Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold

I love the colour tattoo formula as evidenced by my precious review of the shades Permanent Taupe and On and On Bronze. I stand by my assertion that these last just as well on me as the Benefit Creaseless Cream shadows yet these only cost £4.99 and to my mind come in a far more interesting array of shades. This particular shade is, as the name suggests, a soft warm pink with gold pearl. 

I love the little glass pot and so far the older shades that I own have shown no signs of drying out at all indicating to me that the lid does give a pretty good airtight seal. Although the texture feels quite thin it does give opaque colour and it blends out smoothly over the lid. I wear these over a primer by themselves on lazy makeup days and although I can see some creasing beginning by the end of a work day the wear is really very impressive for a cream shadow. Even powder shadows crease on my hooded eyes sometimes! This particular shade is also gorgeous worn under my Barry M Pink Gold loose pigment by the way.

I’m sure you don’t even need me to sum this one up. I love these and I want all of the colours. Given that I can use them alone or under other shadows they are a great investment! 

Indeed Labs Eysilix

Like everyone else who reads beauty blogs I worship at the altar of Caroline Hirons. If she says a product is good then I instantly add it to my wish list. Unfortunately some of her recommendations fall out of my price range however the Indeed Labs product are frequently on a three for two deal at Boots so I wasn’t put off by the £24.99 price tag.

Over all I can’t complain too much about my skin. Over the last 6 months it has chilled out a little and normalised with the exception of three small areas. My nose still pumps out oil faster than a north sea rig, my chin is prone to the odd hormonal eruption and my eyes are drier than my sense of humour. Without a good eye cream I really struggle with under eye concealer (which I do need) looking cakey and dry. So much so that I have had to abandon my Benefit Powderflage as I just can’t use it anymore!

Now I don’t have much going on in the way of wrinkles (although the dryness can reveal some fine lines) so I can’t comment on whether the 10 peptides shoe horned into this cream really do tackle lines and crows feet. Nor do I really think it’s made a drastic impact on my dark circles. But what I can tell you is that after a few weeks of twice daily use my concealer looks flipping fantastic! No more crepey, flaky looking inner corners or creased under eyes!

I have a couple of other (cheaper) eye creams to use up after this but I suspect I will end up missing it enough to justify a repurchase. Especially when it is on offer! Are you a fan of any Indeed Labs products? Any recommendations? I’m trying Hydraluron and Nanoblur out at the moment! 

MAC Costa Chic

This was one of my CCO purchases so I paid less than the normal £14 price tag however it is part of the permanent line so you can find it anytime. Costa Chic is a shade I’ve heard an awful lot of people mention when they talk about lipsticks that are perfect for Spring and Summer so I bought this with warmer weather in mind. And I’m rather glad that I did! Costa Chic is a gorgeous bright coral which pulls quite peachy on me and really brightens up the face.

I do love the vanilla cake batter scent of MAC lipsticks, I really do. What I like rather less is their frost formula. If I’m perfectly honest if I had realised it was a frost in the shop I probably would have left this there and tried to find a similar shade is a non frosty formula. I still don’t regret buying it simply because I do love the colour but I find that as it starts to wear off it begins to cling to dry patches and it looks odd if you reapply it without first removing it completely. It isn’t the end of the world but it does make it a little more work than I would like.

Wear issues aside I have still been enjoying it. Upon first application it is creamy, pigmented and covers opaquely. I find that it wears for about 3-4 hours on me. What do you think? Does the frost finish put you off? Or is it just me that has developed an aversion to shimmery lip products...

Sample Sunday – Birchbox Samples Revisited

I does occur to me that whenever I post about what I receive in my Birchbox UK it is normally on the day that I receive it and therefore all I really do is state whether or not I’m excited to try the samples, not what they are actually like. Well today I’m going to check back in with you and tell you whether my excitement was justified or whether it was a complete let down.

Firstly the Fresh Sugar Rose Lip Treatment mini that I received in my January box. Now I do like it. It’s a lovely moisturising lip balm and I’m impressed that they have managed to create a sugary lemon scent that doesn’t make me instantly think of bathroom cleaning products. In fact I like it do much that it’s been living in my hand bag for a couple of months and I’m not too far off finishing it. Would I pay £15.50 for the full size? Hell to the no. I can buy Blistex MedPlus for a fraction of that and it works better on very dry, chapped lips.

Following a minor health drama last year my hair had thinned out a little so when I saw the KMS California Volumizing Spray I crossed my fingers that it would bring back some bounce to my rather lack lustre locks. Apparently I’m all about alliteration today. I did notice a little lift at the roots but mostly I noticed how sticky it made my hair feel. I’m not the biggest fan and find I get a better result using good old dry shampoo. I won’t be paying £14.85 to replace it when it’s gone.

I will confess I have been a tad lazy about using the Révérence De Bastien Unguent for Nails and Cuticles but when I do remember to use it I really like it. I love the sweet, sugary scent and the oily formula is a real treat for parched cuticles. It’s not a miracle worker and I really should use it more often on my bedraggled claw hands but it is nice and moisturising.  I like to turn changing my nail polish into a mini manicure whenever I have time and this is one of my favourite steps. Yes £15.50 does seem a little pricy but I use so little at a time that I think it lasts long enough to justify the price.

Ah the RMK Cleansing Balm. This is by far my favourite sample that I have received from Birchbox thus far. I adore it! Personally I love the rose scent but if you aren’t a fan of roses then obviously this will not be for you as it is quite strong. The balm seems to have quite a hard texture at first but it instantly melts with the heat of your hands and I really enjoy the process of massaging it into my face. It emulsifies with warm water and rinses off removing every trace of face makeup. Whilst it does a decent job of starting to take off eye makeup, and I don’t find it irritates my eyes, it doesn’t tackle waterproof mascara and I do feel the need to use an eye makeup remover afterwards. I’m waiting with baited breath for the full sized £29 pot to reappear in the Birchbox UK shop.

