Skincare Staples

In an effort to get myself into a proper routine with my skincare I recently picked up a few bits and pieces. I'm a big fan of the Botanics range from Boots, finding them to be brilliant quality for a pretty darn low price. In conjunction with the stuff I have from the Botanics range, I have a few bits from the Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit range, and a couple of random bits and bobs that bridge the gaps. I don't use all of it all in one go, but it all serves a purpose.

Cleansing & Exfoliating.
Both Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit products, I have the Clear Skin Daily Facial Wash and Daily Facial Scrub; I've found both of these to be suitable for frequent use (although I don't use the scrub on a daily basis) and neither exacerbate the oil production of my skin.

Moisturising.
Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Oil Free Moisturiser, Boots Botanics Mattifying Gel Moisturiser and Soap and Glory 5in1 BB Cream. In general, I'll only use the Soap and Glory one when I'm going to be leaving the house, as it has an SPF of 25 in it. The other two I alternate on days and nights, depending on how my skin feels and what I have closer to hand.

Toner.
Botanics All Bright Cleansing Toner - widely hailed as a dupe for the Pixi All Glow Tonic is this toner. I've never tried the Pixi offering, but I can vouch for the Botanics version, having repurchased it once already. Full price this is only £3.99, but I've managed to pick it up for less than £2 on both occasions that I've bought it. It doesn't make a massive difference to the brightness of my skin, but it does induce a slight glow, and feels like it's cleansing my skin where my actual cleaners might not have done such a good job.

Lip Balms.
Two lip balms that I actually feel make a difference to my lips. The Blistex Intensive Moisturiser and the Nuxe Reve de Miel. Two completely different price ranges, and two completely different types of product, but both do a good job of moisturising the lips. I use them at different times, making more use of the Blistex (because it absorbs properly, and because it's cheaper so I don't feel as guilty), and use the Nuxe balm as an overnight treatment.

Treatments. 
There's a bit more in this section than any of the others! I have two face masks, both from Superdrug; one's the Witchhazel mud mask, which I'm not overly fond of the scent of, but which does a nice enough job of treating the skin, and the Vitamin E Moisturising Mask, which is more of a thick moisturiser than a true mask, but it does a good enough job.
The Botanics All Bright Serum is something I use in the evenings, between toning and moisturising and I have to say I think it's the thing that's making the most difference to my skin. It really softens and I think I can see a more visible brightness when I use it. Another Botanics product is the Super Balm. This just seems to be an intensely moisturising balm like product; it's one of those things that's solid in the pot but really melts as soon as you touch it. I definitely wouldn't use this all over my face, but on bits that are extremely dry it's a god send; I've used it on my eyebrows (which oddly get insanely dry, who knows why?) and on eczema patches and it works quite nicely. It claims to be 93% organic so isn't something I'm worried about putting on to problematic areas.

That's about everything that I use pretty regularly. I'm yet to find a strong need to use eye cream, but I daresay it'll be something I add in to my routine at some point when it seems like I need it.

What are some of your favourite skincare bits?

Soap and Glory Feel Good Factor - here | Pink Grapefruit Wash - here | Pink Grapefruit Scrub - here | Pink Grapefruit Moisturiser - here | Blistex Intensive Moisturiser - here |  Nuxe Reve de Miel - here | Superdrug Witchhazel Mud Mask - here | Superdrug Vitamin E Moisturising Mask - here | Botanics All Bright Cleansing Toner - here | Botanics Shine Away Gel Cream - here | Botanics Super Balm - here |

Best Reds

Nothing says winter than a good red, right? Right.
Throwback to spring, and I put together a post with my three favourite spring reds so I thought I'd put together something similar for the autumn/winter season. I'm one of those people who'll wear a red no matter what time of the year it is, so it's nice to have a few options for what to wear.

MAC Ruby Woo.
This is my favourite all around red. It's a beautiful true matte finish, and largely neutral in tone. The colour isn't exactly deep, but it isn't as bright as the more summery red shades which is what makes it suitable for either season. Out of all the reds I have, this is probably the one I wear the most, and it'll more than likely be the one that I repurchase. It's £15.50 here.

