Disappointing Products #1

While trying out some new beauty bits recently i've noticed that i've collected quite a few products that I didn't really get on well with. I thought I would share my disappointing products with you as I find these posts really interesting to read. I like seeing what products other people have tested and disliked because I feel like I can skip trying out things that probs wouldn't work for me either.

MUA Luxe Radiant Illumination Highlight Kit #1 £6.00
I picked this up on a whim when I was shopping in Superdrug and I couldn't see the shades inside of the palette. I was sucked in by the name, Radiant Illumination, and thought maybe I could use this to create some really glowy looks. This disappointed me because all the shades are matte which is not what I was expecting from an illuminating palette. Inside consists of a highlighter, a banana powder and 4 blush shades. The powders are quite powdery so there's a lot of kick back when you get them on your brush. The highlighter has the best pigmentation, out of the whole palette, but I don't wear matte highlighters so i'm thinking I can use it as an eyeshadow base. When i've used the banana shade it's too dark for me so it darkens my under eye concealer which is not what I want from an illuminating powder. The blushers are very subtle and you can layer them up to a pretty natural blush shade. So overall, not what I was expecting from a highlighting palette but the blush shades are wearable.

Collection Eyes Uncovered Palettes 1 - Nude £3.99
There was a point where I saw loads of people raving about the Collection eyeshadow palettes, they come in a couple different shades, so I picked up the one with the browny neutral shades. I really struggle wearing these eyeshadows because the pigmentation of them really isn't great. I scratched the top layer of the eyeshadow and the pigmentation only got a little bit better. The shades in the middle are quite hard to blend and come off as quite patchy. The only shades that I thought the pigmentation was okay and could work with was the lightest and darkest shade in the palette.

Makeup Obsession Highlighter in Ice £3.00
If you read the post I did on the Makeup Obsession palette that I made, link here, then you know that I didn't get on with one of the highlighters. I thought I was really going to love Ice as the two other highlighters I tried from Makeup Obsession had amazing pigmentation. So much so, that they seriously have holy grail status from me. But unfortunately, this one comes off as patchy. I have tried to layer a little bit at a time but even so I can't get it to blend nicely onto my face.

Freedom Pro Contour Medium 01 £3.50
I picked up this contour kit because I wanted to try out other drugstore contour kits beside my Sleek one. Online it looked like it could pass as a perfect dupe for the Sleek one. This contour kit disappointed me because the highlight shade is a matte, i'm a bit confused does anyone use a matte highlighter? Also the bronzer is way too warm toned for me to use as a contour. I normally use more a grey/cool tone to contour with. But I have been using this to bronze up my face so it's great that I can use one of the shades in the kit.

Laila London Activated Charcoal Tooth Whitening Powder £10
I did a whole review on this powder in this post, link here. If you read my post then you know that I wasn't really impressed with this as a tooth whitening powder. I only noticed the tiniest bit of difference in the whiteness of my teeth and I couldn't justify the price for only a little difference. I have to say though this all natural powder does leave teeth feeling very clean after using it.

MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquers £3.00
The shades I picked up were Harmony, which is a orangey nude shade, and Kooky which is the purple shade. I'm not a fan of Harmony as it pulls too orangey for me, I prefer my nudes to have more of a brown to them. Why I find these liquid lipsticks disappointing is because whenever I eat or drink with them on they transfer. Especially when eating they literally crumble off! I'm fine with reapplying lipsticks throughout the day but I don't like when my liquid lipsticks have to be constantly topped up. They dry down very matte so I expect them to have a longer staying power than a normal lipstick.

So there are all the products that i've found disappointing recently. I normally do a lot of research about a product before I buy it but because I love trying out makeup products I tend to find quite a few products that just don't do it for me. I'll do more posts like this in the future when I find more disappointing products. Do leave a comment letting me know if you've tried out any products recently that didn't quite work for you.

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Beauty Wishlist #1

I have a Beauty Wishlist where I write down all the makeup products that I want to try out. I keep the long list of them in the notes section on my phone. I thought I would share with you some of the makeup bits that I am keen on buying and trying out. Leave a comment on the products that are on your Beauty Wishlists atm!

