightly overwhelming, it took a good half an hour to settle on the shades I wanted. I knew I was going to put together a neutrals palette because lets be honest, they’re the shades I reach for the most and I have to say I’m over the moon with my final palette. From the beautiful, sturdy, magnetic design to the fantastic quality of the shadows, I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

Review | L.A Girl Pro Conceal Correctors in Yellow, Orange and Green

The permanent first position in my most read posts is the L.A Girl Pro Conceal concealers and I’ve also reviewed the shade Creamy Beige which I use to subtly highlight. So it probably comes of no surprise to you that when I heard they came out with correctors I logged into beautyjoint without a second thought!

There are three correctors in the line so far and to be honest I was excited to try all of them. Most people have a little bit of discolouration on the face and especially those of a south asian ethnicity, so correctors are essential because colour correcting is the key part of make up if you have any form of discolouration on the face. As you may know I’ve started a makeup course online, and though I’m only 17% done (getting there slowly but surely) there is a very detailed module on colour correcting. Way too much for me to take in 100% but enough for me to get the basics down - of which I shall be explaining below!

I was curious to find out if they had changed the formula of these from the concealers, because although they are packaged exactly the same, I would have expected the consistency to be a little thinner. This was not the case, the formula of these correctors are just as thick and pigmented as the original concealers, which means a little bit goes a LONG way! However they are easily blendable, just like the concealers and they don’t need a lot of warming up as some cream correctors tend to do. The applicator is the same too, which isn’t very functional unfortunately because although its perfect for applying highlight/contour shades where you need them, with something like colour correcting you often only need a small enough to be effective (especially when they’re so super pigmented!). I’m going to go through each shade individually:

Orange
This was undoubtedly the shade I was the most excited to try out because orange correctors are perfect for correcting dark circles. I don’t know where I would be without my favourite Benefit Erase Paste in shade 3 which is a peachy toned and hides away 95% of the darkness, all ready for a brightening concealer on top. I knew the shade would be a deeper orange but nothing could prepare me for just how dark the orange corrector shade is from L.A Girl!! It is MEGA dark and the first few times I used this corrector I just kept applying far too much and even with a thicker concealer over the top, the dark tones of the orange kept peeking through - not a good look. Is this the orange corrector for everyone? No. It’ll be great for those of you who have INTENSELY dark circles which are not blue in tone. It’ll also be great for anyone with dark patches of discolouration and to be honest if this is the only corrector in your price range, it’s worth giving a shot but ONE tip: use the tiniest amount and blend blend blend. Bottom line is it will correct darkness, but it’s not easy to use by any means. Patience and blending are a must! I don't think I would repurchase this shade because I find a peachy tone works much better for me and is less hassle. Plus this tube will last me for over a year as you literally need the smallest amount.


Green
The Green shade was another one I was interested to try as it’s essential for correcting redness. I don’t have such strong redness that I have invested in a green primer, but a little bit of this stuff really does correct the redness around the nose and cheeks. Again this is such a strongly pigmented product that the best way to apply this is to take a tiny amount and pat it in-between the two ring fingers, which will sheer it out ever so slightly. As I’ve said above, a lot of product comes out so it’s really important to apply a small amount which will actually corrects redness. The first time I used this I put it on directly from the tube and it showed through the foundation - not a good look at all!  So does it work? Yes indeed it does and it’s a step I’ve loved taking when I’m going for a flawless base because the whole purpose of colour correcting is to even out the base before foundation. It’s also excellent for those super red spots. You then only need a small amount of foundation - avoiding any cakey look. I actually love that you need the tiniest amount because it will means the tube will last for ages and though it’s not a step I would take on a regular basis, cause ain’t nobody got time for that, I’m really happy that I have it in my collection for those occasions where I want a more flawless base. I probably would repurchase this in the future.


Yellow
Yellow is a brightening colour, which both adds glow to the skin and a little like the green corrector, helps to balance out redness too. Its probably a better shade to go for over the green if you have only a little bit of redness. It also works well under the eyes if your dark circles are mainly purple in tone, as it’s opposite to purple on the colour wheel, however if you have blue/brown dark circles go for peach! Personally I love yellow on my olive skintone because its essential for brightening up the under-eyes (on top of a corrector ofc) and this stuff is SUPER yellow. I was kinda hoping it would be a brighter yellow, but its a true in your face bright-as-the-sun yellow shade. I either apply this before the creamy beige shade and blend the two shades together, or I mix it with whatever concealer I have and it adds a little more coverage and a lot more brightness! I’ve already used half of this up so I’ll be needing to restock in a bit I’m sure ^_^

UPDATE: I now have mixed orange and yellow together in a little pot, to make the most perfect shade which actually works for me yaaay!

