A Few of My Favourite Things: Serums and Face Oils

Hello!

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a little a bit obsessed with skincare! So today I bring you the first in a new blog series called "A few of my favourite things" where I will discuss a few of my favourite things in each category explaining why I like them so much and why I would recommend them.

So, serums and face oils....why do I love them so much? Basically a serum has more potent ingredients and will ultimately do more than your regular moisturiser. For a slightly more in depth look at what a serum is the lovely people over at Into The Gloss have put together a little FAQ that's definitely worth a read!

First up is the bareMinerals Skinlongevity*. This is the newest serum by bareMinerals and I bloody love it! I was worried when they announced that they were discontinuing all their serums for this "vital power infusion" as I had no idea what that meant and I loved the old serums. Basically, this infusion can be used alone or with another serum on top to boost what that other serum does. It also has skinmimetic technology in it, which effectively means it'll make your skin act how it should do at your age. It helps to get rid of visible signs of ageing and stops environmental stressers from making your skin look older than it is. With ingredients like long life herb and California poppy in it (and no parabens, fillers or binders), it's designed to keep your skin looking younger for longer. Plus it smells AMAZING so, you know, there's that too....! You can see my one is getting rather low despite only having had it for 2 and a half months.....it turns out my Mum is also a fan of this product!!!

bareMinerals Multi-Wrinkle Repair was my absolute favourite serum before Skinlongevity came out. It smelt like lavender and just sunk into my skin so quickly whilst hydrating it quickly too. I won't go on about this too much as it has been discontinued and I don't want to make anyone feel like they want to try it only to be disappointed when it's difficult to find!!

Nip+Fab Dragon's Blood Plumping Serum - I got this as a 10 day sachet sample set when I got the face mask on their website a while back. Firstly, if these sachets only last you 10 days, what are you doing with the serum?? There is SO much in each sachet!! I really enjoy this serum and it's a cheaper version of the Rodial Dragon's Blood Serum, which I've not tried as it's rather expensive! This one is slightly thicker and stickier than the other serums and oils in this post which does put me off buying the full size to be honest. I don't mind using this at night but it takes way too long to sink in for me to use during the day. It does have hyaluronic acid in it though, so if you have excessively dry skin this might be good during the day too.

Clarins Pore Minimizing Serum - I got this as a sample from my local Clarins counter and although I'm not a huge fan of it all over my face, I do like how it does minimise the appearance of my pores and helps to mattify my face during the day. My makeup sits nicer and stays for a bit lonoger too I have noticed. This serum is for more combination to oily skin, which is probably why I don't like it all over my skin but it has alpine willow herb in it which helps slow the production of sebum resulting in a matte finish.

AD Skin Synergy Nourishing Night Treatment - I got this in a beauty box a while back and I love it! It's seriously nourishing and smells amazing. The brand is also paraben free which is always a good thing I think. It contains a lot of natural, organic oils which will help to hydrate your skin and repair it overnight. Highly recommend! (Plus a tiny bit goes a REALLY long way so it lasts ages too!)

Kiehls Midnight Recovery Concerntrate - I got this when it was on a huge discount on the Debenhams website (it is still on a slight discount here) as I'd always heard such good things about it. To start off with, I wasn't really sure it was doing much. Sure it smelt good but really....was my skin looking any different? Then someone mentioned that my skin looked really glowy and I realised that the subtle changes weren't noticable by myself so much, but it was obviously doing something! This is another paraben free item which I love to put on after my bareMinerals Skinlongevity to really give my skin an overnight boost!

Fresh Seaberry Moisturizing Face Oil - This was part of a Sephora gift set my brother got for me a while ago and it's the only face oil I've ever been able to use in the morning under my makeup! It's a blend of pure oils and is a lot thinner in consistency meaning it will sink in quicker. Seaberry is known for its moisturising properties and helps to heal skin too. I've loved all the Fresh skincare I have used but it's a little expensive....although totally worth it!

Nude Rescue Oil - This was another sample in the Sephora set that my brother got for me. This serum has a product in it called bakuchiol which Nude claims has the same effect as retinol "without negative side effects." I like this one as another overnight treatment as it refines the texture of my skin which means I wake up with epically smooth skin in the morning! This serum is suitably for Vegans too, which is pretty awesome!

Nude Firming Youth Oil - This one has a really nice plumping effect which helps to fight the visible signs of ageing in the form of fine lines and wrinkles. I'm not super fussed about wrinkles at the moment so I'm not sure I could justify the price tag but I'm enjoying the sample I got! Again, this serum is suitable for Vegans so if fine lines and wrinkles are a concern for you it might be worth looking into this one!

