Jumping on the BBandwagon

It's Fridaaaay again! And it's a bank holiday weekend, so let's hope British weather brings us a little sun for BBQ's all round.

So at first, I thought the whole BB cream was a bit of a novelty. It seemed like something which I didn't need, a light coverage foundation with a different name. It's no secret that I have a love for Dior, and the woman on my local Dior counter remembers me well so gives me a few free samples when I go in store. When I bought a few things a couple months back she matched me up to the new BB cream and gave me one of those lovely little pots filled with it. I tried it just because it was Dior. When I applied it and looked back at myself in the mirror, I was astonished by how bright and glowing my skin looked. After a day of wear, I went straight online to Debenhams and ordered the full size tube. Thus starting, my love for BB creams...

Clarins Skin Perfecting BB cream c/o Escentual

Dior Nudeskin BB cream

Dr Jart Water Fuse BB cream

Its quite the collection saying I was completely unimpressed when they came out. And I cannot lie, if another brand brought one out which caught my eye, I would consider buying it. BB creams seem to have much more illuminating and resurfacing effects than a foundation, and when applied with your fingers, mesh with your skin making you look flawless and as if glowing from the inside.

Dior's BB offering is one of the newer offerings, and my personal favourite (not just cause the packaging is pink) I think out of the three I own, despite having "nude" in the title, it has the most coverage. Although I do like a light-coverage, I feel much more confident with a little bit more, and not so "Is she looking at me because I look like an alcoholic just coming off a 4-day bender?" 

I bought the Dr Jart one after hearing so much about the brand, and seeing it on offer for an amazing £10 in Boots! And I must say, it isn't my favourite, I think the texture is a little thick, so it requires a lot of blending, and quickly, before it sets and you end up with a streaky, three-tones-too-dark face. Once blended, it does provide the perfect skin look which you expect from a BB, as is perfect for days when you're not doing anything fancy and don't want to waste expensive products. 

Escentual very kindly sent me the very new BB cream from Clarins, in the lightest shade they have. I thought that if anything, it'd be too light for me, oh how wrong I was... As you can see from the swatches below, when blended out, the colour becomes a lot less obvious, but is still a visible change from my skin tone. I gave this one to my Aunty, who is yet to try BB creams and she loved it, said it evened out her skin tone and even covered the redness she occasionally gets in her cheeks. She has a cool skin tone, whereas I have a neutral, and it worked well for both of us, seeing as it doesn't have any yellow or pink undertones, just another reason to love it. (Although I think I may have to hide it)...

Despite the colour being a little off, I thought I would slick on a little fake tan in my body to try match it up better, and thought I'd road test it while I was spending a day at home. This product lasted a reasonable amount of time on my skin, and dried to a natural matte finish. The coverage is actually very light because it required so much blending, but I did try to build it up, and it worked so I would say it's definetly build able for people with skin concerns. I would recommend this BB cream for summer, and for medium skin tones, but if you're classed as having a "porcelain" skin tone, you will look the teensiest bit like an Oompa Loompa. 

I cannot wait for the weather to warm up, so I can get a little tan and start wearing this on a day-to-day basis, as it truly is a lovely BB cream but just currently a little too dark for my casper-like skintone.

So, have you all jumped on the BBandwagon yet, or are you still to do so? I recommend getting matched up to Dior's offering in-store if you're new to BB creams, it's pretty much a fool-proof and incredible addition to your make-up bags.

Hope you all have an amazing bank holiday weekend. Don't get too drunk...

Crown Brush: Brush Haul and Review

Its fridaaaaay! Which means, the weekend is here! So I've got you a mini haul and review on the incredible brand that is Crown Brush! 

Last week I thought I would search for some make-up brushes. As much as I try to keep my brushes clean and sanitised, it isn't possible to clean every brush I use, every day. So I wanted to look for some lip, brow and cheek brushes at a much more affordable price than those in MAC. I'd heard great things about the brand Crown Brush from Zoe Newlove (check out her blog, she's an incredibly talented lady), so I thought I'd give them a go. 

