Finished! October Edition

Over the last month or so I’ve gotten to the bottom of a whole load of products. So many they wouldn’t all fit in the one photo. Is it sad that it fills me with a real sense of pride? Even sadder is the fact that there is a little basket under my desk that I put finished items in till  I’ve taken a photo of them for this blog... and occasionally wave it under hubbies nose to say ‘look I do use all this stuff!’ Anyhoo...

Treseme: Heat Defence Spray: Love this. Leaves my hair super soft and really reduces frizz. I have already repurchased. In fact I believe this was one of the first reviews I ever did!

Garnier Night Cream: I did like this however there is a scent and I think it’s the perfume that stung a little if my skin was feeling particularly sensitive. Most days it was fine though. I won’t be repurchasing simply because I prefer the Simple night cream. 

Carmex: (original): Love this stuff. Have gone through hundreds of these little tubes and no doubt will go through hundreds more. Most of the flavours have SPF but the original doesn’t so this is the one I keep on my bedside table. 

Simple Eye Cream: It was nice and cooling to apply. Again this lacks SPF so because the eye cream that I used at night. I have a few others to try first but I’d be happy to buy this again in future. It probably wouldn’t cut it if you were looking for some heavy duty anti ageing but for my 23 year old skin it was fab. 

Smashbox Lash DNA in Burgundy: Loved the colour but hated the giant wand. Seriously it was bigger than my eyes... IT stank of play dough when I got it and progressively got smellier throughout its life. Needless to say I won’t be repurchasing. 

Blistex: Smells, tastes and feels foul but for severely cracked lips there is no better product. I hate it but I’ll never be without it. It sinks in quickly leaving your lips feeling so much better. This is usually the lip balm I have on my dressing table. I apply it first thing in the morning and by the time I go to apply my lipstick it has totally sunken in. Fab/ horrid. 

No7 Cleanse and Care Eye makeup remover:  Got this as a freebie thankfully. I really didn’t like this. It took loads to remove any makeup and I always still woke up with panda eyes the next day. Would not purchase personally. 

ELF Clarifying Pressed Powder: Honestly for £1.50 I wasn’t expecting greatness and I certainly didn’t get it. Mattified ok but quickly started to look cakey and unnatural. Euch. 

Lancôme Day Cream SPF15: Another gift with purchase. I expected this to be too heavy for my skin but I experienced zero breakouts or irritation. Whilst it is a little heavy for summer for me I may well repurchase during the winter. 

Rimmel Stay Matte Mouse (foundation of Dooooooom): Thankfully I dropped this (by accident I swear) and over half of it fell out. Their lightest shade is, on me, the colour of a Wotsit. I managed to use it up by mixing it with a lot of sunscreen to lighten it. I am not sorry to see the back of this!

L’Oréal Absolute Eye and Lip Makeup Remover: This was ok actually but I’ve used better, cheaper products since so I won’t be repurchasing. Everyday makeup wasn’t a problem but it really struggled with anything waterproof. 

Not a bad month really! X

*I bought the above products myself*

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector Daily All-In-One BB Cream

Okay if there is a bandwagon I am jumping right on it, I picked this up the other day on a whim, please note the word whim, for me that means without thought, on impulse bad move.

I bought this in light, now I know that high street brands tend to view all shades of skin as falling into either light, medium or dark and I know that that translates as light peach, medium peach and dark peach. I should know by now that the light is never light enough for me. I also know that nowadays there are testers available to try, but I ignored that. There is no fool like an old fool.

Here is the obligatory blob on the hand

Of course I have enough here to do my face, my Mum's face and the lady up the road and probably her Mum as well.

As can be seen in the next picture when it is half way up my arm

This is darker than my hand and given that hands (or at least mine) tend to be darker than one's face, anyone can see where this is going.

So here is my face again sans anything other than my open pores and blackheads and thread veins.

And here is the mouthful, I mean Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector Daily All-In-One BB Cream applied.

Now here it does not look too bad at all, it covers and it evens out, but
believe me I am belisha, I glow terracotta, I would not look out of place in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory film be he Johnny Depp or Gene Wilder. I think because I always take my photos in front of the window which faces NE it sort of pales out everything to the extreme, but believe me I am far darker than I would want to be.

Here is my hand next to my face to try to show the difference

My hand looks dead.

Apart from the wrong shade, this is not a bad product at all, it feels very moisturising on the skin, and it lasts all day - for yes I am glowing into the night - perfect for anyone other than those with a pale skin. I do have a bit of a gripe about the smell which is distinctive and all pervading and not to my liking.

The moral of the story - try before you buy.

Currently £9.99 from Boots 

Here are a couple of reviews from britishbeautyblogger mizzworthy and on MUA

Finished!

I like the last post I did on items that I’ve finished recently. I think it’s useful to look back at a product, even if it’s already been reviewed by me, and ask myself whether I miss it enough to repurchase now that it’s gone. I may love or hate a product after the first few uses but by the end of a bottle/packet/pan you have a much better sense of it. Here are our goodbyes this month: (ones with a * have been reviewed here fully)

Simple Eye Makeup Remover * :
No no no no. I will not be repurchasing. I love many Simple products. This is not one of them. It stung the skin underneath my eyes and did not do a good job of removing waterproof mascara.

Lancôme Bi Facil Eye Makeup Remover * :
Love it! I will repurchase one day but not today. At just under £20 a bottle it’s just too pricey for me. This little sample lasted me a good long while though.

The Body Shop Mango Body Butter:
Mmmm this smelt so good. It was a rich, moisturising treat post bath. The cream is insanely thick and I found it to be very moisturising. I have another body butter on the go right now!

