My Favourite Three...YSL

Hey Dolls :)



I was requested to do my favourite three YSL items and yet again, I've cheated!


Creme De Blush in 5 Fuschia Temptation

I normally hate cream to powder blushers, preferring instead the formulation of the illamasqua cream products that stay dewy on the cheek. However, the formula of YSL cream blushers have absolutely blown me away. On first touch, they are ridiculously creamy but not greasy - when blended, the blush turns into a satiny powder. In the pot, fuchsia temptation looks rather scary - however it blends out into the most beautiful pink flush (I've included swatches of everything at the bottom). It lasts the full day without needing to be touched up and you literally need a smidgen for both cheeks. They are pricey at £28 but they last such a long time because of how little you use!

Faux Cils

I still love faux cils though it has its flaws. I absolutely love how it makes my lashes look - extremely black, thick and voluminous. However, it really does dry up far too quickly for the amount of money it costs to repurchase it every couple of months. Instead, I prefer keeping it as a treat purchase! You can read my full review here.

Lip Products

Yeah I cheated...I picked three lipsticks from my favourite YSL formulations. At the top is rouge pur 28 tyrian purple which is a bright fuchsia with a subtle silver that runs through - you can see me wear it here. Rouge Pur's are really creamy and pigmented and despite being such a vibrant colour don't feather or bleed. However, it isn't as long lasting in comparison to many other brights I have in my collection, though it does leave a lovely stain (not in a bad way) on the lips.

Next is rouge volupte 19 Frivolous Pink - which is quite a bright baby pink. Rouge Voluptes are probably the creamiest lipsticks I have ever tried - they are so opaque and glossy on the lips. However, the staying power is lower than the rouge purs - I try and see this a positive, at least I get to whip the beautiful lipstick out my bag more often!

Lastly is a recent lip combination I have fallen in love with - Rouge Pur Couture in number 11 rose carnation and a golden gloss in 42 Candy Pink. Rose Carnation is a browny pink that has a wonderfully glossy finish. The rouge pur coutures are not as creamy as the rouge pur and voluptes but they feel just as moisturising and are a little more longer wearing. Candy Pink is a beautiful pink gloss with a gold sparkle - it looks equally as pretty on its own or over rose carnation. It is a little sticky but less so than MAC dazzleglasses for instance but is just as long lasting.

I've included swatches below - sorry I don't have any full face pictures of these in action, I've been off work all week with a hideous virus and my swollen face will do them no justice, however if you wish to see how any of these look on, I'll be more than happy to, when I feel a tad more human!


Rouge pur couture 11, golden gloss 42, 11 and 42 together, rouge pur 128, rouge volupte 19, fuschia temptation swatched then blended.

Lots of Love
Nicola
xx

My Face!

Hey Dolls :)

When it comes to foundation, I prefer to switch between products, depending on my particular skin needs of that day. However, one particular combination seems to very quickly have become a favourite of mine...


Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer Palette


Tiffany recently sent me this as I couldn't find it in the UK and I am so grateful as I love it! In the pallete there are two concealer shades, a colour corrector and a setting powder. Previously, I had always sworn by MAC's studio finish concealer, however when I picked it up again I realised how grainy and cakey it can appear in comparison. The concealers are so creamy and blend seamlessly into the skin - I find that mixing the lighter and darker shades together give the perfect colour for my skin tone. The corrector is ideal to use on any redness and blemishes and the powder has a lovely brightening effect for under the eyes - if you can get your hands on this I really recommend giving it a try!

Chanel Mat Lumiere

Mat lumiere was a bit of an impulse purchase - I was always in two minds about how the finish is described - matte but with a luminosity, particularly as I have oily skin. Often, mattifying foundations can look a little plastic and made up, however the luminous particles in mat lumiere really do create a more natural finish. It gives a good deal of coverage however I have noticed, particularly in this humid heat, that the longevity is no where near other foundations I have tried - by mid afternoon I need to touch up my make up.

One thing I love about mat lumiere is how beautifully it photographs - It looks very natural and 'skin-like' as opposed to a mask. While mat lumiere is not perfect, it is definitely fulfilling my foundation needs of the moment!

Chanel Poudre Universelle Libre


I have finally found a transluscent powder that doesn't break my skin out! This powder is so silky and glides effortlessly onto the skin creating a really soft finish. It never looks powdery or cakey, neither does it cast an ashy tone. Again, it photographs beautifully - this with mat lumiere is definitely my new combination for wearing on a night out! While it is expensive for powder, the tub is huge and you use a minimal amount of product with each application - I can see this lasting me a long time!