I hope those descriptions were useful for you! They’re extremely pigmented so A LITTLE GOES A LONG LONG WAY.  As the texture is fairly thick it’s a good idea to sheer it out a little and again make sure to blend out the corrector so it actually colour corrects and counteracts discolouration, rather than sitting thickly over the top - and then showing through the foundation. You can purchase it from beautyjoint, but I've noticed they've increased their price :( and also their shipping price which is a real shame. So I'd recommend beautybay.

To read my reviews and see swatches of some of the original shades click here.

To read the review of my favourite (natural!) highlighting shade creamy beige click here.

Have you tried colour correcting?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Review | L.A Girl Pro Conceal Correctors in Yellow, Orange and Green

The permanent first position in my most read posts is the L.A Girl Pro Conceal concealers and I’ve also reviewed the shade Creamy Beige which I use to subtly highlight. So it probably comes of no surprise to you that when I heard they came out with correctors I logged into beautyjoint without a second thought!

There are three correctors in the line so far and to be honest I was excited to try all of them. Most people have a little bit of discolouration on the face and especially those of a south asian ethnicity, so correctors are essential because colour correcting is the key part of make up if you have any form of discolouration on the face. As you may know I’ve started a makeup course online, and though I’m only 17% done (getting there slowly but surely) there is a very detailed module on colour correcting. Way too much for me to take in 100% but enough for me to get the basics down - of which I shall be explaining below!

Review | Topshop Lip Liner in Beestung

Lip-liners are all the rage these days and whilst I adore the Rimmel line, I was interested in trying out a few more on the market. Topshop lip liners cost a mere fiver which was reason enough for me to give them a go, despite not hearing much about them (especially in comparison to the Topshop lipsticks which are well loved!). The first shade I bought did not leave me disappointed - Beestung is GORGEOUS!

Firstly lets talk about the cute packaging, I love the font of the word Lip Liner and the whole makeup packaging theme. Encased in white, the pencil is easy to find and I like how the end of the pencil is coloured matching the shade on the inside - making it easy to find. This is a typical pencil liner which needs sharpening and the formula is what really makes it special - creamy, highly pigmented and it glides on with ease. I was surprised at how rich and creamy this pencil is, filling in all the lips is super easy with absolutely no dragging or tugging and..... it doesn’t dry my lips out at all. Something that can’t be said about the majority of lipliners out there!! Well done topshop, ur winning

I adore the colour of Beehive, it leans on the  nude/neutral side of things without being pink which is a refreshing change. It definitely has a 90s feel about it, but without the mauve touch. I’d say its a very muted brick red splashed with a little brown and a dollop of orange. Hopefully the swatch can do it more justice than that description, which took me a good few minutes to come up with! What I love most is that this shade is it really does give the illusion of fuller lips, without looking OTT.  I think this is a MUST have for olive/deeper skintones. Not only does it make lips look fuller, but it just pulls your whole face together. I’ve been using just this and a bit of concealer on dark circles for the days I can’t be bothered and it works a treat.

Alone, under-lipstick or with a gloss on top - it’s brilliant either way. It’s also dark enough to be a more sophisticated shade, without looking vampy or harsh. The main disadvantages I have found are that due to its creamy texture it’s not quite as long lasting and I do have to top-up a little more often however the comfortable formula does make it worth it! Also again, the texture of the pencil means that I have to sharpen it a little more often that I would like.

Final Verdict:

Product rating: 9

Pros: Amazing velvety texture, so so creamy! However it’s not so creamy that it fails to define the lips well either. Highly pigmented, doesn’t drag on the lips, easy to fill in the lips and also very comfortable to wear. I love to wear this shade alone and under-lipstick. It’s a classy darker nude, which is so flattering on olive skintones in particular and I’ve been wearing it so often I needed to share it with you all! 

Cons: When worn alone it’s not super long-lasting, it generally fades within 3-4 hours. Also due to its luxuriously creamy texture it needs to be sharpened more often than your standard lipliner.

Repurchase? I don’t know how consistent Topshop are with their lipliners so I will 100% be picking up a back up of this soon, just in-case it disappears from the shelves!

