Review | NYC Smooth Skin Bronzer.

 

 

Here is my review on the NYC Smooth Skin Bronzer.

 

Shade - Sunny

Shades - Unknown

Pigmentation - Medium But Very Buildable

Price - £2.99

Places To Buy - I purchased mine at a discount place in town, however I think you can buy it in Superdrug, I just can't find it on the website.

 

 

Packaging - I like the packaging on this product. I think it is appealing to the eye, it's not too boring and I also like that the colour of the package is the colour of the bronzer inside. It does click shut, which again, is very travel friendly. Also, there is no excess packaging so it is very thin, meaning it won't take up much extra space in your make-up bag/storage. There is a huge mirror on the lid so if you are travelling, you don't have to take an extra mirror because this is big enough for you and also it is compacted into one of your make-up products.

 

Texture - The texture is very smooth and silky. It is very pigmented. I like that the shade is in Sunny, so they actually added a sun on top of the product, which I think was a nice added extra, it made it very cute. This goes on nice and easy onto your face, and it very easy to blend and work with which is very important for bronzers so you can make them more subtle and natural if you go a little bit happy and need to blend it out, this will allow you to do it very easily. This particular shade I would say is best suited for fair-light skin tones as it is quite a light shade, however I do think they make a wider variety of shades in the United States.

 

When Do I Apply This? - Because this is a powder product, I recommend using this after your foundation routine and powder. I personally use this as a contour shade so I apply this after my powder and my whole face bronzer, (I use the MUA Bronzed Perfection). I apply this with my ELF Angled Blush Brush, starting at the hair line and blending forward so I don't get the most pigment closer to my mouth and it is at my hair line so it is easier to hide/blend. You only need a tiny amount as it is quite pigmented.

 

I've Applied Too Much! - Don't fret! Take your powder brush and run over the bronzer, don't add any more product onto the brush use what's left, this will blend out the colour making it more natural and subtle on your face, also it helps fight against any orange/muddy lines where you applied the bronzer. I don't find that the tissue trick works with the bronzer to blend it out as it is more concentrated and potent, meaning you need something a bit more to blend out the colour.

 

Would I Recommend This? - Definitely! I think that it is worth the money and from other beauty gurus on youtube, they said that it is a lot like some of the more expensive bronzers they own. It applies smoothly, it is really pigmented and a great product to have in your make-up bag. However, if you are not fair-light skin toned, I think this particular shade won't work very well for you as it is quite a light bronzer which I like because I am fair skin toned.

 

Hope This Helps!

xox

Review | MUA Blushers

 

Hi! Here is my review on the MUA Blushers!

 

Top Row, Left To Right - Shade 1, Shade 5

Bottom Row, Left To Right - Shade 3, Shade 6

 

Price - £1.00

Shades - 5

Pigmentation - Medium - High Pigmentation, Buildable, Blendable

Places To Buy - MUA Online, Superdrug

 

 

Packaging - The packaging is very standard. It consists of all plastic and, from the time I've had them, it has been quite sturdy. I have had the Shade 1 before and the colour was slightly different from it is now. Also, The packaging was a lot more cheap and broke as soon as I got it home. Now, the packaging is tons more sturdy and hasn't had any breaks, but of course, there is scratches on it from when it's in my make-up bag and make-up storage. Again, the writing on the front is a spray on, in metallic silver. However, this one hasn't rubbed/scratched off yet and I've had these for a while now. I am pleased on the improvements on the packaging and think that more people will buy them now as before, when the packaging broke, so did the product inside.

 

Texture - The texture is more solid than soft. When running my fingers over it it doesn't feel very soft but still has pigment. Don't get me wrong, it is still quite soft, just not as soft as I remembered my old one being. I remembered that being extremely soft. This is more solid, which is a good thing in some ways as it will be less likely to break, meaning it s a lot easier to travel with. However, even though it is quite solid, it manages to still be smooth and pigmented which is why I think for £1.00 they are a steal, people would pay quite a bit more for these.