Revlon Matte Balm in Stand Out.
A similarly neutral toned red to Ruby Woo, but with a slightly darker colour, slightly less matte finish and an infinitely more comfortable formula. The matte balms are overall my favourite lip product, and I'd recommend Stand Out to absolutely anyone looking for a good red; their colour selection is pretty good, and the other red from the range, Striking, was one of my favourite spring reds. Stand Out is £7.99 here.

Rimmel Kate Moss 107. 
Everyone's favourite A/W shade in a nutshell right here. I'm not overly fond of the packaging or the scent of these, but their formula is beautiful; being matte without being drying or looking like you're rocking some serious prune lip. The colour is also more berry toned than any of my other red favourites, and it was my hands down favourite from last year and one that I can see myself getting a lot of use out of for years to come. These are £5.49 here.

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Grand Cru.
These lipsticks are something you absolutely have to try if you haven't already - again there's another red in the range that was one of my S/S favourite reds, and they have quite the beautiful colour range. These are definitely true matte lipsticks, coming in a thin liquid formula that can be built up for more opaque coverage on the lips. The colour is the deepest of the four, being more of a Bordeaux shade than a true red, and perfect for winter in particular. These are £8.99 here.

So, those are my favourite reds and berries for autumn and winter, what are some of your favourite lip colours for the season?

Affordable Everyday Autumnal Makeup

Seasonal trends can sometimes be a bit pricey to keep investing in, particularly the lip and cheek colours that you might like to switch up come the changing of the seasons, but I've put together an autumn look for fairly cheap, and the eyeshadow palette can be used all year around :)

Apologies for the less than wonderful pictures, as ever :)

The bits I used are the Make Up Revolution 32 Shade Flawless Palette - £8 here. Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Vintage Plum - £4.99 here. Make Up Revolution lipstick in Rebel With Cause  - £1 here. Make Up Academy Clear lip liner - £1 here and the NYC Cheek Colour in West Side Wine - £2.99 here.

What are some of your favourite products for autumn and winter? Let me know :)

Acrylic Storage & Makeup Collection - Picture Heavy

Like a lot of us, I've got more makeup than I know what to do with. My mum sent up my stuff from home this week so it was a bit of a mad scrabble to find places to put it (I'm trying to keep my stuff all in one place so I don't seem like I'm taking over in here!) With that in mind, I purchased a set of drawers from Very, and a few acrylic bits - from Muji and eBay - to store all the makeup I decided to keep post clear out. There are bits I use a fair bit more often, and they're stored on the top of the drawers and in the first drawer of the unit (not photographed because it's more than a little chaotic in there), the rest of the bits are split up into the other drawers so as to keep them out of the way.

You can see the basic set up of what I've got in this picture, as well as my boyfriend's work uniform and a section of his expansive game collection in the background. I forgot to move the shirt, apologies :D The wooden chest has six smallish sized drawers, with the top three holding makeup of some description, and the bottom three holding various nail/body/skin/randomly placed items. There are two sets of the wide 2 drawer units from Muji up there, a small 9 piece lipstick holder from eBay, a larger acrylic holder from eBay, a makeup mirror from B&M and a pencil pot from ASDA.

Just a slightly closer look at the acrylic bits on the drawer top without the mirror in the way.

Small lipstick holder - £3.49 from eBay here

At first I wasn't sure what size lipstick holder I was going to get. I've had the 24 ones before, but I don't like the size of them and I found that the acrylic making them was a lot thinner and more prone to breakage. The plastic making up the 9 piece one I have now is significantly thicker and I can see it lasting a lot longer. It also takes up a lot less room on the drawer top and I prefer how it looks in general. This holds some of my more "favourite" lipsticks, so to speak. I'm also a bit of a sucker for uniformity so anything I had 3 of went in this holder for the sake of looking nice. 

Large acrylic holder - £6.99 on eBay. No longer in stock from the seller I purchased from, but there are similar ones all over the site.

