New Favourites!

Hello everyone! I received my (very late) birthday present from the bestie Sabrina a few weeks ago, photos below.

 

The Naked 2 has been on my wishlist for a while and now I finally have it! I absolutely love the colours as they are so neutral. I like how smooth and pigmented the shadows are and the brush supplied also works well for me.  

I've heard so many people raving about the Shu Uemura eyelash curlers, so this was also on my wishlist. I am now currently using these and not my lancome curlers. I find the Shu Uemura slightly better than my previous curlers, but my lashes don't stay up for long. Maybe it's my mascara (Clinique high impact mascara 01 Black) or maybe because I've worn false eyelashes on top after so I don't notice ahaha. But all in all, it's a good lash curler, I find it easier to curl my lashes with this because of the nice plump rubber cushion.

♥ Daily Skincare Routine ♥

Everyone knows that it is important to look after your skin, especially on your face which is on show ALL THE TIME!

In this post, I am going to share with you the products I use for my daily skincare routine.

First off, in the morning I like to use Simple Clear Skin oil balancing exfoliating wash. Because I have combination skin and my T-Zone tends to get oily, I use this to help balance facial oils.

Next I use Lancôme Tonique Douceur (Toner) which softens and hydrates the skin and is alcohol free. This product is recommended for Normal to combination skin. I apply this using a cotton a pad, but you can pour a small amount into your palms and pat onto your face if you wish.

Moisturiser next! The one I use is Lancôme Hydra Zen Neurocalm which is a soothing anti-stress moisturising cream, suitable for all skin types, even sensitive.

Now this step has just been introduced to my daily routine because of a new product purchase; Tony Moly Panda's Dream Good-bye Dark Eye Corrector. My dark circles are pretty annoying and I've been finding it hard to cover up with concealer! So I decided to try out this product to see if it will help reduce my dark circles, a proper review of this product will be up soon!

Then depending on what I do i'll either apply my makeup, or just leave it as that if i'm staying at home all day!

Onto the night~~ If I have makeup on then remove all of that. For my eyes I use The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Lip and Eye Remover

 My review on this product can be found here.

After make-up removal (if any), I'll use a face wash, I rotate between SkinFood Egg White Pore Foam

and The Face Shop Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam

I probably won't do a review on these face washes... (maybe later, maybe)

Finally, I'll finish off with Hydra Zen Nuit Neurocalm which is a soothing recharging night cream

However recently I've been replacing this with something else as I am currently trying out a new product, which is The Face Shop Raspberry Roots Sleeping Mask, the review for this will be up in a week!

Review: GEO Grang Grang Choco HC-246

Hello! Been a long time since I last posted ANYTHING... oooppsyy..

First post of 2013 will be a circle lenses review. I've actually been meaning to do a review on these lenses for a while since I got them in the summer of 2012... ^-^;
Oh and FYI, I have brown eyes and wear Plano lenses~

Intro:

I bought these from iwantcute, the seller is UK based so it's pretty fast at delivering! I'm very pleased they arrived so fast :)

The Review:
These lenses are 14.2mm, 1 year disposable.

As they are circle lenses, it makes my eyes look bigger, doll like and more animated (and fake lol). Sorry I don't have a better photo... lenses expired now and I can't take a new photo ahahah ._.
My boyfriends opinion on these is that he hates them because it makes me look soulless

Comfort rating: ★★★★★
5/5 because they feel like nothing! Very comfortable to wear, although it does get uncomfortable if you're sitting near a fan because it's drying up your eyes.. but that's with all lenses.. lol

Verdict:
These lenses are good for those that want a more natural look (basing on people with brown eyes like myself). It's less "soulless" looking compared to a black circle lense because of the added brown colour, it just defines the brown even more on my eyes, which is a plus.

Would I purchase these again? Yes I would, but right now, I want to try loads of different types and colours of lenses so I will not be re-purchasing them again any time soon!

New Lip Balms!

Today I went out to the high street to pick up some stuff to bring with me to uni in a few weeks.

Then I came across these new lip balms by Maybelline - BABY LIPS

 

I got these from Boots, as they were also on offer for 3 for 2, priced at £2.99.

I picked up all three as the Blue Hydrate one has SPF 20 and is a clear lip balm.

The Orange one is Cherry Me, and is a red colour, the scent is a gorgeous sweet cherry!

The Pink one is Pink Punch that looks like a florescent pink, and smells like strawberry bubble gum, not the overly strong scent! 

Here are swatches of Pink Punch (left) and Cherry Me (right)

As you can see, it gives a very light tint of colour, perfect for a more natural look.

 

I have applied the Blue Hydrate one to my lips, and I already feel that it is moisturizing. More than Carmex, which I feel dries my lips after a while. 

 

I actually really like these lip balms, and since I have three, they will last me quite a while before I need to repurchase them :)

 

Product rating:

★★★★★

Best eyelash glue?