The hardest part was narrowing down how many brushes I bought, there's so many variations of every single brush you're spoilt for choice! I went through the site and just kept clicking that "Add to basket" button, and after a lot of "Do I really need a tenth buffing brush?" style questions, I narrowed it down to these eight brushes which are (from left to right):

C100 Mini Tapered Blush
C441 Pro Blending Crease
C404 Small Duo-fibre Face Brush
R101 Gold Retractable Lip Brush
BK12 Deluxe Synthetic Lip Brush
BK44 Lip/Liner Brush
C158 Angle Liner/Spoolie
BK35 Angle Brow

I bet you're thinking how many lip brushes does a girl need to buy in one purchase right?! Well, I have reasons behind the purchases... The Lip/Liner brush was bought as I find having a different lip brush for each colour (not every one, but reds, pinks, plums etc.) is ideal so you don't end up getting a dirty purple coloured lip when you go to apply a sheer pink. I got the retractable black lip brush to have a travel-friendly one, because lets be serious, who wants red lipstick smeared all over the inside of their make-up bags? The gold one was, just.. gold. So yeah, I wanted a brush because its gold. I'm shallow, I know...
And to clarify, these are all incredible brushes and do the job of applying lipstick perfectly. They also passed the "How well will it apply a matte MAC lipstick?" test, which is pretty hard to pass seeing as they aren't the easiest lipsticks to apply!

Apologies for the already dirtied brush, I was a little over-excited when they arrived. You know how the whole beauty world is insane for MAC's infamous 217 Blending Brush, which is an incredible brush, which makes eyeshadow application a breeze. Well, I think that Crown Brush may have just topped the 217 with their Pro blending crease brush. It does boast similarities to the MAC 217, but it is fluffier, less dense, and a little more tapered, perfect for those who like a defined crease. And the best part of the Crown version? You can buy FIVE of these for the same price as ONE by MAC. I know which one I'll be stocking up on...

I also really like the angled brushes for applying my favourite brow powders, Omega and Charcoal Brown. Where as I used to use a disposable mascara wand to brush through my brows, I now have the angled brush and the spoolie in the same place, which is amazing if you're forever forgetting where you've left things (like me!) The other angled brush I got after asking Zoe which brush she uses on her brows. I haven't actually got around to using it yet, but if it's anything like the others I've used so far, I know I'm well and truly in for a treat. 

I got this dinky duo-fibre face brush for the days when I want lightweight foundation application, and a smaller brush means you have more control over the product, and exactly how much you're applying. Its a good brush for the price, does what it says on the tin, but if you want medium or heavy coverage, this brush isn't for you. I had actually bought the little blusher brush for applying powder blusher, but after trying it with a few different products, I have come to realise that this is amazing for applying cream blushers! Because of its tiny size, its the perfect accompanying brush to the new Bourjois cream blush, as you can see exactly where the product is, and the small size makes it harder for anyone new to cream blush to go overboard with the product.

I physically cannot recommend this brand enough. Their customer service is incredible, the products are incredible and the delivery is so speedy I almost thought I was seeing things when it came through my door! If you want to order anything from Crown Brush, find them here.

Inside: My Makeup Collection Part THREE

The messiest drawer and my palettes are the last part of my makeup collection and here it is... hope you enjoy...

This drawer is my last, and the messiest. Its pretty much a jumble of all the things which won't fit in the other drawers, and a couple of my spare products (the majority are kept in my old storage system)

In this drawer is:
L'oreal True Match Powder
Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains in Rendezvous, Honey and Crush
Dr Jart Water fuse BB cream
Avon Smooth Minerals powder foundation in Ivory
Spare mascaras (Avon Super extend, and Supershock MAX Limited edition pink packaging, and L'oreal False lash flutter)
Avon Glimmerstick brow definer in Blonde
There's also a couple samples of Clarins BB cream hiding in the back

I'm not shrinking... that bottle of primer really is that big! I love this product. I'm sure you're all pretty familiar with Laura Mercier primers, this is one I got from Space NK, which is a bonus size of the Radiance version. It gives your skin a really gorgeous natural looking glow, without the use of any shimmery particles.

All of my palettes sit in my little ombre box at the side of my Muji drawers. I like keeping them here because it makes it easier to access them, see which is which and the majority of them are a little too big to be stored in one of the drawers.