At the minute, this is just holding lipsticks, brushes and my setting spray. Moreso because I don't have space to rest it on top of the Muji drawers with proper products in it than anything else to be honest. This holds the majority of the rest of my lipsticks that are in a true bullet form, a little kabuki at the back, and my eye brushes in separate compartments. I put the pencil holder that has my face brushes in the main compartment just because it keeps them all together that way. Ideally I'd have foundations or something in this, but I'll switch it up at some point no doubt.

2x the 2 Wide Drawers - £10.95 each here.

I've been lusting after Muji storage for aaaages now, looked up actual Muji drawers and every alternative you can possibly think of for months now, but when it came down to it I knew I'd be best off going for the real thing and I'm glad I did. I daresay when we have more space I'll probably buy a few more sets just so I can have things organised a bit better than they are now, but so far so good. I like the size of the drawers, the sleekness of them and the fact that you can see inside at any given moment. The drawers hold the bits of my collection that I use the most often, with the top drawer holding basic "everyday" kind of stuff. 

Excuse the background clutter that you can see in every close up picture of these drawers. Bad preparation over here! As you can see, in here I've just got a few options of "everyday" kinds of makeup. This'll likely get switched out a fair bit, but it makes sense to have it all in one place. There's also the Makeup Revolution 32 Shade Flawless palette on top of the drawers, which I've designated my new everyday palette because there's SO MANY COLOURS in there.

Second drawer down houses far too many blushes, highlighters and bronzers. This is the majority of them actually. If you're wondering about the bronzing primer, it got into an argument with a piece of sellotape that my mum put on it. 

Random drawer of randomness. It has extras of bases, eyebrow and mascara stuff, a couple of Colour Tattoos and a few skincare bits. Productive!

Aaaaaaand the last drawer

The last Muji drawer holds the majority of my other lip bits. The drawers doubled up a bit so you can't see most of what's in there, but heyho! This is probably my favourite drawer because  it's all brightly coloured :)

Finally on the picture front, sticking perfumes and such on the shelves that hold ALL of the games, just to deman-cave the room a bit. 

Muahahaha.

How is your makeup stored? Let me know if you'd like to see how I've got the rest of it stored, not that it'll be helpful because it's pure chaos in there, but heyho.

L'Oreal La Palette Nude Swatches & First Impressions

I'm not entirely sure if this palette is actually "out" yet, as the Boots.com website still says something about a waiting list and I've yet to see it pop up on the Superdrug site, but while browsing my local Boots today, this was sitting on the shelf under a note that said "la riche eye palette". I've heard a wee bit of buzz surrounding this of late, and after getting hold of it its pretty easy to see why. As I said, I only bought this today so I've not tried it properly - this is purely a swatches and first impressions post based on what I've seen of the texture of the shadows.

As the name suggests it's a pretty nude palette - moreso than even the likes of the Naked(1,2,3) in my opinion as there's no super dark black/grey shades and even the deeper colours are very wearable. The first shade in the palette didn't show up on my skin in the photos, and registered merely as a shimmer in person.

The first five shades in the palette. For the most part, muted rosy tones. Similar to the Naked 3 colour family.

The second lot of shadows. These are all slightly darker but still very wearable. I'd have no trouble wearing these day to day alongside the lighter tones in the palette.

The swatches. As I said, the first shadow doesn't really show up on my skin and isn't visible in the photo. The black intrusion you see to the far right is a tattoo, apologies - I ran out of arm space while swatching.

The formula of these is soft and buttery to the touch - this is my first experience with L'Oreal eyeshadows and I have to say I'm quite impressed. The mattes felt no drier to the touch than the shimmers do, and I think they'll all blend quite nicely.

The palette is £14.99, which I think is quite expensive given that it's a high street offering, but the quality is there if you don't mind paying a little extra for it. I found this in Boots, but I daresay it'll be available in Superdrug at some point in the future. I've not seen an official release date for it anywhere, so who knows when it'll be popping up.

What do you think of the colour selection? Are you still liking the pink tones, or think it's getting a bit samey now?

