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

Twitter | Pinterest | RSS | BlogLovin' | Google + | SheSaidBeauty

Stila Convertible Color in Gerbera | Review and Swatch

I don't tend to be much of a cream blush person, I much prefer my powder blushes. However, I have always heard so much about the Stila Convertible Colors and decided to try them out. I have the colour in Gerbera, and its quickly become a staple in my makeup bag.

The Claim:

 'Stila's ingenious lipstick and blush-in-one proves to be irresistible. This versatile favourite brightens cheeks and lips with creamy, translucent colour. Tap onto cheeks and press onto lips. The sheer tint adds an inherent glow to the cheeks while lips bloom with fresh, radiant colour. Our two-in-one compact holds the key to easy, monochromatic makeup. A must-have in every Stila girl's kit. '

Shade:
The shade I have is Gerbera, which is a light peachy-pink. It's a gorgeous colour which I think would suit any skintone. I find it looks natural on me, and is great when I've got quite heavy makeup on my eyes, so that my cheeks don't look overdone or take away from my eye makeup. You can apply this lightly to have a very subtle effect, or layer it to create a more intense blush. Stila Convertible Colors currently come in 9 shades. Stila also offer two trio sets, which contain 3 of the Convertible Colors.

Application:
The Application of this is lovely. It is very very creamy and very easy to apply and blend into the skin. You don't need much of the blush to get the look you desire either. You can also use this on the lips, however it can be quite drying so if you have dry lips it's a big no-no.The formula is quite thick, especially compared to some cream blush formulas so it is harder to apply subtly. I find I can apply this with either fingers or a brush, however a brush tends to work better because it is a thicker formula.

Lasting Powder:
Out of all the cream blushes I've tried, this lasts the best on me. I get 7+ hours wear out of this, with it still being noticeable.

Packaging:
I love the packaging of the Convertible Colours. They are very compact, including a mirror. They also shut securely so they are ideal for taking in your handbag. The packaging is also very pretty with the floral design on the front. I also like the fact each packaging is similar to the colour of the blush, so you instantly know what type of colour each blush is without having to open them up, ideal if you have quite a few of them.

Availability and Pricing:
The Stila Convertible colours are priced at £16 each, and you can buy them from Stila UK.

Twitter | Pinterest | RSS | BlogLovin' | Google + | SheSaidBeauty

Why It's Ok to be Pale

I''m incredibly pale. It's a fact, from a young age I've constantly been asked 'Why are you so pale?' 'Are you ill?' or even 'Are you a vampire?'. I used to hate my pale skin and try to cover it up by fake tanning or using darker foundation (and blending it down to the neck). However, I have recently begun to embrace my pale skin for what it is. And I hope that I can show some of your other pale people out there, why you should too.

Before I start this post, I would like to say that I am in no way against tanned skin (natural or fake). I myself love the look of glowing tanned skin, and have fake tanned before. However, I feel that around this time of year, people who are naturally very pale sometimes feel down about their natural skin colour. If you are anything like me, you won't tan naturally in the sun (I don't really burn either so that's a plus) and fake tan doesn't look quite right on you because 1. everyone can tell that its fake as you are so pale 2. all your makeup is suited to pale skin and doesn't look quite right and 3. You look so different you don't look like 'you' anymore.

This post therefore is in no way a bashing of tanned skin, I am personally jealous of those who have such amazing skin and wish I could achieve the same. However, this post is about a celebration of pale skin and should hopefully help people feel like its ok if they want to show off their pale skin in the summer.

Pale Skin is timeless. In Victorian times, pale skin used to be the envied skintone and considered something to aspire to. The logic behind this was that the paler a woman's skin was, the less time she spent outside working. So those with paler skin were more likely to be from money and not need to work. While this logic doesn't exactly apply today, it shows that pale skin is a classic, timeless look. Also, think of how beautiful the actresses look in period dramas. They all have pale skin.

Source

Source

Pale skin IS sexy. I've often heard comments that paleskin can't be sexy and only those with a tan  can be. To all those people, I dare you to look at these images and still say that:

Source

Source

Source

Look how many pale celebrities there are that women are envious of? There are many celebrities who are known for their pale skin and who embrace it, and they are beautiful.

Source

 

Source

Source

I hope that this had showed how beautiful pale skin is, and it should not be something that is dismissed as 'sickly looking' nor should people ever be told 'you need to get a tan'. Everyone should love their natural skin colour.

If you have pale skin let me know if you embrace yours and how, if you have any reasons why you should love being pale, let me know in the comments!

Twitter | Pinterest | RSS | BlogLovin' | Google + | SheSaidBeauty