Hi there! Today’s short post is about Astor‘s Soft Sensation Lipstick. The shade I’m wearing is 114. I think this is a lovely shade for this time of year. It’s a soft berry to plum shade that suits a lot of skin tones. I love this shade because it looks good with my pale skin. Many darker berry or plum shades give me an unwanted gothic look, so this kind of shade is just right for me. 🙂
I’m also in love with the formula. This is a super creamy lipstick that feels lovely on my lips. Whilst this lipstick doesn’t survive a meal, it lasts well if I don’t drink or snack every couple of minutes. And it lasts pretty much all day if I seal it with a lipliner (yes, a plain and simple lip liner). All in all, I’m very happy that I picked up this pretty lipstick for £1 at one of the bargain stores!
Tag Archives: make-up
Reducing My Oldies Stash – Esprit Styling Color Palette Eyeshadow 204 Australian Bush
Hi there! Today’s post is about a small eyeshadow palette – Esprit Styling Color Palette Eyeshadow 204 Australian Bush. I’m not entirely sure where I bought it – but I think it would most likely have come from one of the Poundstores. I don’t think I would have spent more than £1. Anyway… let me tell you a little more about this palette.
This small Esprit eye palette contains 4 shimmery eyeshadows – brown, jade (or turquoise), sand and baby pink. I think these eyeshadows are well pigmented, and they’re of good quality in general. I don’t love the jade eyeshadow, but that has nothing to do with quality. It’s just that the colour is just not me at all.
So whilst I will continue to use the brown, sand and baby pink eyeshadows, I will repurpose the jade eyeshadow – I will use it to make another stamping polish! If you’d like to know how that works, you should read tomorrow’s post. 🙂
Reducing My Samples Stash – Oriflame Giordani Gold Mineral Therapy Foundation Natural Beige
Hi there! Today’s post is about Oriflame’s Giordani Gold Mineral Therapy Foundation in Natural Beige. I’ve had this sample for quite some time. And I haven’t been keen on giving this foundation a try. That’s because, based on my experience, those ‘natural beige’ shades are usually way too dark for me (I’m a pale redhead). However, I’m making an effort to use the products I already have – and that includes all those samples too!
Now onto the review! The first thing I noticed was that 3ml is a lot of product for a foundation sample. Wow! The second thing I noticed was that the shade of this liquid foundation wasn’t really a natural beige – it was more of an orangey shade. But that was OK. It was a Sunday, I didn’t have to go anywhere, and so I just applied the foundation…
Then I took a really close look in the mirror, and I was ready to wash my face again! My face looked orange – but that wasn’t even the main issue. The main issue was that this foundation didn’t provide any coverage at all. I didn’t even look like I was wearing make-up. I looked like I had slathered my face in carrot oil. Ridiculous!
But since I wanted to give this foundation a chance, I left it on for the entire day. I must say that I expected the foundation to settle into the fine lines, and I was sure it would highlight dry patches – but it didn’t. And it actually felt nice on my skin. Now, I make room for the possibility that I helped by not applying powder, but who knows? And who cares? I certainly don’t because this foundation doesn’t cover anything at all, so I wouldn’t buy it anyway!
Oriflame’s Giordani Gold Mineral Therapy Foundation has been renamed. It’s current name is Oriflame Giordani Gold Long Wear Mineral Foundation. It’s available as 30ml for £18.
Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner 038 Allure
Hi there! If you’ve read yesterday’s post, you know that there are quite a few beauty products that I have several back-ups of. So I thought it would be very fitting to make today’s post about one of these products. 😀 Now meet Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner 038 Allure.
Allure is one of my favourite lipliners. It’s a true full-colour lipliner that doubles up as a (matte) nude lipstick. This lipliner is on the softer side, so it’s quick and easy to apply. However, lipliners can be drying, so I always use a bit of lip balm (for a demi-matte look) or lip gloss (for a slightly glossy look – like in the picture above) before I apply any lipliner.