Review: Stila In The Light Palette

Have you ever made a spur of the moment decision to grab something you've wanted for ages, just because it's the first time you've seen it in person? That's pretty much the experience I had with this palette. I've been eyeing it online for ages, never committing to making the purchase because I just wasn't 100% sure I wanted to spend £25 on something I'd never seen - and let's face it, I've got more than enough eyeshadow as it is. Seeing it sat alone on the shelf in Boots (apparently the ones in Liverpool have all the mid-high end stuff out on display too! it's not like that where I'm from), I made the snap decision then to just pick it up and take it home with me. I could've had a bit of a case of regret that night, but it turns out that I absolutely love it, am so glad I picked it up and its become basically my absolute favourite eyeshadow palette. I've only used something different (the MUR Iconic 1 palette, if you were wondering) since I've had it.

We'll talk about packaging to start with. The outer packaging is made of cardboard, with the brand name and palette name on the outside. It has a magnet that holds it shut, but it isn't all that strong so I probably wouldn't trust it out loose in a bag. On the inside is 10 1.4g eyeshadow pans (with the names printed on the packaging, hallelujah!), one of Stila's smudge sticks in the shade Damsel and a massive mirror. I really appreciate the inclusion of the eyeliner rather than a brush that I'd likely not use with the palette. I've never tried a smudge stick before but after experiencing how good Damsel is, I'm really interested in trying more from the range.

There's quite a lovely quote printed on the cardboard above the mirror - "believe in the beauty of the future", which is quite nice to read of a morning when getting ready :) 

That's the basic layout of the palette. I have to say I get a lot more use out of the shades on the top row, but that's just because I've not been wearing overly dark makeup at the moment.

A closer look at the shades in the palette. It's very neutral, but I like that because it means I'll get a lot of use (and my money's worth!) out of the palette as a whole. I have to say, Kitten is absolutely beautiful, and I think I'll buy it as a single when I've used it up from the palette. 

L-R on the top row the shades are Bare - a matte, creamy white shade. Kitten - a highly shimmery champagne shade, perfect for highlighting and lightly dusting across the lid. Bliss - a light, neutral matte brown. This has become my favourite for using in my crease, either as a transition colour, or as my crease shade when keeping my makeup really light. I've also used it in my brows and it works well for that! Sunset - Possibly the most beautiful bronze shade ever. It's neither too warm, nor too cool, looks lovely on the lid and really brings out blue eyes. Sandstone - a darker and warmer matte brown.  I use this predominantly on the lower lashline, but also for deepening up the crease and outer corner for slightly heavier looks.

As I mentioned, I get the most use out of the top row and I think it's obvious why that is! Those five shades alone would make a wonderful quint, if Stila released smaller neutral palettes.

L-R on the bottom row - Bubbly - a gorgeous neutral toned gold shade. This is my most used colour from the bottom row, again this shade looks lovely all over the lid. It is shimmery, but not overly so. Gilded Gold - more of a true gold shade - this is darker than Bubbly, and has little pieces of glitter in it. It can be difficult to get the glitter to show on the eyes, so a sticky base when using this shade is a good idea. Luster - a dark, shimmery fairly cool brown. Although this does have some shimmer it would work nicely in the crease and on the outer V of the eye. It's probably my favourite tone of brown from the whole palette, and I think it'd look lovely blended out alone on the eye. Night Sky - A shimmery gun-metal shade. This is the one I think I'll get the least use out of in the palette, as because I have blue eyes I don't find blue-toned shadows to be particularly flattering. I daresay I'll find some use for it though, so it doesn't go to waste. Ebony - a matte black. This isn't the most impressive black shade I've seen, I find the Sleek ones to be more pigmented, however this is certainly the easiest to blend matte black I've used. It works well as a liner for the eyes, and for blending into looks to deepen them up. 

Smudge Stick in Damsel - a creamy, deep chocolatey brown liner. This is the perfect choice to accompany this palette, and is lovely smudged out or just applied straight from the pencil. It's automatic so doesn't need sharpening, I didn't find it to smudge after it'd set or transfer, and the pigmentation is absolutely perfect. I'm intrigued to see if their black is as impressive.

Shade swatches in the same order as above, with Damsel on the side. I swatched these on paper because I don't have enough room on my arms, sorry! You can see that very little of the shimmer in Gilded Gold has stuck in the swatch, hence the need for a sticky base, but with one it'd work fine.

