MAKEUP ACADEMY BB CREAM

Makeup Academy BB Cream in Light £4.00

I've been wanting to try a BB Cream for a while now so this is the first one I try. It's the BB Cream Foundation in shade Light from MUA. I got this when they had their Facebook offer with 40% off if I remember correctly. Pleasently surprised in fact - this actually has great coverage and makes the skin look even and nice. It looks natural, not cakey at all and applies lightly on the skin. The coverage on blemishes isn't very good though, you'll need concealer to cover red spots.

                                                       

This is what it says on their website: "Inspired by Asian Beauty Balms, our brand new MUA BB Foundation is a full coverage foundation containing a multi-functional formula that conceals, brightens and evens out skin tone for a perfect complexion. Its great range of shades will adapt to suit all skin tones. Apply with a big dense brush and buff into the skin for the perfect flawless finish. Easily the hottest and best product in your handbag – it’s the perfect size too!"

The shade Light was perfect for my skin, I'm so pale. As you can see the foundation covers dark circles under the eyes, I didn't feel the need to put on concealer. The only thing negative about this that I can say is that it really felt like there was little product in the tube. This has gotten me more excited about BB Creams and I'd really like to try them out more. The price of this is so cheap, it's worth a go.

THE BODY SHOP HEMP HAND PROTECTOR

The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector £7.00

The ladies in my family are all blessed with dry hands. Luckily I was the only one who got left out (knock on wood). Sometimes I get dry hands during winter, but I usually don't. Anyway, the staff at The Body Shop suggested this since it's great with really dry hands - and it actually is. Your hands will surely feel soft and moisturized after using this. This is what it says about the creme on their website: "Our best-selling Hemp Hand Protector helps soften and protect hands. It is dermatologically tested for very dry skin and contains Community Trade hemp seed oil."

This hand creme is very moisturizing, so if you have really dry hands I suggest that you try this one. Make sure you like the smell because it's very intense. When this was bought there was only Hemp but now they have several new ones that I personally think smell much better. Absinth, wild rose and almond are the new ones. Almond smells they best in my opinion. Go for it!

E.L.F. WATERPROOF EYELINER PEN

E.L.F. Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in Black £1.50

My sister was desperately wanting a eyeliner pencil so she could get better at putting on eyeliner since she finds it hard. She ordered one from E.l.f. Cosmetics that was a real bargain. When I first saw this I was like: Oooh, such thin tip. The one I have from H&M has a much thicker tip and since there's not much left in it I'm on the hunt for a new pencil eyeliner. I'm sorry to say this pencil did not cut it for me. The first time I applied it, it was really great. Black and easy to work with, stayed on well for hours as well. The second time though, applying it wasn't going well. I don't really know what happened with it. The eyeliner wasn't applying to the eye and I got no black color whatsoever. Although afterwards I thought that the reason that it wasn't applying well was that I had put on some face oil earlier. Maybe this wasn't a good base. Well, the tip is really nice and thin. Hopefully you'll have better luck applying it than I did. On the first go, it felt like a really good eyeliner pencil. Try it out and see what you think.

MAKEUP ACADEMY UNDRESSED PALETTE

Makeup Academy 12 Shade Undressed Palette £4

This is the lovely Undressed Palette from MUA. It got this during my "eyeshadow period" when I was literally looking for new eyeshadows all the time - and also I really wanted the Urban Decay Naked Palette. A few of you may already know that the Undressed Palette have been compared to the Naked Palette a lot. The eyeshadow shades are dupes really, basically the same colors. But this palette is way cheaper than the Urban Decay one and since I didn't want to spend that much on a palette the Undressed Palette was perfect. 12 shades for £4, who can complain about that? Most of the shadows are really pigmented - the matte shades are sometimes hard to get a lot of color from. I really like the colors and I am overall pleased with this palette. The have a lot of different eyeshadow palettes on their website and I really want to try another one sometime. Thumps up for this cheap and great palette.

CHI CHI WISHLIST COMPETITION

 Chi Chi Clothing

Just for fun I entered Etail-PRs competition for a chance to win £200 to spend on pretty dresses from Chi Chi Clothing. I found tons of dresses and since I'd rather play around in Photoshop than study I thought I might as well enter the competition and see if I get any luck. As you can see I really went for blue and white. These are all very pretty, but my absolute favorite is the fourth one. Love the detailing. If you would like to try out your luck and enter this competition for yourself, click here for more information. Last chance to send in your entry is 5pm on Friday 26th April. Good luck!