What is your favourite product that you’ve received in a subscription box? 

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L’Oreal Glamshine Stain Splash in Romy

These flipping lip products seem to have a million and one names which I think vary from country to country. Whatever you want to call them they have been receiving a lot of hype in blog land as a supposed dupe for the YSL glossy stains. Whilst I’m not convinced that they are a dupe I will say that I think it is a genuinely lovely product.

The packaging is gorgeous. The gold looks chic and I love that you can see the shade clearly. The tear drop shaped applicator dispenses just enough product and is quick and easy to use. Whilst these don’t have the strong, floral scent that that YSL glossy stains have there is quite a strong sweet scent to them so as always sniff before you buy if you don’t like fragranced products.

The Romy is a beautifully wearable yellow based pink with the most subtle pearl running through it. So subtle that I didn’t really notice it until I was cropping the pictures! For me this is a perfect office appropriate lip colour.

Like the YSL Glossy stains these do need to be built up in layers to get a more intense colour. In fact the first layer of Romy is so sheer that it just gives a slightly glossy appearance to the lips and not much else. The lip swatch here shows four layers. The formula feels very comfortable on and it does have a similar gummy sweet sort of texture to the YSL versions. I do not find that this shade stains the lips at all making it a lot less long lasting than my YSL glossy stain however I get a good 3 hours of wear out of it.

So is it a dupe? No. I don’t think it has the pigmentation or the staining properties of the YSL glossy stains despite the similar formulas and applicators. But I do still really like it and I think this particular shade will get used a lot by me. At £7.99 I think it’s well priced, especially given how nice the packaging it! 

April Empties

Nothing alleviates the guilt of a haul post quite like a big old box o’ empties. It’s funny how when you get to the bottom of some products you’ve had kicking around for years you suddenly realise you miss them!

Yes I know I could cut that bottle of Urban Decay PrimerPotion in Sin open and get a load more product out of it but a.) I’m lazy and b.) I’ve had it for long enough now that it’s time to say good bye. No more is coming out on the wand. I am pleased that Urban Decay changed the packaging as although the genie bottle is cute it is a pain in the bum to get the product out towards the end. I liked this a lot but I just bought the Too Faced By Candlelight Shadow Insurance to try out.

I loathed the Benefit That Gal primer. It did nothing for me at all! Marketed as a brightening primer I honestly couldn’t see any effect on my skin. And as a primer it was a letdown too. My makeup did not last any longer or apply any more smoothly when I used this. Thank goodness this was just a sample size!

That Smashbox Lip gloss in the shade Crowned may not look empty but trust me it is. I loved this gloss. It was such a gorgeous wearable peach shade, almost a nude on me. I had had this for longer than I care to admit though so I’m glad I finally finished it. It was limited edition so unfortunately I can’t buy it again but if I could I would!

I’m on a bit of a lip gloss finishing roll at the moment which is no bad thing! This was the last of my ELF Luscious Liquid Lipsticks and good riddance. I found the formula to be sticky and I loathed the oozing twist up applicator.

Argh! I finally finished my Ginvera Green Tea Whitening Marvel Gel (PR sample). I went through phases with this product where I would forget to you it for a while and then start up again. Every time I started using it I couldn’t believe that I had ever stopped! This is such a fabulous exfoliator and it made a really visible difference to the texture of my skin. I want to experiment with other chemical exfoliators now but I can definitely see myself buying another bottle in the future.

The Superdrug Optimum Antioxidant Grape serum was a bargain at £7.99 (currently on offer) and it was a perfectly nice hydrating serum. It didn’t doing anything drastic for my skin other than provide an extra boost of moisture but it sank in quickly and I like the clinical looking packaging. If I’m looking for an inexpensive serum again in future then yes I’d buy this again.

I’m still using up all of my products that contain SLS and moving away from foaming cleansers all together so I’m not sorry to see the back of the Simply Spotless Skin Triple Action Face Wash. Whilst not as drying as some face washes I did feel that the stripped my skin leaving it dry and tight.

I like the No7 Beautiful Skin Eye Makeup Remover but I hated the bulky packaging and huge lid so I won’t buy it again. At £8.50 it’s a little expensive for what it was.

I wasn’t expecting to love the Balance Hyaluronic 554 YouthSerum (PR sample) as much as I did but once again I find myself really missing this product. The biggest benefit for me was that I felt it made my moisturisers sink in so much more quickly which was a real bonus when I’m rushing to get ready in the morning. I’m currently trying out Indeed Labs Hydraluron and I’m curious to see how the two products compare.

Now some miscellaneous items. Some ELF blot sheets (I have a drawer full), Cherry Carmex which I have always loved and a Paula’sChoice Resist Ultimate Anti-Aging Hand Cream (PR sample). Confessions time. I actually finished this hand cream months ago but it got abandoned in a hand bag that I haven’t used for a while. Lovely I know. I do remember liking this as a light non greasy sun screen for my hands, particularly useful when I used to do a lot of driving. It wasn’t the most moisturising hand cream ever though.

And finally the rejects. I’m sorry and I know it’s a waste of £16.50 (sure that price has gone up) but I cannot stand the Soap & GlorySit Tight Xs. Feeling like I’ve sat on a lit oven hob is not my idea of a good time. Horrible, horrible product! And the same goes for the Elf Studio LipPrimer & Plumper. The plumping side burns like the fires of hell without actually plumping my lips and the primer side is a horrible flaky concealer thing that does nothing. I’m always sad when I can’t make products work for me but I’m going to stop torturing myself with these!