In the palette you get 10x 1.4g eyeshadows and a 2g liner for £25. Stila retails in Boots, on FeelUnique, Asos and the Stila website.

Have you ever tried any of the Stila palettes? They have a couple of others I'm interested in, but I think I'll stick to In The Light for now :)

My Cheeky Trio

What you see before you may be my all time favourite trio of cheek products. Since obtaining these little beauties, I've been using them as a trio on my cheeks (or a quad, since the Bourjois product contains both bronzer and highlighter but heyho!) and the result is rather lovely. I use the Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow to slightly contour - a process I think I've officially mastered thanks to the Real Techniques Contour Brush, who'd have thought?! - the Bourjois bronzer lightly just to warm up my complexion, since my very slight hint of tan has all but abandoned me and I'm back to my pale ways, and the highlight side lightly on my cheekbones and up onto my brow bone. The highlight is a lovely, lovely subtle highlight. I've read some reviews where people have said they're quite disappointed with its subtlety, but I think it's a selling point personally, if I wanna go all out and glimmer the day away I'll just bust out Mary-Lou! The final point of my trio application is NYX Blush in Peach. I picked this up in Next a few weeks back and it's been on my cheeks almost exclusively since. The colour is the most beautiful pale pink shade, and the finish is quite sheer so it's difficult to over-do it, but easy enough to layer for a more intense colour. I find this shade to be absolutely perfect for my cool-toned complexion (as a note, the Rimmel Light Porcelain shade of foundation is a perfect match for me, if you're around that sort of skin tone, I'd urge you to check out Peach. It's massively complimentary) and can see myself wearing it into the depths of winter. 

Bar the Illasmasqua pigment, the products are all quite affordable (saying that, though, I also own NYX Taupe blush and that works in a very similar way - I just don't have it with me and slightly prefer the ease of application with Hollow, but Taupe would be a good substitute for a lower budget) and I'm very, very happy with the results. Cheek makeup is the one thing I always feel like I accidentally go overboard on and it's not something I have to worry about with this little combination of bits :)

What are some of your favourite cheek products, any recommendations?

FOTD | Simply Autumnal

It was definitely feeling more autumny in Liverpool today - and over the last few days! So I decided to embrace that in my makeup. Nothing says autumn like a berry toned blush and a deep lip to me, so that's what I opted for. With the majority of the focus being on my lips, and a little lent to my cheeks, I decided to keep my eyes very very simple.

Products Used.

Base & Cheeks.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Nude Foundation - Light Porcelain | NYX HD Concealer - Fair | Essence All About Matte Powder | Illamasqua Cream Pigment - Hollow | Illamasqua Velvet Blush - Peaked | No7 Instant Radiance Highlighter |

Eyes & Brows.

Milani Nude Eye Primer | Make Up Revolution Salvation Palette - Iconic 1 | Rimmel Micro Eyeliner Pen | Essence Get Big Lashes Mascara | Maybelline Master Shape Brow Pencil - Dark Blonde.

Lips.

Illamasqua Glamore Collection - Vampette.

I really quite like the way this look turned out, and I think it's one I'll be turning to regularly over the autumn/winter season. I don't go a bundle on the way the lipstick smells (a bit plasticky), but I really enjoy the finish and the way it sits on my lips, making it a winner in my books. The eyes I kept super simple, just using the two matte browns and light shimmery pinkish colour from the MUR palette and doing a simple winged liner to finish off. I'd recommend checking out the Illamasqua lipstick and blush if you're looking for some new bits to add to your collection for A/W.

A New Found Love - Illamasqua Hollow

Illasmasqua is a brand I've wanted to try out for the longest time - with this being one of the products in particular. It's raved about in the beauty world for being the best contour for people with pale skin, and I have to say I agree! It's difficult to find a product that's not too dark/orange/murky to use on pale skin and Hollow certainly cuts the mustard with being absolutely perfect for it. As the name suggests, it has the ability to make your cheeks look hollowed out without looking unnatural, and I believe it's absolutely worth its price tag.

The product is a cream, and one that's surprisingly long wearing. I actually find it difficult to get off my hand when swatching it for whatever reason. Although these are marketed as multi purpose products, I've yet to try it anywhere but my cheeks for fear it'll crease on my eyes and this isn't the sort of colour to use on your lips, ha!

