My favourite summer blushers: GOLD by Giles (New Look)

Now, we all love the Horizon de Chanel blush.

But at nearly £50 it's undeniably out of most of our price ranges.

I was in New Look the other week and saw this, however:

  

It's far more shimmery than the Chanel one, so it's more of an evening blusher - but for £2.99 who cares?

Also, because the stripes are wider you could do an entire face with it. The top line is quite good as a highlighter.

March favourites!

This is a bit of a 'basics' favourites post, as I found up the five things that make my life pretty easily :)

Remington S7902 Wet2Straight Hair Straighteners

I've had these since October, and they're generally fab, but it was at the debating conference I went to that they came into their own. You see, I was really stupid and forgot to take a hairbrush (d'oh) - but I found that once I had straightened my hair with these you couldn't tell at all. Plus, since my hair is so thick, it would be impossible to fully dry it before straightening - with these I don't have to! I use Schwarzkopf's got2b Guardian Angel Heat Defence spray with them, which seems pretty good.

These have an RRP of £84.99 but retail on Amazon for £42.99

17 Mirror Shine Lipstick - Belle

(image from the fab Catherine's Loves blog)

I have been keeping this lipstick in my pencilcase for most of the past month, it's perfect for a quick swipe. The colour is fairly sheer, with lots of shiiiine and it's really pretty. That the colour is sheer means that you can just swipe away even without a mirror, as if you miss a bit/go off your lips it's not at all noticeable. 

Plus, the packaging is pretty snazzy too - it's fairly difficult to lose this bright blue tube in your bag.

It sells for £4.59 from Boots.

Elf blusher - Shy
(image from the fab Sugar Coated Muffin blog)
This blusher is a really good every-day blusher in my opinion, as it produces a soft pink which goes with everything and is really difficult to overdo. Plus it lasts really well to. Does what it says on the tin, really.
It sells for £1.50, either for 2g in its own thingy as shown or for 1.5g to go in their Elements system, from elf.

17 Solo Eyeshadow - Walnut Pearl (top left in this picture)
I love this eyeshadow - it's a lovely everyday basic colour, and goes with everything - basically the eye makeup equivalent of the blusher above. It's really long-wearing, too.
It retails for £3.89 from Boots.

17 BB Cream
The main reason I like this is that it is low coverage - it's really just a me-but-better look. I have been using it in Light, but I think I need to move up to Medium as I've started to pick up a bit of a tan. It lasts all day (always a bonus!) and generally helps me feel like a more polished version of me.
It sells for £6.99 from Boots.

FOTD: Sensational Sixties and review of 17 Pure Finish Sheer Mineral Blusher

Products used:

• Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in One Of A Kind
• 17 Pure Finish Sheer Mineral Blusher in Plum
• Collection Shimmer Shades Blushalicious (review here)
• Collection Extreme 24Hr Felt Tip Liner

And a review of the blusher!

This blusher sells for £4.69 from Boots, and comes in three shades - I have 'Plum'

I've had this blusher for a while and I really haven't used it enough - it was my first non-palette blusher, and I was really looking for a cream blusher, which I found soon after and so then didn't use this.

Packaging

The packaging of this is really useful for travel - it has its own brush built in. That's also useful because it means that you can't accidentally use a brush with a different shade of blusher in. The disadvantages, though, are that the brush is slightly scratchy, and that it's impossible to wash the brush. Also, on first use, it can take a while to coax the blusher through the brush.

The packaging is also very robust, which I like - it's Lily-proof.

Does it live up to its promises?

On the packaging it says the product has a 'Super-sheer and lightweight formulation'

Whether it's sheer or not really depends on how heavy-handed you are, obviously, but I have found it quite difficult to get a sheer wash. The flush it does produce, though, is lovely!

I certainly agree with the 'lightweight' tag - the blusher feels really nice on the cheeks.

Would I repurchase?

YES! I think I might purchase it in Rose, though, as the Plum is a little too red - though maybe it won't be when I'm more tanned.

Review - Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades in Blushalicious

It's been hailed as a dupe of Nars' Deep Throat Blush.

It's been compared to Givenchy's Le Prisme Blush.

But what's the fuss about with Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades Blush? Here I'll review the blusher palette and then I'll review the bronzer at a later date.

Here are the colours swatched separately - but one of the best things about this blush is how the colours look all mixed together - it's a really lovely pink that produces a natural-looking flush.

This blusher sells for £4.19 from everywhere that stocks Collection 2000 - Boots, Superdrug, Morrisons... the list goes on. Often there are 3 for 2 deals, so it might be worth waiting for one if you want to get this.

