Living for the Good Life: beauty

Showing posts with label beauty. Show all posts

So I finally did it, I finally bought some of the magic made by the make-up Queen, and boy I wasn't disappointed. Spurred in part by my moment (or should I say days) of mourning after I realised I had somehow lost my new Mac Whirl the day before (I know, I'm still crying inside a bit), I was drawn towards the lip products.

I'd heard much about Pillow Talk lipliner, and so repeatedly swatched it, moving on to other products, but always coming back for one more look. I caved and asked the sales assistant if she could put it on me, but not before eyeing up the lipsticks. Mostly, but not entirely (okay fully) swayed by the name, I drooled over Bond Girl, and asked for that to be applied on top of Pillow Talk. It was instant love. Though a pairing not usually recommended by the Tilbs, I was happy with the way the two worked, knowing that they would be just as good on their own as they were together.

Pillowtalk on the lips

Bond Girl lipstick on top of Pillowtalk

As you can see, both are very wearable shades and could easily be worn day-to-day if you're looking to make yourself look a bit more put together. I suppose I should have done a picture with Bond Girl on its own, but I didn't, sorry! Anyway, I'm so in love with both of them and I think Pillowtalk is going to be my everyday go-to, with Bond Girl being my go-to when I want to add a little something-something. After getting these, all I can say of Charlotte Tilbury is...I wantttt moooorrreeeee!

I'm not sure if I've told you before or not, but my favourite everyday lipliner is Subculture by MAC, or it was at least until I bought Whirl the other day, aka 'the Kylie Jenner one'. I fancied a new lipliner as I had the excuse that there are a few nights out coming up in February, and instantly knew I wanted a new nude. Whirl came to mind, but I wasn't sure whether or not it was still going through it's catch me if you can sold out phase. I headed to MAC anyway, fought my way through the overly done up 14 year olds and swatched some shades. A few seemed nice but weren't quite 'it', and then I swatched Whirl and well, it was the one. Not going to lie, felt a bit embarrassed for not only myself but also for the sales assistant when I had to ask for it, as I'm sure they're sick of people desperately hunting for the Kylie Jenner look, but, well, Whirl's nice okay! Once I got home and took it for a whirl (sorry, not sorry) I fell in love. It's so natural but also so "I've got awesome lips, I feel like a sex bomb, can't stop pouting, take more pictures of me", can you tell?

As you've seen, I'm seriously loving skincare at the moment, and so when I was browsing Marks and Spencers sometime around Black Friday and saw this set from REN for half price, I was ecstatic.

I've been eyeing up REN skincare for a while now, after using the little samples from Space NK, but could never decide which product I actually wanted to take the leap and buy a full size of. So, when I saw this trio set of full size products for the amazing price of £49 (RRP £100!), I jumped at the chance. The selection sounded ideal for what I was looking for and I decided there and then on the spot to buy it immediately.

As you can see, the products come in a cute box (which I've already recycled as a nail varnish container), and the set includes the Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask (50ml) - you know how much I love my glycolic!, the Flash Rinse 1 Minute Facial (75ml), and the Keep Young and Beautiful Instant Firming Beauty Shot (30ml).

I've used all three products now and can easily say I love all of them. The glycolic mask is only to be used once or week or so, and leaves your skin feeling so cleansed, so long as you wash it off properly. The flash rinse facial is to be used every 3 days and is a rougher texture mask that leaves your skin feeling ever so exfoliated. I used the keep young serum every night and apply it as the first product, so the base layer. Even when my skin has been playing up because of bad eating, I can see the blemish-free areas are clear, bright and glowing.

Even for the full £100, this set isn't a bad deal, and I'd definitely recommend getting your hands on it if your skincare routine needs a refresh.

The set's exclusive to M&S and is currently unavailable to buy online, but definitely check your nearest large store.

As I said in my last post, I've recently fallen in love with Nars during my multiple Space NK trips. One of the things I had been eyeing up was the Steven Klein One Shocking Moment Cheek Studio Palette, swatching it and swooning over it time and time again, but never actually buying it. The perfect excuse/opportunity came up a week or so ago when I received an N.dulge N.centive via email, and on top of that I was feeling a little ill so L wanted to treat me, and I finally got my hands on it.

