Illamasqua Loose Powder - Translucent | Review

Powder is one of the more boring things to repurchase, but it's also one of the most important. I have really dry skin, but I still need to make sure that I powder my skin to make sure I don't get any unwanted shine and that my makeup stays on my face. I've tried quite a few powders, but the one I always go back to is Illamasqua's. It has everything I would need from a powder.

The Claim:

'Express who you are through the way you look, then give it the perfect finish. Finely milled and perfectly matt, Illamasqua Loose Powder is soft and light, and fixes your make-up flawlessly, holding it in place while you hold everyone’s attention. A must in the kits of the Illamasqua Art Team when working on set.' 

My Thoughts:
I have this powder in translucent (it's not white - it doesn't show up as any colour on your face so don't worry about it making you look like Caspar the friendly ghost). I always get my powder in traslucent if I can, as I'm pretty pale and find that a lot of powders just look awful on me, by using translucent this combats the problem. I wouldn't recommend this is your skin is darker than medium though, it may look a bit ashy on your skintone.

Illamasqua's claim that this is finely milled is spot on, this dissappears into the skin and doesn't leave your skin looking cakey. It's also brilliant for removing shine. I use this on the center of my cheeks (where I get the most shine) and it completely mattifies it, and I'll have no shine on my face all day.

It also keeps your makeup in place all day, combined with a good primer and your makeup won't shift. I wear this everyday and find that my makeup will last until the end of the day. I don't have oily skin so I can't say for sure how it will hold up, but my sister has combination/oily skin and she loves it.

I have it in the loose powder format, which I do like but I think when I need to repurchase it I will go for the pressed powder version. The only reason for this is that I travel quite a bit (to and from uni - 4 hour journey) and I always worry when taking my powder as I don't want it to accidentally open and spill. This has never happened to me and the lid does fasten securely on. However, I think the pressed powder version is more travel friendly. This powder lasts for ever though, I think I've had this very tub for nearly 2 years now, and you can see I've still got loads left.

I really recommend this powder, I've already got my sister hooked on it and I don't see a need for me to ever try a new brand of powder.

Availability & Pricing:
Illamasqua Loose Powder is £23 and available to buy from Illamasqua.

Soap & Glory: Thick & Fast Super Volume Mascara | Review

Sorry for the Awful Photo! I can't take photos of my eyes at all.

First of all, I'm really sorry about the awfulness of the eye photo. I took so many and this was the best that I could get, but hopefully it show how the mascara looks on my lashes.

The Claim:

'This super volume mascara creates amazingly, longer, fuller, fabulous lashes. Featuring SUPERFILL™ False Lash Fillers, SHINE AMPLIFIERS, NOFLAKE24 technology and super-fine no-clumps natural wax film formers. *While we don’t feel it’s ladylike to brag, we’re feeling particularly bullish about our mascara. (And hope after trying it you’ll agree that it’s absolutely marvelous.'

My Thoughts:
In my opinion, this is one of the best highstreet mascaras available on the market right now. Soap & Glory is often known for it's bodycare but it's recent venture into makeup has also been incredibly successful. I never usually think to look at Soap & Glory for makeup, but recently I have found myself loving their products, and I've heard so many good reviews on the rest of their range.

The above photo is me wearing two coats of this mascara, you could possibly do 3 but I think it would start to clump. I've done both the top and the bottom lashes and also haven't curled my lashes. I really like this mascara and love the effect it has on my eyelashes. I'd say it's more of a lengthening mascara but it does add some volume. I think for the price this is great quality and is comparable to some of my favourite high-end mascaras (such as They're Real). I realise the photo is not the best quality in the world (believe me I took tons, but I can't photograph my eyes at all) but hopefully it show you the effect you can achieve with this mascara. I like quite long lashes, but you can definitely create a more natural look if that's what you are looking for.

The brush is pretty big but I don't mind that. I find it easy to coat the lashes and the mascara doesn't flake off and smudge off either.