Superdrug Coconut Oil - Now then, I'm not adverse to cheaper skincare brands by any means, but for serums and oils I've just never found one on the high street that is something to rave about you know? Most serums on high street have silicone in them, which is what most primers contain to make your skin feel soft and smooth and I would never recommend putting a primer on at night to sleep in, so I'm not about to recommend a serum that has that ingredient in! However, this coconut oil from Superdrug is absolutely amazing and is only £2.50!! I use it in my hair as well as on my face when it gets excessively dry during Winter and I love it! My hair is dyed frequently so it's a good overnight treatment to help it from getting dry and horrible and when my face gets dry and flaky during Winter it's fab for re-hydrating it. If I use this over one of my other intense serums it's even better! If you don't have a huge skincare budget, then this is the product for you for sure! Maybe not a great day time option, especially for oily skin types, but as an overnight option it's the bomb!

So there are my serum and face oil picks for the moment! How do you guys feel about serums and oils? Do you have any recommendations for me to add to my list once I use some of these up? (or before I use these ones up knowing me!!!)

Until next time,

xoxo

High End VS Highstreet: Estee lauder Double Wear VS Seventeen Stay Time Foundation

Hello!

So today I decided to compare two of the liquid foundations that I've used for a bit. One high end and one highstreet. I've done this before on a slightly grander scale with various lip colours (might re-do those at some point as my opinions may have changed...) Anyway, as some of you know, I've been playing about with various different liquid foundations for days off when I decide to go for something different to my "work makeup". I'll be honest nothing has come close to my beloved bareMinerals Original Foundation in terms of formula and coverage choice! But I decided to have a "liquid foundation off" (like a dance off...but less energetic) today to compare two of my favourites so far. I'll be honest, I've not used a lot of High End foundations due to their cost...I'm kind of limited to what's in store that I can nab a sample of really!! I do like the Dior ones but I have no samples of them and as this was a bit of a whim I went with what I had. I used to use Double wear Light when I worked for Benefit (I wouldn't put their foundation on my face after the HORRIFIC reaction I had to it on my hand! Bleugh!) so have had experience with Estee Lauder foundation before. The Seventeen one is my current favourite of the highstreet ones that I've tried now. Again, I've not tried loads as I can't justify buying lots when I can't wear them everyday! Anyway, long waffle justifying my choices over, let's get on with the comparison!

The reason I chose to do the comparison today was because my skin is horrendous after having a really bad cold/cough/sore throat thing so it'd be much easier to show you the coverage I think!

So firstly here is a shot of my lovely bare faced...complete with pinned back hair. FIT. (note the two coffee mugs in the background...that would explain the dark circles under my eyes!)

So on the left side on the picture (which is the right side of my face...which confuses me greatly when trying to decide how to describe each side in a blog post. Do you call it the left because it's the left of the picture or the right because it's the right side of my face?! Ugh. Thinking like this all the time makes my brain hurt. I'm going with left as it's left of the picture....) Ahem, ok so on the left I've buffed on the Seventeen Stay Time Foundation. I have the shade Fair and it seems to be a really good match I think. Notice the blemish above my eyebrow and the redness round my nose has basically gone.

With the Estee Lauder DoubleWear foundation in Ecru on the right (left side of my face...) The blemish on my forehead is still showing a bit but I think that's because it's horrendous not really to do with the foundations coverage... However the dark circles under my eyes are both as bad as each other and I feel that the Seventeen one is better covered.

With a full face of makeup on. I don't think you can really judge foundations until you've put the rest of your makeup on! I felt my eyeshadow went on more smoothly on the Seventeen side but that my cream blush worked better with the Estee Lauder side. 

So this was at the end of the day (note to self...need a better place to put my brushes once I've finished with them...) Again, i feel like the dark circles under my eyes look worse on the Estee Lauder side and my blusher seems to be fading quicker on that side too.

Here is a close up of my eyes so I can show you how the DoubeWear really settled into every fine line around my eye! I'm only 25 and don't have a lot of fine lines but DAMN! I felt like I looked like I'd aged about 20 years! I was not ok with that at all. I mean, I'm all about ageing gracefully but seriously...not in a day! (don't look at how badly I need to get my eyebrows done either...)