After trying out the Pixi Glow Tonic and loving it, link to the post I wrote on it here, I want to try out some more skincare products out from Pixi. I've heard great things about the Pixi + Caroline Hirons Double Cleanse, one side is a cleansing oil and the other is a cleansing creme. This sounds great for getting all makeup off from your face and making sure face is properly cleaned too. The Too Faced Hangover Primer is supposed to be amazing for us dry skin girls. I prefer more of a Silicone based primer usually but i'm interested to see if this will help my makeup look better when my skin is very dry. The Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita Quad is full of gorgeous shades, I especially like the top right eyeshadow which is a reddish brown colour.

Have you seen swatches of the Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadows? They look insanely pigmented and look so cool on the eyes. They look like an easy way to wear glitter without having to go through the hassle of putting on glitter glue. In summer I like using a pot concealer and my fave one to use is the Mac Studio Finish concealer. The Nars Soft Matte Complete Concealer looks like it has good coverage and I want to see how it will compare to the Mac one. I've been on the hunt for a foundation that is more suited to my skin type, the Too Faced Born This Way Foundation is apparently great for dry skin. It has a medium to full coverage which is what I look for in foundations.

I want to pick up the Kat Von D Lock It Concealer in White Out. I'm quite pale and it would be handy to have a white concealer to mix with my normal concealers so I can create really bright under eyes. Next up on my Beauty Wishlist is the Maybelline Master Strobing Liquid Illuminating Highlighter in Light. I'm slowly getting into using cream products on my cheeks and this illuminator looks like it would give a great glow perfect for the warmer months that are coming. The Custom FX Enhancer Drops in Halo have been on my Beauty Wishlist for so long now! The swatches i've seen of this holographic illuminator look stunning!

I'm really glad that Nip + Fab have started selling makeup products now. There are so many of their products that I want to try out including this Contour palette in Light. It has got a lot of similar shades as the Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kit. The packaging of the Kat Von D Alchemist Palette is so eye catching and I like how these holographic highlighters can be layered over eyeshadows and lipsticks too. I know everyone raves about Becca's Champagne Pop but I think the one in Pearl, which is white, will suit my pale complexion better.

Okay so I know by now you're probably sick of me talking about highlighters in this post but i've been loving testing out highlighters recently. The last one i'm going to talk about is the Nyx Duo Chromatic Illuminating powder in Twilight Tint. Blue is my fave coloured highlighter that i've tried out and I think it really suits people with fair skin. For lips, I really want to try out the Lime Crime Diamond Crushers. They are Iridescent Lip Toppers which can completely transform normal lipsticks to a glittery holographic lip. The shade I really like the look of is Trip which is a stunning bluey glitter. I think you could create some really fun looks with these lip toppers. Last thing on my wishlist is the L'Oreal Miss Baby Roll Mascara. The wand on this looks super interesting, it has a mega curl roller brush that is supposed to give a lot of volume to lashes and keep them curled.

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What I Got In The Tam Beauty Easter Mystery Bag

Over Easter, Tam Beauty had an offer on where if you spent £30 you would get a free mystery bag worth £25. I ended up going a bit crazy on the website and picked up loads of bits i've wanted to try for awhile from Makeup Revolution & Freedom. I had a bit of a mix up and didn't receive the mystery bag in my order so had to wait another week for it arrive.  As I was waiting for my delivery to come I got a bit inpatient and watched youtube videos to see what other people got in their bags. It looked like everyone got slightly different products inside. So let's look at what I got..

Freedom Matte Bare Eyeshadow Palette
I love a good matte eyeshadow palette but this one doesn't really do it for me. The only colours I would use would be the lightest colour for a base colour and the two brown shades for transition colours. The eyeshadows feel quite soft, the shades i've swatched blended out nicely and the pigmentation in this palette is quite good. I'm going to be giving this palette to my sister as I think she would get more use out of it. I think the blue and purple shades will compliment her blue eyes really well.

Makeup Revolution Mono Eyeshadows £1
I'm really excited to try out these eyeshadows as i've heard really good things about the Mono eyeshadows and have never tried them out before. The first one I got is Sold Out which is the really pretty shimmery bronzy shade. This shade is right up my street, this would look nice all over the lid or as a highlight colour in the middle of the lid. The other shade is I Won't Be Alone which is the royal blue colour that when swatched looks a bit metallic. The bronzy shade feels more creamy then the blue shade and has slightly better pigmentation.

