Two Current Favourites

Above is one of the new lip sticks from the MUA Kiss You range, launched in connection with boy band One Direction. There are five shades in the collection, each named for a member of the group. Above is Harry, which is a blue based red shade. this lipstick is heavily pigmented, applies quite smoothly and is long lasting. The range also includes lip glosses and nail polish all at the affordable price of £3 each.

Harrry Kiss You lipstick swatched

Avon 8-in-one Eye Palette – The Metallics

I think the palette above has a lovely mix of colours. The shadows have some shimmer in them, but are not strongly metallic. The shadows are nicely pigmented, and they do last long on the lids and I tried them on without eye primer. The palette costs under £10, which I think is good value for your money.

Holiday Buys

I visited Canada in September and these are some of the beauty purchases I made. These are not available in the UK, so I thought I would try them out.

I bought these eyeliners from Sephora, a pack of four mini liners. From top to bottom: Midnight black, Kaki Green, Psychedelic Purple and Nuage. I have been using these liners for a while now and I think they are quite good! They are soft and easy to apply and the pigmentation is just fab!

I also got the above face brush from Sephora. It’s got really soft but firm bristles and is quite a good exfoliating and cleansing tool, and a way cheaper alternative to the ever popular Clarisonic. I use this with my facial wash/cleanser.

I love tinted lip balms, and I had read a couple of good reviews about the Maybelline balms so I decided to try a couple .The top  one called Grape Vine gives a bit of a purple tint, whilst the bottom, Pink Punch gives your lips a nice pink tint. They are lovely to use and very moisturising on the lips. Wonder why these are not available in the UK.

The above products are also in the tinted lip balm category. They are covergirl lipslicks in Hipster above and Daring below. Like the Maybelling balms, they also give your lips a hint of a tint and are very moisturiing.

I thought I would try one of the wet and wild eyeshadows as reviews of these have been positive. The above is a trio of nice neutrals called Knock on wood. These are very pigmented and easy to apply as they blend well.

The above products were purchased from Bath and Body Works. From left to right: Paris Amour body lotion and fragrance mist and White Citrus  fragrance mist. Paris Amour has a lovely floral fragrance whilst White Citrus has a sharp citrus fragrance.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

What I am Currently Using

This is the new GOSH BB cream, which is a foundation and primer in one. This is one of the best BB creams I’ve used so far. It gives light to medium coverage and has a creamy texture. It does a good job moisturising the skin and lasts really well throughout the day without making my skin oily. It is currently on sale at Superdrug for £5.99.

The Lash Millionaire from Miss Sporty – This mascara promises to add rich volume and breathtaking length to your lashes and perfect lash seperation. I have been using this for quite a while now and all I can say is that it is non clumpy and separates your lashes beautifully but for me, there wasn’t much length or volume, nevertheless, it darkens the lashes beautifully without clumps so I will continue using this from time to time. Priced £3.99

The Too Faced Perfect Eyes Waterproof Eyeliner in Perfect Black Orchid  – I love this eyeliner! It’s a very dark almost black violet shade. This eyeliner is one of my favourites because it is long lasting and very pigmented.

This is one of the new MUA lipliners, the above colour is called Brooding Plum, which is a dark plum red shade. this shade is perfect for the Autums/Winter. Its great to use on it’s own as a lip colour, as it is quite soft and very pigmented. These lipliners are available in Superdrug and come in about four shades priced £1.00 each. What a bargain!

Tesco’s Vivo Makeup

I have been trying out some products from Tesco’s Vivo makeup range and here’s what I think of the products I’ve tried so far:

Lipstick in Spiced Cinnamon  £1.99 – which is a pinky nude shade. It has a nice creamy satin texture and applies smoothly to your lips.

Baked Shimmer Palette in Divine £6.00 – The palette contains four eyeshadows and a blusher. The eye shadows are shimmery and pigmented enough, but a bit powdery,  Applies better when used with a primer. The blusher gives your cheeks a  lovely subtle shimmer  pink colour. I like the blusher best.

Single eye shadow in Golden Leaf £1.50 – It’s a lovely golden green satin shade, which is nicely pigmented and blendable.

Shimmer and Shine Lip Gloss in Just Peachy £1.50 – This is a lovely shimmery peach shade with sparkling particles, gives high shine to your lips, but not much colour.

Available from Tesco Extra stores

Kiko Makeup Milano Cosmetics

I visited the new Westfield Shopping Center in Stratford some days ago, and there I discovered the kiko make-up store. Kiko is an Italian brand and they have a wide range of make-up,  lipglosses, eyeshadows, lipsticks, nail polishes etc. in a wide variety of shades. The products are quite reasonably priced as well. I bought a few products which I have been trying out and I can honestly say they are really good. The lipglazes and lipgloss are £3 each and they are very moisturising, shiny and non-sticky. I also got an eyeshadow in a neutral shade, which is very pigmented, blends really well and stays put for hours without creasing, and I did not use any primer. The single eye shadows are £5.90 each. I bought a matt lipstick in a brown neutral shade, which, although matt feels very comfortable to wear and is not dry at all. These are £5.90 each. I got a nail polish £4.90 also in a neutral shade, which I have yet to try. I will tell you what I think about it sometime soon.
If you’ve not already done so, I think it’s a brand worth checking out. Really helpful and friendly sales assistants.

Kiko make-up

Kiko lipgloss and lipglaze moisturising and non-sticky

The Kiko Make Up Milano store is at Westfield Stratford City

Kleenex Eye Make-up Removal Wipes and Shine Absorbing Sheets

You would often associate kleenex with facial tissues and the like, but they’ve recently introduced a few cosmetic products to their range.
Their eye make-up removal wipes come in a pack containing 24 wipes. It is meant to be suitable for sensitive skin. It did a relatively good job removing my eye make-up, though the texture of the wipe was more “paperlike” rather than “clothlike” if you know what I mean, but the wipes still felt soft against my skin. This could be because the wipes have been made with ecoform natural fibres which must be some kind of environmentally friendly material.
The shine absorbing sheets are powder free and come in a pack of 50. You are meant to blot the plain side on your face to remove the oil from your face. I liked using this product because it did remove the shine from my face without removing my make-up in the process and it did not leave a powdery deposit on my face either.

 

Collection 2000 Metallic Cream Eye Shadow

I tried a bronzy colour called Copper Pot, which looked lovely in the container, so I thought it would do the same on my eye lids. Firstly, the product is not very pigmented you need to deposit a lot of the product on your lids to see visible results. The product comes with a sponged tip applicator which is fairly easy to use. The shadow does blend well and I think its perfect for creating a natural makeup look. It could also work as a base for a powder eye shadow of the same colour.

Available from http://www.boots.com/