Coastal Scents Warm Palette Review

This Christmas I was lucky enough to receive the Warm Palette from Coastal Scents. I have lusted after the perfect palette for many months before receiving it, but had so far been repelled by the extortionate £8 shipping cost. The palette arrived in cardboard packaging, without a scratch on the palette. I believe that the surprisingly thick cardboard packaging will come in handy when it comes to travelling. 

The plastic exterior of the palette is wonderful. The plastic is a sophisticated matte black, and the first thing I noticed was how the 'Coastal Scents' logo was no longer the most prominent text on the palette. In my opinion, the palette's casing looks double it's innocent price. 

The only downfall to the sleek packaging is the amount of fingerprints it attracts to it's perfectly matte finish. Needless to say, it was smothered within seconds of my opening of the package!

 

The individual colours are not arranged in any particular order, which my become an annoyance for people who love organisation. Personally, I like how spontaneous I can be with my colour choices as a result of the arrangement. The shades range between a muted, matte white, to a charcoal, silver shimmer black. The palette is a strictly matte and shimmer palette, thus lacking both frosts, pearls and lustres. However, if you are willing to spend a little extra time playing around with the shadows, you will soon discover that multiple finishes can be achieved from the two textures, using minimal effort. My favourite shade is a cream, with a powerful gold iridescent. In fact, when my eyes meet the shadow more studiously, I can almost detect a slight pink undertone, making the particular shade suitable for hilighting. 

The quality of the shadows reach both ends of the pigmentation spectrum, hitting a few mid noted in-between. Some colours are beautifully pigmented, but a few shadows need a generous application of primer to achieve a glimpse of their full ability regarding colour pay-off. The only shadow that I can recall being slightly chalky was the block white colour, situated at the top left hand corner of the palette, but I would be surprised if somebody handed me a white eyeshadow that wasn't chalky!

I am obsessed with the mirror embossed inside the lid of the palette. The mirror does not mimic the quality of others of its kind, which are usually flimsy and plastic. I love using it throughout the whole of my make-up application, regardless of whether I have my light-up double sided mirror present. Below are a few of my favourite shades. The dark brown shimmer was a real stand out shade for me; I just love the way that the golden glitter is so beautiful and subtle until one is standing in a certain position. I have already mentioned the beautiful cream iridescent, and the four matte peach shades are beautiful lid corrector colours. 

I would definitely recommend this product to anyone looking for a dupe for the Urban Decay Naked Palette. You can purchase the Warm Palette here. Thank you for reading!

Garnier BB Cream

As the unfortunate possessor of oily skin, I am always willing to try new skin-fixing solutions that promise a smoother, more even complexion. I was ecstatic when I read that Garnier were releasing 100,000 samples for everyone to trial. Being a complete 'beauty-junkie', I jumped at the chance. When the samples arrived, they were in a box containing a generous three sachets. The sachets each contained a hefty ... of product. I believe that a full tube of the BB Cream would last you a very long time, as a single sachet lasted me a good four application. 

The texture of the BB Cream pleasantly surprised me. I love thick textured face creams, and so my first impressions of this cream were positive...sadly, my opinion of the once loved cream was soon to change. I began to blend the Cream into my face, much to no avail. It seemed that the more I attempted to blend the greasy mess, the more streaky the finish appeared. Having oil/combination skin can often be a problem for people when it comes to products like this, as oil+oil=disaster. Even though the product is meant to be a step down from foundation regarding heaviness, once I had applied the Cream to my face I immediately felt as if my skin couldn't 'breathe'.  

As for coverage, the results were neither awful nor amazing. With a little concealer applied to red patches and imperfections, my skin looked of an average finish. I cannot report on the product's staying power, as I removed the product nearly as soon as I had applied it. 

If I were to rate the unpredictable cream out of 10, personally I would rate it at a pretty average 6. Maybe in the summer months I would be more prepared to use this product on my face. This cream would possibly be better suited for dry-normal skin types. 

Thank for reading, Merry Christmas! 

