Cover Girl Smoothers

When I saw this in my September BeBox had no idea that it was a Cover Girl product. The tube just says CG Smoothers and despite once being an avid America's Next Top Model watcher, my brain just didn't make the connection.

Avon and Gosh AW13 Press Day

I've not been to a press day for a while, I've been invited to a few, but I only tend to go if I feel there really is something there for me to learn or if I'm genuinely intrigued by a brand. As much as I love beauty stuff, I'm not really a fan of hoarding loads of free samples just for the sake of it

Gosh AW13
I decided to head to the Gosh AW13 press day as I knew they already did a range of BB creams that went darker than your usual drugstore options. I was hoping to see that they had expanded on this to include more shades. There were no BB creams but I was pleased to find a range of CC illuminating foundations in a range of shades however their darkest, 06 Golden just about worked for me - I took a quick snap of me wearing it- I've also got on a bit of the BB concealer pallettes that Gosh do. This wall all done by the make up artist

It was a shame to not see it taken further. While I was there I quizzed their makeup artists on why they didn't go darker. We had a nice conversation, where I vented about not being able to find drugstore options for all shades and brown and she totally agreed, saying that she'd been pushing for it for years and was going to keep on pushing!

Other than that there was a definite focus on metallics - both shiny, glittery and dull tones. There were also some amazing glitter nail varnished which gave a proper coating of glitter rather than the sporadic smattering you usually get - was a shame not to leave with a sample of those to be honest. There were also a new set of primers and an eyebrow kit that I want to try.

Avon AW13
This was a little bit of a Brucey bonus as the Avon press day was being held in the same building so we were invited to drop in after we'd visited Gosh. The main thing to say about Avon is COLOUR POP! The team have focused on making all of their products, from lip crayons to eye shadows and lipsticks highly pigmented. They've got a range of punchy eye shadow pallets with instructions on how to create the perfect smokey eye, and a beautiful golden set that I can see myself using this winter

They've also got a couple nifty gadgets such as this crazy new mascara.

I was lucky enough to pick up some goody bags so full reviews of individual products will come shortly.

Sleek Haul: Matt Lipsticks

Yep, you guessed it. Superdrug had another 2 for 1 offer on Sleek Makeup and I just couldn't help myself. I picked up two matt lipsticks and a blusher which I'll review in a separate post.

The matt lipstick trend has hung around since winter. Whilst the temptation is always to go for something high shine come summer, I quite like the idea of keeping it matt through the warmer climes and I always thing you can get away with a bolder colour as long as it's matt.

 

I grabbed a cool peachy pink shade called Barely There and a super hot red called Stiletto. Despite being matt, they are quite creamy so don't dry out your lips too much and the colours are really strong.

Sleek never seem to have that many matt shades in store to choose from - there are more on the website. But these colour staples - bright red and dusty peach pink - always seem to be on the shelf so it's worth a visit to kick start your matt collection. 

Sleek True Colour Matt Lipstick - £4.99

Rimmel 1000 Kisses - Endless Blossom

Being the addict to Boots and Superdrug that I am, I find myself in there a few times a week checking out what's on offer and scoping out new products. Most of which find their way onto this blog in some way or another. However, this little addiction of mine also means that from time to time a good product gets forgotten about and pushed to the back of my dresser in favour of a new impulse buy.

The other day I rediscovered this Rimmel 1000 Kisses Lip Tint which I'd bought well over a year ago, used once or twice then forgotten about.

Rimmel describe the product as a lip tint, however I'd class it as a stain. It can be built up to create quite an intense colour and it really does have staying power. At one end there is felt-tip style applicator which is a little odd and makes  it feel like you're colouring in your face. However the pointed tip means you can apply the colour accurately which is good.

The lip balm at the other end is also pretty good, however I find that the colour is nicer matt and actually lasts longer without it. I tend to use that as an everyday lip balm.

For me, the colour is probably the most natural shade of pink I've used, if I was born with perfect pinkish-red lips like they are in the cartoons - this is the colour they'd be.

