Sinful Pink Nail Varnish

 

I have a huge problem when it comes to nail varnish, I own far too many bottles. I might need that bright lime green occasionally you know? Most of my nail varnishes are Models Own, I find their formula really good and fast drying, a wide range of colours and £5 a bottle is perfect. Then I saw Sinful Colors in a stand in my small Boots while at home for Easter. £1.99 each and so many different colours. There are 70 shades according to the website.

Pink nails for me are the ultimate, I am always looking for the brightest barbie-esque pink. I think I have found it! As well as bright pink nails, nude is always a second favourite. Perfect for a glitter top coat or leopard print nail art.

24/7 This is my new favourite nail varnish, I've tried to capture how bright the neon pink is but I always find neons really hard to photograph. It is fully opaque in two coats and dries matte as most neons do. Perfect with a glossy top coat! The formula is comparable with Models Own for £3.01 less! I always find neons last longer on nails, but used Seche Vite over the top which you all know can be a bit hit and miss when it comes to peeling off.

Easy Going This is a milky nude colour, I was hoping it would be bit more pinky on the nail but love it nonetheless  Similar formula to 24/7 but dries shiny. I found it to be opaque in two coats on natural nails and one on falsies. Perfect base colour, much like Models Own Utopia just less grey.

Pinky Glitter When I first tried this I was expecting it to be a pink glitter top coat, it is instead quite thick almost like jelly?! It can be quite hard to work with, I tried to do glitter tips but found it a bit thick. It is perfect on the whole nail. Two coats and it is opaque! Apart from the tricky formula I love it!

To conclude, 24/7 is my ultimate pink. I am starting a 12 week placement this week so won't be able to wear it on my fingernails but shall be doing a full on pedicure tonight and bright pink nails will be featuring. These are amazing for £1.99 (they are currently on 3 for 2 in Boots). The Boots in my home town had a fully stocked stand a week ago but today in Huddersfield the stand was a bit bare! So get in there quick, but sure they will be restocked soon.

No 7 Beautiful Skin

I ended up in Boots the other day trying to kill some time, was 30 minutes early for work so seemed like a good idea. They had little starter packs for £5 of their new Beautiful Skin range from No7. I picked up the Normal / Oily one which included the Cleansing Water, Day Cream & Night Cream.

I've been using the range for a week now so thought I would give my take on the range, my skin is blemish prone, with an oily t-zone and dry cheeks and nose for reference.

Cleansing Water - I never use makeup remover.. I know I know, a beauty sin. I use skin care wipes and then a foam soap / cleanser. I was horrified to see how much makeup the Cleansing Water actually removed! Would I pay £9 it though? I'm a stingy bugger. But the kit came with a £5 off voucher so if this can be combined with the current 3 for 2 on No7 I will probably pick it up.

Day Cream - I am constantly on the search for a cream that both helps with my dry cheeks but controls my oily forehead. This does both, but could be a little more moisturising on my cheeks but still leaves a lovely base for makeup. My skin is however getting drier by the day due to working in a freezing cold supermarket so might pick up the Normal / Dry Skin Day Cream with the voucher.

Night Cream - Now, I never wear a night cream. Maybe I should start as I am turning 24 this summer so surely I am meant to start tackling wrinkles soon. It is lovely on my forehead and everywhere else I am not prone to spots. It does promise to be a "non pore blocking moisture cream" but it doesn't seem to be doing my acne any favours.

I did however test the No 7 BB Cream which might be amazing, it was pale and went on my skin so nicely.. but as I don't get on with BB Creams I may give that a miss.

Do Blemish Balms Work?

So BB Creams are everywhere! They are also olddd news. They all promise to be a foundation, tinted moisturiser and everything else inbetween in one tube. Amazing right? Well not really. The lighting in my flat is particularly bad at the minute (hello Manchester winter, dark by 4pm) so you can't see the orangeness on my skin but it is there. As always the light shade doesn't work for us with pale skin.

Now going to warn you now, nice photos of my skin! I have struggled with bad skin all my life, it is actually getting a little better but frequent changes in hormones is messing around with it again. But the easiest way to see if it works!
 

First up 17's take on the Blemish Balm, it is slightly thicker than Garnier's. Now this photo failed a little as I got the angle of the second photo wrong, but concentrate on scar from a nasty cigarette burn (thanks horrible man in a nightclub). It does calm the redness down, doesn't make your skin too greasy. Does it reveal flawless skin? No not really. My usual combination of Q10 Anti Wrinkle Serum (yes, I'm 23) and Botanics Pore Perfecting Day Cream works just as well. 

Garnier's Miracle Skin Perfector offering is even more orange. It is useless on oily skin, as you can see my skin is more greasy than it was before (I owe Lush's Fresh Farmacy for a wonderful matte base for makeup) and doesn't really do anything. It does even out the skin a little bit, leaves a lovely moisturised base for foundation but that's nothing a good moisturiser doesn't do.


Just to prove I do have a nose and eyes here is my full made up face! I currently am in love with Angels on Bare Skin. If I don't use it for a day my skin misbehaves but another post on that soon!

So to recap? Are Western BB Creams an amazing product? No. I'll stick to my usual routine.