Bourjois Little Round Pot Eyeshadow & Bourjois Intense

I have never made it a secret that I love (with a capital 'L') Bourjois. My first real make-up item ever was from Bourjois, and all of their products just seem to work for me. I love their foundation, mascaras, eyeliners...and today I experienced the amazing quality of their eyeshadows.  Today I ventured out to achieve a spot of Christmas shopping with my sister, and we both spent a lot of time deliberating over what colours and products suited us best, and I ended up purchasing not one, but two Intense Shadows (It would have been rude to take just one), with my sister buying an original LRP Shadow, in a much more sensible shade than I purchased.  I brought the shades Extrait 03 and Extrait 1. 

My initial impressions of the shadows were, of course, positive. The shadows have a beautiful, mystical quality to them, and I can't express my love for their glittery base in a way strong enough. My favourite part of the shadows is how they are visible as a baked shadow, feel like a baked shadow, and even have the same colour pay-off as a shadow: but apply as glitter! I am spellbound by how extraordinary these shadows are, as the apply to the eye just like a normal shadow, but when you study the decorative pattern you have applied onto your lid, the shadow is clearly in a glitter form. 

Although the colour quality appears as very sheer in the photo above, in 'real life' the colour pay-off is far more extravagant, considering how shimmery and glitter the shadow is. The colours are currently featured in the Bourjois Winter Collection, and I am unsure of whether the colours will be permanent; judging by their numbers, I believe they shall be. Below is a shot of the original Little Round Pot shadows, for comparison purposes. The intense pigmentation of the shadow can be witnessed in the below portrait, and the shadow itself has a smooth texture that is very versatile to blend. Neither or the LRP shadows I have so far experienced are chalky. 

You can purchase the classic Little Round Pot here, or alternatively find out more information via the official Bourjois website located here. If glitter is more your type of thing, you can find the Intense Little Round Pots located here. Again, if you are only interested in finding out more on the shadows, log onto the official Bourjois website page located here. 

Merry Christmas and thank you for reading!

Face of the Day: Drought Season

This FOTD is inspired by the rough drought plains in the Midwest. 

I attempted to make my awkward-length hair appear 'tousled' and unruly, but completely failed, and ended up drenching my hair with water to try and achieve the look. 

On my eyes, I am wearing my Collection 2000 Fast Stroke Eyeliner in black, My home made primer, Body Collection Pressed Powder (furthest shade to the edge used in my crease and outer eye), a Lancome Hypnôse Mascara in Noir 1, and a Natural Collection Solo eye-shadow in Milk Chocolate. 

On my face, I am wearing my Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in Vanilla, my No7 Natural Blush Cheek Colour in Honey, my Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in Light 2, my Collection 2000 Sheer Loose Powder in Translucent, and lastly, I made use of my Body Collection Pressed Powder. I avoided using any kind of hilighter product as I wanted to achieve a dead-pan, flat look that would realistically resemble the deserts' empty colour. 

I am totally aware of how unruly and scraggly my brows look in all of the above shots. The reason being because I am 'growing them out' so that I can have them waxed into a thicker shape, as this is the shape that is dominating the catwalks this winter. 

Thank You for reading. Please leave any suggestions for posts in the comment section!

Snap: Frankie Sandford

A few weeks ago, I spotted a picture of Frankie Sandford in a magazine, and I just couldn't get enough of her gorgeous, holographic dress. So much so, that I decided to dedicate a whole post to it. I was determined to find a dupe for the dress the 'The Saturdays' singer was wearing, and share it with you. 

As you can now witness for yourself, the dress is absolutely stunning, and to me, looks so festive. It's the perfect time of year to pick up one of these dresses for yourself, and I've found the perfect dupe for this floor-length beauty.

As you can see from the above picture, the dress from www.frenchnovelty.com is literally a twin to the dress Miss Sandford was adorning just a few weeks ago. The dress has the same length, neckline, and glittery detailing as the celebrity dress. The dress, incredibly, is even the owner to a leg cut out, which is quite simply stunning. 