 

When Do I Apply This? - I, personally, apply these after powder, bronzer and contour. This is so the colour doesn't get hidden by the bronzers, so you can still see all the colour and it doesn't change shade because it is mixing with other things. I use just a regular blush brush, one that feathers the product on, rather than placing the product on to your face really heavily. These are very blendable and easy to work with, meaning they won't get really patchy on your skin.

 

I've Applied Too Much! - Don't worry! I have two solutions. The easiest one is to take your powder brush and go over it, don't add any extra product just use what's left, and run over it. This will make the colour more subtle and blend out the edges. Another option, if you don't have powder/a powder brush, take a tissue and pat over the edges working inwards, this will remove excess product and, again, blend out the edges, making it more subtle on your cheeks. This is also great if you are away and don't want to over pack products.

 

Would I Recommend These? - Yes, definitely! For people on a tight budget I think these are great quality and won't waste your money, even though you are only paying £1.00. These are quite pigmented, some have a nice shimmer, and they look nice, natural and glowy on the cheeks.

 

Hope This Helps!

xox

 

Review | ELF HD Powder (Studio)

 

Here is my review on the ELF HD Powder! Enjoy!

 

 

This is the original product, not the corrective yellow or shimmer one.

 

Price - £6.00

Shades - 3

Pigmentation - Clear/Transparent Formula

Places To Buy - ELF Online

 

Packaging - The packaging on this product is very nice. It has a very heavy duty black tub, which contains a sifter so not too much product is dispersed onto the puff/your brush. Some people may not like the packaging as they might think it is quite bulky, it is something that you need to have the right size storage to hold this product. I like the packaging because I think it looks very appealing and professional on your counter/in your make up storage. It is quite bulky but I really don't mind that as I have big enough storage to hold it in and big enough makeup bags if I want to take it on my travels. The fact that it comes with a puff is also very convenient, it means that if you bring this and you forget your powder brush, depending on the fact that you don't throw your powder puff away, then it won't matter because you can just use that instead.

 

Texture - The texture of this product is extremely silky, smooth and easily blendable. Because the product sys HD, it means that it is less likely to give you the white cast on your face, while still mattifying it. At first, you might think it won't blend because the product is straight up white, however when buffed in or just feathered over your face/skin, you get no white on your face, it becomes completely transparent. It also makes your skin feel extremely smooth. Because it is a translucent powder, you are not going to get any extra coverage out of it, so it does mean that it feels more light weight on your face. When I apply this, it feels like I have nothing on my face. I put this on top of a foundation that was awful for taking photos and lasted on my skin for about 2-3 hours, just to see how well it worked. AMAZING! The foundation looked sooo much better when taking pictures and recording, and it made the length of wear of my foundaton from 2-3 hours, to 5-6 hours, so I think that is a huge plus.

 

When Do I Apply This? You apply this after you have finished your face make-up. (Foundation concealer and any other cream product e.g. blush). The reason being is that it will set your make-up, prolonging the wear of it all and will also make it not as shiny. You could apply this as a last step as a finishing powder, but I just use this as a regular face powder, I think that gives me the best effect. I use the Clinique Powder Brush to apply this, I use it sparingly over the face, but concentrate it a bit more in the areas I have put concealer, so it lasts longer.

 

I've Applied Too Much! -  Don't worry! Take a finishing/moisturising spray and spray your face a couple times. This will prevent anything looking cakey if you have applied too much, and will remove some of the excess product, giving your skin a nice healthy glow at the same time. Fixing sprays are really nice and I have to use them quite a lot if I go a bit happy on the powder! They really do help and that's a solution i've been doing for ages now.

 

Would I Reccomend This Product? - Of course! I think it's great value for the money, helps my make up last all day by actually setting it, stops the terrible white cast/flash back you can get from cameras so, I think it's amazing! Again, the packaging might not be for everyone, but it certainly is for me!

 

Hope This Helps!

xox

 

Review | MUA Brow Kit

Here's my review on the MUA Brow Kit!