Availability & Pricing:
Soap & Glory Thick & Fast is priced at £10 and available from Soap & Glory.

Urban Decay Ammo Palette | Review and Swatches

I've had this palette for ages and it was actually one of my first high-end makeup items. I love it, and as you can see I've hit pan on 2 of the shades (Maui Wowie and Polyester Bride). I'd probably have hit pan on Sin if I didn't already had it in the Naked Palette (where I have hit pan on it). I use this palette most days and love the fact that it's got great neutrals for an everyday look, and then slightly more unusual shades too.

Pigmentation:
As you can probably see above, these eyeshadows have great pigmentation. In my own experience, Urban Decay eyeshadows have some of the best pigmentation available. In particular, Smog, Midlew, Last Call and Shattered have great pigmentation. It's a little hard to see Polyester Bride and Sin in the swatches, but this is simply because I am very fair and it's hard to get them to show up on my skintone as they are similar in colour.

Application
I find Urban Decay eyeshadows a pleasure to apply and these are no different. Although the shades are all shimmery, I don't think I suffer fall out with any of them. The only one I'd be more careful with is Oil Slick as the shimmer is more noticeable and the shimmer particles are bigger. However this can be solved by doing eye makeup before foundation, which I'd suggest using when working with black eyeshadow anyway. The eyeshadows are all easy to apply and go on the eye smoothly. They are also easy to blend with other eyeshadows.

Lasting Power

New Ammo 2 Palette Packaging

I always wear my eyeshadow over Urban Decay Primer Potion as I find it makes my eyeshadow stay put all day. This palette comes with a travel-sized Urban Decay Primer Potion, which is a great addition to your makeup collection if you haven't already used this. I find that these eyeshadows last all day on me and there is no creasing in sight.

Packaging:
This is technically the first version of the Ammo palette, with the current edition sometimes being referred to as 'Ammo 2'. However, aside from the packaging and the addition of a small brush and travel-size UDPP, the palette remains the same. The eyeshadows are all exactly the same as in the older version shown here.

Availability and Pricing:
The Urban Decay Ammo Palette is available for £23 from Debenhams.

I really recommend the Ammo Palette, especially to someone who may just be starting to use higher-end makeup. This palette is one of the cheapest higher-end one on the market and contains 10 great shadows that will enable you to create a variety of looks. I love the fact you can use this for neutral day time looks, night time looks and then slightly more creative looks.

Illamasqua Precision Ink in Alchemy | Review

I'm usually a gel eyeliner kinda girl. I always use my trustworthy Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in Black Ink on my waterline and tightline and generally don't line my top eyelid. However, sometimes I want to line the top lid, and instead of choosing a traditional black, I often opt for Illamasqua's Precision Ink in Alchemy. I've heard from many sources that this eyeliner is practically identical to MAC SuperSlick Eyeliner in Pure Show, personally I don't own this so I can't say for sure.

Colour:

One of the best things about this eyeliner is the colour payoff. As you can see in the swatch, the gold colour is very intense. I find a lot of metallic coloured eyeliners tend to have a liquid with glitter particles suspended in them, meaning that the effect is lots of glitter bits with no sold colour. However, this is a solid gold colour and you do not need to use a lot of coats to achieve this. I believe this is what makes this product worth its pricetag as the colour payoff is some of the best I've seen.

Application:
This is housed in Illamasqua's trade sleek black packaging. Personally, I am a big fan of Illamasqua's packaging as I find it all to look sleek and uniform. However, if you own many of these or a lot of eyeliners, I can see this being a problem when trying to find certain colours.Without opening the eyeliner or looking for the name up close you can't tell this apart from the other eyeliners in Illamasqua's range. Personally I don't own many liquid eyeliners so this isn't a problem for me, but I can see others finding it a hassle.

This has a felt tip type applicator which I find easiest for liquid liner. I'm by no means the best at putting liquid eyeliner on, but I find with this colour it is a bit more forgiving if I do make a mistake.