Whilst the lip balm (or gloss) underneath the lipliner will lose its sheen within a few hours, the colour (= the actual lipliner) will stay put all day. Sure, if I eat fatty and greasy foods for lunch, the lipliner will suffer. However, when I’m at work I don’t eat junk food for lunch, so I’m pretty safe! 🙂
What I actually wanted to say is… I think this lipliner is great. Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liners are available in several colours. This shade, 038 Allure, seems to have been discontinued. However, I just had a look at Rimmel’s web site, and it appears they’re still doing two brownish nude shades.
What do you think of using lipliners instead of lipsticks? Feel free to let me know. And thanks for reading! 🙂
Manhattan Eyemazing Eyeshadow 3
Hi there! Today’s post is about a small eyeshadow compact I’ve found at one of the Poundstores – Manhattan Eyemazing Eyeshadow 3. This is a small compact that contains 4 shimmery eyeshadows – a greyish brown, a bright lilac, an orange-tinted gold, and a red-tinted terracotta.
What I like about these eyeshadows is that they’re very easily blendable, that they last all day without problems, and that they’re easy to remove at the end of the day.
However, I need to mention two negative bits as well. First of all, the eyeshadows are poorly pigmented. I had to use a lot of product just to do the swatches. The other thing that annoys me is the palette design. Sure, it’s nice to look at, but it takes effort and precision to get the right colour (and not a mix of two or more colours) onto an eyeshadow brush. I can manage with the smallest brushes I’ve got, but it shouldn’t be this complicated…
As this compact was £1 only, I won’t complain. And I will definitely continue to use these eyeshadows because they blend very well. Oh, here’s another thing… I have several of these compacts – all different colours. I haven’t used the other ones yet (one new product at a time…), but I’ll let you know if they’re better as soon as I’ve tried them.
Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
100% Awesome – Astor Lipliner Pencil 014 Bronze A.K.A. The Perfect Matte Nude Lippie For 50p
Hi there! Today’s post is about my favourite lipliner, Astor Lipliner Pencil 014 Bronze. I found this fantastic lipliner at Poundworld – where it was part of a duo pack (yes, that’s 2 products for £1). And in fact, I own at least 10 of these lipliners. Why? Well, each duo pack contained 1 lipliner and 1 nail polish. I know I don’t have to say any more, but I’ll do it anyway… of course they had lots of different nail colours, and (unsurprisingly) I had to have all these nail colours. So I ended up with lots of lipliners!
Now why is this lipliner so amazing? Ha, that’s easy! Look at it! The colour is the most amazing nude bronze with the most amazing velvet matt finish I’ve ever seen. I love it! And because of this I usually use this lipliner on its own. Yes, I use it instead of a lipstick. And all I need is a bit of lip balm as a base, and then I can start filling in my lips with this lipliner.
Sure, filling in my lips with lipliner takes a little longer than applying lipstick. But once my lips are filled in, I don’t need to blot, I don’t need to layer, I don’t need to do anything else at all! So I think applying lipliner doesn’t take much longer than applying lipstick. In addition, this lipliner usually lasts all day on me. On the rare occasion that it doesn’t, I can give my lips a quick and easy touch-up. 🙂
I would definitely recommend you buy at least one Astor lipliner and nail polish duo pack the next time you’re at your local discount store. But before you switch to your new lipliner-only-routine, make sure you use lip balm to keep your lips soft at all times. If your lips are dry, the lipliner will settle in the lines which, obviously, isn’t a good look. But if you’re a lip balm addict (I am!), you’ll be fine. 🙂
MUA MakeUp Academy Blusher Bon Bon, Candyfloss, Cupcake
Hi there! I’ve been using the same blushers for the past six months, so I thought it’s about time to try out new ones. As I love a bargain, I went with MUA. I picked the following blushers (from top to bottom): Bon Bon, Candyfloss and Cupcake.
Bon Bon is a matte dark coral that goes with anything. I think this shade would suit most skin tones and – depending on how much product you apply – most occasions.