Have you tried anything from the Topshop lips range?

 

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Review | Topshop Lip Liner in Beestung

Lip-liners are all the rage these days and whilst I adore the Rimmel line, I was interested in trying out a few more on the market. Topshop lip liners cost a mere fiver which was reason enough for me to give them a go, despite not hearing much about them (especially in comparison to the Topshop lipsticks which are well loved!). The first shade I bought did not leave me disappointed - Beestung is GORGEOUS!

Review | Soap and Glory Make Yourself Youthful Rejuvenating Eyecream

Today’s review is on my favourite eye-cream that I have tried in the one year since I’ve added an eyecream to my routine. Even though it’s been a fairly recent step, I’ve tried a couple of eye-creams and so far the Soap and Glory Make Yourself Youthful Rejuvinating Eye Cream (£14) has been the one that I am loving enough to repurchase in the future. Eye-creams are an essential in my skincare routine because my under-eye area is my biggest problem area on my face - dark circles, fine lines, occasional dryness, you name it I’ve probably dealt with it!  So keeping that area hydrated is a must and this eyecream does a fantastic job at doing just that. Even if you don't have to face half of the issues I mentioned, it's important to keep the under-eye hydrated as it's such a delicate area of the face, with the thinnest skin so it's worth spending a little more and giving the under-eye some TLC. I'm still a huge fan of Sweet Almond Oil for brightening dark circles, however it doesn't provide quite enough moisture alone - especially for this stubborn dry patch that I have under my brow and the only thing that can help that go away is this eye cream - it's amazing!

What makes this eyecream better than others I have tried, both cheaper and more expensive, is the formula. It’s creamy without being thick or greasy and although I do like to use a more amount generous at night, I can get away with using this as a day eye-cream under makeup too - provided I don’t use too much! This is something I only found out recently because it’s so moisturising I was sure it would be too much for day-time, I was wrong - so long as you use a tiny amount and give it at least 2-3 minutes before applying make-up it works great either day or night.  The cream absorbs quickly under the eyes and instantly takes away any dehydrated tight feeling which is amazing! A lot of the times when I’ve not had a full nights sleep, my eye’s will look and feel tired and so will the delicate skin underneath it, so to have the under-eyes soothed and plumped up a little is a step I have come to look forwards too. It contains shea butter which explains why it’s so great at moisturising and also a bunch of other stuff which, frankly I don’t have any idea what it is (SUPER-YOUTH™P3000 complex, oxygen boosting ENERGINSENG™, INSTANT SWIFTLIFT™ effect technology, undereye-brightening LIGHTSCRAMBLE LUMINOSPHERES™ - anyone????) but regardless it works like a charm.

The packaging is this cute little silver tub, which isn’t the MOST hygienic, but when dealing with skincare my hands are always 100% clean so I don’t have any worries there. I love how cute the box is, without any gaudy colours, it looks rather chic to me - and it’s lightweight to travel with too. I find a little goes a long way and that really is my only problem with this! I know it sounds strange but eyecreams only typically have a shelf-life of 6 months and I’ve had this tub open for at least 9. I was silly and only used this at night for 4-5 months because I was using the good things one for day time (no complaints with that either it just isn’t quite as hydrating) - so now I’m stuck with loads of product left months and months after I opened it *sigh*. I’m not normally so vigilant with shelf-lives however with creams on the face I do think one needs to be a little careful...what are your thoughts? Have you used out of date moisturisers? 6 months is a ridiculous time frame, but what can you do eh?

All in all this is an amazing eye cream for the price, though it’s not the most student friendly it’s a lot cheaper than high-end brands despite doing just as good of a job. If you have dry, dehydrated or tight under-eyes I highly recommend trying this out!

Final Verdict:

Product rating: 8.5

Pros: Moisturising, absorbs into the skin easily, contains shea butter which is known as a ‘skin super food’ and has tonnes of benefits, isn’t greasy, a little goes a long way, sleek packaging, easy to travel with, the only thing that get's rid of that stubborn dry patch, better quality than some of the high-end alternatives and more effective too. 

Cons: The only one I can think of is that it’s shelf-life is 6m but that’s pretty standard I believe.

Repurchase? As soon as I can grab it in a 3for2 offer I will do and this time I’ll use it day and night too!

Do you have a favourite eye-cream? 