Using false eyelashes used to be a turn off for me simply because every time I attempted to stick them on, it would peel off or half hang at some point during the day after application. Not good!

I realized it was the glue that was not working for me, the glue i first used is Eyelure lashfix strip lash adhesive:

Since these were the only ones selling in places like boots and superdrug, along with their eyelashes which comes with a mini bottle of lash glue. My first false lashes were from this brand.

I do not like this glue. It isn't sticky enough to last for a night out, or even during the day. The applicator is also quite big so it will leave massive blotches on the lash strip.

Product Review:
★☆☆☆☆

Now onto the next one:

THIS IS THE ONE. I love this lash glue, because of it's precision brush it is much easier to apply glue to the lash strip with no mess. My lashes stay on all day and night with no peeling from the sides! Perfect right?
The only problem I have with this lash glue is that it kind of clumped up inside? I'm not sure if this happened because I brought it with me to Vietnam and the change of climate messed with it (because my mum previously brought back a barry M nail varnish which went clumpy in Vietnam).

But that aside, this is still the best lash glue, one that I will be re-purchasing soon.

I would also like to note that I have only seen this available in Asda. I have tried looking for this in Boots, Superdrugs and Savers, with no luck in finding them there.

Product Rating:
★★★★★

Review: Etude House Panda Peach Hand Cream

 

My friend got me this cute Etude hand cream about 2 years ago now, I've only started using it this year because with me, I don't like using cute stuff!

In the end I popped this hand cream into my handbag to carry around.

It smells very nice, like peaches (of course). It is a sweet cute smell which matches the product packaging very well. Cute little pot~

Leaves hands soft and nice smelling.

Product Rating: 

★★★★★

 

Review: Rice Water Bright Lip & Eye Remover

I got this product when I went to Vietnam as I needed a eye makeup remover, and this one is a Natural brightening solution with rice water (how Asian). Seeing that I have dark under eye circles, I'm hoping this will help to lighten them up? .___.

It removes eye makeup really well, even waterproof eyeliner and mascara! I really love this product, it has a nice smell, like roses, a very pretty smell. I only got one bottle though.. would definitely buy this again 

Product rating:
★★★★★

What's in my makeup bag: For the Airport

Hello! Some of you already know that I'm heading off to Vietnam this summer for my holiday :D I've already started packing, and my struggle hit when I had to decide what makeup to keep on me and which should go in luggage lol. Plus the whole airport restrictions on stuff you can bring on the plane... in the end, I decided on these items!

Starting from the left going clockwise:

The first product is Etude House BB Magic Pact in No.1 Light Beige. Just to powder my face if I need to whilst traveling.

Second product is Lancôme Color Design Sensational Effects Eye Shadow. I love this palette because it features 3 shimmery colours, 2 matte, and 2 metallic. The shades are neutral which is what I currently like as I don't want to wear anything so bold and bright at the moment.

Third product is Giorgio Armani Spring Collection 2012 Sheer Blush. I haven't used this blusher yet, it looks quite light in colour so would probably give me natural blush which is perfect! It's a very light peachy shade.

A pack of e.l.f Rejuvenating Oil Blotting Sheets to get rid of excess oil build up on the face before powdering.

L'Oréal Lumi Magique Stylo Touche De Lumiere in Light which is a concealer, if I need to touch up from lack of sleep on the plane and have massive dark circles or something!

Rimmel Soft Kohl Eyeliner Pencil in 061 Jet Black. Pencil always rubs off and fades... I usually use gel liner but pencil will suffice for one day of travel. It's not as dark as gel, but I don't need much for the airport anyway.

And lastly, Rimmel Lipstick in 250 Birthday Suit. For a bit of natural colour.

I forgot to put lip balm in with the photo! I'll have Carmex and Vaseline with me though 

Concealers

I naturally have dark circles for some reason (i do get enough sleep!!) and I have NOT yet found a concealer that covers them up completely.

My first ever concealer I used was Rimmel: Hide the Blemish Concealer in Ivory~

Personally, I found this difficult to blend out smoothly, it always left like bumps and dry patches under my eyes. Dislike. Never again. It doesn't suite my skin type, which is combination if you didn't know already.

The next concealer I jumped to was Revlon Colourstay Under Eye Concealer in Light~

This is over priced for how much they give you! Look at the amount, and for £7.99. I finished mine really quickly. I found this one better than the Rimmel one, because it was a liquid and was easier to work with. Coverage of this concealer was one of the best out of the ones i've tried already... but i'm still scouting out for the perfect one so I wil not be going back to this one just yet. This one is a twist pump sponge applicator, which I liked (i like the clicky noise of it hahaha)

The next one i jumped to is Rimmel Concealer Wake Me Up True Ivory.