Rimmel 1000 Kisses Lip Tint in Endless Blossom- £5.99

Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush

I have to say, I wasn't totally bowled over by this month's City Chic Glossy Box. The one product I did like however was this Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush which claims to be a moisturising lip stain

I really like the colour, it's a great hybrid between shocking and baby pink so I don't feel too neon-tastic or baby doll cutesy.

The application is really smooth due to the beeswax and ceresin wax in the product and the silky feeling does last a while. When the smoothness does eventualy fade, you're left with a subtle pink stain on your lips which is nice.

I think the product is a little pricey for what it is, you'd essentially get the same effect with a pink lippie and a lip balm, but the colour is great so this will be ridding along in my handbag from now on.

Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush - £12.00

Rituals Eve's Kiss Lip Treatment

Just a short post on this product as there’s not much to say other than, I love it! Eve’s Kiss by Rituals is described as a Silkening Lip Treatment, and to be honest there is probably no better way to portray it.

The formula is soft and silky making it easy to apply, it also leaves my lips feeling well treated and moisturised for around 4 hours before I feel the need to re-apply. It contains shea butter - karite is the French word for this - and also has a unique noticeable apple scent which is delicious. It tastes pretty good too if you’re a serial lip-licker like me. 

The glossy finish that you get with product is pretty subtle – I like to think of it as a grown up lipgloss – and it isn’t too sticky or claggy. It also contains SPF 8 which is always good as the weather (fingers crossed) gets warmer.

Rituals Eve’s Kiss - £5.50 from FeelUnique (free delivery).

Lunch-time Lippie Buy

I love M&S for many reasons, their fresh soups make delicious lunches. Two Dine in for £10 is genius and the latest reason? My new Dusky Rose lipstick from their Limited Collection. I picked it up today in M&S - where I was buying soup for lunch. I think it's a perfect 'I want to wear a touch of lippie to work but don't want to look like I'm hitting the clubs' shade.

Dusky Rose Limited Collection Lipstick - £5.00 Marks and Spencer

Feeling Vibrant!

As so happens to many of us, I was sucked into buying this product by a nifty little online marketing campaign. For someone who works in digital marketing, I should really know better.

Nevertheless, on lunch break a few months ago I found myself heading to Lush to check out their Emotional Brilliance Collection. I chose Vibrance. An orange glittery paste like formula with a lipgloss style applicator.

Straight onto skin

Blended in

Once blended in you get a nice orangey bronze glow that could be used as a sparkly highlighter on brow bones and cheeks. Really nice for dark skin tones,

Over a pink lipstick

This was my original plan for the product when I first saw it. Tapped lightly over a pink lipstick you get a nice orange/iridescent type finish. This could be used to highlight the center of the lips. Very high fashion darling!

Revlon Sweet Boutique

If (like me) you are loving Revlon’s Lip Butters right now - you don't want to miss this (yes I've already missed half of it, but better to come late to the party than miss it all together, right?) 

Every day until 26th June, Revlon will be giving us the chance to win 1 of 100 of their delicious Lip Butters.

Today’s offering is Candy Apple - you can see my review of it here. All you have to do is like their Facebook page and get entering. 

They've also produced this calender of what they'll be giving away for the rest of the competition. I have my eyes firmly on Pink Truffle and Creme Brulee

Good Luck!

Going Nude

I've been using this product every day for the last 3 weeks straight. I thought it was high time I did a long review of something to see if my opinion would change after the first couple of tries, cause to be honest sometimes the childish joy of having something new can cloud ones judgement!

Against my skin tone the colour is a pretty sheer peach tone. It has a really nice sheen to it, a little bit glossy but not at all sticky and after two weeks of use it hasn't left my lips rough or peeling as some  'lip balms' do.

After two weeks there was not that much of the stick left - not sure if that's due to me being a little bit addicted to it or whether they didn't really give me that much in the first place.

I reckon they're a little bit stingy but at £4.49, if I go through one a month - I don't think that's too bad.

I think I've found a new staple.