Urban Decay Naked 2 is one of the most gorgeous nude eye palettes ever. I love this, and after buying mine, my Aunty went and got one too, so there are now two Naked palettes in our house! I didn't open this palette to take a picture. You all know what this looks like...

This is actually the first time I have posted about the Clarins eye quad from last Christmas' Odyssey collection. Its three matte brown/nude shades, and a very gold glittery shadow, so sparkly that it could rival all the glitter around the festive season. 

I'm so happy I've filled my MAC Eye Palette! I love all the colours I have in this, and use them on a day-to-day basis. From left to right the colours I own are (Vanilla, Brule, Quarry, Omega, Cork, Woodwinked, Patina, Satin Taupe, Charcoal Brown, Embark, Sumptuous Olive, Club, Cranberry, Sketch, Carbon) I know people enjoy reading about these, shall I post about them with swatches and looks? I like using Omega and Charcoal Brown on my brows, Vanilla as a non-shimmery highlighter, and Carbon is a great powder alternative to using pencil or liquid eyeliner. 

Upon filling my eye palette, I thought it was time to start a blush palette. (Oh, MAC why are you so addictive?) I currently only have Harmony, which I use as a contour shade, and Desert Rose, which is one of my favourite blusher shades, a beautiful dusky pink.

This gorgeous Too Faced Boudoir eyes palette has popped up a few times on my blog (and Instagram!) now, and is quickly becoming one of my favourites. I really should do a post on this beauty...

This MAC eye quad is the Rimal Dahabia palette from the new Art of the Eye collection. Its shades are Shroom, Soft Brown, Beauty Burst, Najm el Lail. I had never been particularly interested in buying Shroom before, but now its becoming one of my favourites, it works all over the lid, or as a brow-bone and inner tear-duct area highlight.

These products are some of the make-up related ones which are too large, or just don't have a home in my drawers. I love the Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray for making my makeup last all day. MAC's Fix+ I use for setting my makeup if I have gone for a dewy look. I also like to use it if my foundation looks a little cakey, by spraying it on a clean buffing brush and buffing the foundation into my skin. Origins VitaZing is amazing for those days where your skin needs to be left to breathe, but needs brightening. MAC Strobe Cream is one of my newer products, and I haven't found the best technique for using it yet (any suggestions?) Clinique's Super CityBlock is something I use in the Summer months to keep my skin protected from the sun's harmful UV rays (bla-bla.) Mister Radiant is the only thing I own by Givenchy, and I wish I had more, as this is incredible, its a gel with little beads of colour, which work to brighten and even the skin tone, this product is amazing as a primer, or on its own. This Works Perfect Look Skin Miracle is supposed to be used on its own to makes your skin look "miraculous," but I prefer to use it as a primer, it evens skin tone, and also brightens (it works incredibly with Revlon Nearly Naked!)

And there you have it... my Makeup collection! Is there anything else you'd like to see? DVD's? Skincare/Bodycare? Nail polish? In my wardrobe? My shoes? etc. Let me know. I'm definetly going to be doing a DVD one, as people always seem more than interested in what I've been watching. And, as mentioned in my previous posts, I am more than willing to swatch anything, or do looks using it so let me know in the comments and I'll get straight to work! 

Wishes and Wants #3 All Beauty

I'm forever compiling wishlists in my head. This time, everything I want seems to be beauty related...

Emma Hardie Natural Lift Eye Serum

Fresh Sugar Rose Tinted Lip Treatment

Caudalie Divine Oil

Chanel Le Volume de Chanel mascara in Noir

Nars Multiple in South Beach

Calvin Klein Euphoria EDP

Caudalie Vinoperfect Enzymatic Peel Mask

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colours in Frenzy and Pirate

I've been lusting after quite a few things by brands I haven't tried, or have a few products from recently. Caudalie is a brand which isn't the easiest to get in the UK, its doable, but not easily accessible unless you live in a city. I at the moment have nothing by this brand, and I really want to try more oil-based products, for hair, skin and body, and Caudalie's Divine Oil seems to be well-loved by most. I've also been enjoying using face masks more than normal, but I'm quite fussy about which I use because cheap masks tend to break me out, I remember loving peel masks as a child and I want to give them a go again, and Caudalie's enzymatic peel mask seems like it would do a great job at brightening up my skin. Keeping in with the skincare, I said in a post the other day that I was in the market for a new eye-cream, after a little scouring of my favourite beauty websites, I decided I'd like to try my first Emma Hardie product, in the form of this eye serum.