THE BODY SHOP VITAMIN E CREAM EXFOLIATOR

The Body Shop Vitamin E Cream Exfoliator £9.00

This has been my go to exfoliator for a while now, I love how it makes my face feel fresh and moisturized at the same time. It's a light pink cream with tiny red exfoliating bits. You only need a small amount to exfoliate your face. I usually leave it on for a few minutes before I wash it off, so that the skin soaks up the vitamin E and also it really makes my face feel moisturized afterwards. It is quite creamy so it does moisturize well. "Kind and gentle soap-free skin smoothing. With added antioxidant protection." is what it says on the package. Overall I really like this exfoliator, but I am keen to try a new one. Any suggestions?

MY FOUNDATION ROUTINE #1

The products that I've used are: Ben Nye Luxury Powder in Buff, E.l.f. Studio Pressed Powder in Sand, E.l.f. Studio Blush in Candid Coral, E.l.f. Essentials Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder in Luminance, Ben Nye Cream Highlighter in Natural, Fit Me Foundation in shade 110.

Start off with cleansing and moisturizing your face - this step is important. Always start off with this, it will give you the best base to put your makeup on.

Pump out some foundation on your hand or where ever you like it, then take a foundation brush and brush it on to the face to get coverage. I'm currently using a few foundations depending on what I feel like using. Here I am using the Fit Me foundation in shade 110.

After you put the foundation on it's time to conceal darker areas that the foundation didn't cover as much. I use Ben Nye Cream Highlighter in Natural which is a creamy concealer that does brighten darker areas. I apply it under the eyes, around the dark areas of the nose and around the lips. Sometimes I also like to but some on the middle of my forehead, the chin and on the bridge of the nose. Places you would normally highlight.

Next up I use Ben Nye Luxury Powder to set the concealer. Since the concealer I'm using is so creamy it feels like it's going to slide right off the face. Therefore I prevent this by setting the concealer with this silky powder. This powder is supposed to make fine lines under the eyes less noticeable and also prevent concealer from gathering in the fine lines.

At this point my face is pretty much covered. That means it's time for blush. Blush really does much to your face I have come to notice. It's great to get some color and there are so many variations. I stroke the blush on the cheeks as showed on the picture then blend it all out, usually downwards to get a natural blush look. I am using E.L.F. Studio Blush in Candid Coral - loving this shade.

To set everything I take any kind of matte powder and apply it all over my face with a big buffing brush. This takes away any additional shine in the T-zone and leaves the face with a matte finish. I currently use E.L.F. Studio Pressed Powder in Sand.

Last off I put any kind of lip balm on to get soft lips - and then I'm done. Note that the light was a bit off - I sat with my back turned towards the window so the light was coming from behind.

The end result in natural light. Flawless, right?

MAX FACTOR LIP LINER PENCIL

Max Factor Lip Liner Pencil in Raspberry £5

I've just recently started using lip liners more often and found this one at home. It's a gorgeous raspberry (hence the name) colored lip liner that I actually really like. I don't usually go for darker lip colors but this goes well with my green eyes. It's easy to use and doesn't smudge, it's also great for keeping the lipstick from smudging around the lips which is one of the great purposes of a lip liner pencil. So it does the work it is supposed to. I line the lips with this and then fill my lips with a lipstick that is close to my lip color. The lipstick blends with the lip liner which gives a hint of raspberry shaded lips. It looks gorgeous. I only wish I dared to use darker lip colors in public.

YVES ROCHER SKIN MASK

Yves Rocher Purifying Skin Mask: Lemon Zest Extract £6.50

 Me and my sister are big fans of Yves Rocher and their fresh products. My sister we're buying makeup and she was offered to buy a few things that they had a special offer on. So we decided to try the 3 Minutes Face Mask. When she bought one for herself she bought one for me to, I believe they we're half off in store at that time. Friendly sister! We both love lemon and I really like using freshly scented face products that feel natural to the face. This is a tiny tube of 50 ml - this has lasted me several uses and there's still about half left. This is one of the products that I regularly use for my face. I put this on once or twice a week when I feel in need of refreshing my face. Let's see what Yves Rocher say about this product on their website:

"Fresh and clean skin in 3 minutes. Sparkling pleasure for clean an purified skin in just 3 minutes. This facial gel mask with its fresh and luscious texture leaves a radiant glow on the skin. The purifying properties of lemon essential oil enliven the complexion with luminosity. The skin breathes! 