So here are my overall thoughts:

• Application: Seventeen - very easy. Half a pump did half my face. Estee Lauder - Difficult. A small amount went far but it kept just moving with the brush which ave my brush marks on my face. Very irritating. Took twice as long as the Seventeen one to apply.
• Coverage: Seventeen - Very good coverage and smooth/semi matte finish. Estee Lauder - Very good coverage with a slightly dewy finish (on me anyway!)
• Feeling on face: Seventeen - Very light, non-sticky, almost felt like I had nothing on. Estee Lauder  Very sticky, felt heavy on my face.
• End of day feeling: Seventeen - Still light and still good coverage. Had some occasions where I touched my face and came away with foundation, but never looked patchy! No re-application needed. Estee Lauder - Felt really sticky on my face by the end of the day, couldn't wait to get it off! had some on my fingers every time I'd touched my face - still didn't look patchy though! Still very good coverage but had gathered under my eyes and my eyeshadow had creased very badly (unlike on the Seventeen side where it had creased a little but not loads) Blusher has faded on this side too.
• Ease of Removing Foundation: Seventeen - Using my bareMinerals cleanser it took about 2 cotton pads to remove all makeup (including eye makeup) Estee Lauder - After 2 cotton pads I looked in my magnifying mirror and it was still caked on round my nose and cheek area. After FIVE COTTON pads (double sided too!!) I was finally clean!

Verdict...

Seventeen is the outright winner for me. It basically has the same coverage as DoubleWear but with less hassle, stickiness and under eye ageing!! Plus if I wore DoubleWear all the time I'd spend a fortune in cotton pads to remove it!! I prefer the semi-matte finish of the Seventeen Stay Time Foundation too. I don't like feeling like I have to layer up powder over the top of liquid foundation but hate shine on my face so I felt comfortable wearing the Seventeen one alone. The DoubleWear one would still need a powder over the top personally though. So for me, I vote Seventeen Stay Time foundation over Estee Lauder DoubleWear anytime! Both are available from Boots and Estee Lauder is available from other retailers too.

What do you guys think? Anyone tried both and have a favourite? Let me know!

Until next time,

xoxo

Other makeup used in final photo - Estee Lauder Pure Color Eye Trio in Steel Lilacs, Lancome Hypnose Mascara, bareMinerals Brow Powder (discontinued), Lancome Highlighter in Rose Etincelle,Bourjois Blush Exclusif and Lancome L'Absolu Rouge Lipstick in 06.

Face Highlighters are my Favourites!

Hello!


So today I bring you a mini review of the highlighters in my collection. Highlighters are my favourite make-up item as they are so freaking pretty and can add so much to a simple or complex make-up look. Considering how much I love them, I think my collection is very restrained! (I started this post a while back and since then I may have brought another one..damn you illamasqua sale!! I also won one in a work competition but I'll do reviews of those ones separately.)

So here are my 5 highlighters. DiorSkin Nude 001, MUA Undress your Skin Shimmer Highlighter, MUA Eyeshadow 01, bareMinerals Turn On Highlighter and bareMinerals Champagne Diamond Radiance.

From left to right:

• MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter - I like this highlighter but it's a bit on the pink side so may not suit all skin types. I do find that if I'm too heavy handed it looks a bit intense...but for the £2.50 I paid for it when it was on offer, I can't complain too much!
• MUA Eyeshadow 001 - I brought  this as some people had said it was nice as a highlighter an  it really is! Again, you need to be quite light handed with it as its quite pigmented (being an eyeshadow you would expect this!) But used correctly it leaves a really nice shimmer on your skin and if you accidentally put too much on (leaving a white streak....) it buffs out really easily too!
• DiorSkin Nude 001 - This highlighter is simply beautiful. It's the most expensive one I have in my collection and I brought it because it was almost identical to my 17 one that I loved so much (but was a limited edition a few years ago...damn it!) It is simply the most beautiful thing I've ever owned make-up wise. It's very subtle and just gives a really nice light highlight to your cheekbones/cupids bow etc. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a highlighter that goes a long way and is very subtle. I know it's a tad expensive (£32 I think...) but it was totally worth the money!
• bareMinerals Turn On Highlighter - This is practically a loose version of the Dior one. It's very very pretty but a tiny bit more pink toned. My only issues with this one is the fact that it's so pigmented that you do have to be careful when applying it. A tiny bit goes a long way! (which is good as it'll last ages!) I got this in a set a while ago so I don't know if you can get this particular one any more, but they do radiance's that are just as pretty.
• bareMinerals Champagne Diamond Radiance - Again, this was part of a Christmas set a while ago but is so so pretty that I hope there is one that matches it for when this one runs out. It's a bit more bronze toned than the rest so works really nicely when I'm going for a more bronzed goddess (HA!) look.