BB for BB

A while ago I tested out Garnier BB cream in medium. It was ok but I wasn't over thrilled with it and I didn't get that glow that other bloggers professed to have.

Clearly I was using the wrong colour.

Maybellines BB Cream in Dark is more up my pigment ally. It's a much lighter formula than Garnier, perhaps even a little runny, however it moisturises my skin really well. I don't look like I'm wearing make-up when I've got it on but I think I definitely look bright - glow achieved! Plus it contains 30 SPF which - for a burner like me - is an nice added bonus

£7.99 - Bargain

BB Cream

So here’s how it happened. I was on my way to work one fine Wednesday morning when I realised I missed out an important stage of my skin care routine – moisturising. I’d used my Clinque Clarifying Lotion, and then stepped out of the house with bare skin. As you can imagine, in this crisp spring weather my skin soon felt like a sheet of sandpaper. So enroute to the station, I nipped in Superdrug where I was planning to buy a cheapish moisturiser that I could keep on my desk at work for further acts of stupidy.

Low and behold, Garniers BB Cream was just sitting on the shelf staring at me. I've been intrigued by BB creams since they came out but I didn't think that any of them on the market would work on black skin. A few of my friends of a paler persuasion had tried them and loved them, but I wasn't sure. 

I tested out the medium shade on the back of my hand and it seemed to blend in well without leaving my skin with an ashy grey complexion. I was presently surprised, I needed to moisturise and it was on offer, so I thought what the hell.

I have never ever worn a foundation and to be honest I don’t ever plan on wearing one. But this, I could get used to.

Here are my major plus points

• It definitely moisturised my skin
• It contains an SPF with is always good
• It blended in well – didn’t leave me looking grey

The negatives

• I didn’t see that ‘glow’ that other bloggers talk about. If anything I found it more matifiying. Maybe if they bring out the product in ‘dark’ I would get more a glow from it…..

I definitely feel like it’s provided me with a more even base and it doesn’t look as if I’ve got anything on my face. I also feel like it has helped to calm down some of the redder parts of my skin – or maybe it’s just the hype talking!

Either way, I think I’ll be using it again. Maybe not every day but definitely when I’m after that fresh faced look.

Smashing News

I’m sure I’m not the first to report this, however I’ve only just found out so to me – it’s NEWS.

American make up brand Smashbox Cosmetics have launched a BB Cream in 5 different shades from light to dark. The dark it still quite a medium brown but it’s definitely a push in the right direction

I tried out Garnier’s BB Cream in medium recently and it wasn’t too bad for my skin tone, but if I had any more melanin it would be a no-no (full review up tomorrow).

Not sure how long this will take to filter over to the few retailers selling it in the UK. This may have to be an ‘order from the US’ job

I then found out that Smashbox Cosmetics will be launching a UK based site very soon. I know you can buy from the American site and a few retailers here there, but it will be nice to have a dedicated UK site.  

They've got a holding page up and you can sign up for a newsletter that will let you know when they’re up and running.  The confirmation email even mentions something about samples – definitely looking forward to that one!

www.smashbox.co.uk  

It's here!

Last week I got a delightful little text message informing me that my coveted Revlon Lip Butters had arrived. So without further adieu, here's my verdict.

Love them!

I was surprised at how long the colour lasted. The only problem with these lipstic-balm hybrids is that in interest of making them super soft, the colour doesn't tend to last that long.

These lip butters however really do have staying power - and yes that is at the detriment of added moisture, but the Lip Butters in themselves are not at all drying. So you basically get the feeling of an average lip balm with a really smooth colour.

The main tick for me was that when the colour does begin to fade, it does so evenly so you're not left with that awful lipstick line around the edge of your pout. We've all been there.

The Candy Apple (on the left) is definitely a great every day colour for me, especially with the weather getting warmer. The Raspberry Pie is a beautiful colour, but it's a little more bold so that's definitely on reserve for evening wear.

The goods are on their way......

After selling out in hours yesterday, Boots restocked their online shelves with my coveted Revlon Lip Butters today. They had an offer on for 2 for £10 so I had to oblige – naturally. Roll on Friday when I can go pick them up from my local Boots. Excitement! 