Price: £3.50

Shades: 1 Shade Fits All

Pigmentation - High Pigmentation, Easily Dimmed Down.

Places To Buy: Superdrug, MUA Online

 

Packaging: The packaging on this, again, is a standard black plastic, however this feels a lot sturdier. It keeps shut by a magnet at the end of the case, which is a good and bad thing, good because then it is easier to shut, more convenient and it less likely to get stuck, but a bad thing because it makes it easier to open, which means if it's in a bag with other things, then the brow powders could rub against something in your bag and break. It looks very professional, coming with a big mirror on the lid which is very helpful when travelling as you don't need to bring separate mirrors, because you have some in our make-up items. It comes with a pair of tweezers and a double ended brush, which is very helpful and travel friendly. The writing on top of the case is, again, a metallic silver spray on, which has some wear and tear on it. (Scratches through the letters)

 

Texture: The texture of these brow powders are very silky, smooth, they are highly pigmented and have a smooth colour with no patches. However, because they are so pigmented, you do need to use a light hand when applying them to your eyebrows so they look still pretty natural and not too drawn on. You don't need too much of the product to get enough colour to fill in your brows, if these shades are not right for you, because they are so smooth, silky and blendable, it allows you to mix between to shades. The 'Highlighter' shade, for me, is too dark to use as a highlighter, I use it for days when I only want a tiny bit of definition on my brows, I am fair-light skin toned for reference. The Fixing Gel is very effective, I found that it does hold my brows in place very well and is a nice consistency., my friend uses the gel everyday and ran out of it pretty quickly but you could tell she used more than necessary as her brows looked wet. That's not natural!

 

Ways To Apply: The most common way of applying brow powder is with an Angled Brush, Mine is from Smashbox, I did it between the 2 powders to get my perfect shade, starting in the middle of my brow nearer the start, I just follow my natural brow shape, maybe elongating a little bit. You can also use something like a Pointed Eyeliner Brush, Nick from Pixiwoo uses this brush, to create a more natural look as you can create little lines and flicks to look like natural hairs from your brows, making the illusion that you just have naturally full brows.

 

I've Applied Far Too Much Product!: Don't Fret! Take a regular Spoolie Brush, mine is from ELF, and just comb through your brows, this will blend out the colour, taking away some of the pigmentation. Also, taking a clean Tea Towel or Wash Cloth, put your finger inside, then wipe over your brows, this will remove quite a bit of product so you might have to re-apply a bit more powder after.

 

When Do I Apply These?: You can apply your brow powder at any time during your make-up routine, this is probably one of the most versatile things you can do. Personally, for me, I apply my brow powder after my foundation and concealer, before my concealer is blended so it can set a bit and sink in while doing my brows (it boosts the coverage). This also means the brow powder will less likely turn out orange because you can make sure no face make-up gets on your brows and if foundation does, then you can wipe it off with a Wash Cloth before hand.

 

Would I Recommend These?: Yes definitely! I think for the price and how versatile it is from the multiple shades and the fact that it has everything you need for your brows, then I think it's worth the money! I know people who have never tried this before, I used this on them and they thought it was a £10 product.

 

Hope This Helps!

xox

Review | MUA Blush Perfection Cream Blushers.

Hiya! Sorry for the stingy posts, I've been busy with school but I'm back!

 

Left to Right: Dolly, Yummy, Bittersweet.

 

 

Price: £2.00

Available at: Superdrug, MUA online website

 Pigmentation: High colour pay-off

Shades: 4

 

 

Packaging: The packaging is pretty standard. It has a regular plastic container. The writing on the front telling you the name of the product is originally a silver spray on, there is no picture of the front as the writing rubbed off so I thought it was useless to add in a picture. So far the packaging has been quite sturdy, I have had no breaking or cracking, it has held up pretty well. The casing snaps shut well, this is important as it is a cream product so it won't dry out. It is pretty cheap, standard packaging but for the price, it's what you would expect.