Same as above but with flash on. I think this shows the shimmer of all the highlighters nicely but also shows how the MUA ones are distinctly more intense than the others.

So there's (most) of my highlighters and my thoughts on them. What do you guys think of my small collection? Any that you can recommend for me to keep my habit going strong??

Until next time,

xoxo

Comparison: Highend Vs Highstreet Pink Lip Products

Hello!

So here's another comparison for you! This one is on the same lines as my red lip product review but just with pink lip products instead (obviously....) So basically I take a random sample of my collection and let you know which one I would pick out of all of them. Fun right?? Now then, I own a hell of a lot of pink lip colours so I've narrowed this one down a little bit so I don't over load you guys with the ridiculous amount of pinks...also my arm wouldn't be long enough to swatch them all I don't think! Anyway, on with the comparison....

Swatches in the same order as above. From left to right:

• Dior Addict Lipstick in 579 Must Have - Love the colour of this lipstick but the colour payoff isn't massive. Very nice for just a slick of colour.
• BareMinerals Pretty Amazing Lip Colour in Ambition - One of my favourite work colours. Such great colour and staying power!
• BareMinerals Pretty Amazing Lip Colour in Moxie - Another favourite work colour. It's a really nice light pink for a more natural look.
• MAC Lipstick in Lickable - My first and only MAC lipstick (so far...) highly pigmented and has amazing staying power.
• 17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Bolshie - More of a sheer colour but still has pretty good colour payoff I find.
• Barry M Lip Paint in Touch of Magic (green to pink) - I love this colour because of the fun factor (and for the finished colour) but it is a tad annoying when you can't really see where it's going and you end up with pink just over your lip (you can rub it off but it's difficult with this one!) Once it's on though, that's it! I've even woken up the next day going "what?? How is there any left on?!?!" 
• ELF Mineral Lipstick in Rich Raspberry - I like the feel of this one. It's very soft on your lips.
• Natural Collection Lipstick in Raspberry - I love this lipstick. I practically lived in it this time last year. 
• 17 Berry Crush Lip Stain in Pinkini - Love the colour and staying power...but that fact that it seems to dry up when you're using it is a real pain!

Winner: Highend - MAC totally wins this one (based on one lipstick...) because I bloody love the colour, the payoff and the staying power! Barry M is close but is quite drying too which brought it down a few points. Special mention to the Natural Collection lipsticks though - these are my favourite highstreet ones but they lost points for colour selection (possibly only a problem in my local Boots?)

Swatches same as above from left to right:

• Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss in 152 Socialite Pink - Considering I don't really like the feel of lipgloss generally....this is beautiful! It's really good colour payoff but not sticky at all.
• BareMinerals Natural Lipgloss in Heartcake - I like the way this feels on my lips too. Not sticky and just a swish of colour.
• Buxom Lipgloss in Gina - I love the colour of this but sometimes you don't want one that's got a plumping effect.
• Buxom Lipgloss in Berry Blast - This is one of the cream finish ones which gives much more colour than a normal gloss. However, the tingle is still there so it's not one of my everyday ones now.
• Barry M Lipgloss in Limited Edition (no name!) - No then, this isn't strictly pink but I've only ever used it over pink lipsticks so it's got a pink tinge to it now (gross right?!) This isn't sticky but it feels a bit....slimy on my lips. I'm not a fan of being able to taste the fragrance in it either.

Winner: Highend - Nothing will ever beat the Dior lipgloss for me. I really don't like the feel of gloss so the fact that I can only barely feel this gloss is a massive bonus for me. I LOVE the colour of this one too and would be interested in looking at more. This might a little skewed because I do only really own one highstreet gloss in the pink ranges though, but I've owned more and given them away for being too sticky or too sweet smelling/tasting!

So there's my few comparisons for pink lip products.... Do you guys have any recommendations for lip products? Anything I'm missing out on lipgloss wise?? 

Until next time,

xoxo

Comparison: Highend Vs Highstreet Red Lip Products

Hello!

So I decided to do this sort of blog post last night when I was trying out a new way to style my hair....obviously I couldn't get the full look without doing my makeup at 8pm in the evening right?? (I call this use of my time "snow madness" I've literally not left the house in 3 days now. I'm so bored!!)  Anyway, I put on my beloved Estee Lauder red lippy and decided it wasn't quite what I wanted....so I delved into my case of stuff that I just don't use much anymore, but still totally love. 