The product is highly pigmented and so so so easy to blend you'll be done before you even know it. I've already mentioned how perfect the colour is for fairer skins, but I think if your skin is much darker than fair-medium, this isn't likely to work for you, and you'll need something a little darker. I daresay Illamasqua offer something darker in the same product family though, although I haven't checked personally, but it may be worthwhile looking into. Another thing I like about the product is its quirky packaging - I actually spent a good five minutes trying to figure out how to open it (the lid lifts off, and I was trying to twist it. Oops!) and then another couple going "look, it's all curvy!" to my boyfriend, with a bemused expression and "yes Charlotte" being the basis of the reply I received.

Swatch of Hollow against my arm. I've not been matched to a MAC foundation shade, but I'm equivalent to an NC15, for reference.

If you've got fair skin and want to check out a good contouring shade, I'd definitely recommend Hollow. For something cheaper and a powder formula, NYX Taupe blush is absolutely wonderful also, I've written a post on that here.

What's your favourite product for contouring?

Maybelline Colour Drama

Hands up if you're a stickler for anything in a pencil! *raises both hands and begins to jig merrily.*

We all know we have Clinique and their chubby-anything-going to blame for this phenomenon, but we go along with it anyway, continuing to purchase, peruse and try out anything that comes our way in a stick. I've tried most of the high-street pencil like offerings, and I have to say these new pencils from Maybelline are up there in my top 3 (second to Revlon Matte Balms, but just pipping Bourjois Colour thingy-mi-bobs to the number 2 spot) due to their ease of application, massive colour pay off and predominantly matte finish. Be still my beating heart.

These came to me in an attempt to purchase the Colour Elixirs (which I also bought, self restraint? Naaah.). My eyes drifted to them as if it was destiny that we should meet that day. At £4.99 and on a 3 for 2 offer, in to my basket they slipped after some copious swatching, and merrily we skipped to the till to make the purchase. I normally wouldn't buy three of something on first purchase for fear of not getting on with them, but I went for colours I know I like, and I knew the formula was a winner from first swatch. These are creamy, but not too creamy, amazingly pigmented and pretty much matte. Only Minimalist (the pinky shade) has a little shimmer in, but the berry and red are entirely matte. They last nicely on the lips and I don't find them to be too drying, though they're certainly not moisturising by any means at all. They're not twist up, and you will have to sharpen them (though this could be a bonus, as it'll mean you'll keep the tip sharp and precise enough for a sharp-ass application!). They fit into the larger side of my Bourjois sharpener, so they should fit into any standard larger sized sharpener you have lurking about. 

You might be surprised at how small these are when you first see them - I thought they were just a special size for testers when I picked one up to swatch it, but they're all quite stubby. I can't find it written anywhere on the packaging how much product is in them and couldn't find them at all on Maybelline's website so your guess is as good as mine as far as that goes, but there's a good amount in there and it'll last you long enough - who really uses up lipsticks anyway? 

L-R Berry Much, Red Essential and Minimalist.

Overall, I really like these little pencils. They're definitely products I can see myself getting a lot of use out of, and I'll probably pick up a few more if I see any colours that catch my attention, they seem to have a fair few on offer!

Have/Would you try these out? What do you think of them if you have?

Make Up To Perk You Up

This is a bit of a "three-in-one-er" kind of post. It's the makeup I use to kind of perk me up when I'm feeling a little blue, but it's also a post including some new additions to my stash, and an "every day makeup" sort of post, since I've been wearing it most days of late.

Apologies for the oddly photographed products - I've yet to figure out a good place for pictures and there are few clear surfaces in this room! What you see before you is a bit of a mish-mash of bits and bobs. For the most part, they're newer products that I've added to my stash since being at my boyfriends (most of my makeup is still at home at the moment, I'm waiting to get it posted to me, ha), and they're all things I've found make me feel a little better through the process of applying them and the look they create at the end of the process.