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Review | Soap and Glory Make Yourself Youthful Rejuvenating Eyecream

Today’s review is on my favourite eye-cream that I have tried in the one year since I’ve added an eyecream to my routine. Even though it’s been a fairly recent step, I’ve tried a couple of eye-creams and so far the Soap and Glory Make Yourself Youthful Rejuvinating Eye Cream (£14) has been the one that I am loving enough to repurchase in the future. Eye-creams are an essential in my skincare routine because my under-eye area is my biggest problem area on my face - dark circles, fine lines, occasional dryness, you name it I’ve probably dealt with it!  So keeping that area hydrated is a must and this eyecream does a fantastic job at doing just that. Even if you don't have to face half of the issues I mentioned, it's important to keep the under-eye hydrated as it's such a delicate area of the face, with the thinnest skin so it's worth spending a little more and giving the under-eye some TLC. I'm still a huge fan of Sweet Almond Oil for brightening dark circles, however it doesn't provide quite enough moisture alone - especially for this stubborn dry patch that I have under my brow and the only thing that can help that go away is this eye cream - it's amazing!

Review | Broadway imPRESS Press-On Manicure waterproof in ‘bells and whistles’

Hello everyone! Today I am going to be reviewing the new version of the Broadway ImPRESS Press-On Manicure in the shade Bells and Whistles*. I have used the older version of these in the past and can give you a little insight on the differences, the main one being that these are waterproof and so will adhere to the nails better and last longer too! Also the new version includes a beautiful accent nail which really jazzes up the mani.

I love these packs of press on nails - quick, convenient and hassle-free. As someone who doesn’t wear nail polish often, when I do decide to paint my nails I tend to lack the patience because it’s so time consuming - Base coat, layer one, layer two, top coat, clean up....phew I’m feeling tired just thinking about it! That's where these come in and I think they're fantastic for special occasions especially because more often then not it's one of those last details that get left to the end and is easy to forget. These packs make it relatively easy to have a salon looking manicure in a matter of minutes and from the comfort of your own home. In fact when I tried the older version of these (the ones that come in a packet that is shaped like a nail polish bottle) I put them on whilst on a train to London and I was done in less than 10 minutes - impressive!

As you can see the instructions are clear and easy to read. Inside the box you are supplied with a little leaflet which clearly explains how to apply them, so they're very user-friendly. I was also impressed with how you are given a cleaning pad and a mini nail file too!

You are given 30 nails, 6 of which have a different design on them and they are thicker than the original version so do look more like a gel mani. I found it relatively easy to match the sizes to my finger nails, although it can be a little bit of a hit and miss for some, especially if you have larger thumbs or smaller hands. Basically you peel off the sticky tab and push the nail ontop of your own nails, et voila! A bit of pressing down and you are done. The size of these are short/medium and just how I like them, long enough to make my chubby hands feel a tad sophisticated, but not so long that I feel like I've grown coloured claws! The accent nail is my favourite in this particular set, I love how pretty the design is.

The actual colour of 'bells and whistles' isn't really my cup of tea, I would have preferred dark ones or even the pink ones, which have the most beautiful accent nails included too! I find these kinda Aqua shades tricky to work on with my brown skintone, however for cooler toned girls these would look beautiful!

You can purchase the new version from larger ASDA stores and the older versions are available on boots.com or online using a quick google search. Overall the addition of the accent nail makes a lovely change, however I think the quality between the older ones and the newer ones don't differ much. I expect these would last a little longer, I couldn't keep mine on for more than a day due to my job, but they remained strong when doing the washing up - so they do live up to their waterproof claim! I also didn't find them too challenging to take off which was a relief, so for anyone looking for a quick mani for a special occasion or event I highly recommend Broadway imPRESS ^_^

Final Verdict:

Product rating: 7.5 

Pros: Super easy to use, the instructions are clear, it comes with a preperation pad and  mini nail file, the the accent nail makes a interesting change to your standard manicure, gel like finish, length of the nails aren't too long or imprctible, easy enough to remove and basically for anyone who can't be bothered faffing about with nail polish or doesn't want to pay for a salon manicure, these make a good alternative! There are also a variety of colours and styles to choose from.

Cons: May not fit everyone's hands, the new range can be a little hard to get a hold of - I'll update this when they become more easy to find!

Repurchase? Yes I would, they're reliable, sturdy and easy to use. A must have for weddings in my opinion because I certainly don't have time to deal with smudgy nails!

Have you tried press-on Manicures before? What are your thoughts?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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