Brilliant Benefit Box - Cheeky Sweet Spot (Not To Be Missed!)

Hello ladies! Just a quick second post for today to show you this wonderful gift set from Benefit! I adore Soap & Glory x-mas gift sets but I’d never really looked at higher-end ones before. When I saw someone on twitter share a photo of her set I googled it and was so impressed by what the ladies at Benefit have put together! 5 Blushes, 1 Bronzer and 1 Highlighter plus a mini brush all encased in an adorable tin.

It is currently on sale for £29.50 and you save 55%! The main reason why I was so drawn to this ‘blushin’ blockbuster’ was because I have only tried one powder product from Benefit. The Hoola bronzer and it blew me away, so when I saw the chance to pick up 5 blush shades for the price of one and a half (approximately). I did at first think about trying to bag this in the sale but them memories flooded back to the bitter disappointment last year when all high-end gift sets were gone by 9am. Yes really, 9am!

There was also a wonderful points offer on instore, spend £50 and get £12 of points, so it was a brilliant chance! I have been thinking about picking up the Coralista and Rockateur blush as well as the Watt’s Up! highlighter. However I have already bought more than enough high-end items this year and didn’t want to splurge out. So to pick up 6 powders and a highlighter for less than £30 is amaaaazing! Seriously, if you buy ONE thing this month, make sure it’s this one!

You get a very decent amount of each powder. To be exact 4g of Dandelion, 5g of Hoola,Rockateur, Coralista, Bella Bamba, 6g of Sugarbomb and 1.5g of Watts Up!

You also get a cute little guide book which gives suggestions on when you could wear each shade. I love how portable and travel friendly this is, and the tin packaging keeps the powders very protected. I will be taking this with me whenever I go away for a weekend, but I will also keep this cute box on my dressing table and dip into any shade whenever I want to ^_^

I am so overjoyed with this I had to type this up the same day I bought it! I hope you enjoy it too if you get your hands on this amazing deal, which you can pick up online here or instore at your local Benefit counter!

Thanks for reading!

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Brilliant Benefit Box - Cheeky Sweet Spot (Not To Be Missed!)

Hello ladies! Just a quick second post for today to show you this wonderful gift set from Benefit! I adore Soap & Glory x-mas gift sets but I’d never really looked at higher-end ones before. When I saw someone on twitter share a photo of her set I googled it and was so impressed by what the ladies at Benefit have put together! 5 Blushes, 1 Bronzer and 1 Highlighter plus a mini brush all encased in an adorable tin.

September 2014 Favourites

Hello! I hope you’re all doing well. September has been the month of new beginnings for everyone aside from University students. Does anyone else feel like our holidays are too long? I have to say despite having a load of work already, I am pretty happy to be back at Uni. (Having said that it’s only been two days, but still lets start off on a positive note!)

This month I started somewhat of a rota again with my stash. In an effort to use up unethical products and also try out new products, I had a strict list to work with for two weeks and then a one week break to just wear whatever I wanted. I’ve really enjoyed doing this rota because it’s meant I have had to use products in my collection that I normally wouldn’t be too fussed about. E.G Sleek Pumpkin Blush-By-3! (Reviewed here).

Essence I <3 Extreme Crazy Volume Mascara | £2.80

This is the first mascara that has ever made it into a monthly favourites of mine *applause*. The reason why is because it really does what it says on the tube, and boy does it do it well. Those who dislike clumpy lashes, this might not be for you, I feel like it has some sort of fibres to it because my lashes look a great deal thicker, and it’s almost like a fake lash effect. Definitely not one for everyday but used with a lengthening mascara first, this one is amazing and at such a fantastic price too!

Essence XXXL Lipgloss Matt effect 06  | £2.30

This has been my go-to lip colour as of late, a gorgeous brown nude which looks so wonderful on olive skintones. It is similar to that famous Kylie Jenner brown but perhaps a little warmer. As for the matt effect, I would describe it as more of a velvetish texture, it’s not glossy and its not drying. With the lipliner it lasts a good 6ish hours, it does fade but I’m really not one to keep checking, so if a product is still on my lips after 3 hours and looks semi-decent I’m happy!

 

Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner - Addiction | £3.99

From Rimmel’s new retractable lip liner range, and this shade is a wonderful mauvey pink. It does a great job at making lips look defined and larger, and the shape of the liner helps a lot too! I always apply this before I wear the above ‘matt gloss’, but I enjoy wearing it on it’s on too. A sophisticated neutral shade that is a must for every girl!

 

Face wise this month Bourjois has been running the show for me!

Bourjois Healthy Balance Powder | £8.99

The first powder I ever truly loved, this compact with it’s slight coverage and amazing ability to not matteify but still set my base has blown me away. For the past week and a half I’ve been testing out the brand new BareMinerals Bareskin foundation, and with the warmer weather we have randomly been experiencing and it’s dewy finish I have found myself reaching for this quite often. It prolongs my base time by at least 3 hours and if I apply my bareskin foundation at 10am and don’t set it, but then around 5pm I apply a little of this powder, my face looks fresh and almost as if I’ve just done my makeup. I cannot express how much love I have for this pot, thank-you Bourjois!!

 

Bourjois Delice De Poudre Bronzer Duo | £6.75 from lookfantastic

The second has been this duo, which surprised me more than anything. At first glance you can see little shimmers in the pan, nat cool, but when applied on the skin I don’t notice it at all. What I do see is a great mix between cool and warm, thus very suitable for contouring the cheekbones whilst adding a wee bit of warmth! The highlight is subtle and slightly yellow toned, it’s not my favourite (we all know Mary-Lou has had that spot for well over a year!) but it’s great for work/Uni when perhaps one does not always want to shine bright like a diamond.