BEFORE


AFTER

As you can see, this combination evens out my complexion and covers any redness while still looking natural!

Lots of Love
Nicola
xxx

Beautylish

Hey Dolls :)

I love talking about make up...most people I know think it's a little silly that I can spend hours talking about 4692378247 different colours of lipstick. But that's what makes blogging so amazing, there are actually other people out there that I can share this with! Nothing makes me more excited than when I find an amazing new blog to read, however I always feel that I must be missing some amazing blogs because of the sheer amount that are out there.

I was proved correct today when I joined beautylish. It's amazing! You make a beautylish profile, here's a snippet of mine here...



and from there, you are able to add/read reviews of products, follow other people's profiles to keep up to date with their reviews and activity and interact on forums. I've had so much fun reading other people's reviews and having a good nosy and chat on the forums.

From the forums I have already found some AMAZING blogs that I would of never of found if hadn't been for beautylish...such as prettymaking and Jessica Beautician , both of whom you should definitely go and visit - their blogs are so lovely, informative and have brilliant photos.

I'm definitely going to spend the rest of the evening having a flick through all of the blog links posted - here's a link to one of the forum strands where you can post your latest blog post, which is not only a brilliant way to promote your own blog but, as I've done, to discover some brilliant new ones!

Also, the advice, tricks and tips strand is amazing! There's all sorts of discussions going on there from whether a primer really makes a difference to your make up to whether you should apply your concealer or foundation first!

If you have a beautylish profile, let me know so I can follow you!

Lots of Love
Nicola
xxx

Brand Love: Origins

Hey Dolls :)



Origins was always a brand that I was never particularly intrigued by, I'm not really sure why. Rather fickly, it is probably because the packaging or counter never really called out to me, it always seemed a little...dull - terrible I know. However, after reading several rave reviews I went in to see if I could get a sample of one of their eye creams, GinZing. However after talking to the SA and undergoing a consultation, I walked out with a new skin care regime.

Firstly, the experience at the origins counter is one of the best I have ever had. The staff take a real interest in any skin care concerns you have and I felt they actually listened to what I said, and selected products that suit my skin care needs. When you go to the counter, the SA completes a customer record card, recording everything you speak about in the consultation. Following the consultation, you are offered a complimentary facial in a couple of weeks to discuss how your regime is going (which I have taken advantage of and was amazing - I honestly can't believe it was free!). Before buying any products, the SA always demonstrates how to use them and allows you to feel the products in action on the back of your hand.

I really felt that Origins as a brand try to offer a more personal and tailored service, by building a proper personalised relationship with their customers, predominantly through the customer records system which means you mainly deal with the same member of staff each time you visit the counter. On my first visit, I commented that I am very wary of trying new products - instead of trying to push me to buy, the SA gave me generous samples of all the products we had spoken about - amazing! If you look down through the last couple of posts, I have definitely seen an amazing improvement to my skin, overall my skin tone is more even and brighter and my skin definitely produces less oil throughout the day.

1. Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash


I personally would never of considered using a face wash in place of a cleanser, as I never feel that a face wash does anything beneficial to my skin. However, my skin has never felt cleaner and more refreshed since using checks and balances.

I have combination skin, predominantly oily but I do get small dry patches, meaning skin care can be a bit of a nightmare. Checks and Balances is designed for combination skin - however if you're skin is on the drier side I would be a little wary of using this, I could see it being quite drying on already dry skin. However, for a more oily combination this is amazing! My skin feels mattified without feeling tightened plus any dry patches have disappeared.


Scent wise - it's a herbal-y mint, which is pleasant enough, though nothing particularly exciting. To use, I squeeze the tiniest amount into the palm of my hand, lather with lukewarm water and massage into my face before washing off. Checks and balances lathers up so well, it definitely is true to it's name - foamy! I do use a separate eye make up remover as it can sting a little around the eye area. For £16.00 you get 150ml which I think is reasonable considering the amount of product you use for each cleanse. I can't recommend this enough!

2. Balanced Diet Lightweight Moisture Lotion


Balanced diet is another product that is designed for combination skin. I really dislike using heavy moisturisers, particularly on my face as my skin is so oily, however I do still think moisturising is important. For me, balanced diet is perfect; as it's a lotion it is really light on the skin and sinks in really quickly without leaving any residue.