This is the current one i'm using at the moment. It's a liquid formula and application is done so with the wand. They give you a lot more than what Revlon gives! Which is a plus. I find that this product is great for my face, I just cover blemishes here and there, my nose and red areas (sometime my whole face cause why not) but it still doesn't cover my dark circles!! Like I can see them still there ):

Which resulted in me purchasing another one which is L'Oreal Lumi Magique Touch of Light Highlighting Pen

I tried this today because I noticed my dark circles was darker than usual... and guess what? IT DIDN'T WORK PROPERLY. Grrrr. The application of this is a twisty into a brush which is new for me, though I find it unhygenic (i'll clean the brush though). A good thing about this one is that it applies smoothly and leaves no bumps and patches.

I have to finish my concealers since I bought them and it's a waste. I'll just have to live with dark circles on show till my next search T_____T 

Lip Balms

I've tried many various lip balms in my life time since I was young, and I realised that I have never actually finished one!

I remember my first one by The Body Shop, in a tangerine flavour, it's so old (when I was 5-6?) that they don't sell that product anymore. I still have it back at home and it's quite full. I stopped using it because it's in a small tub and it always got under my nails when I dip my finger in to use some so it got annoying.

Then I switched to a Superdrugs branded one in cherry, I chucked that away because I hated the taste of it and it melted in my pocket! I put it in my jeans pocket and the friction inside the pocket somehow managed to twist the chapstick up and it went everywhere inside :/

Then I stopped using any for a while after that because I couldn't be bothered and I was a child and it didn't bother me and felt like a chore lol.

When I got to college, that's when I started to wear a bit of makeup, and looked into lip balms again. Decided to go for Nivea Lip Care in Pearl & Shine ~ 

And guess what, it's still really full. I actually don't remember why I stopped using this one... maybe i'll give it another chance and I'll review it properly in a later post.

I purchased Vaseline Lip Therapy Aloe Vera ~

It's still full too. Hahaha. Again, it's a tub design, and I hate tubs!!!!

My friend Sabrina then introduced me to EOS Sphere lipbalms, as they were getting raved about so much.

We managed to bag them from Urban Outfitters in the UK, but they don't sell them anymore unfortunately. We both got it in Summer Fruits. I've used a quarter of mine. I find it leaves my lips dry still... the smell and taste of it is nice though! And I love the design and application of it, very cute packaging and easy to apply evenly to the lips.

From EOS, I jumped to Carmex in Cherry.

I'm not sure about this one though. The flavour is nice (though my boyfriend doesn't like the taste of it) I still find my lips dry, but maybe because I don't use it as often as I should? I need to get into the habit of using them all the time...

I was rummaging through my makeup bag and found my Lancome Sweet Balm in 02 Lait Fraise.

It's full. This is the one I am going to use now, so I will post a review of that later on as well!

Mission to find the perfect lip balm is now on! 

Review: BarryM Texture and Gelly Paints

So today I impulsed bought 2 nail paints by BarryM, because I saw them on offer at Superdrugs! 2 for £6... lol. I haven't actually painted my nails for a long time since I've been at uni and I can't be bothered. But now I'm at home in London for a few days I've quickly picked up my old habits hahaha.

These are the colours I got:

[Left]Textured Nail Effect in Atlantic Road. [Right]Gelly in Lychee

No top coat

No top coat

Tried them both on, I didn't really know what to expect from these as I haven't read any reviews on them before. I really like the Gelly Lychee, the colour is so nice and neutral. It paints on thinly as well which is good, the consistency of the formula is great! It's extra glossy too so you don't really need a top coat ontop of it :) But I do it anyway.

As for the textured effect, I'm not entirely a huge fan... It's an interesting effect but I'm a person that likes to use top coats, and upon applying it, it obviously smoothed out the textured effect so it's less textured, see the photos~

With top coat

With top coat

 If you look really really close, there will be small tiny bubbles with holes in it... I think the colour is good for summer, kinda like an ice cream, melted ice cream colour.

Ratings:
Textured Nail Effect in Atlantic Blue: ★★★☆☆
Gelly in Lychee: ★★★★★

Review: GEO Milky Way (Xtra Lavender) Grey

Intro:
My first lens purchase of 2013! I felt like straying away from the natural looking brown/black circle lenses that I usually go for, and decided to go for GEO Milk Way Grey! I've always wanted to try grey contacts, and now I finally am^-^

The Review:

 

I bought these from Eyecandy's. They took about 2 weeks to ship it to me and I'm based in the UK.

As per usual, they are really comfortable, can't feel anything. Creates the big eye effect expected from a circle lens.

This is the before and after effect shown on the website of what the lenses will look like.

Upon trying them on, I noticed that it was different from what is shown.

Without Flash

Without flash

With Flash

With flash

The lenses appear more blue/green in person than that it does grey on me. Even my friends thought that I was wearing blue/green lenses.

The comments I received from people where that I looked fake and I looked like a doll...

Final Verdict
I'm not entirely happy with the lenses, as the colour was not as I expected it to be when I put them on. But it's new for me... maybe because it's different I'm just not used to them haha. I Won't be buying this colour again for sure.

Rating
Comfort ★★★★★
Colour ★★☆☆☆
Service ★★★★☆