Although Frankie's shoes are not visible in the above pictures, I am certain that the pair of shoes above (available now from New Look), would compliment the outfit wonderfully. Black shoes will scream 'statement' when teamed with this dress, as the black will look striking against the silver boldness of the dress. Wearing black footwear will also ensure that there is no silver overload, dismissing the idea of the outfit looking unsophisticated. 


Merry Christmas! 

Nivea Creme

During a recent shopping trip with my friend, I suddenly remembered that I had run out of moisturiser that very morning. In a frantic hurry to arrive home quickly, I picked up literally the first moisturiser I recognised as a familiar brand, and paid at the check out. When I arrived home, I was ashamed with myself. I am not one to make purchases on a whim, and was worried about the thick texture that was so diverse compared to my current moisturiser (Garnier Essentials Day Cream). 

The 'creme' felt extremely sticky as I blended it into my face, but as I began to blend faster, I could feel the moisturiser becoming more versatile on my face. This Nivea Creme is amazing. I have extremely oily skin, and I did not notice my skin becoming any more oily than it does normally. Admittedly, I would prefer a moisturiser that made my oily mess of a skin more manageable, but most moisturisers that come with the promise of this do nothing but dry out my skin until it is gasping for a drenching. I applied my foundation seconds after application, and noticed no streaking or patchiness in my finished result. My foundation glided into my skin smoothly, and I am certain my pores looked minimised. Not only that, but the moisturiser does its job pretty well too. I tend to be cursed with the burden of dry patches on my face (which is why my skin type is neither 'combination' or 'oily'), but the first time I applied the product to my face at night, the next morning my face felt hydrated and 'new'. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone, regardless of skin type or tone. 

Calvin Klein Splendid Colour Nail Enamel - Tutu

It's not often that I decide to revel in the pleasure of purchasing a cheap nail varnish - most often because I find, much to my dismissal, that my money and time has been wasted on a watery, colourless formula that chips after a couple of days. It was a few weeks ago that I was proved wrong (mostly), when I purchased my very first Calvin Klein Nail Enamel. I was shocked to see these enamels on the shelf of my local outlet discount make-up store, as I was unaware that CK even sold nail varnishes. I had been wanting to try out a black polish for some time, the main reason for my desire being because of my discovery that Kim Kardashian basks in the enjoyment of a black-as-night manicure more often than not. The other colours in the range looked semi-washes out placed either side of 'tutu', as breathtaking shade of black, in which several thousand glitter particles of a blue topaz and rustic gold colour are embedded. 

It is one hundred percent necessary to apply a base coat before applying this polish, as the formulation is fairly streaky and a nightmare to apply in a bold fashion. I simply opt to use a French pink as a base coat, as it is fairly opaque but thick, so it does not counteract with the black to create a horrid brown colour. 

Once I had applied my pink, I simply applied two coats of 'tutu' to each fingernail on each hand. The effect is so stunning. I love the way that the glitter particles are so subtle until they are displayed under certain angles of light. Th only downfall to this polish is it's staying power. It stays on for no longer than a day, so if this, like me, is your opted for 'go to' colour, then patience and spare time is needed! 

I hope this review was of use to you, and I definitely recommend picking up a bottle for yourself. You can purchase the beautiful polish here.

Coconut Shimmer Body Butter

Although it's common to witness me cruising the aisles of my local Body Shop, it's a miraculous occurrence if I actually end up purchasing a product. However, I am always exceptionally grateful when I receive something from The Body Shop when a special occasion rolls around. 

It must have been around a year ago that I received a large tub of The Body Shop's Coconut Shimmer Body Butter. Although I always swatch the beautifully scented butters on my palms in various stores, I forbid myself from spending the ridiculous amount of money they cost on a body butter. This, of course, doesn't mean I do not absolutely adore them. When I received this Body Butter, I was already the proud owner of around four body butters, although none of them were full sized; you can imagine my excitement when my eyes revelled in the beauty of a 200ml tub for the first time. I finally spotted something on the tub that made me around five hundred times more happy than when I originally sighted the product: Shimmer Body Butter. 