It contains wheat and soy protein that help moisturise the skin, but also konjac powder that helps to soak up any excess oil. My skin has never felt so smooth since using Balanced Diet. Until now, I had still being using La Roche Posay's Effaclar M which, as a mattifying moisturiser, is amazing but I always felt that my skin could feel softer and more moisturised. With Balanced Diet the balance between mattifying and moisturising properties is perfect. For £21 you get 50 ml of product.

3. A Perfect World for eyes

As I mentioned previously, I had originally visited the counter to ask about GinZing, however trying A Perfect World I absolutely had to buy it. I fully believe that if you look after your skin now, it will look after you as you get older, and a good eye cream is key to this. A perfect world is the smoothest, silkiest eye treatment I have ever tried, it is more like a gel/serum than a cream - which is a big change to Kiehl's creamy eye treatment which I had been using previously. My eye area seems much brighter and refreshed and again you need the tiniest amount. It is quite expensive at £27.00 however, in comparison to the kiehl's eye cream, you get 1 ml more for the same price and you use less product so for me, a perfect world is...perfect!

4. Brighter by Nature Brightening Peel

Brighter by Nature is a completely new concept to me - an exfoliater that is a pad. Initially, I was a little wary as the pads smell a little more of alcohol compared to the other products - however I honestly think these pads have done a lot of work to how bright my skin looks. They use fruit acids to peel away dead skin which, when used routinely has really evened out and brightened my skin tone.


I use a Brighter by Nature pad twice a week, sweeping the pad over my entire face before moisturising. The pads do feel quite abrasive on the skin so use them gently, and you are left with a slight tingling sensation. Again, these seem quite pricy at £29.00 however, I read that when you work it out, using two pads a week, one pot of pads last 5 months - which works out to £5.80 a month!

I hope you can see how much I love these products and the brand as a whole. All of Origins products are free from Parabans, mineral oil, petrolatum, paraffin, animal ingredients and are 100% natural. They are tested on voluntary panels and as a company, are dedicated to recycling and using renewable energy - even the boxes are made from 80% recycled material!

If you're interested in any of the Origins products, I can't recommend visiting a counter more, the staff are honestly the nicest and most helpful I have ever dealt with. I really do get so excited by skincare!

Lots of Love
Nicola
xxx

Un-Impassioned

Hey Dolls :)

Of late, my favourite way to wear lipsticks is to pat on the teeniest amount using my finger, almost like a stain. For the last couple of days I've been particularly enjoying doing this with MAC's Impassioned. Normally, impassioned is gorgeously bright however, it looks equally as pretty sheered out...


I love how different the colour looks when used so sparingly. Also, because it's so bright, impassioned can take a lot of work to wear, from prepping my lips to using a liner, however with this there is no hassle, I can just pat it on and go!

I'd love to know which lipsticks are your favourite to use like this - another one of mine is Revlon's cherries in the snow...but I suppose you could probably of guessed that anyway!

Lots of Love
Nicola

xxx

Gold!

Hey Dolls :)

When pushed, I would probably say cheek products are my favourite (shhhh don't tell my lipsticks) and lately, I definitely have been favouring a gold highlight.


This all started with my grad ball when I wore amber diamond with their original tan in 002 honey. Ever since, I've been raiding my make up drawers trying different gold toned cheek products. Here's a little overview of some of my favourite gold higlight products.

1. Illamasqua's Glint

Although I may not have blogged about illamasqua's bronzing duo in glint/burninsh in a while, it still remains one of my favourites. Despite much of my attention previously being directed toward the darker side, burnish (which is also very pretty though is a little more red/brown toned) I have recently found a new appreciation for Glint. It is a little lighter and is more golden which looks beautiful on the cheekbones with tanned skin. The pigmentaton is not as good as burnish however, in a way, this works in its favour as it creates a really subtle, but pretty, highlight.

2. Prestige Mineral Bronizing Powder in 02 Glam Tan


How amazing does this look in the pan? Similarly to glint, glam tan is marketed as a bronzer, however I could never imagine using this as I do my regular bronzers. As you can see, there is a beautiful gold veining that runs throughout the powder, which really does catch the light. The pigmentation is amazing, especially for the price, so a light hand is definitely needed. When wearing glam tan, I tend not to wear anything else on my cheek, it has enough dimension to work on its own.

3. Dior Amber Diamond


As I mentioned, Amber diamond used over dior's honey tan bronzer is my number one cheek combination of the moment. I tend to swirl all the colours together on my brush and apply it to my cheekbone which I can always depend on to brighten up my face when I feel a little run down and blahhh.