 The Plus: Its luscious and sparkling texture with purifying lemon essential oil.

- Tested under dermatological control
- Neutral pH"

It does leave my skin feeling clean and fresh, the scent also adds to the fresh feeling of this. It's a gel mask and you don't need a lot to cover the whole face. This cools the skin and doesn't dry. When washed up my skin tends to get a little dry in some places, but nothing major. Overall I'm pleased with this product and I would buy it again.

FATE OF FLOWER BLUSH

Fate of Flower Blush 02 £1

I bought this in a low price store a few weeks ago, I thought £1 was nothing really so I decided to try this blusher. My intend was to use this as an everyday blusher and I am actually quite pleased with this. You never know what to expect when makeup is that cheap. This is a pigmented orange/coral shade that applies well on the cheeks, only needing a small amount on the brush to get good color. It's a nice shade and I feel like I am collecting coral blushes haha. I managed to find manufacturer Yiwu Yaqis website but I'm not sure I found the blush I bought. This looked similar, the link lies below the pictures if anyone is interested.

MECHANICAL EYELASH CURLER

E.L.F. Essentials Mechanical Eyelash Curler £1.50

 After my eyelash curler broke I was in desperate need of a new one - I even tried gluing it together with super-glue which lasted for a while until it broke again. Therefore I felt forced to buy a new one and right in time came E.L.F. Cosmetics with their free shipping. I was going to order anyway and my broken eyelash curler came to mind - I quickly checked the eyelash curlers and found this interesting little thing. It looked super big, weird och clumpy. 

This is what it says on their website: "This innovative eyelash curler has a special curved design which angles to suit all eye shapes. Its silicone rubber pad applies the appropriate amount of pressure to curl lashes naturally and allows for damage-free heating. Get long-lasting curled lashes both easily and safely. Add a swipe of e.l.f. Water and Earth Mascara and curled lashes remain in perfect shape all day." I have to say the description is pretty accurate, it really does give the right amount of pressure when curling the lashes and it feels super safe. I was always afraid to pull out my lashes with some kind of quick movement with my old curler but this feels more controlled. If anyone understands what I'm trying to say.. With my old eyelash curler it was much easier to apply to much pressure when curling my lashes. I didn't like this. But this one feels so much better.

I have to say this is the best eyelash curler I've ever tried - I'm kinda glad my other eyelash curler got broken now. This curler is super easy and comfy to use. The big handles gives a steady grip and it's really easy to work up extra curled long lashes. On the website it actually has got black plastic endings on the picture - but I got white. At first I wasn't pleased with the white but I don't really care now. For the ridiculously low price of this eyelash curler it is well worth a go. I would even pay more for it. It feels like this one is going to last me a long time. The lashes get super long and really curled, I love this. I would definitely recommend this!

E.L.F. BLUSH: CANDID CORAL

 E.L.F. STUDIO BLUSH IN CANDID CORAL £3.75

Finally finally I have the one blush I've been wanting for a long time - Candid Coral. I've been wanting this for so long - but every time I'm about to order the shade is out of stock. Note: I usually order when they have some kind of offer. This time they had free shipping for the weekend and the shade was there. Hooray. 

I love this shade, it is probably my favorite blush right now. A lovely peachy coral tone with a hint of shimmer to it, I imagine this blush being suitable for almost anyone. It applies well on the cheeks and you can easily decide how much color you want. I like it as much as I thought I would and I'm so happy that I got it. Coral blushes are my favorite.

E.L.F. LIPSTICK SWATCHES

E.L.F. Essential Lipsticks £1.50

 

A few weeks ago E.L.F. had free shipping for the weekend so I got all excited and wanted to try out some more lipsticks from the essential line. I already owned Sociable and Fearless and felt that these applied better then my mineral lipsticks from E.L.F. So I ordered three new ones. I love the new colors that I got and I was really excited to try Nostalgic and Captivating - they are my new favorites. The packaging of these lipsticks are really bad, I don't like the look of them at all. Somehow Captivating got pushed up and smooshed in the top which I wasn't too happy about. But you get what you pay for, the packaging may not be pretty but they are really cheap and the lipsticks are good. Though the lasting power of these lipsticks is so so.. Anyway I tried doing a lip swatch for you guys, I hope you enjoy it.