I Heart Makeup The WOW Stick in Sunday Girl £1.99
I've never tried anything from I Heart Makeup before and was really surprised with how pigmented this lip crayon is. Putting this on it dries instantly and is smudge proof which is really good. It is a bright pink colour, which is not really the type of colour I wear on my lips, so don't know how much wear I will get out of this.

Makeup Revolution Amazing Sheer Lip Gloss in Hush Hush
This is a baby pink lipgloss that kind of smells like watermelon. On the lips it's very pale so it just looks like you have a clear lipgloss on. I never wear lipgloss as i'm a matte lip kind of girl so I won't be using this.

Makeup Revolution The One Foundation in Shade 6
I think it's a bit weird they put a foundation in a mystery bag as it's very unlikely it's going to be someones exact shade. I have tried this out and it is a bit too dark for me so i'm going to keep it in my makeup drawer until summer and try it out again when i'm a bit darker. This foundation is very watery, when I put some drops onto my face it rolled down my face very quickly. The coverage is light which isn't what I normally go for.

I Heart Makeup Lip Geek in Lips That Won't Lie £1.99
The packaging of this lipstick is super fun! It has this metallic pink bullet with metallic purple inner packaging. The shade of this lipstick is a really nice dusty rose colour in the bullet but on the lips it comes of as a bit of a lighter pink. It goes on really sheer at first but it builds up nicely and feels very comfortable on as it doesn't dry down matte.

Makeup Revolution Lipstick in Game of Mystery Matte £2.49
This is my fave lipstick that I got in the mystery bag. It is a peachy nude colour and is very creamy on the lips. This lipstick is way more pigmented than the I Heart Makeup lipstick and only needs a couple of swipes to apply it. It is a matte lipstick that isn't overly drying and unfortunately isn't transfer proof. What's great about this lipstick is the bottom pops off and in it is a lip balm the same shade as the lipstick.

Makeup Revolution Amazing Lipstick in Flashing £1
Last of the lipsticks in the mystery bag is another lipstick from Makeup Revolution but in a different formulation. It's another lipstick that is quite sheer but builds up and into a hot pink colour. The bottom of this one pops off too and has a lip balm in it too. I've tried it on and I don't think it suits me at all.

I Heart Makeup Palette in Fast Love £8.99
This eyeshadow palette was the product that I was most excited to see when I first opened up this bag. There are so many eyeshadows in this palette!! It consists of 10 matte eyeshadows and 22 shimmer eyeshadows. I really like how build-able the matte shades are and there are some great transition colours in this palette. I don't have many different shimmery eyeshadows so i'm really excited to experiment with this palette. The shimmer eyeshadows are so creamy and pigmented, most of them only need one swipe to get incredible payoff! Lastly I thought i'd mention the massive mirror in this palette, I love when palettes have big enough mirrors that you can see your whole face in them while you do your makeup.

Overall, there is only probably 4 products that I'm properly going to use. Seeing as it was a free mystery bag I think it's quite good as I get to test out loads of products i've never used before. Unfortunately a lot of these products aren't online anymore but I have linked the products that are still available. What do you guys think about the mystery bag?

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The Best Makeup Looks From The Met Gala 2017

I was one of those people that was up, hitting refresh on Twitter, trying to see all the fashion and makeup looks from the Met Gala as the celebs were walking the carpet. Every year the Met Gala is themed and this year they were honouring, Japanese designer, Rei Kawakubo. It was really disappointing to see that not many guests chose to follow the theme especially as the Met Gala is the event that guests can showcase designers that create works of art. However, there was loads of makeup looks that caught my eye so I thought I would do a rundown of my fave looks from the night.

Photo Source here

I had to start this post with Rihanna, hand's down she had the best outfit and makeup look from the whole night! She looked flawless in her dress that was dead on the theme for this year and I really like how she incorporated the colours of her dress into her makeup. Rihanna wore pink all over her eyes, smoked onto her lower lash line and blended down onto her cheeks. Her highlighter is great at breaking up all the pink she's wearing on her face. I really love the look of the same colour on the cheeks and on the eyes. She finished off the look with a dark pink lip which I like as it stands out as it's a different tone from the rest of her makeup. This is defo giving me inspiration for spring!