 

Texture: The texture is very creamy, however when it is not used for a while then you got a dry top layer, all you need to do to get it back creamy is just run over it with your finger to warm up the product again and bring it back to it's original state. It is very easily blendable, but with all cream blushers you obviously can get some ways are easier to blend it out than others and also you can apply it patchy if you don't spend as much time on it.

 

Different ways to apply: Brush - I personally prefer this way of applying any cream blush as it gives me more control of the blending and the placement of the product. I use the Elf Small Stipple Brush, I just dip it into the product, tap some off on the back of my hand so I can start with little and work on it from there and add more if needed as it is easier to add product than take away so definitely start with less than you think you need. You can also use brushes like the Sigma Kabuki Brushes to apply it, however those brushes are not the most affordable, and I am happy with my stippling brush.

Fingers - Also, there is the option of using your fingers to apply the colour. Simply by getting a little bit of product of your finger tip, starting in the back/the apple of your cheek, place the colour gently and make sure to blend until you are happy with the amount that it's blended, and the amount of colour you have on your cheeks.

 

I've applied far too much product!: Don't worry! Either take your foundation brush, don't add any more product on to it, just use whats left, and go over where you have but the blush. This will cover up some of the pigmentation, making it more subtle on your cheeks. You can also do the exact same thing but with your powder brush.

 

When do I apply it?: You can apply these before or after your powder, I find that it works better before but it does apply completely fine after. Personally, like I said, I prefer to apply it before my powder, as I feel like it gives a better finish because you are applying a cream product on top of another cream product rather than on top of a powder. However, it does apply completely fine after powder as well, those are just my personal preferences.

 

Would I recommend these?: Yes I would! I think they are amazing quality for the price, they apply great, the pigmentation is amazing, they are so creamy which makes them a dream to work with. As cream blushers go, I definitely think these are worth every single penny.

 

Hope this helps!

xox

 

ELF All Over Colour stick (in pink lemonade) - review

Hey, I'm back.... again! I'm here with a review on my ELF All Over Colour Stick in pink lemonade.

I love this product! In the tube you get 4g of product which, again, for £1.50 is amazing! As you can see from the swatch, with 1 swipe the colour is quite sheer but it gives off a very flattering sheen. The smell of the product is their sugar orange scent, which I can definitely say it does smell like that, it is very sweet and smells like an orange flavoured sweet.

This is very flattering on the cheeks if you use the right amount, which is, for me, 2 dots on the cheek and blended out into the temple/hair line with a stiff brush or preferably a stippling brush.

On the cheeks it adds a nice, subtle glow. I do not reccomend using this on the lips or eyes as i don't think it would look very good on the eyes (it might do with other colours, but not the pinks) and you don't want to put a product on your face that has also been touching your lips, also the texture on the lips, as i find, is a bit drying. However, on the cheeks it looks amazing, and the texture is creamy, silky and very smooth.

I would reccomend this to everyone and I will proberbly buy some other shades and see how I like them.

Hope this helps!
xoxoxo

ELF Daily Brush Cleaner - review.

Hey beauts! I purchased the ELF Daily Brush Cleaner quite a while back. But, I have tried it enough to give you a review!

So, firstly the amount you get is really generous as it is a 60ml bottle. At £3.75 it is not a bad deal. Eventhough you get a lot, you do need to spray the product quite a few times until you get enough for an acceptable clean. The scent of the product itself is really strong and it does stay on the bristles of the brush. So, if you are not one for strong scents then I would not reccomend this product as it will linger on the brush even after you have left it to dry. 

For me, the best way to use it is - lay your brush down on a cotton pad, then spray about 5 pumps onto the brush and go back and forth into cleaner.

It is not a bad product, however I have made a makeup remover (which I will do a blog post on how I made it) and I have to say, it does clean it better and it doesn't have a strong scent. Although, for £3.70 you really cant go wrong with it. So I would recommend it to you but I do have to say that only use it on brushes that don't need a lot of cleaning.

Hope this helped!
xoxo