Lasting Power:
This really stays put. According to Illamasqua this is waterproof, and while I haven't poured a bucket of water over my head to find out, I have find that this stays put whenever I wear it out and I don't need to worry about it smearing all down my face. I don't have oily eyelids but the lasting power on this is very good that I feel like it would last on someone with the most oily eyelids.

Avalibility and Prices: 
Illamasqua's Precision Ink liners are available from Illamasqua for £17.00. This is quite pricey for a liquid eyeliner however I do believe this worth the money. I use this a lot even though its not a 'traditional' eyeliner colour. If you do find this to be a lot, they do have precision inks in more traditional colours which some may get more wear out of.

Would I repurchase?:
I do really like this as I find it lasts well and the colour pay off is excellent. I'd really like to try Illamasqua's liners in 'Abyss' (black) and 'Havoc' (brown) next as I really like this formula.

Graze NibbleBox | Review

Okay so a bit of a different review today. I know the whole beauty blogging world is always on about beauty boxes, which are boxes where you get deluxe samples of five products a month, however I recently stumbled upon a version of this related to healthy eating. Graze is a company which creates boxes made with four snack-sized compartments each containing healthy food. You can have them delivered twice a week, once a week or every other week. I wasn't sure whether or not to post this, but figured quite a few people might be interested in diet and nutrition.

I'm always trying to eat more healthy as I often slip back eating junk food (particularly when I'm at uni - late night takeaways are the worst). However my main problem is that I like to snack a lot, and often do so on food that is unhealthy. Graze's food however combines your favourite food with healthier options in order to make it less calorific. It is also really helpful as they include all the nutritional information and all the calorie contents on a little leaflet with the box. This is particularly great if you are on a diet and calorie counting as it allows you to easily keep track of what you've eaten, which can be hard when it comes to snacks.

I've photographed all of the food I received in my box. The graze website allows you to select products you want to try, products you want sending soon and products you won't try. This is a great system and really works, all 4 of the things I recieved were items on my 'send soon' list. Graze can't guarantee you'll get sent them in your next box but they really do take a good note of what you'd like and what you wouldn't.

The food was also delicious, in particular the Bonnie Wee Oatcakes and the Honeycomb flapjacks were delicious, they come in at 200-300 calories each. This is still a lot for a snack but they are high in fiber and vitamins so much healthy than picking up a chocolate bar.

The boxes are £3.89 each including postage and can be ordered from the Graze website. I think these boxes are great for anyone that wants slightly healthier snacks or wants to track the nutritional content of what they are eating. It's also a great way to try new foods.

MAC Paintpot in 'Let's Skate!' | Review and Swatches

MAC's paintpots are a holy grail in the beauty community, they prime your eyelids while adding colour to shimmer, intensifying your eyeshadows. They come in a variety of shades but Let's Skate! is by far my favourite. I originally got this paintpot as part of a limited edition holiday collection (which is why the packaging is white and not black), and I limited myself to using it as I didn't want to run out of it, thankfully though, MAC has added this shade to its permanent line.

Pigmentation:
The pigmentation on this is good. It is a very pale pink, it is hard to get it to show up on my skin because I am so pale, but for those of you with a darker complexion, the pink will be easier to see. Because of my pale skin, I love how this can give me a quite natural, but shimmer eye. This is a very shimmery paintpot, the shimmer does come out on your lids. There is no fall out, but people will be able to notice the shimmer. If you want to wear it on it's own, the shimmer won't be a subtle sheen. I like to wear this under cool-tonned shimmery eyeshadows. My favourite eyeshadow to wear over this is Urban Decay's Sin. The two go really well together, and the paintpot intensifies the shimmer in Sin.

Lasting Power:
Like all MAC paintpots, this lasts all day on me. I've even worn this on it's own before because I love the colour, and although on its own it won't last all day (around 6-8 hours of wear), with primer underneath it, it will last all day. Without a primer, the shimmer will last but the pale pink shade will fade a bit. I don't have oily eyelids, so that is something to keep in mind.