Candyfloss is a shimmery cool pink. The shimmer is quite subtle. However, I don’t like this shade as much as I thought I would because it’s too pink for my taste.
Cupcake is a matte light brown. I like this shade because it reminds me of Bambi. 🙂 I also think this shade is subtle enough to go with heavy eye make-up.
My favourite of the three is Bon Bon, followed by Cupcake and then Candyfloss. I’m very happy with the quality of these powder blushes because they last really well on my make-up and I rarely have to touch up during the day. Priced at £1 each these MUA Blushers are great value.
Yves Rocher Youthful Glow Foundation
Hi there! I received a sample of Yves Rocher’s Youthful Glow Foundation Beige 200 Teint Clair. This foundation contains smoothing pearls wrapped in rose extracts which are said to have an ‘optical correction’ effect for smoother and more radiant skin.
I have to say that this foundation feels incredibly smooth and silky. The foundation is buildable, provides medium coverage and does not gather in fine lines. The shade is a natural beige with yellow undertones. Whilst this shade is way too dark for my skin tone, I cannot find any faults with this foundation and would strongly recommend it, especially if you’re looking for a foundation that does not highlight fine lines or wrinkles.
If you would like to give Yves Rocher’s Youthful Glow Foundation a try, it is available as 30 ml for £29. It’s rather expensive, but Yves Rocher does half price and BOGOF offers all the time. 🙂
Poundworld Make-Up: Miss Beauty London Pressed Powder 18 Ivory
Hi there! About two months ago Poundworld launched its own make-up range, Miss Beauty London. The products are made in the UK by the same company that also manufactures 2True products, so I was interested to see how Miss Beauty London would hold up.
When I had a look at what was on sale, I wasn’t too impressed. They had lots of lip and nail products, but only a handful of eyeshadows. The nail colours didn’t look bad at all, but the shades were fairly standard so I didn’t pick up any nail polish. In the end I bought two products – a lipstick (to be reviewed shortly) and this Miss Beauty London Pressed Powder (18 Ivory).
This shade, 18 Ivory, is really nice for pale girls. It’s certainly the perfect shade for me because it’s a perfect match for my skin tone. This is also the reason why I didn’t take a photo of the powder on my skin – you wouldn’t see anything.
Another bonus: The powder has sunscreen and vitamin E added to it. I don’t think that I need the extra sunscreen from the powder because my Olay moisturiser protects me from the sun. I also don’t think that the vitamin E reaches my skin because I use Max Factor’s Pan Stik. 🙂 But it’s nice to know the manufacturer thought of adding sunscreen and vitamin E – just in case.
In terms of quallity, this product is average. I’ve had better and worse face powders. It does what it’s supposed to do – it controls shine and sets make-up, but it needs a touch up every couple of hours. But then again, it’s £1 only so you can’t really go wrong. I’ll definitely keep this powder in my make-up bag!
MUA MakeUp Academy Eye Shadow 13 Pearl, 23 Pearl, 14 Pearl, 18 Matt
Hi there! Today’s post is about a couple of single eyeshadows I treated myself to during MUA’s last winter sale. Just like MUA’s basic blushers, these eyeshadows were 50p each! So what have we got… from left to right: Shade 13 Pearl, Shade 23 Pearl, Shade 14 Pearl and Shade 18 Matt.
Shade 13 Pearl is a deep purple with a chrome-like shimmer. The same shade is also featured in I Heart MakeUp’s Passion palette. Shade 23 Pearl is a vivid and sparkly light blue. I don’t think this shade will look good on me, but I’ll give it a try.
Up next is Shade 14 Pearl, a dark grey with plenty of green shimmer which makes me think of a forest at night time. 🙂 And then there’s Shade 18 Matt, a fresh and bright lilac with great colour payoff.
The eyeshadows are of good quality. Well, they’re MUA, of course they’re good. Now all I have to do is use them every once in a while. 🙂
Mrs Strawberry Blonde 