I keep seeing pictures of these lip balms by Fresh on Instagram and Pinterest, the packaging is SO cute, and because I'm becoming a fan of tinted lip balms, I'd very much love one of these. Can't tell I'm a sucker for pretty packaging? I picked up Calvin Klein Euphoria a while back in Boots because I loved the crescent shaped bottle, and I fell in love with the scent. I wouldn't mind someone treating me to this.

If you saw my makeup collection posts, you'll know I've been lusting over another Nars Multiple seeing as I very much love my Copacabana one. Millie Mackintosh has said in the past that she loves these, and is often seen sporting the shade South Beach, so with Millie being one of my girl crushes, anything that's good enough for her, is good enough for me.

I do own one thing by Chanel, the infamous Soleil tan de Chanel, which I think is an incredible product, so it's quite surprising that I haven't branched out to try any other products by them. I like the look of their nail polishes, and I think that the shades Pirate and Frenzy would be a welcome addition to my collection. I've heard many good things about Chanel mascaras recently, and being the little mascara hoarder I am, I want in on the craze, the wand of this mascara seems just up my street. If only Chanel grew on trees...

Considering a lot of this has been about trying new brands, and new products from brands I know little about, I'd also like to try; Kiehls, L'occitane, Make Up For Ever, Nuxe (I LOVE the Reve de Miel balm!), Vichy, Avene, Burberry and Givenchy. I don't want much, do I?! 

Inside: My Makeup Collection Part TWO

Here is the second installment of my makeup collection! Hope you guys enjoyed the first, here is another few of my Muji drawers, and what I store inside them...

This is my third drawer, in which I store my cheek products:

Bourjois Cream Blush in 03 and 04 

17 Blusher in Damson Wine (This is a few years old, I think the colour with the same name is now a different shade)

17 Blusher in China Pink

Revlon Photoready Cream Blush in Flushed and Pinched 

Benefit Benetint

Benefit Travel Size Sun Beam

Nars Blush in Deep Throat 

Nars Highlighter in Albatross (Under Deep Throat) - I can't help but giggle.

Nars Multiple in Copacabana

Benefit Hoola Bronzer 

Benefit Dandelion Blush

First off, my Benefit boxes sit at the front because they are the most attractive of the bunch. My Hoola bronzer has hit pan, and I'll be needing a new one very soon, and I will be repurchasing, when I find a perfect matte bronzer I never seem to let go! My other favourites in here are all the Nars products, especially the multiple, which is amazing for a highlight and an eye colour. I want another one actually, in South Beach, they're so worth the price tag. I'm also getting really into cream blushes (if you couldn't tell?) and I couldn't recommend the little drugstore wonders which are the new Bourjois cream blushes, and the Revlon Photoready, too.

Avon Ideal Luminous Blush in Russet. I love this little thing. I actually got this whilst it was super cheap, around £4 with a free brush, but I think at full size they are around £10 (they are worth even that). For anyone who didn't know my Aunty is an Avon Representative in her spare time, so I get early access to products, and often a lot of freebies and samples. I went on a whim for this one, and boy am I glad I did... Its a gorgeous rich dusky-pink, and its so soft it applies very smoothly. It is so highly pigmented that you need a light hand, meaning this will last you a long, long time! I don't know where Avon can be bought other than through a rep, if anyone does want anything, however, we will place orders for you and send them, provided you pay for the postage. 