Packaging

As you can see, it comes in a chunky clear plastic block that's about 8cm square and a centimetre thick. Admittedly, not particularly high-end looking, and no mirror for on-the-go application (but who does blusher on the go anyway...?) but it's durable and you can easily see what's in it. If I ever use this blusher up I'm going to use the casing to put elf custom elements in - it's just that durable.

Another good thing about this packaging is the catch. It feels securely shut, so you could be sure you wouldn't get blusher all over your make-up bag/ handbag/ suitcase, but it's not so tricky to open that it hurts your nail polish.

Does it live up to its promises?

On the Boots website, it says:

Release the shimmer queen in you, and create a soft glow that lasts all day long with new Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades. These delightful little compacts will give you a sun kissed, radiant glow normally associated with spending time under the exotic sun.

With two palettes to choose from, prepare to dazzle as the four merged blocks combine shimmer with shade for a multi-tonal and natural blend of colour.

There is one part of that promise that doesn't ring true - this blusher is not at all shimmery. I was worried that the shimmer would make it difficult to wear, but as there isn't any it doesn't. The bronzer palette is slightly less matte, though.

They're certainly not lying when they say the product lasts all day long - I wore it yesterday for a party involving lots of dancing and screaming the words of 90s songs, and it was still there when I got home. I was impressed!

The 'multi-tonal' part is certainly true - one thing I like is that I can lightly swipe a mixture of the bottom two shades around the jaw to serve almost as a bronzer - for a tiny bit of amateur contouring.

Would I repurchase?

Well, to be honest with you, I doubt I'll ever finish this - there's a stonking great 12 grammes of product there. But if I did use this up, I would definitely repurchase it. Lily likey.

(Other products worn in that photo: elf 32 shade eyeshadow palette, elf shimmer eye pencil in Plum Passion, 17 Ultimate Volume lipgloss in Very Berry)

FOTD: It's Party Time!

It's my friend's birthday party tonight, which I'm really excited about

Products used (in order):

• elf Nail Polish in Purple Pleaser (mentioned here)
• elf eyelid primer (mentioned here)
• Hello Kitty Liberty eyeshadow palette (the white shade in the inner corners of the eyes, and then the dark reddish and the dark silver glitter over the eye)
• Collection 2000 Extreme 24H eyeliner (upper lash line)
• Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in Black (lower lash line)
• Natural Collection LashCurl Mascara in Black
• Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades in Blushalicious
• Natural Collection Loose Powder
• Benefit Watt's Up! highlighter
• 17 Ultimate Volume lipgloss in Very Berry

FOTD: Red Lips and Cat Eyes

Products used:

• Elf eyelid primer
• Elf eyeshadow in 'driftwood'
• Collection 2000 Extreme 24H eyeliner
• Elf blusher in 'shy'
• 17 Ultimate Volume lipgloss in 'very berry'

FOTD: Recreating Zooey Deschanel's look from the new sitcom 'New Girl'

If you're anything like me, and since you're reading this you probably are, I bet you have a girl-crush on Zooey Deschanel. She's great, and so pretty! I've been watching her new sitcom, New Girl, and it's really funny - in last week's episode they attempted to defrost a turkey by putting it in the spin-dryer.

Anyway, I thought I'd have a go at recreating her look from the show.

I used the following products, in this order:

• Natural Collection Corrector Stick (it's light green, to neutralise red cheeks)
• Natural Collection Cover-up Stick (beige)
• 17 BB Cream (Light shade) - review to come
• elf Eyelid Primer - review to come but mentioned here
• elf eyeshadow palette - review to come but mentioned here
• Collection 2000 Extreme 24 Hr Felt-tip liner - review to come but mentioned here (on the top lash line)
• Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil (black) - mini-review here (on the bottom lash line)
• Natural Collection LashCurl mascara (black) - review to come
• Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades in Blushalicious - review
• Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Rose Bud - review to come

Gosh, looking at the list here it really emphasises how much stuff I already have that I haven't yet reviewed for the blog - thank heavens for Project Pan, eh?

Are any of you Zooey fangirls too? Let me know

FOTD: pretty in pink

Products used:

• Rimmel Colour Rush Quad eyeshadow in Urban Flower - I used the pale pink matte shade all over the eyeshadow as a base (reviewed here)
• elf Custom Eyes in Wisteria (swatched here). I found that I wasn't really using this shadow to its full capability, only as an interest point to lighten up other eye looks, so I wanted to use it as a focal point. And it's really pretty!
• Boots 17 Photo Flawless Eye Pencil in Carbon Black/ Copper.(reviewed here).
• Boots Natural Collection WaterGuard mascara in Brown/Black
• Collection 2000 ShimmerSquare in Blushalicious (currently with £1 off at boots.com, which means it's down to £3.19)
• Benefit Watt's Up highlighter
• Boots 17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Belle

FOTD: it's Spring!