The box it comes in matches the actual packaging, and although I'm slightly unsure of the image, it's nowhere near as creepy as the Tearjerker eye set.

The packaging is beautiful though, and feels wonderfully luxurious - weighty, but not too heavy. When you open it up, it's even more of a beauty.

As you can see it comes with 7 products: A highlight, contour, bronzer and four blushes.

For some reason they don't name the highlighter on the back of the product, but the contour is Paloma and the bronzer Laguna. The blushes from left to right are Robotic, Blasphemy, Luster and Dolce Vita.

I've used all but two blushes so far, and can confidently say it is an amazing palette.

I'm particularly taken with the Dolce Vita blush, which gives a gorgeous deep flush to the cheeks, perfect for this time of year.

I have to say I am marginally disappointed with the highlight, having expected it to have some kind of sheen or shimmer. Instead it is more of a matte powder, which offers little highlighting properties, for me anyway. I've been using it to powder under my eyes so at least I've found another function for it I guess.

I tried to do swatches for you but they seemed to payoff lightly on my fingers and the lighting was poor to say the least, but here's my best efforts. Ever so inconveniently it's in reverse order, starting from Dolce Vita on the left and going backwards through the blushes and then through to the bronzer, contour and finally the highlight.

I'd highly recommend getting your hands on this palette if you're as much into face products as I am at the moment. It's brilliant value but it's also limited edition, so get it whilst you still can!

As a little late treat for graduating, L offered me up a budget to pick a goodie of my choosing. I've be in and out of Space NK like a mad woman recently and the sales assistants are starting to recognise me, which is equally embarrassing as it is comforting. Anyway, in my many visits I'd been eyeing up the Nars range, which in all honesty I'd never given any real scrutiny to before. I own the Orgasm blush, which I adore and have had for 3 years or so, but apart from that I've had nothing else. I was in the mood for both a new lipliner and a new eyeshadow, and turned to Nars to satisfy my cravings.

A lover of gold eyeshadows, I opted for one of the Dual-Intensity Eyeshadows in the shade Himalia. It's a gorgeously smooth applying eyeshadow, in a sort of antiqued gold. It looks lighter in the pan compared to how it applies, going on to the lid more antiqued and bronzed. I can imagine that this is incredible applied using a slightly damp brush to give a really impactful look. It's just passable for daytime wear, and I especially love it patted all the way around the eye to give an almost-but-not-quite smokey eye.

For lipliner, I wanted a sort of nude-but-more colour, one that was fine for daytime but a little but more noticeable than my usual Mac Subculture or my Kiko. I opted for the Patong Beach Velvet Lip Liner.

It's a slightly brick toned nude-red, that could be worn daytime for a bit more of a done-up look, or night time for a 'I've made an effort but not too in your face' vibe.

My only problem with this is that it definitely requires touch up. I'm used to more nude tones that I can just leave and eat and drink and not think about, but this one does need to be watched. I made the mistake of wearing it during a busy day at work and caught myself in the mirror towards the end of the day and it was all kinds of blotchy. Not good. Apart from that it's gorgeous, and I'm really pleased with both products.

May this be the official happy start to my love affair with Nars...

A.M.

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel - Lovely texture, sinks into the skin nicely and leaves your skin feeling plump and hydrated but not too 'wet' or greasy.

Nip+Fab Viper Venom Eye Fix - Typical rollerball eye roll-on gel. Comes out quite wet but feels refreshing in the morning. Doesn't sink in very fast or easily, however.

Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado - To top up the eye roll-on. A more intense and creamy treatment that feels luxurious and sinks into the skin nicely when patted on gently. I'm all about preventing them eye wrinkles.

P.M.

Nip+Fab Glycolic Fix Serum - A gel-like serum that sinks into the skin rapidly and leaves you with a slight 'tightened' effect. Really noticed results with this product. Brightened, tightened and more glowing. Big fan of glycolic acid here!