The Body Butter has a glorious smell, and is noticeable all day once applied. The shimmer is brilliant if you love the completely diamond encrusted look. The glitter is professionally minuscule, which leads me on to another rave regarding this extraordinary product. Out of interest, I applied a small amount of the product to me cheekbones (I applied an extremely small amount of product to the tips of my fingers and rubbed both sets of my fingertips together to avoid over-applying), and was delighted to discover that this body butter is maybe the best hilighter going. The consistency of the butter is perfect: not too thick, and not too thin. The best thing about this newly discovered hilighter? It suits all skin tones. 

I hope this method of application works as well for you as it did for me! You can purchase it here.

(I would like to mention how grateful I am for comments on my posts, and would enjoy for it to be recognised how I read every single comment. However, my Blogger account does not allow me to comment on blog posts, whether it be my own, or another persons'. I am looking into the matter and hope to amend it soon. Thank You.)

Gifts for Her: Beauty Gifts for Younger Girls

It can be hard around the festive season to really take time out to concentrate and think about what that niece, cousin, sister or daughter really wants – no, please don’t reach for socks again! Ignore the sales ladies and read on to discover part one of this series of Gifts For…Younger Girls.

The first gift, which is by far my favourite, is the Liberty Hello Kitty Brush Set. I just cannot get over the high quality of the bristles, and the brushes are just so soft. I cannot see these shedding any time soon, and let’s not forget the adorable clutch/roll that it comes in: gorgeous! I have to admit, once I had purchased this for a friend, I was tempted to splurge on two, so that I would have one forever more! It also strikes me how professional the brushes are. I guess this could be seen as a disadvantage, as not many younger girls who are beginners in make-up are able to identify an eyeliner and blending brush (or maybe that’s just me with my stupid assumptions?). 

Quality: 10/10

Appeal: 10/10

Value for Money: 10/10

Average Age Appeal: 11-15

Next up is the Trevor Sorbie Professional Beautifully Moisturised Mini Collection. I have to admit, I have been slightly disappointed with Mr Sorbie in the past, for his claims that his Beautiful Brunette shampoo would guarantee to make my hair darker were ill lived. However, I am willing to wipe the slate regarding our little disagreement after stumbling across this little treasure. With their full sized bottles setting you back £5.10, this set is quite a little gem when it comes to perfect Christmas gifts. Although this set is in the gifts for young girls post, it would still be great for aunties, nans and mums. I absolutely love how the use of this bag is so versatile, seeing as it could be used as a make-up bag, travel bag, or just a handy bag to store odds and ends.  The products themselves are extremely generous, with 75ml of shampoo and conditioner in each bottle. The value for money you receive from this package is strengthened furthermore by the beautiful professional clips you receive; perfect for all avid curling tong addicts! Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who has a fetish for healthy, shiny hair: or just hair in general!

Quality: 10/10

Appeal:  10/10

Value For Money: 8/10

Average Age Appeal: 12-infinite

Lastly, I'd like to introduce a fairly small stocking filler to conclude this gift guide. It would be fair to say that the hype for NYX cosmetics was just about dying down: until now. YouTube beauty gurus have successfully re-introduced the hype for NYX Jumbo Eye-shadow Pencils to the world of cosmetics. I cannot say I am disappointed. Out of the many hundreds (yes, literally, hundreds) of types of shadow I have trialled and evaluated, NYX Jumbo Eye-shadow Pencils have to be among my top five best quality products. Not only is the pigmentation of their products impeccable, but the unique way the pencils slide onto the eyelids is incredible. The pencils are amazing in an incredible 28 shades, and a vast majority of them are wonderfully wearable. My personal favourite shade out of the collection is 'Yogurt', a shimmery pink shade, with a slightly golden iridescent. These Shadow Pencils are the perfect addition to a make-up addicts collection, or an amazing gift for girls just beginning to show an interest in make-up. 

Quality: 10/10

Appeal:  10/10

Value For Money: 10/10

Average Age Appeal: 9-infinite

I hope this gift guise was helpful to all of those last minute shoppers (I salute you!), happy shopping!