The trees mostly still have bare branches, but the grass is growing bright green and there were daffodils in the florist's shop yesterday. So it's spring! Yay!

Today's face of the day is a laid back look that took less than five minutes in front of the mirror - which is always good, really. Because it's Sunday and I like to let my skin breathe at least one day a week, I moisturised but didn't use foundation or BB cream today.

If you've read my blog before, you might know that I'm basically in love with my elf eyeshadows (on which note, they've got a free gift sale today and free shipping too, til 10pm). The only problem is that they have a lot of fallout. They definitely fall into the category of eyeshadows that you put on before your foundation. Today I decided to try and apply them with the minimum fallout possible. And I managed. The trick is to use your finger rather than a brush - somehow that reduces the problem hugely. It works because of how lovely and soft these shadows are - I've ordered another shadow and another blush, so there's now a queue of things to go into my elf palette (yes, all right, I forgot to include a second palette in my order...)

I used 'sage', a lovely lovely green, all over the eyelid, and 'wisteria', a pinkish lilac, above that close to the lash line. I really like the effect of that, and I think I'll team the colours up together like that again.

I used a metallic teal eye pencil - Boots 17's, though it's no longer in the range. It was a present from my lovely friend Philly (who runs her own blog) who had two of the Gift With Purchase that included the pencil (summer 09 as far as I can tell from the Internet) and gave me the second, because she's lovely like that. I guess the nearest equivalent now would be the blue eye version of the Photo Flawless Eye Pencil.

I used my elf blush in 'shy' which is a really pretty colour, as you can see on my cheek to the left of the picture - my camera isn't handling light and dark very well at the moment, as you can see, but the colours on the left of the picture are truer to life. Unlike the elf shadows, which are very soft and which I think I'll hit pan on very soon (especially sage), the blush is fairly hard, and despite having used it a lot I've barely made an indent on the top of it. I've ordered another elf blush as well, because I like this one so much. To finish off I used Boots 17 Mirror Shine lipstick in shade 'Belle' - which is, as others have said, fab. It's one of those your lips but better lipsticks.

Ta-dah!

Face of the day - family dinner

Quite a simple face of the day here - apologies for the photo, I wrestled with my camera for long enough...Eyes: I used the pale pink and the green from Rimmel's colour rush quad overshadow in 016 urban flowers and elf's sage colour from their elements range. I lined my eyes in collection 2000's Extreme 24 hour felt tip liner, which I decided on as a replacement for my liner that got dropped earlier in the week... I then used Natural Collection LashCurl Mascara in black which is amazing, and I will get round to doing a review soon, I promise...

Face generally: Boots 17's BB cream which I love - it's so light on, for a start, and it does enough of a foundation job for me at the moment. Then my new Benefit Watt's Up highlighter, which is courtesy of britishbeautyblogger.com's giveaway. It's so amazing. Love the packaging as well - it looks like a lightbulb!
Then I used a really, really old Marks & Spencer blusher in Ginger, which I gaily went for with my total face brush and then realised I'd made a terrible mistake. Once I blended it out a bit though, and removed a little of the excess, it was fine. I then used the Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Rose Bud, which I picked up in a 3 for £5 deal as my third item and never expected to like as much as I do - the colour is lovely, it's long lasting, it doesn't come off on glasses etc, and it really is moisturising. Plus it was only £1.99

FOTD: Simple green eye

Originally I wasn't going to post this, but today at school one of my friends said she liked my eye make-up, which I took as a go ahead to share the look.

So here it is, and you have Sarah to blame if you don't like it, haha.

I think this took less than five minutes to do in total, which is always good for hurried school mornings. Another thing about it that was good for it being a school morning was that it only used three products, so there was no scrabbling around, and walking back and forth from my makeup shelf to my bathroom sink.

As always, I started with this moisturiser. I put it on as I got out of bed to let it sink in while I got dressed - this was a key time-saving thing. If I'd worn foundation today I would have paused halfway through dressing to put it on, to let that sink in while I finished getting dressed. This dramatically reduces the amount of time spent at my dressing table, and increases the amount of time I get to spend having breakfast!

First was my trusty Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil, this time in shade 031, Jungle Green. It blends so well. Love it. I put this across the top lash line, and halfway across the lower lash line, from the centre outwards. It then smudges slightly as I put the eyeshadow on.