Product Lust

I’ve been hearing about Revlons new Colour Burst Lip Butter range for a while now. It seems the brand has jumped onto the lipbalm-lipstick hybrid trend that seems to be marking out its space in our make-up bags just in time for summer.

I’ve been into two Boots stores and a Superdrug but nowhere seems to be stocking them yet. – this is turning into something of an obsession.

A few bloggers have been lucky enough to get their hands on them already, and I am well and truly wel’ jel’

I’ve got my eye firmly on Tutti Fruitti (second one in). I tend to go for orangey tone lips in summer and this product sounds so moisturising and luscious it may become my summer staple. Roll on mid March! Boots are also running a two Revlon cosmetics for £10 deal. Tempting, very tempting…….

The Shame Game

So, you've been washing your own face for what, like 20+ years? You think you've got the gig down to a fine art, scrub, scrub, scrub, dry, dry, dry – done. You've even splashed out on a few fancy exfoliators to give your skin that extra srcubed up treatment and you’re feeling pretty damn good about your shiny, cleansed mug.

Then you meet this bad boy and the shame sets in.

Clinique's Clarifying Lotion is an exfoliator which contains no scrubby little particles so you’d be forgiven for thinking that it is a toner as the clear liquid swishes around in its fancy frosted bottle.

You use it just as you would a toner, splash some on cotton ball then sweep over the face.‘In an upwards direction’ Mr BB tells me as to 'delay the onset of wrinkles and sagging'. How does he know this stuff!?

Then, I advise you take a deep breath before looking at your cotton pad because chances are the you'll see the evidence of all the dirt and grime your skin has been harbouring despite your best scrubbing efforts.

I blame London pollution.

I don't know the secret behind Cliniques Exofilators all I know is that number 2 for dry combination skin works for me. If you have very dry/ sensitive skin you may not want to use this more than a few times a week, however mine skin is pretty robust so I can get away with using it every day. Must keep the grime at bay.

As with most exfoliators don't forget to moisturise right after or you will be in dry skin city.

Happy cleaning!

Stay a little longer, winter

Now I’m not normally one to be willing winter to stay. I’m a summer baby (born in June), so the sunshine months have always been my time of year. I love summer fashion, summer colours, and that optimistic summer feeling you get when the rays are beaming down.

However, I realised last week – as it was quite mild out – that a part of me that will be slightly sad to say goodbye to the winter this year. All because of my Sleek Cranberry Lipstick.

A while back I blogged about how I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the Sleek Berry Collection – and I haven’t stopped using it since I got it.

I love the shade of the lipstick – admittedly, I do find that it  makes my lips feel a  bit dry as it's totally matt so I tend to use my fav free lip balm over it to make them feel a little softer.

It’s such an intense colour that's only really suitable for winter – so sunshine, I’m cool if you want to take your time and finally give us that Indian Summer we’ve been promised since 1986.

PS – Despite my past few posts, I’m not a secret PR person for Sleek. There will be other brands to follow. I promise.

The Best Things In Life Are Free

I’m a sucker for a freebie, it’s become a rather embarrasing running joke in my office that I’m the first one in line to get free stuff at any event or corporate gig we go to.

But I don’t care, I take it in my stride because in between the dodgy pens, unwanted mugs and random keyrings you always find a diamond in the rough. That 'something special' that makes lugging around a bag of plastic tat worth it.

At one of the last events I attended I came across this little beauty. A company selling keyboards were using it to promote their brand. Random.

This is hands down the best lip balm I have ever used. It has a beautiful smell as it contains coco butter and vanilla It’s the only thing I’ve used that doesn’t leave my lips dry and peeling after a momentary burst of moisture like many others do.

I’m not really in the business of spending 10s of pounds on something as simple as a lip balm so this is right up my street.

So take that you  Doubting Thomases – also I didn’t see anyone complaing when I was sourcing out the free champagne!

Only problem is – I have no idea what to do when it finishes L