Nip+Fab Viper Venom Extreme Night Fix - I wanted another night treatment to pair with the serum. This one is more of a creamy consistency and thus adds a bit of moisture into my night routine. Thoughts and results to come in time after further use!

Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream - Apply this every night to blemishes. Works a treat and reduces redness and swelling, as well as healing scabs.

Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado - Apply this both day and night.

A.M. & P.M.

Boots Exfoliating Face Scrub with Tea Tree & Witch Hazel - Cheapie that I simply use to give my face a thorough rinse and exfoliate when I'm in the shower. Really feels like it's getting all the grime off your skin and leaves you feeling fresh.

Anthony Glycolic Facial Cleanser - My daily cleanser that I use pre-skincare both day and night to remove traces of make-up or general grime. Creamy consistency that leaves your skin feeling plump and fresh - can tingle slightly occasionally if you have an open blemish. I'd recommend avoiding the eyes with this one.

Please do let me know what your skincare routine consists of. I'm super keen to expand my collection and bring in some new wonders to my routine. Seriously open to any night serum or moisturiser recommendations!

1. Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat. 2. H&M Rib Knit Polo Neck Jumper. 3. Nike Roche One Flyknit trainers. 4. Chlobo Set of 7 Hamsa Hand Bracelets. 5. Saint Laurent Snakeskin-effect Leather Coin Pouch.

I recently hit that unfortunate stage where all your skincare seems to run out at the same time, and so made the most of my recent trip to Manchester to pick up some goodies.

My Boots cleanser had ran out and I fancied investing in something more upmarket with more promising qualities for, of course, about 5 times the price. How I think of it though is that your face is with you forever and is the first thing people tend to see so it's really one of the main things that's worth investing in over say, make-up or clothes. Until it has ran out I was using Nip+Fab Glycolic Fix Serum as my nightly treatment, which really did do wonders to my skin. As a result of this I knew glycolic acid was a winner for me but didn't actually really know what it did, until I went to Space NK in Manchester. I told the sales woman that I was looking for a cleanser and spent about 10 minutes going back and forth stuck between various options and being intimidated by price tags. After said time the sales woman approached me and commented that she thought the products I'd been browsing were perhaps too heavy and too anti-ageing for my younger skin and so immediately recommended me the brand Anthony.

I'd never previously heard of Anthony, which is probably due to the fact that it's a line actually marketed at men! Apparently it's marketed at men, but is very popular with women. I was told that due to the fact that apparently men are unwilling to pay as much for skincare as women, their products tend to be priced lower, but contain very similar ingredients. I was shown the Glycolic Facial Cleanser, which's star ingredient is, of course, glycolic acid. This immediately drew me in, alongside the product size (237ml) and the price tag (£26). I told the sales woman I loved my glycolic serum and that I wanted to start using anti-ageing products asap, to which to my delight she replied that glycolic acid is one of the best anti-agers going - result! Compared to many of the other cleansers on offer this one from Anthony just seemed to make sense to me - glycolic acid works wonders for my skin, it's a much bigger size than other more expensive cleansers, and as an added bonus doesn't have the terribly strong smell of some other cleansers. Also, it's a creamy lotion consistency that lathers up, which I much prefer the idea of in comparison to the thick, greasy, balmy texture of the Emma Hardy cleanser that I was firstly seriously considering. I was sold quickly and hurried to the till, where I was given some free samples with my purchase - good old Space NK!

Free samples wahoo!

I then hurried over to Boots revelling in my newly founded glycolic-acid knowledge and decided that I would repurchase my Nip+Fab Glycolic Fix Serum - glycolic all round! To my sheer delight some of the Nip+Fab products were around half price so I not only repurchased my serum but also picked up the Nip+Fab Viper Venom Eye Fix anti-ageing gel. This is basically a fancy eye roll-on that is supposed to be anti-ageing and reduces the appearances of dark circles. Don't ask me about the whole 'viper venom' part...sheer marketing con, let's be honest. But I like it so, whatever! It has been recently repackaged, which I really dislike, but I'll ignore that for now.

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