Next was eyeshadow - I used my e.l.f. elements one in shade 'sage' - top left in the palette in this picture, and centre of the swatches - across the whole eyelid. Simple but nice.

I then used the blush - 'shy' - from this palette too, which I have really loved using over the past week, as it's just pigmented enough, but not too brash, looks natural on, and blends well.

And ta-da, the finished look! Those of you who've seen previous Faces Of The Day will notice I've had my hair cut. I decided that cost would win out, and went to Supercuts, and I'm actually really impressed. The stylist was efficient, nice, etc, and always asking if the cut was okay. She was chatty but not too much, and the salon was nice and clean. So yeah, good.

I then decided to add some lip colour, and I used Boots 17's Lasting Fix lipstick, in the shade 'Chocolate Eclair'.

It's alright, but I don't think it will be a repurchase. It has a tendency to go bright pink after a few hours...

But here was the look totally finished:

e.l.f haul and unboxing

I ordered some brushes and a custom palette, for a total of £12 including postage.

When the order arrived I could see it was well packed in a good - but not oversized - box. It was well sealed but not impossible to get into - I just used a biro to open the sticky tape. The box seems really sturdy - I'll probably keep it, it will be good for presents or storage.

When I opened the box there was lots of bubble wrap (so I know what I'm going to be doing for therapy for the next week!) and a packing note on the top, and then the brushes on top of the custom palette and the elements I ordered for it, with some wrap between the brushes and the makeup to protect it all. I like the care that's gone into this packing.

I've swatched these bits later, but I thought I'd write more about them here. The compact is a really good size, and you can see why I like the versatility. The elements are packaged well, though slightly overpackaged - within the cardboard boxes there is a plastic frame keeping the element safe. Again, care despite the fact they only cost £1.

The brushes also seem really good; I haven't had a chance to try out the total face brush, but the blusher/bronzer/blender brush is really good, and I like the angle cut across the top of both of the fuller brushes. They're also lovely and soft! The lip brush I haven't had a chance to properly experiment with, but I had a quick go and it seems to work...

Here are swatches (top without flash, bottom with flash, I know, I need hand cream) of the elements I got for the compact. From right: 'sage' eyeshadow, 'wisteria' eyeshadow, and 'shy' blusher.

Sage is a lovely colour, a definite repurchase when I run out.

Wisteria is more purple and less pale than I expected, but I can see it being useful when I figure out how to incorporate it into looks.

Both of the eyeshadows have a lovely creamy (but still powder) texture. LOVE them.

Shy is nice and sheer, which will help to avoid the clown look.

Overall I love these!

Oh, and there is a free postage offer code that lasts until 9.30am GMT on Monday morning when you spend 10 quid - the code is SHIP24FREE

New Years Eve look.

Right, so I had the joys of spending NYE with my parents this year, so this is a special family dinner kind of a look.

I wore a navy blue Miss Selfridge dress with a cream collar and trim, so I decided to go for a navy eye.

Picture 1 - my 'before' face

The first thing I did was moisturise with my Neutrogena Multi-Defence Daily Moisturiser. I started using this in the summer and I love it. Then I put some Boots Natural Collection ShineAway Foundation (I use shade 'porcelain') on my cheeks, to de-pink them a bit.

Next was a thick line of Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in shade 021, denim blue, along the top lash line and halfway along the lower lash line. This will smudge easily as I add the rest of the eye make up.

Then I swept No7 Stay Perfect Eyeshadow in shade 69, Starry Night, ( another freebie from the gift I mentioned in my lipgloss review) across the whole eyelid as a base and to blend with. Next was Boots 17 Eyeshadow in shade Regal, a lovely blue, which I put towards the outer edge of my eyelids and blended with my finger.

Last came mascara (Boots Natural Collection in Brown/Black), lipgloss (No7 High Shine in Whisper, reviewed below) and blusher (Natural Collection cream blusher in Rosy Pink).
Then I was done :)

Picture 2 - the products I used, in order from left to right

Picture 3 - the 'after' face

In hindsight, looking at the photo, I could probably have done with a tiny bit more blusher. I also made a duff choice with the lip gloss which, while it was great that it didn't leave marks on my drinks glasses, did get lots of hair stuck to it on the walk into town for dinner, when it was quite windy. I can report, though, that the lip gloss has quite good staying power - nearly four hours after I put it on, after eating and drinking, while it's not as glossy as it was, my lips still look fairly shiny and glossy with a faint bit of the shimmer. The rest of the look seems to have held up well, though, and the foundation has done as promised and kept shine at bay.

Picture 4 - the 'hours after' face.

NB: you may notice that these photos are better quality than up to this point - that's because I took them on my proper camera rather than webcam for once.