Milani blush review….

When in New York…do what the crazy makeup crazy makeup artist/beauty blogger's do and collect all the makeup not available in the UK. First stop…drugstores and the coveted Milani stand. 

First up, the packaging is cute and compact, with a handy clear lid to see the colours at a glance making makeup decisions in the mornings a lot easier. 

The blushes are baked which means the colour's are quite sheer but don't appear powdery on the skin even when they're built up to achieve a stronger colour. 

I picked up shade 01 Dolce Pink which is a rose gold blush with a LOT of glitter. This is a blush that needs absolutely no highlighter added into the mix - it's a one stop glowing cheek shop. I also picked up (shock horror) 05 Luminoso which is seriously hyped in the blog and youtube community as being a glowy, peachy blush that is really subtle really tricky to get wrong. A quick swipe of this on the apples of the cheeks and up onto the cheekbones leaves a really healthy 'glowing from within' type finish. This is very rapidly becoming a holy grail product in my collection.

I wish I'd picked up more of these but I'll definitely be adding them to my next American drugstore haul list. I highly recommend these if you're heading overseas.

Loves

xxx

What's new….

I've decided I needed to inject some new and exciting products into my makeup routine. I've come to the end of my trusty The Body Shop mattifying seaweed moisturiser so decided to try a purse friendly version of this day cream from Garnier and so far I'm really enjoying it! I also needed some lashes for a few events coming up, and thought I'd be brave and branch out from my usual Demi Wispies and try the Ardell 117's which are a bit longer (slightly scared at the length of these!) and not quite as, well, wispy! 

My Rimmel Stay Matte is coming to the end of it's life so thought I'd give into the hype and pick up the Soap and Glory Kick Ass powder that I've hear many a beauty guru raving about. It's extremely yellow based but it really suits my skin tone and is such a perfect under eye setting powder. Can anyone say Kim Kardashian?!

I was extremely intrigued by the concept of the L'Oreal Intense Matte Glosses. A matte gloss? Hey? They apply like a really opaque gloss and try to a matte texture (which is my current lip product finish of choice) and I'd heard a lot of mixed reviews on these. They don't wear that well over a long period of time but the colours I picked up (coral denimista and fuchsia flare) and so beautiful. 

I'm not going to go on about this one too much as there's a review coming up on this soon, but I may have found a Benefit They're Real dupe. I know, right? The 17 Falsifeye HD mascara makes promises that it manages to keep, and then some. Stay tuned for more on this. 

Lastly I needed a new liquid liner - I think I eat these in my sleep I get through them so fast. The 17 Tattoo Liner promised semi permanent, up to 48 hour wear. If you intend to wear this for a short period of time, don't bother. It's a royal pain in the ass to apply, it's so thick and gloopy, and if you're a beginner in the winged eyeliner game I'd avoid this at all costs. If you deal with the application process and love a long wearing liner that's really going to put the hours in, go and buy this immediately, if not before. This does NOT move. No flaking, smudging, moving, transferring, or any sort of annoying eyeliner behaviour in sight. When it comes to removal, set aside a little bit of time for this one. 

L'oreal Extraordinaire glosses review….

In previous years, glosses have been way down on my list of makeup loves. Lipstick is my ultimate number one. But recently I've found gloss to be much more convenient for work (hello less touch ups and speedy application sans mirror) so decided to bulk up my gloss collection. I picked these up on an offer in Boots and am physically holding myself back from rushing out and buying the whole damn lot.  

I picked up Rose Symphony, which is a bright rosy pink that looks great with a bronze smokey eye or just as the only pop of colour on the face. My favourite of the two, though, is Nude Vibrato. Oh my this is perfect. The right amount of brown and peach tones combined, I think it's probably my perfect nude. I can see a makeup shopping trip coming on to swatch everything L'Oreal has ever made to find it's lipstick equivalent. 

So in terms of colour, these are perfect. Staying power is quite good, especially got a gloss. But saying that, if you like your glosses non-sticky and super comfortable to wear….these are your boys. I'm interested to see what their darker colours are like (there's a bright orange on the current TV ad that I've got my eye on) and am probably going to pick a few more Autumnal shades up soon for when the weather turns. 

Basically, it's love. Anyone else tried these? Anymore shade recommendations?

Loves

xxx

Kryolan Illusion….

I feel about illuminators like a fat kid feels about cake just recently. Powder, cream or liquid, I'll mix them with my foundation, use them as an illuminating base, or use them as a highlight on the tops of the cheekbones and under the brow bone. Basically, they're my new makeup obsession. I went to the UMA expo at the weekend and spent ages browsing the Charles Fox stand checking out the Kryolan offering and, when I saw the Illusion highlighters were half price, I squealed. And I wish I could say that was an exaggeration. 

They're a creamy formula with lots of sparkle in them and come in various colours. I could have gone mad and got the lot (I think there's about 8 in the range) but to be honest I've got to the stage where I'd rather buy one great product and actually get to use it, rather than it being overshadowed in my ever growing makeup collection. I picked Organza which is a pretty pink shade (my cheekbone highlighter colour of choice). It looks quite scary in the pan but when it's on the skin and blended in it's so beautiful and leaves a lovely flush as well as being super light reflecting. A little goes a long way so I'm pleased I only picked up one (for now!)

Has anyone else tried the Illusion highlighters from Kryolan? What other illuminators do I need to try?

Loves

xxx