Quick Sidenote: This is the one curse of working on a makeup counter I think. I literally can't wear anything but BareMinerals on a day to day basis, and whilst I love BM products, this does mean that a lot of stuff that I love gets neglected, only being used for "special occasions" (or on nights when I'm trying out new looks obviously...) My Naked palette literally hasn't been used in 6 months now I don't think, which is annoying as I love it so don't want to gift it on to someone but I never get to use it! 

So, I delved into my beauty case of goodies and fished out my MUA lipstick in Shade 1 and was completely overwhelmed with how good it looked and how it was exactly the right shade of red for that look! So I had a little look around in the case and was a little shocked to discover that I had a rather large range of lip products that I had forgotten about! I also discovered that I had a range that went from highend to highstreet...hence this post! I always really like posts when people compare highend and highstreet because I find it really interesting how some products can come out on top when they only cost £1 or something crazy like that! I'm going to try and keep this short by not reviewing each individual piece in full, but just by giving you swatches and opinions on my personal favourites...(we'll see how this goes!)

From Left to Right (swatches in the same order as products above): 

Estee Lauder Pure Color Vivid Shine Lipstick in Forbidden Apple - Beautiful deep red but packed with shimmer. More of a night out look. Very good staying power though and minimal bleeding.

Dior Addict Extreme in 536 Lucky (sample size) - Quite a pinky red. Not great colour payoff either really. Wouldn't buy the full size.

Barry M 121 - Was given this by a friend who never wears red lipstick, which was good because it's way too orange toned for me, so I'm glad I didn't buy this myself! Colour payoff is great but just WAY too orange. I look like the Joker with this on!

ELF Mineral Lipstick in Cheerful Cherry - Non-drying, non-bleeding almost perfect deep red. Very impressed!

ELF Lipstick in Posh - Almost identical to the other ELF one, just cheaper packaging! 

Natural Collection Lipstick in Cherry Red - I love this lipstick colour as it's a little bit brighter but still a deep red if that makes sense? It's a little drying though so lip balm is needed.

MUA Lipstick in Shade 1 - This is amazing for one whole pound!! It looks really similar to my Estee Lauder one, just without the shimmer. Lip liner is very much needed with this though as it's really soft but bleeds LOADS if you're not careful!

ELF Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Cherry Tarts - Eh. I really liked this once, but I'm more about the bold colour at the moment. Maybe I'll fall back in love in the summer. It's stickier than I remember too.

17 Berry Crush Lip Stain in Smokin' Hot (I think - major downside to this one is that the colour name is on the plastic wrap and not on the product at all!) - I loved this when I first bought it but after two uses I was just angry with it. It's good for popping over lipsticks to lock them in though....which is something I guess!

Winner: Highstreet - MUA Shade 1 for a perfect deep red shade for me! For a pound I was SO impressed with how this lipstick felt and lasted on my lips, especially when I would say it was comparable to the Estee Lauder one! The only thing the Lauder is better at is not bleeding AS much and I'm happy to shove a lip liner on first for a perfect deep red shade thanks! - Special mention to the ELF ones too as they have great staying power, but the shades aren't exactly what you see on the website so go careful!

Sometimes I like to a balm over the top of my red lipstick and sometimes I like it to be red toned so I can change/enhance the colour of the lipstick a little bit so I have a handful of balm/glosses to do such a thing...

Left to Right (Same as top to Bottom in above picture):

Maybelline Shinylicious Fruity Gloss in 804 Raspberry - Brought this YEARS ago (tut tut I know!) and it's still fine, but a little bit too sticky for me.

Natural Collection Tinted Lip Balm in Raspberry Rhumba - I'm not sure if they still do these anymore but I do like the feel of this as it isn't sticky but the colour pay off is pretty good too. Possibly a bit too pink for me  and the smell/taste of this is a bit gross.

Clarins Dynamic Red Lip Balm - This was a free gift with something a while back I think but the girl at work found a stash of them in her cupboard....and we're allowed to take 2 samples home per week...and as this is marked "not for sale" on the back, it technically counts! (Quick note, no, we aren't allowed to take anything marked for testers!) The photo above does it no justice at all as it's actually a deep red with very fine shimmer in it. Completely enhances any red and adds the bit of glossiness I want without leaving my lips sticky! Smells lovely too!

Winner: Highend - Clarins Lip Balm is a real winner for me...makes any drying lipstick perfectly fine for my lips and gives a great deep red colour to all my lipsticks! Makes my lips look and feel kissable!

So what do you guys think? Am I missing any perfect Reds from my collection? Any highstreet red lip balms you can recommend? (I think the Clarins one was limited edition! Nooooo!)

Until next time,

xoxo