Photo Source here

Katy Perry completely stunned me when I saw the videos and photos of her arriving at the event. I loved her gown and how much detailed was put into it. Katy had one of the best beauty looks from the night for me because of the bold eye and bold lip combo that she went for. She went for a purple glittery eye that was smoked out in the crease with a brown eyeshadow. She paired this with a red sparkly lip that was a couple shades darker than her dress. It's a stunning look and really makes her face stand out from underneath her veil.

Photo Source here

I think the makeup look that Lily Collins went for totally suits her. Just look how flawless her skin looks! The main focal point of this look is this gorgeous dark berry lip. I love a good dark vampy lip and think they look stunning on all year round. She paired her normal bold brows with barely anything on the lid and spidery lashes. I know loads of people hate spidery lashes but I kind of like the look they give. For her cheeks she didn't put a lot of colour on her porcelain complexion, which just warms up her face a bit, and really draws attention to her lips. 

Photo Source here

Zendaya wore this beautiful orange lipstick which matched the accents on her dress. I don't think I can rock an orange lip so I love seeing when other people can. I like that her cheeks have the same orangey tones as her lips and dress so really brought together her look well. Her eyes stand out thanks to the bronze colours she wore that were smoked out on her lower lash line too.

Photo Source here

Moving onto Emma Roberts who had one of the best makeup looks from the Met Gala for me as it's the look I would mostly likely to wear. The legendary Charlotte Tilbury did her makeup for the night and she looked very glamorous. A full rundown of all the makeup products that Charlotte Tilbury used is on her Instagram (link here). I like how her eyebrows are full but still like natural and i'm a big fan of the big fluttery lashes she wore. The eyeshadow that Charlotte used on Emma was a shimmery gold and bronze colour that was smoked out on the lower lash line too. Her skin looks flawless thanks to the subtle rosy cheeks and the highlighter combo. On her lips she wore, the famous, Pillow Talk. Her look makes me want to stock up on a lot of Charlotte Tilbury products!!

Photo Source here

Lupita Nyong'o wore a completely fun look and in every pic I saw her skin was literally glowing! I love that she wore so many colours on her eyes; yellow, green, purple and pink. I totally want to try recreating this look, mixing a combo of bright colours together on my eyes. She wore just a subtle hint of blush and colour on the lips to keep the main focus of her makeup on her eyes.

Photo Source Here

Evan Rachel Woods gave off a black swan vibe with her makeup and I really like how eye-catching this look is. I love the mixture of structured eyeshadow mixed with smudgy lines. Her eyebrows are blended into her eyeshadow which makes her eyes stand out more as it's not broken up with bold brows. Lips were kept this pretty nude colour and a nice swipe of blush makes her cheekbones stand out.

Photo Source Here

I'm finishing up this list of best makeup looks from the Met Gala with Mandy Moore. Mandy wore an all black dress so the injection of colour with this eyeshadow is great to see. I really like the swipe of purple all over her lids and under her eyes. It gives off a youthful, effortless look that is perfect for Spring. I like the little dot of silver highlighter, in her inner corners, which opens up her eyes. She kept this look fresh with glowy skin and just a subtle pink colour on the cheeks and lips. 

Did you watch the Met Gala? I'd love to know what your fave looks were from the night were! I really liked doing this different type of post on the best beauty looks from the night.. Let me know if you would like to see more posts like this in the future as I had a lot of fun writing this post.

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What I Think About The Ordinary Primers

The Ordinary is the skincare brand that is on everyone's lips at the moment. If you don't know about The Ordinary, they are a skincare brand that have stripped back all the unnecessary filler ingredients, that are normally put in products, they just use ingredients that are proven to work. It's good to note also that the brand is Cruelty free & Vegan. They currently do two silicone based primers, I picked up both of them to try out, as the brand is very inexpensive and I didn't know which one i'd like more. I always tend to use silicone primers as makeup just glides on so easily when using them.

