Thursday 22 December 2011

Review: Benefit Posie Tint

Review: Benefit Posie Tint
Hey everyone! Here is my review for the Benefit Posie Tint. Mine is a mini version from the Finding Mr Bright kit. In the UK you can get Benefit it department stores and also in boots. The full sized version sells for £24.50.


It says: “benefit's posietint is a poppy-pink lip and cheek stain. It is the cheekiest flush you can get from a bottle!” The reason I was attracted towards this product was the color, it looked perfect for my fair skin. And I was not disappointed! You can use this as both a lip and cheek stain, and it works really well on me for both! On the cheeks is a lovely flush and gives a nice glow to the cheeks, and it also lasts really well. At the end of the day its always still there. You dot it onto your cheeks and blend, but I would say to blend it quite quickly because otherwise it dries quite fast and you may end up with usual few dots of color on your cheeks instead of it blended out.



I read a few reviews of this product and lots of people seemed to say that on the lips it had a strange taste...unless my taste buds are deadened (which I admit is a possibility)  i cant taste anything! Maybe they’ve changed the formula or something, but to me it is tasteless. It is quite close to my natural lip color, but it evens out the color of my lips and looks natural but keeps them looking nice and pink all day. (And in the winter my lips can tend to get a bit redder and look a bit weird...)
The main downside to this product is the price. £24.50 is a lot to pay for a product like this. When I use up my little bottle I’m not sure if I will repurchase this...i may get another if a birthday/Christmas is coming up or I have saved up lots of points on my boots card...I will have to see, because it is a nice product to have, but not essential.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed my review! J

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Benefit Erase Paste VS Benefit Boi-ing Industrial Strength Concealer

Hey everyone! On my quest to find a concealer that will cover up my permanent dark circles I’ve stumbled across these two from Benefit, so I thought I would compare them both to see which was better.  To organise things a little I have divided qualities into categories: Packaging, Texture, Coverage, and Durability. These can be found anywhere you can buy benefit, including boots and department stores. They are both pricey. The Boi-ing Industrial strength concealer is £16.50 and Erase Paste is a similar price, (Mine is a mini one from the “finding Mr Bright” Kit. Both come in 3 shades, Light, Medium and Dark.
Boi-ing
Erase paste

Packaging:
The full sized versions come in cute little boxes, and as far as I know both of the full sized versions are plastic with screw tops (though my mini version of Erase Paste has a glass jar). Both products recommend you use you finger to apply this...
Texture:
These two have surprisingly different textures. The Erase Paste is thicker and more creamy, but a little sticky. The Boi-ing is a little on the greasy side, and is thinner texture.
Coverage:
In all honestly the Erase Paste has better coverage for me, but is slightly sticky. (My one also has the added bonus of being the Medium shade, which is orangey in tone and disguises bluish veins under my eyes) I got the Boi-ing in Fair which is pretty much exactly my skin tone, but its just a little bit more slippery and it does have good coverage(better than most concealers) but it still isn’t worth the £16.50 price tag. Neither of them are really, but I prefer the Erase Paste.
Durability:
 Both of these seem to sink into fine lines around my eyes (and I’m only a teenager, I cant imagine the problems that would occur if I had a few more wrinkles) which is really annoying. I have to set both of these with a powder, as I cant stand the sticky feeling under my eyes, and this also then settles into my fine lines which is really irritating. They will both last about 6-8 hours on me, but that’s if I can stand to see the creasing in my fine lines, or the stickiness if risk not using powder.
To be honest, I don’t think either of these are worth the money, though if i had to choose one I prefer, its the erase paste. This is because at least the better coverage makes up for the stickiness of it. If they were a little cheaper, they would be worth the money more. I will happily use up the rest of both of these, but I wont repurchase them.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed my review!

Friday 9 December 2011

Review NYX Eye shadow Bases in Skin Tone, Pearl and White

Hi everyone! This is my review for all three of the NYX eye shadow bases. There are three shades: Skin Tone, Pearl and White. These are about $5 (I think) in America and I found mine on eBay for a similar price. These claim to make eye shadow “Hold, intensify and last longer”. They are all in a little plastic jar with a screw on lid, quite neat and compact, although if possible I’d prefer not to have to stick my finger into the product itself.


From left to right: White, Skin Tone, Pearl
The Skin Tone and White bases are both quite sticky, the peal one not as much. They all do help make the shadows stick on and appear brighter, but I think you have to use the right base for the right colour. Neutrals for example will work much better for the Skin Tone base than any of the others. The colour of them wil show through a little bit so you want to be careful which one you use for each colour. The Pearl one is nice, as it gives a sparkle to any colour you put on to of it (some people have said they use this one as a cheek highlight, but personally this makes look like a Christmas tree). I haven’t noticed that they make the shadows last much longer, but maybe a little bit. The Skin Tone and White bases really help when packing shadow onto the lid.

One thing I’m just going to say is that I really hate the smell. They smell like some weird sort of soap. I don’t know if they are trying to cover up a chemically smell from the product itself with this floral smell, but it is awkward having someone ask you whether you smell something and you have to say its your eyes. (Ok, slight exaggeration).
Overall,  these are good to have, if you can get hold of them easily, but if you can’t it isn’t too bad a loss. They are useful to have and I use them quite frequently, but I’m sure there are other products that do the same thing, and maybe some that don’t smell as much as these do. I’ve swatched them on my hand and I’ve just had to go and wash it off as I swatched them fairly heavily and the smell was driving me up the wall.
Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed my review!
 xx

Thursday 1 December 2011

Review: L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black

Hi everyone! This is a review for the L’Oreal voluminous mascara in Carbon Black. I had to try this mascara out after someone on YouTube mentioned it as being their favourite drugstore mascara. In the UK you could buy this most places you can get L’Oreal, its definitely in Boots. It sells for about £6-8. (In boots is £8.49, but I’ve checked on other online stores and you may be able to get it cheaper) It comes in two colours, Black and Carbon Black. Since I like really dark lashes I got the Carbon Black one. This mascara promises x5 volume and no clumping.

It comes in a blister packet which I really like because then you know someone hasn’t opened it and used it... ew. I’m always VERY suspicious of mascaras that are just there on the shelf.... The mascara tube itself is pretty standard...plastic, black with gold writing, not anything too different from any other mascaras I have.

In terms of colour, this is great. The colour is a very intense black; very bold and pigmented. It also gives incredible volume, and I’ve got no other mascara like it. The volume this gives makes my Maybelline the Falsies (my previous favourite volumising mascara) seem weak in comparison. And while I still love my Maybelline mascara for more everyday use, if I’m doing a dramatic look i love having this as a thickening mascara to give a false lash effect. I would have to say this probably does live up to its “x5 volume” claim. However the same cannot be said for its “no clumping” promise. I generally have to spend a while brushing through with a lash come after using this. But thats not too bad, and if you apply this slowly and carefully there shouldn’t be much of a problem. This does take a few seconds to try, so be careful not to blink to hard or sneeze whilst is drying (I made this mistake once and ended up with a eyes that looked like I’d covered in mascara for a joke).  I didn’t get any flaking or smearing once it had dried throughout the day with this, but then that’s never normally a problem for me anyway.
In all, I love this mascara. I should trust beauty gurus on YouTube more often. It’s the mascara i reach for when I’m doing a more dramatic look, and it works great for it.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my review! x