The fourth drawer stores mainly mascara, and other eye products:

Maxfactor Masterpiece Max mascara

Clinique Naturally Glossy mascara in Brown

L'oreal Volume Million Lashes Excess mascara 

Maxfactor 2000 Calorie mascara 

Soap and Glory Thick and Fast mascara 

Nars Eye Primer 

Maxfactor Eye Brightening mascara for Blue eyes

Revlon Grow Luscious Plumping mascara 

Dior Iconic Overcurl Mascara 

Benefit's Ooh La Lift

Clinique Chubby Stick for Eyes in Ample Amber 

Bobbi Brown Gel Liner

(All of my mascaras are black unless stated otherwise) Maxfactor is one of the best brands for mascara, I think, every one I have tried by them has been incredible, and the Masterpiece max has been repurchased three times now. The eye-brightening one was actually something I got free when there was an offer in Boots, and I love it, it has little light-reflecting particles which brighten the eye area, and the mascara itself seperates, lifts and lengthens lashes. Soap and Glory Thick and Fast has THE biggest brush I have ever seen, so it takes a bit of time to apply, or you look like Edward Scissorhands tried to apply your mascara. Although I like most of the mascaras I own, I actually do not like Revlon's Grow Luscious, and I'm probably going to give this away. I love Cliniques Chubby Stick for Eyes, its the most amazing idea to have a cream based eye colour in pen form, and the colour payoff is pretty impressive.

I don't have as many eyeliners as most people, as up until a few months ago, I never wore liner. I couldn't find a liquid liner which I liked the brush/applicator of, and I strayed away from kohl liners as my everyday makeup was usually flawless skin, bold brows and a slick of mascara. I have the Rimmel Scandaleyes in Nude to line my bottom waterline to take away any redness and brighten up my eye area, I would never use a white liner as it is too stark and false-looking for my personal taste. I LOVE Dior's Art Pen, it's just incredible (and raved about in my last favourites post) and I use the L'oreal Super Liner as a cheaper alternative on days where I'm not going anywhere fancy, or the rest of my makeup is also low-end. The other two are kohl liners by Avon, these are really good liners, I just don't use them very often.

Maybelline Color Tattoos in Bad to the Bronze and Eternal Gold are amazing cheap alternatives to MAC's Paintpots. Despite the fact that they don't come in many colours, if you're creating a smokey eye, these make a perfect base colour, aswell as giving a gorgeous buildable colour on their own too. These are very versatile, and I love them, I definitely want some of the other colours, anyone got any I should try? 

As I had this post prepared and waiting to go live, I had another little storage system arrive through the post for my lipsticks, so I have changed my lip products over into that and I will post about that within the next week.

The fifth drawer is lip products only:
MAC Lipsticks in (Viva Glam Nicki, Jubilee, Shy Girl, Chatterbox, Ruby Woo, Rebel, Russian Red, Lady Danger)
Bourjois Rouge Edition in 10 and 13
Avon Lipstick (Its a shimmery coral shade, not sure of the name but these were limited edition last summer)
Maybelline Color Sensational lipstick in Pink Pearl and Coral Tonic
Rimmel Apocolips in Big Bang, Stellar and Apocoliptic
Avon Anew Lipstick in Plumberry
Superdrug Little Pink Tin lip balm
(In the back I have a few Crown Brush lip brushes, a Blistex lip splash, a MUA red lip pencil, and a MAC Pro Longwear Pencil)

Along with the rest of the world, I LOVE Mac Lipsticks. I think they're a reasonable price for how incredible they are, and the colour selection is so vast, you're practically spoiled for choice. And that amazing vanilla scent... doesn't it make you want to lick your lips? (Okay, just me...) I couldn't choose a favourite as I really do love them all the same, and wear them all depending on what makeup look I am going for on that given day. I don't get as much use out of the Rimmel Apocolips as I probably should, but I never know what to do with my eye makeup when wearing them, as they are very, very bold colours. Bourjois Rouge Edition lipsticks are also incredible, they are about half the price of MAC, and for a drugstore brand, have quite a few shades available to buy. They are a similar finish to MAC Satin lipsticks, I personally think, and they have a similar lasting power too. I have a classic Hollywood red shade, (13) and a red so bright it borders on orange(10).

Within the past few weeks, I've found myself reaching for much more sophisticated pink/brown/nude (I'm not the best at descriptions, lets face it!) shades like Mac's Faux and Cosmo. I LOVE these shades, and seem to always get compliments on these when I am wearing them, and they seem to go with pretty much everything. Pretty and versatile? Check, and check.

Once again, anything you guys want to see swatched, or a look using these, or a review etc. I would be very happy to do them for you, leave a comment below and I'll get straight on it. 

Part three will be up tomorrow, with the messiest of all my drawers and a nosey at all my palettes!