The Body Shop – Colour Crush Lipstick Review (in Berry in Love 320)

I promise I’m nearly at the end of the reviews from my TBS haul! I’m building up my lipstick collection at the moment and as soon as I heard The Body Shop had launched a new one I had to give it a go!

I decided to go for a colour I didn’t already have so opted for Berry in Love which is a lovely deep pink shade with a touch of coral. It’s somewhere between a pink and red and it’s utterly perfect for every day wear. The colour comes out really well and I just can’t get a photo that does it justice. It is wonderfully pigmented and adds a touch of glamour to any look.

It also has a light rose scent which is very elegant and makes the task of applying the lipstick that bit more pleasant It’s also highly moisturising and leaves my lips feeling super soft and well cared for.

It lasts quite well for a lipstick that has a soft sheen finish, I usually find that the lipsticks that hydrate best last least, but this one lasts a good few hours and I don’t mind reapplying every so often.

I am definitely going to try some other colours so I’ll let you know if the others live up to this one!

Try it: RRP £10, The Body Shop

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Benefit Rockateur Powder Blush Review

A huge welcome to the new kid on the block!

Yesterday I was blessed enough to get my hands on the new Benefit Box O Powder 6 weeks before the official launch. I have had quite a few of the Benefit face powder boxes and I have adored every single one and Rockateur did not disappoint!

Firstly, the colour is perfect, it looks quite dark in the box but when you apply it, it is much lighter. It is a rose gold with a satin finish. I’d describe the shade as somewhere between a blusher and bronzer. I’m quite pale and so I can’t usually get away with bronzer as I just look ridiculous, however this shade is perfect for me as it is still fairly pink but gives me a gorgeous sun-kissed look.

I know a lot of people dislike the brushes provided in Benefit blushers but I always love them, in fact I keep them once them once the powder is finished. They’re always gorgeously soft and I manage to get an accurate application to my cheek bone. This one has also had a redesign, it’s a new brush that is more accurate. The overall result of this one is quite natural and very pretty.

It lasts really well, I put it on yesterday about 11:30am and it was still there at 6:30pm looking lovely. I also like to ad a bit of high beam to define my cheeks and it works well with this one too.

Have you ever noticed how good all the Benefit blushes smell too? This one is just as good as all the others. It smells wonderfully fragrant, which makes it feel even more luxurious.

There is clearly less powder in this one than most of the others, Benefit do print the weights on the front of all the boxes so they have made that clear, they also assure us that it will last just as long as you need less each time. The price is still the same as all the others even though it has less product but the formula used to make this costs more. It uses the latest ‘prisma technology’ which combines all the best bits of a cream, powder and baked blusher. This product really does work so I forgive them for the lower amount of product and it wouldn’t deter me from repurchasing it.

It’s out on sale from 7th September 2013 and retails at £23.50 so get that in your diaries now. It’s also out in time to make it onto the Christmas list… if you can wait that long!

www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk

Benefit Rockateur is the second product to receive the Naked Beauty Seal of Approval!

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It’s a Wrap!

Reviewed by Tams

Essie Sleek Sticks Review – New product!

I hadn’t used nail wraps before so I was unsure of how easy these would be. I received them in the 03 So haute design which I absolutely love but there’s plenty of other awesome designs available too.

The packet came complete with 10 different sized nail wraps, a nail file and full instructions including diagrams which was great for a novice like me!

I did wonder why the biggest one was so big, I thought “nobody had thumbs that size!” Then I realised it is in case you want to do your toes. They were really easy to use, you simply wash your hands and remove any nail polish already there, select a size, stick it on and file the overlay downwards. It was even easy enough for my husband to do… yes he decided to play with the leftovers! He did hastily remove them after though and said although they were comfortable to take off they were clearly stuck down well.

I absolutely love the result and I’ve had loads of comments today, my nails usually chip within an hour of me doing them, these say they last up to 10 days so I’ll let you know how they do. Currently they still look as good as they did 24 hours ago which is very unusual for me. I love that I can make my own nails look gorgeous without using fake nails which in the end damage your nails. These do not harm your nails in any way.

I absolutely love the result and I’ve had loads of comments today, my nails usually chip within an hour of me doing them, these say they last up to 10 days so I’ll let you know how they do. Currently they still look as good as they did 24 hours ago which is very unusual for me. I love that I can make my own nails look gorgeous without using fake nails which in the end damage your nails. These do not harm your nails in any way.

The only thing I would say is it is tricky to get them to file right at the end, I seem to have a bit of nail showing at the end of a couple of them even though I was really careful, no-one else noticed so it’s no biggy!

I had those rather large ones left over so decided to make my toe nails match too, I made a feature, using these, of the big toe then made the rest red, I think it looks ok!

There are a little pricey for something that lasts 10 days but I think the effect is worth the price tag if I’m honest. I’d probably only use them for a special occasion or a holiday so I wouldn’t have to worry about my nails while I was away! Have you sued any nail wraps? Let me know what you think!

EDIT: They only lasted 4 full days on me, not totally surprised seeing as these things never do last that well on me.

Try it: One set from £9.99, available from Boots.

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Out with the old…

Reviewed by Tams

I was stuck in a rut in regards to the smokey-eye, that’s all I ever did. Inspired by Kate at What Kate Did Next I decided to give neutrals a chance and picked myself up a cheap starter palette.

This is MUA Professional (Makeup Academy) Undressed Palette, it has 12 mostly neutral eyeshadows from pink to gold to blue. It was also only £4 in Superdrug, which is great for someone like me who doesn’t want to fork out before I know if I like it.

Last night for a show I attended I used the gold on the bottom left across the whole of the bottom half of my eye-lid. The one next to it for the outside corners and the top right for the top half of my lid and I blended it all in. I also used Benefit High Beam, a MAC Eye Liner and MAC Zoom Lash Mascara. It looked amazing, the photo below doesn’t do it justice.. probably wasn’t my best idea to take it next to a sunny window or in a rush.

I did find that it look a little bit of effort to get the colour to show up as much as I wanted it to but I was happy with the ovaral result in the end. It was really easy to use and it wasn’t too powdery so I didn’t end up getting more of it on my cheeks than my eyelids! It also comes with an eyeshadow brush, I didn’t find this useful it was too long to be accurate and wasn’t very good at transferring the colour to the eyelids, but it was a very cheap palette and I just used my own brushes in the end.

I also tried out another look this morning, a nice summer day look but I didn’t have time to get a photo of that. However, it did show me that the possibilities when using this palette are endless and I’m definitely going out with the old and in with the new. This is the start to me experimenting with new looks, you never know what might actually suit you unless you try!

These palettes also come in a range of other colours from brights to browns and glitters.

What I love most: The endless possibilities, perfect for going from day in the office to drinks in town.

What I like least: It takes a bit of effort to build up the colour. The brush included isn’t very good.

Try it: £4.00, www.superdrug.com