Top 10 Series: Drugstore/ High-street Makeup

Hi everyone!

 

I have decided to start a fun, new, top 10 series! I will select a category and discuss my top 10 products within that category for you! Today we have my favourite picks from high-street/ drugstore make up! These are the top 10 products  that really stand out to me for their amazing quality and, of course, affordable price! It was really tough to narrow it down to only 10!

Lip Product Tag!

Hi Everyone!

I have recently read a few bloggers post's on their favourite lip products and decided to join in!

Spring Manicure

Hi Everyone!

Happy Easter! I love watching beauty videos on YouTube and really like Miss Jen Fabulous' Channel (Click here to view it). She recently did a gorgeous, fun manicure for Spring/ Easter that I decided to try and recreate.

Here are the products that I used, some of which differ from the ones just in her video:

(L to R)
OPI - A Grape Fit! (Jen used Essie's Play Date)
Essie - Mint Candy Apple
Essie - Borrowed and Blue
Essie - Van D'Go
Revlon - Sparkling (Jen used Essie's A Cut Above)
Nicole by OPI - It's All About the Glam (Jen used Essie's Marshmallow)
Nubar Nail Art Pen - Basic White

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI's Matte Nail Envy as my base then painted my nails with A Grape Fit, Borrowed and Blue, Van D'Go and Mint Candy Apple. I used Revlon's Sparkling to add glitter to a couple of the nails. I then used a dotting tool along with Nicole by OPI's It's All About the Glam to add dots to a couple of the nails. I then used the Nubar Nail Art Pen to draw a bow on my left thumb nail and added a dot of A Grape Fit to the centre. I then finished off with a coat of Seche Vite Top Coat.

I love this manicure! It is so cute and different and fairly easy to do! If you like nail polish then I would definitely recommend checking Jen's channel out as her tutorials are brilliant!

Maz x

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Peach Parfait

Hi Everyone!

I picked up another one of the Lip Butter's from Revlon yesterday in Peach Parfait. I love these Lip Butter's as they provide you with buildable colour and moisturise your lips at the same time! They also feel great on the lips and not sticky at all. They are not the most long wearing of products but you get a good couple of hours coverage depending on how much your eat or drink!

Peach Parfait is a subtle peach colour with a slight golden shimmer which is gorgeous. I really like this colour and it's ideal for summer!

SWATCH SHOWN ON NW20 SKIN:

I can totally see why the Lip Butter's are so popular, the colour range is great and they are good value for money. I'm sure I'll be adding to my collection again soon!

To read my review of the Pink Truffle and Strawberry Shortcake Lip Butter's please click here

You can purchase the Lip Butter's from Boots for £7.99 each
Maz x

Revlon Lip Butters - Review & Swatches

Hi Everyone!

At last! The Revlon Lip Butter's are now available to buy in the UK! The lip butter's were launched in the US a few months ago and there has been so much hype around them online so I was thrilled to finally be able to get my hands on them! I ordered 2 of the colours in 'Pink Truffle' and 'Strawberry Shortcake'.

(L to R) Strawberry Shortcake, Pink Truffle

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake: This is a really nice cool, bubblegum pink colour. It is quite sheer when you first apply it but then builds up to a nice rosy pink colour. It has a slight shine to it too which is nice.

Pink Truffle

Pink Truffle: This is a brown toned mauve colour and is a great, wearable, every day shade. I really like this one as it is so easy to wear. It applies really smoothly and evenly and is slightly more pigmented than Strawberry Shortcake.

SWATCHES SHOWN ON NW20 SKIN:

(L to R) Strawberry Shortcake, Pink Truffle

I can see why these lip butters are so popular! They come in a great range of shades and are really moisturising. I found that they last around 3-4 hours which is great. I will definitely be getting some more.

Have you purchased any of the Revlon Lip Butters? If so, let me know what you think of them in the comments section below, any recommendations gratefully received!

You can purchase the Lip Butter's from Boots in the UK for £7.99 each (Boots currently have a 2 for £10 offer on selected Revlon products.

Maz x

Blair's Gossip Girl Wedding Lip Gloss?

Hi Everyone!

I am such a big fan of the TV show Gossip Girl and loved the 100th episode which was recently shown here in the UK. Blair is my favourite character and I always love her make up on the show. In this episode we see her getting ready for her wedding using a large Chanel compact and applying a lip gloss in a gorgeous pink colour. As soon as I saw this scene I had to find out which lip gloss was used! As she was using a Chanel compact I immediately presumed that the lip gloss was by Chanel also but on closer inspection it looks like it wasn't! I researched this gloss quite a bit on the Internet and it looks likely that the gloss used was a Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in the colour Pink Pop so I purchased it and looking at it I would say it is pretty close even if it isn't the exact one!

Pink Pop, as the name suggests, is a bright pink colour and is nicely pigmented. I like the formula of this gloss and it's not too heavy or sticky and it applies smoothly. It also looks great worn on it's own and doesn't need a lipstick underneath in my opinion.