Simple Radiance Brightening Moisturiser SPF10 * :
I really liked this. It was a good, fairly light daytime moisturiser. The SPF could do with being a bit higher but at least it has some in it. It’s super cheap too. I’d be quite happy to repurchase this in future.

Garnier Makeup Remover Wipes * :
I hated these. They did a pretty shoddy job of removing my makeup and pulled at my skin whilst doing it. I won’t be repurchasing.

MAC Brush Cleanser:
The remnants of this are in a spray bottle but I need to pick up another ASAP (and will be back to MAC-ing the bottle once I have 5 more empties!). I love this stuff, I just wish they’d put a damn spray on it.

Boot Vitamin E Night Cream * :
I really liked this too actually and for less than a fiver I’ll be picking some more up in future. I’m currently trying a couple of other things though and when I was last in Boots they were sold out! Evidently I’m not the only one who likes this beauty bargain!

Lush Bubble Gum Lip Scrub * :
No I didn’t use this up. It exploded in my travel makeup bag whilst on a business trip. It took me 20 minutes to clean sugar out of my eyelash curlers... This was always the problem with this product though. It does a fantastic job for a reasonable price but it’s as messy as a toddler with a paint can. For this reason I won’t be repurchasing which means I’m on the hunt for a new lip scrub. Any suggestions?

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder:
Ah my dear, we knew it had to end one day. This thing is so old it’s in the old packaging and all the type has faded off. Look!

I really liked this stuff. I go through a lot of powder in an effort to keep my nose none shiny and this has been an invaluable companion in that quest. The Sam to my Frodo if you will (Ok who let the geek out?) Ahem anyway it’s a fab drugstore pressed powder that I will happily repurchase in all its shexy new green packaging. I need to use up a couple of other powders first but when I have I’ll probably buy it and give it the full review it deserves.

So it’s been a mixed bag. Some hits, some misses, some unnecessary Lord of the Rings similes. I always get such a sense of satisfaction when I finish a product. I prance about waving the empty container in my husband’s face in a triumphant demonstration of “see! I really do use all this stuff!” Do you get the same sense of satisfaction? Xxx

*I bought the above products with my own money. I always give my honest opinion of a product. For further info see my disclaimer in the menu on the left*

5 Minute Makeup

Picture the scene if you will; it’s 7am. I am supposed to leave the flat for work erm... now. I personally cannot leave the house without some slap on. It’s sad I know but last time I went to work barefaced I was asked if I was sick and wanted to go home. I need some multi tasking products that I can throw on without having to wash too many brushes (why is it that it’s only on the days I’m rushing I’ve forgotten to wash my brushes the night before?) and without too many steps. Behold my go to panic face.

Clinique City Block Sheer: Does the job of – moisturiser, primer, SPF

MAC Studio Fix Powder: Does the job of – foundation, setting powder

MAC Stereo Rose MSF: Does the job of – blush, highlighter

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow: Does the job of – eyeshadow primer, eyeshadow

17 Wild Curls Mascara: Does the job of... well mascara. It just happens to be my current favourite

Garnier Eye Roll on Concealer (not pictured because I’m an idiot): Does the job of – under eye concealer, eye cream

Maybelline Watershine Gloss in Strawberry Carats: Does the job of: lip balm, lipstick, gloss

The only brushes required for this is a kabuki for the Studio Fix Powder and a blush brush for the MSF. Generally I don’t *need* a concealer for spots as my skin is pretty clear unless it’s that time of the month. The Benefit Creaseless Cream just gets dabbed on with a finger and I find it lasts all day without creasing on me whether I use a primer or not. I say that Stereo Rose does the job of a highlighter as well as a blush solely because it’s shimmery so I wouldn’t add to that with a highlighter anyway.

As my skin is quite oily in places the Clinique is all I need in the day time for moisture. The SPF25 is a great bonus too. One of my favourite items here has to be the Maybelline gloss though. It’s quite pigmented so I don’t feel the need to layer it over lipsticks as you simply can’t see them under it. It’s also supremely moisturising and a gorgeous muted strawberry colour with gold pearl. These are actually my favourite drug store lip glosses.

The whole thing takes about 5-10 minutes to slap on and whilst the end result isn’t as polished as I prefer it allows me to leave the house without confining myself to the shadows. What about you folks. Are you happy to leave the house barefaced? What makeup item do you simply have to apply before facing the world? Let me know in the comments! Xxx

*I bought the above product with my own money. I always give my honest opinion of a product. For further info see my disclaimer in the menu on the left*

Garnier Fresh Essentials Cleansing Wipes

I always keep makeup remover wipes on hand even though I do not recommend them as an everyday method of removing your makeup. I need them for things like swatching and as a last resort on a Friday night after having a civilized sherry with ones chum
s (read staggering home from a nightclub with my liver a little worse for wear).

A problem I often have with wipes though is that they tend to irritate the sensitive skin under my eyes. These are no exception, in fact these are pretty bad. They are quite dry and have been since the day they were opened so it isn’t due to me not closing them properly. This means I have to rub a fair bit to shift any eye makeup and it does get really quite sore. I still wake up with panda eyes too so it isn’t worth the effort. In the end I relegating these to swatching duty only and use gentler wipes on my face.

The wipes themselves have a fresh cucumber sort of scent and you get 25 in a pack. They claim to remove makeup (which they don’t do very well), tone (meh) and purify (no). I think I paid about £2.99 for these on offer in a super market. Honestly I won’t be repurchasing as there are plenty of other brands out there which work better for me. It’s a while since I’ve been so disappointed with a product, usually I like Garnier too, but these get a bit fat thumbs down from me xxx