Zoey xox

Make-up 1: Blusher

   

ELF Studio Blush Candid Coral - Elf Natural Radiance Blush Glow - Revlon Powder Blush Tawny Peach

Models Own Cheeky Pink - 17 Blush Powder First Flush - Elf Natural Radiance Blush Flushed - MUA Blush Shade 1

Benetint / Posietint from Benefit (free samples from Glamour) - George Cheek and Lip Tint - Max Factor Creamy Blush

Candid Coral / Tawny Peach / Glow / Shade 1 / Flushed / First Flush / Cheeky Pink / Benetint / Posietint / George / Soft Pink

So blusher. I have actually only started wearing blusher in the past two years, I suffer from slight redness to my skin so was all about covering my face in a perfect pale base and didn't think to add blush. Oh how I was wrong. It can completely change the look of your face, from making your cheekbones stand out to dragging your hungover face from half death to looking half decent. This post would be about 5000 words long if I reviewed everyone in my arsenal so have picked my top 3.

ELF Natural Radiance Blusher in Glow - ELF is cheap, even though they are no longer running any 50% off promotions it is still very cheap. This costs £1.50, the packaging is awful. When I have falsies on I can't even open it. Product goes every where but we will ignore these facts. It is highly pigmented, just look at the 3rd swatch along! Gives a lovely glow on even my white as paper skin.

Boots 17 Blush Powder First Flush - I love 17 products and this blush is no exception. I love the colour, it isn't as highlighter pink as it looks in the pot. It blends nicely, I dropped it upside down on the pavement hence mine being slightly chipped. However every 17 blush I have owned has also smashed like this so don't  know if it is a design flaw!

Posietint from Benefit - If you have used Benefit's Benetint this is a little thicker in consistency. It is a wonderful pink colour that suits my complexion. You have to work quick as it will stain your skin (it is a cheek and lip stain after all!) instead of leaving lovely rosy cheeks. It also works well on lips, in fact I always have a pot in my bag. I collected a few from Glamour!

Zoey xox

ELF Review

This is part one of a few ELF reviews I have lined up. I no longer have Photoshop and apparently you can't resize photos in Picasa and then got confused by GIMP. I am now currently having to email my photos to my Photobucket account as I can't upload anything. OMG. Breathe. But excuses excuses. Every time there is a 50% code for ELF I end up ordering myself a little stash - receiving the little brown boxes are a wonderful treat after ridiculous work days. Just got in from a 10am-3am work day.

  Complexion Perfection / Eyebrow Kit in Medium / Complete Coverage Concealer in Light

First up is the Complexion Perfection. As with all the Studio Range the packaging is wonderful, a nice big mirror and the wonderful sleek black. The product itself looks slightly daunting to start with, but for someone like me who has pale skin that is prone to redness it is perfect. It has replaced using pressed powder and is perfect for touch ups on a night out. However it is on the pale side when applied to the face, this is fine for pasty me but when my sister played with it her fake tanned face didn't fair so well. 

Second is the Eyebrow Kit. Now I have dark hair naturally, dyed to a reddy brown but have light thin eyebrows. I usually use Gosh's Eyebrow Kit - the medium colour is perfect for my eyebrows. I am not a fan of pencils for the eyebrow instead I much prefer using a brush. I've heard many rave reviews but am not in love with this product yet. The gel, on the left, is much darker than the powder and you cannot use it like the GOSH wax to just set your eyebrows. Instead you have to be much more careful with application. I will persevere, the little brush that comes with the product is perfect for eyebrows. I am on an eyebrow mission after falling in love with these HD eyebrows but obviously do not have the money to spend on even an eyebrow wax. (This ELF order was my last spend before realising I couldn't actually buy food)

Lastly is the Complete Coverage Concealer. I currently use Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer which is amazing for the price. The Complete Coverage Concealer (mouthful much) has four different shades so you can find your perfect shade. The two darkest ones are however useless on my skin even mixed with the lighter ones. On the website it recommends you apply before foundation, I have always been taught to apply after but even following these instructions it is fairly drying on my skin. But the concealers are highly pigmented and almost cover my dark circles under my eye. But in all fairness I need something much stronger than a concealer to fix them.

Overall I love Complexion Perfection, in fact this is my second one after dropping my first and the powder broke up just leaving me with the green corner. I will persevere with the other two as I do see there positives. All in all I love ELF Studio products!

Zoey xox

17 Falsifeye Mascara Review

I used to own about 10 mascaras however have managed to lose 9 of them while packing and moving over the last few weeks. The new "Falsifeye" Mascara from 17 in Boots looked good and came with a free Gel Eyeliner. Why not! The mascara itself has a nice big brush like that of Bad Gal from Benefit. So is it any good? 

It is not a replacement for False Eyelashes that is for sure. The big brush doesn't create long, volumized, curled eyelashes like one of my favorites L'Oreal's Lash Architect 4D. It will do for day wear - I like big black lashes even in day time, not one for brown mascara.

Excuse my rough eyeliner skills, was in a rush! But am using my trusty Rimmel Exaggerate Eyeliner. Top is my natural lashes bottom with the mascara on. Too many coats and you would easily end up with clumpy lashes. I tried to take a few better photos but relying on a blackberry camera is hard work!

Now the free gel eyeliner is jumping on the bandwagon of high street makeup brands creating gel eyeliners. They are meant to be highly pigmented and lasting. This is neither. The brush that comes with it looks like a cheap lip liner brush you get in £2 makeup palettes and the eyeliner itself is more of a dark grey than black. I haven't actually applied it to my eyes yet but left it for 10 minutes on my hand and it rubbed off after not even applying much pressure. It is a nice idea but I think they need to re think the formula.

Zoey xox