SWATCH SHOWN ON NW20 SKIN:

Overall this is a great quality lip gloss, especially for a drugstore brand, and is in a really nice colour. Whether or not it is the exact one worn by Blair at her wedding I can't be sure but it is a lovely gloss either way!

I purchased this lip gloss from Tiger Liley Cosmetics for £6.94

Maz x

My Top 5 Foundations

Hi Everyone!
One of my friends recently asked me for my advice on which foundation she should try as she wasn't happy with her current one which prompted me to think about writing this post. There are so many foundations on the market, greatly varying in price, which claim to do amazing things for your skin. If, like me, you are willing to pay a slightly higher price if you are guaranteed quality then it's tough to know which ones to spend your money on. I have tried a lot of foundations over the years and had both good and bad experiences, here is my pick of the best.
NB: For a rough guide on the colours options - I am a MAC NW20.

Makeup Forever HD: (My shade: 118)
This foundation, as I am sure that many of you will know, has a massive online following and has a lot of hype surrounding it. As I mentioned on my full review of the foundation, this is such a light-weight foundation and doesn't feel in any way cakey which is great. It applies and blends so well and looks so natural. I am hoping to try out the MUFE Mat Velvet + Foundation soon to see how that performs on my oily skin so stay tuned for that review!
Please click here for my full review of this foundation. I purchased my bottle for £28.95 from Guru Makeup Emporium

L'Oreal True Match: (My shade: C3 Rose Beige)
I am a big fan of L'Oreal products and especially their foundations and mascaras. I have tried most of their foundations and have found this one to be the best. The consistency is a little runny but isn't too bad, I tend to wear this as my every day foundation and apply it quickly just using my fingers. This foundation blends into your skin really well and gives you quite a natural look, my mum really loves it too!
You can purchase it from Boots for £9.99 but look out for special offers!

Revlon Photo Ready: (My shade: 004 Nude)
This is my second favourite drugstore foundation after the L'Oreal True Match. It has a slighter fuller coverage and the consistency is slightly thicker. I do not think that this blends out quite as well as True Match but it is a great alternative to it. I prefer to use a foundation brush to apply this one.
This foundation costs £12.99 and can be purchased from Boots.

Smashbox High Definition: (My shade: Light L3)
I really like Smashbox face products and especially their primer's and Halo powder so I was easily talked into trying out their HD foundation. If I was to compare it to the MUFE foundation above I would say that this has a fuller coverage but takes a little longer to blend into the skin than the MUFE does. If I was asked which of the 2 I would choose for use in photographs I would probably say this one as it covers your skin much better. This is a great foundation for those of you with blemish prone skin in my opinion.
N.B The bottle shown in the picture is  travel sized.
The full price for this foundation is £28.50 and you can get it at Debenhams

Benefit You Rebel Tinted Moisuriser:
This final foundation is a tinted moisturiser which is great for summer days or for when you only want a little bit of coverage, I have a friend with a skin condition who swears by tinted moistusturiser as she can not wear foundations. This product is quite dark in colour but is OK for a fair skin, it also contains SPF 15 to protect your skin. The only thing that I do not like about it is the smell which does die down after a few minutes.

I purchased this for £23.50 from Debenhams

I hope that you have enjoyed this post and have found it useful. Please feel free to comment below with any foundation recommendations that you may have!
Maz x

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia Nail Polish - Review & Swatch

Hi Everyone!

Today I applied one of Revlon's new nail polishes called Facets of Fuchsia from their Autumn/ Winter 2011 collection. This is a really eye catching polish, it has a really dark, black-purple base packed full of a mixture of small round shaped and larger hexagon shaped fuchsia glitters. I haven't tried any Revlon nail polishes before, but have heard good things about them so I have high hopes for this one.

First I applied 2 coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy as my base followed by 2 coats of Facets of Fuchsia. The polish isn't too pretty after the first coat to be honest! It is almost grey in colour and streaky. The consistency of the lacquer is quite thin and watery which doesn't make it all that easy to apply but it isn't a complete nightmare. The second coat, however, completely transforms the polish into something really stunning. The thin, water-like appearance turns into a gorgeous jelly look with evenly dispersed glitter. I found that the polish dried pretty quickly as I usually find with most glitter polishes. Despite the glitter being quite chunky the finish doesn't feel too gritty which is great. I then finished off with 1 coat of Seche Vite Fast Drying Top Coat which added a gorgeous shine to the polish.

I have read online that this polish is a close dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance Nail Polish so I'd perhaps skip this one if you already own that one! However, Deborah Lippmann polishes are priced at £16 in the UK ( sold at House of Fraser Online so if you have wanted to try Bad Romance but have been put off by the high price tag this could be a great option for you!

Overall, I really love this polish and the poor first coat and application is totally forgotten when you see the finished look. The price tag is also a great plus point for me as I am used to paying around £11 a bottle for Essie and OPI. Maybe I'll have to take a look at the other new polishes from the new collection.

I purchased my bottle of Facets of Fuchsia from Superdrug for £6.49. You can also get it from Boots. Look out for special offers on Revlon cosmetics as both stores often have them!

Maz x