Application:
This is really easy to apply. I use my fingers to apply it as I find it easier to apply and quicker. However, you can also use a synthetic brush to apply it. The product is creamy and so easy to apply to the lid, if you have very dry lids I would moisturise them a bit first, as application can be hindered if your lids are dry. On the majority of eyelids though, this product applies well and has a very creamy texture.

Availability and Pricing:
MAC Let's Skate! and the rest of the range of their paintpots are available for £15.00 at MAC Cosmetics.

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The Body Shop: Get the Look Feat. All in One BB Cream*

The Body Shop has always been known for their bodycare products, with their body butters constantly topping my Christmas wishlist year after year. They have a huge variety of products to choose from, all with incredible scents. They have recently expanded their makeup collection to include a new 'All in One BB Cream', new eyeshadows, lipsticks and brushes. I was offered the chance to try out some of these products for review and I thought I'd give you my opinion on them.

Colour Crush Eyeshadows*

The Claim:

'An intensely pigmented, pearlescent or matt eyeshadow (dependant on colour) with a silky-soft texture . It’s easy to blend and great for building layers of colour.'

My Thoughts:
I was incredibly impressed with The Body Shop Colour Crush Eyeshadows. I'm a bit of an eyeshadow lover, I've tried eyeshadows from the highstreet but always go back to the higher-end products from Urban Decay and MAC. I find that highstreet eyeshadows usually offer poor pigmentation and have a very chalky formulation. However, I was really surprised with both the pigmentation and the texture of the eyeshadows. The eyeshadows have a very smooth texture and are easy to apply and blend on the eyelid. They are not chalky and I didn't experience any fall out. Wear time was also impressive, over primer these lasted all day on me (although I don't suffer from oily eyelids). Pigmentation was really good, the swatches you can see in the photos are only 2 layers. I could have gotten away with one but wanted to show how intense the colour is. The lighter eyeshadow is slightly hard to see on my arm, but that's because I have very light skin. 

The two colours I have are 'Golden Girl' and 'Sweet Pea'. The light vanilla eyeshadow is perfect for highlighting your brow bone and the inner colour, while the light green is great way to add a subtle, yet different twist to your everyday makeup.

The Colour Crush Eyeshadows cost £7 and are available from The Body Shop.

Colour Crush Lipstick*

The Claim:

'This luscious lipstick gives a stunning pop of colour and rich moisture, infused with a subtle rose scent.'

My Thoughts:
I've heard a lot of hype over The Body Shop's new Colour Crush lipsticks and was excited to see whether or not the hype was worth it. The shade I have is called 'Darling Blush'. It's a very 'my lips but better' shade. When I wear it on my lips it adds a it of colour to them and gives them a nice sheen. It's a great colour if you want something that's subtle for work or if you just want to wear a more understated look. I really like it if I'm wearing heavier eye makeup as it compliments it without clashing with it.

The formula of these lipsticks is really nice. They're really creamy to apply and don't cling to any dry bits on your lips. They moisturise your lips and have a pretty good wear time of around 4 hours. I really like this lipstick, the formula is good and they rival the lipsticks from the other highstreet brands.

The Colour Crush Lipsticks are £10 each and available from The Body Shop.

The Body Shop Smudger Brush*

The Claim:

'A soft, foam-tipped applicator for blending eyeshadow or smudging eyeliner. Perfect for smoky eyes.'

My Thoughts:
I haven't used foam-tip applicators with my eyeshadow since I used to buy those huge sets of makeup for under £5 which came with those really cheap applicators that you were supposed to use for your eyeshadow that inevitably broke after two uses. I was a bit skeptical when going to use this for the first time as I'm used to using synthetic brushes to do my eye makeup. However, I found that it did do a good job of smudging my out my eyeshadow to create a smokey look. It also did a good job of smudging out pencil eyeliner. The brush feels firmer than those you usually find in palettes, but it still doesn't feel as firm as a traditional brush would.

The Smudger Brush is £9 and is available from The Body Shop.