4. M.A.C Cream Colour Base in Pearl

I constantly recommend pearl to people who ask me about a cream highlight. The colour itself is absolutely beautiful, a golden pearl, meaning the product is completely free from any glitter. Out of those listed so far, pearl is probably the most natural and is one I choose when I don't want to wear a lot of make up but still want my face to appear a little brighter and more awake. As long as I tap the product onto my cheek I can apply it after my blush - just make sure not to drag or you will get a streaky cheek!

5. St Tropez Skin Illuminator in Gold

This is a little different to those previously mentioned. I use this all over my face before foundation which gives such a pretty luminosity to my face make up. Again it's much more natural than the first three which makes it perfect for work during the week. As you can see, the illuminator comes out of the tube a white cream until blended. If you like a more luminous but natural finish to your make up I can't recommend this highly enough.

Lots of Love
Nicola
xx

Full Coverage Foundation

Hey Dolls :)

After my last post, I recieved a couple of emails asking about Estee Lauder's maximum cover camouflage make up, and so I decided to give a run down of my favourite full coverage foundations.


I want to begin by saying for a long time in my opinion, I used full coverage foundations in a silly way creating a mask of foundation on my face, which often left me with cakey make up in a matter of hours. It is probably only in the last couple of months I have started to use full coverage products in a much more skin friendly way. By this I mean, I rarely use the product over the whole of my face, instead concentrating foundation on the areas in need of some extra help. As you can see for me, the two brands that get full coverage right are Estee Lauder and Vichy.

Vichy.

I think the sale of Vichy dermablend must have seen a dramatic increase when Lisa Eldrige used dermablend in one of her videos. And quite rightly so...


Dermablend Corrective foundation is quite a fluid product that blends into the skin quickly and seamlessly. It covers all redness and blemishes on my skin easily without clinging to any dryness or becoming cakey. However, for me, dermablend has two main drawbacks. Compared to the others in this post, it doesn't last as long on the skin and by mid afternoon, you can definitely see some imperfections creeping to the surface. Also, there is a limited colour range, 15 opal is the lightest shade, and on me is quite orange toned. This isn't too much of a problem as I only use it on small areas of the face but would be even more of a dream to blend if there were more shades. This is where the cream stick comes in...

This was given to me by Ann (whatta babe!) and is a little lighter in colour to the fluid (despite being the same name, opal). When a foundation comes in a stick, I always fear that it will be thick, grainy and difficult to work with. However, dermablend is the complete opposite - it's really creamy and smooth and again blends beautifully into the skin. Also, being in stick form, it's a lot more convenient when in a mad dash in the morning - no mess! I actually find myself reaching for the stick more than the fluid. As for application, I use a M.A.C 224 to buff the product onto my face (unless I really am in a rush and I will use my fingers).

Estee Lauder.


Out of the four, double wear is probably the one foundation that I am prone to wear over my full face. As I've mentioned before, it's best to work in small sections as it sets quickly, which could cause cakey or streaky makeup. For this reason, I tend to use my fingers to apply it. I have quite oily skin and don't need to wear a powder when using double wear and it lasts all day. For me, double wear is the perfect work day foundation, I can apply it in the morning and don't need to worry about it at all as the day progresses. I would say the coverage is on par with dermablend but it's longevity is a definite plus.


Being the most full coverage of the four, maximum cover had a lot to live up to in my expectations. The coverage is outstanding, however I fear it would be so easy to get wrong. I could not wear this over my full face, instead I use my elf powder brush to buff it into the most needed areas, however it is definitely the most difficult to blend. As mentioned in my previous post, the formula feels quite odd, almost powdery, which can leave my skin feeling a little dry. It's quite long lasting, maybe a tad less than double wear on me, as it doesn't control oil as well.

One thing I have learned is, if using a full coverage foundation, try and mix it with an illuminating fluid...

The new St. Tropez skin illuminators are beautiful, I have the rose and gold tubes - in particular when tanned, the gold mixed with double wear looks beautiful! Similarly, benefit's high beam and moon beam are equally as pretty mixed with foundation - I always find moon beam to be the prettier of the two, though often gets neglected in place of high beam which is a shame. Clarins beauty flash balm acts as a brilliant base for full coverage foundations as you apply a layer of the balm over the skin without massaging it in before applying your foundation on top. This leaves a lovely, bright base!

Love Nicola
xxx