I've been feeling a little down in the dumps recently, for quite a few reasons if I'm honest and I've been looking for any way possible to make myself feel a little better, so making myself look awake, a bit sparkly and slightly dramatic of the eye has been working for me. 

Products

Rimmel Lasting Finish Nude Foundation in Light Porcelain - Essence Match to Cover concealer in 10 - Illamasqua Hollow Cream Pigment - NYX Peach Blush - Bourjois Duo Bronzing Powder in 55 - Stila In The Light Palette - Rimmel ScandalEyes Micro Liquid Eyeliner Pen - Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara in Extreme Black (Lower Lashes) - Essence Get Big Lashes (Upper Lashes) - Maybelline Master Shape Brow Pencil in Dark Blonde - Maybelline Colour Drama Lip Pencil in Minimalist.

Are there any particular products you use when you're feeling a little down in the dumps? What are they, if you do?

First Impressions | Seventeen Gel Cheek and Lip Tints

On a recent visit to the boots.com website, I discovered I'd racked up £7 worth of points. I know I probably should've saved them and spent them on something a bit more "special", but I seem to be unable to save anything, even if it is points saved through spending frivolously, haha. I popped in to store and had a look around at some bits, and these little oddities rather took my fancy.

I've tried the gel blushes from Rimmel and to be honest, didn't much like them. I found the formula to be a bit odd, and didn't find the colour pay off to be good enough to warrant wearing without really layering them up, which as far as I'm concerned defies the point of something being lightweight. They had a few testers of these in store, and I had a quick swatch, to discover that the texture of these are far more like a "true" gel formula, unlike the Rimmel offering which was more of a cream in a tube.

Excuse the state of the pink one, I think it got squashed in my bag on the way home!

As you can see, these come with little spongy applicators. I think the packaging would've done better with a little nozzle if I'm honest. Much more hygienic and there's less product wastage then. I suppose they were trying to cater to application on cheeks and lips, but to be honest I don't intend to use the sponge on either. I've been popping some out on to my hand and then applying either with my finger or a buffing brush on to my cheeks.

To the left is "Perky Pink" and to the right, "Coral Crush". These are both quite summery colours. I'm hoping they'll come out with something more berry toned for the autumn and winter. 

As you can see, these are a translucent gel texture. They're very, very lightweight and you can't feel them on your skin once they've been applied. They blend out incredibly easy, and it's quite hard to overdo the product once its on the skin. I've not found that I need to build it up at all, but I'd imagine that you could if you wanted a more punchy colour, due to the texture.

Again, because of the texture I've found them to be quite long-lasting on my skin. The flush left behind sticks around for a good 4-6 hours after application, which is pretty good on my skin. I think that these would be easy to reapply too, if you felt so inclined. As the packaging is quite portable, they're definitely a take-and-go kind of product.

At the moment they're on an introductory price of £3.99 in Boots, with the entire Seventeen line having an offer of buy one, get one half price. Over all, I really like these little tubes. You get 10ml of product in the tube, which I'd imagine will last you a good long while. I'd recommend these to anyone in the market for a lightweight and relatively long lasting blush and lip colour. Give them a go!

Review | Rimmel Brow This Way in Medium Blonde

I thought I'd found my brow gel "one" in the Maybelline Brow Drama - I was wrong! Although I like it, the shape of the wand is a pain in the neck to me, and it just doesn't seem to be all that pigmented. I was browsing Superdrug a few weeks ago, looking for nothing in particular when I saw this sitting on the shelf at its introductory price of £2.99 - I couldn't pass that up! I love tinted brow gels for lazy brow days. To be honest, my brows don't need all that much filling in, and this gel more than does it for me. The little brush is the cutest and the formula of the gel is that perfect "held, but not crispy" kind of level. The pigment in this little tube is significantly better than the Maybelline brow gel, and for that reason alone I would probably recommend the Rimmel variant.

As you can see, the gel looks a little bit dark on the wand, but it matches perfectly to the colour of my brows, which is a true medium ash blonde shade. The little wand is really easy to use, and the overall packaging reminds me a lot of Benefit's Gimme Brow - no doubt Rimmel's intention when designing this product. 

Have you tried Rimmel's tinted brow gel, or something similar? what did you think of it?