 

Sweet Almond Oil | £5.65

The only skincare favourite from this month has been this 100% pure sweet almond oil. I purchased this from iherb and the reason was because I was watching HudaBeauty talk about concealing dark circles, and she mentioned a product that contained this. I knew it would be relatively cheap and why buy a £50+ product when you can buy a possibly amazing part of it alone for a fraction of that price! I have been using this every single night for 3 weeks running, and I have noticed a slight reduction in my dark circles. Unfortunately I’ve had a couple of bad nights recently and so they’re playing havoc again, but I think with some dedication and constant use over a long period of time this oil will work better than slices of cucumbers ever did for me!

And that is about it for the month of September! Keep an eye out later today because I have a very excited product to share with you, from Benefit! Until then, have a lovely weekend ^_^

What were some of your favourites from September? If you’re a blogger please link your favourites below, I’d love to have a read when I get the time :)

Thanks for reading!

Follow Via Bloglovin' | Tweet Me | Follow on Instagram | Like The Blushing Giraffe on Facebook

September 2014 Favourites

Hello! I hope you’re all doing well. September has been the month of new beginnings for everyone aside from University students. Does anyone else feel like our holidays are too long? I have to say despite having a load of work already, I am pretty happy to be back at Uni. (Having said that it’s only been two days, but still lets start off on a positive note!)

This month I started somewhat of a rota again with my stash. In an effort to use up unethical products and also try out new products, I had a strict list to work with for two weeks and then a one week break to just wear whatever I wanted. I’ve really enjoyed doing this rota because it’s meant I have had to use products in my collection that I normally wouldn’t be too fussed about. E.G Sleek Pumpkin Blush-By-3! (Reviewed here).

Contouring 3 Ways |Sculpting-out-ya-cheekbones Contouring

Hello! I hope you are all well! I have started my second year at uni, and aside from some extra transport issues, its been a fantastic day, quite glad to be back to a having a routing and just getting educated y’know? Anyway todays post is the final part of my contouring series. I hope you’ve enjoyed them so far!

Sculpting-out-ya-cheekbones Contouring (AKA: Heavy/I’ve made a effort/KIM K)

This is your full on contour, chiselled cheekbones to perfection type of contour. My favourite way to do this for a special occasion is to actually layer up with creams and powders. So I start a liquid contour and then set it with a darker powder.

HOW:

1. Starting with either the E.L.F Cream contour duo or the L.A Girl PRO Conceal concealer in beautiful bronze. I carefully apply my contour in the areas shown on your standard face chart. Of course every face shape is different, so it could take a little experimenting and trial and error to find the right ‘place’ to add the bronzer onto your face. Generally I feel for the bone area and apply the cream contour JUST under. I always add some cream contour to the jawline to disguise that double chin!
2. Then I take my e.l.f small stipple duo brush and gently buff and blend the contour out a little. At this point it will still look a little crazy but it’s alright, it’s all part of the process ^_^
3. Next taking a larger fluffy brush (95% of the time the trusty RT contour brush!) I gently tap it into a powder which isn’t a warm orange tone and go directly over the contour. Because the powder I use for a stronger contour is darker and more cool toned I never go heavy handed with this, again being gentle and taking your time add the powder. I always start at the top of the cheekbone and concentrate the most amount of contour powder at that point, blending downwards.
4. I then proceed to add blusher just over that contour line and blend the blush out upwards slightly. This adds colour to the cheeks, makes your face look more alive and slightly lessens the intensity of the contour. To me this makes the most flawless cheek and really gives the illusions that I don’t have chubby cheeks, instead I have cheekbones that could potentially slay. (am I getting carried away? ok I'm sorry but strong cheekbones change a girl!)

Nose Contouring?

With the nose its a tough one, honestly do not ever nose contour le nose in a hurry unless you’ve been doing it with plenty of practise, because nose contouring when gone wrong looks a lot worse than bad cheek contouring._. The best advice I can give it to literally youtube nose contouring and spend a decent amount of time observing how people do contour their noses because lets be honest, whilst there are probably 5 ‘face-shapes’ out there there are probably 10x the amount of different nose shapes and sizes.

I use and recommend:

The Balm Bahama Mama | £13.50: An amazing matte shade which is a cross between a dark brown and grey. It’s the first bronzer that I bought which has a real sculpting effect. It can look a little dark but applied precisely and blended out well and you can really achieve a fantastic shadow effect.

E.L.F Brow Kit in Medium | £3.95: You must be pretty confused if you haven’t read THIS post, but I’m sure you get the idea! This cool toned brown is literally the most wonderful sculpting contour I have ever discovered. It’s a tad lighter than Bahama Mama and so gives a shaped appearance with a little less effort.

Benefit Hoola Bronzer | £23.50: This is raved by beauty lovers all the time,  and there’s a great reason for it. It suits fair to medium skintones and can be built up with ease. I find that a little bit sculpts but I can also achieve a warmth from this matte shade too.

All three of these are wonderful sculpting powders and I love having them in my collection for when I want a stronger contour.

Which products do you turn to when you want a strong contour? I’d love to know!

Thanks for reading!

 Follow Via Bloglovin' | Tweet Me | Follow on Instagram | Like The Blushing Giraffe on Facebook

Contouring 3 Ways |Sculpting-out-ya-cheekbones Contouring

Hello! I hope you are all well! I have started my second year at uni, and aside from some extra transport issues, its been a fantastic day, quite glad to be back to a having a routing and just getting educated y’know? Anyway todays post is the final part of my contouring series. I hope you’ve enjoyed them so far!