High-Adherence Silicone Primer, 30 ml, £3.90
This primer uses 'silicones to act as a matte, hydrating, blurring primer for makeup that looks higher in definition and adheres for longer. It reduces the look of pores & imperfections.' I like wearing this primer on days that I feel like my skin is extra dry and I am in need of more hydration before putting on foundation. As you can see from the picture above it's got a cream-like consistency to it and is quite thick. On the skin it feels like a mix between a moisturiser and a primer. It doesn't feel overly like silicone and doesn't really smell like anything either. The primer takes awhile to sink into the skin, it does feel very hydrating and drys down to a matte. Last time I wore this primer I had no problems with my makeup after 8 hours which is shocking as the primer is under £4!!!

High-Spreadability Fluid Primer, 30ml, £5.50
This primer has ' a lightweight serum-like formula that increases the spreadability of subsequent complexion makeup to help avoid the unnatural and uneven accumulation of pigments especially around the eyes and on dry skin.' If you like silicone primers that feel velvety on the skin and act as a layer so makeup can sit on top of it, then this is this is the primer for you! I think I prefer using this primer as it doesn't dry down matte. This makes makeup glide on easily and look flawless. The dropper that it comes with is great as I tend to drop a couple drops on my fingers, rub my hands together then apply to my face. I wear this primer for 8+ hours and my face still looks pretty great still.

I love these products, they both come in under a tenner which is great value for money. I really recommend trying these primers out if you like silicone based primers. If you want a hydrating, pore minimising product go for the High-Adherence primer and if you prefer one that is more silicone go for the High-Spreadability one. I'm already half way through the High-Spreadability bottle and will be repurchasing it as it's one of my fave ever primers i've used. I'll also be repurchasing the more hydrating one as it's a great base for makeup as it gives a lot of hydration to skin. I've got my eye on a couple of other skincare bits from The Ordinary and also one of their foundations so you'll probs see another post on the Ordinary some time in the future. Let me know what primers you have been using lately?

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Does an all natural whitening toothpaste really work?

A lot of teeth whitening products can be overly harsh and damaging to teeth, so when I saw this product on the Boots website, I thought it would be great to try out an all natural product. I was curious to see if it could really whiten my teeth. So i've been testing out the Laila London Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder, which I picked up for £10, over this last month using it twice daily.

This whitening powder is made of 100% natural Organic ingredients with no synthetic additives such as preservatives, foaming agents, colours, artificial flavours, baking soda, fluoride, silicones etc. It is a natural solution to promote healthy teeth and gums without any toxic ingredients normally used in toothpaste. The main ingredient in this toothpaste is Activated Charcoal which is known for tooth whitening and removing impurities. It is effective in preventing cavities and killing the bad bacteria present in tooth decay.

A breakdown of the other ingredients and what they do starting with White Kaolin Clay which helps to whiten and polish teeth. Calcium Powder also whitens. Cloves, a naturally antibacterial, gives a great taste. Cinnamon has these same effects as Cloves and also discourages bacterial growth in the mouth. Ginger is an extremely effective solution in the fight against toothache pain. Peppermint tastes great, is soothing to the gums and freshens breath. Lastly, Lemon powder is also used for fresh breath.

So you are supposed to take a pinch of this powder into your hand, wet the toothbrush, dip it into the powder and brush teeth for two minutes. I know from the picture above it looks like a paste but it is really just like you have black water in your hand. When it comes to the taste the charcoal is the only thing that you can really taste. You defo can't taste the Cinnamon, Ginger or Peppermint or other ingredients that are put in for it to taste nice. One good thing about this product is teeth do feel very clean after using this powder. I tend to rinse my mouth out with water afterwards or use my normal toothpaste after to avoid black bits being in my mouth.

Are my teeth any whiter? Well after a month I haven't seen any major differences, my teeth only got a tiny bit whiter. I've noticed that if I drank coffee or fizzy drink that my teeth looked the same colour as they were before I started using this. I really don't think it's worth the money for very minimal results! Also I don't think it should be advertised as a whitening toothpaste, I think it should be just advertised as a natural toothpaste because it does clean teeth really well. I would love to know if there any teeth whitening products that you've tried that have worked?

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