All-in-One BB Cream*

The Claim:

'Our new All-In-One BB cream transforms from a white cream to suit your skin tone. Pigment-filled capsules burst when applied to the skin, releasing the colour inside. Just blend for a perfect match and an even, undetectable finish. It’s make-up and skincare in one.'

My Thoughts:
First off, it has to be noted that the colour I have (03) is actually too dark for my skintone, which explains why it doesn't appear to blend into my skin in the photos. However, I think if you compare the photos from when I first put the product on, you can see that it does become a lot lighter on my skin, so I think with the correct match it would blend well into the skin.

The way the product works is that it comes out in a white cream, you then rub this and the pigment capsules burst and the colour begins to appear in your skin. If you continue rubbing you will achieve an even finish. The colour can look very scary at first, but once you spread it out it becomes much more wearable. I was impressed with how little product was needed to cover your entire face. As you can see in the first photo I didn't use that much product, but it was enough to cover a good portion of my arm (and I could have tried to cover even more if I had wanted). This means this tube would last you a good while as you only need the tiniest bit in order to cover your whole face.

Coverage-wise, this offers some coverage if you have slight redness or discoloration but it's not going to cover serious skin problems and nor is it designed to. If you have pretty good skin with the odd bit of redness I'd recommend this as a lighter alternative to a full coverage foundation.

The Cream claims to offer 24 hour hydration, I never wear makeup for this long but I can say that it didn't cling to any dry patches which is good for a face product as I have incredibly dry skin on my cheeks and nose.

I think the product is innovative and would be good if you have good skin and just want a bit of extra coverage. it blends well and has a nice finish. I've also found that the BB Cream can be used underneath foundation to give it a bit more colour and make you look more bronzed, so that is also an option.

The BB Cream is £12 and available from The Body Shop.

All of the products in this post are part of a 'Get the Look' campaign, in which the Body Shop shows how to get certain looks such as 'Pastel Purple' using the 'All-in-One BB Cream' and the Colour Crush Range. If you are interested in finding out more, click here.

*Product was sent for consideration for review

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Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Android | Review and Swatch

The Claim:

'Made to be played with. A metallic, high-shine, pure-colour powder that highlights eyes, cheeks and brows. Mix with eye shadow, blusher or use it on its own to intense effect. Bring out your bold side'

Colour
Android is described as a 'shimmery charcoal black'. I wouldn't quite say it's a true black as in a lot of the swatches it appears more grey, however the colour can be built up. What really love about this product is te clear blue undertones that can be seen, particularly in the sun.

The shimmer in this is beautiful, it's not too overly shimmery that it will fall down on your face and make you look like a one-man disco, but it isn't so subtle that you can barely see it.

Hopefully you can see in the last picture it can be applied differently. You can sheer it out (as on the left) to get a much more subtle look that would be great as an eyeshadow base or to have a very smokey eye. You can also build up this intensity to a much more pigmented, intense look (as you can see on the right). The more you apply the more the bluetones in the product come out, which I personally love. I really like the fact that you can create different looks with this product by how you apply it, making it a better value for money.

Application
These are very easy to apply, the texture is soft and the shimmer is densely packed so it's not going to fall down onto your cheeks while you are wearing it . The only thing I'd be careful of is fallout while applying, if you choose to layer it up a lot be careful that there can be a little bit of fall out, but this is easy solved by doing your eye makeup first. I'd advise doing eye makeup first anyway as this is a darker product, so any mistakes would be more obvious.

Packaging:
The pigment is in Illamasqua's typical sleek black packaging, with a clear underside. I love this as sometimes it can be hard to find certain products if you have to open them up to see the colours. The packaging is secure and the lid doesn't come off which is important as the product is loose - so would spill everywhere. The small opening also allows for only a small amount of product to reach the lid, which is great in case you accidentally knock it over, and makes sure you don't get too much on your brush.

Availability and Pricing:
The full range of Illamasqua's pure pigments are available from the Illamasqua website for £16.50. Illamasqua often do sales on their makeup products, including their pigments, so watch out for them.