The smallest Kabuki Brush I have ever seen...

I always carry around my powder for touch ups on the go so I usually use a powder puff but I don't really like the finish it gives, I'm more of a brush kind of girl so when I saw this teeny tiny kabuki brush in H&M for £2.99 I knew I had to give it a shot; the brush it less than 5cm tall so is small enough to fit in any bag. It came in a clear plastic box with gold writing, the brush itself has a rose gold handle and beige bristles; The bristles are a hell of a lot softer than I expected for £2.99. It applies well and is super handy to carry around, I've kept it in the plastic packaging to keep it safe and clear whist in my bag; it's safe to say this is a definite new must have for me. I'll be keeping an eye out for more make up brushes from H&M to see if the rest will live up to this little beauty!

Hello Kitty Poundland Haul

I have seen the Hello Kitty range of make up at the local Poundland and was intrigued but the fact I couldn't swatch it made me assume that the make up would be bad quality and just for kids; on a whim I decided to pick up a few bits from the range to see. Firstly how bloody cute is the packaging, it was worth buying it just to have it in my collection! 

Lipgloss

The lipglosss range have a few different shades with different finishes, As I'm not a fan of sparkly lip products I opted for the three that looked the least glittery. I picked up Peony Perfection (A lovely nude shade), Dozy Rosie (A Sheer Pink Tone) and Very Cherry ( A slightly skimmery deep red). These lipglosses smell AMAZING, I cannot put my finger on the scent but to smell them is to love them! They all give a lovely sheer wash of colour that lasts around 2 hours on me, although I love to reapply every so often anyway. They feel like more of a balm than a gloss to be honest and although I can't speak for the other shades for £1 these shades are an utter bargain!

Eyeshadow

I picked up two of the eyeshadows quads in Amber Sands; matte browns, and Never Heather; shimmery purples. I figured that these were bound to be awful but I was proved wrong.....at least for the shimmer shades. The matte shades although pigmented are pretty chalky and cause a lot of fall out, they are beautiful colours but are awful to work with.  Never Heather on the other hand is a lovely quad, they are buttery shimmer shades that are lovely to work with. These super pigmented shades look lovely for an all over sweep of colour but look a bit too much when all used together for a smokey eye. There was another quad that was full of blue and green shimmer shades but didn't appeal to me at all.

Shimmer Dust

The two shimmer dusts I picked up were Lily Vanilly and Dappled, when I saw these I assumed they'd be reminiscent of the awful glittery shades I wore as at 14. First lets talk about Lily Vanilly, A deep brown shade that I'm not really a fan of; it's really chalky and doesn't give a very nice finish. Dappled is a beautiful lilac shade with a subtle shimmer running through it, another perfect example of a one wash colour; it wears well and lasts all day with the use of a primer.

Concealer

I got the Hello Kitty concealer in the shade Jasmine Me Round which appears to be the lightest shade; again I figured it would be an awful consistency and be hard to work with which was kind of correct, the concealer was a thick consistency but once warmed up it worked quite well as an under eye concealer. It has quite a salmon colour so covers under eye dark circles really well.

Tesco Bargain Bin Haulin'

I have been wanting to try the L’oreal infallible color eyeshadows for a while, so when I saw them in the Tesco Bargain Bin reduced to £1.75 I literally snatched them up! I got seven different shades all for less that £15, the shades I got were:

001 Time Resist White – a champagne shade

005 Purple Obsession – a shimmery deep purple

006 All Night Blue – a deep almost-purple blue

009 Permanent Kaki – an olive green

014 Eternal Black – a shimmery purple toned black

015 Flashback Silver – a pale lilac/silver

021 Sahara Treasure – a deep gold

L-R - Time Resist White, Flashback Silver, Sahara Treasure,
Purple Obession, Permanent Kaki, All Night Blue, Eternal Black

These eyeshadows are more of a pressed pigment than anything; they are super pigmented and give a lovely sheen to the eye. From the swatches you can see that they’re all beautiful colours and they blend really easily with other shadows as well as with each other. My one concern with these was that they’d fall out easily and cause a lot of fallout during application; I’m happy to report there is very little fallout from these and they come with a little device so that should the pigment come loose you can press and turn it to compact them again.

They wear really well but I’d recommend using a primer/cream eyeshadow underneath just to make the colours “pop” a bit more. They don’t crease too much but my eyeshadow has usually creased by lunch time so I’ve got no hope. The one thing I’d say is that they’re a fantastic bargain at the usual price but for £1.75 they were a definite winner; I’d definitely suggest looking in your local beauty stockist as a lot of them do have a reduced area if you look hard enough and you can find a hell of a bargain in there! Although I picked up a Maybelline lipstick that smelled so bad of playdough I had to rub it off my lips as soon as I’d applied it. You win some, you lose some.

Maybelline SuperStay Better Skin Review

I was recently looking at the emails I receive from magic freebies and saw that Maybelline were offering free samples of their new SuperStay Better Skin foundation, so of course I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately my free sample never arrived but all was not lost; as Maybelline then kindly send me a free full size bottle to make up for it. Winner!

 What they say:

“Dull, blotchy, uneven skin? Visibly improves your skin every minute you’re in it. Our first hydrating foundation with Actyl C and SPF 20. Flawless all-day coverage. The formula helps skin look more radiant, freshed and even, with all-day wear.

Why You'll Love It: Our foundation improves the look of  your skin every time you wear it. Skin looks better today, tomorrow and beyond. Better Skin reduces the appearance of dull, blotchy and uneven skin, leaving you with flawless, hydrated and glowing skin. It evens out discolouration and brightens dull areas, providing a healthy looking glow from day to night. The formula is suitable for sensitive skin, contains no perfume and is non-comedogenic. It is tested under dermatological control”

First impressions:

Shade Light Beige - With Flash

The first thing I noticed was that the packaging was extremely  similar to the SuperStay  24Hr foundation I had previously tried and hated; it has the exact same packaging but in blue instead of pink. The one benefit of this was that I already knew it had a pump, which I am a big advocate of! The second thing I noticed was that this foundation looked much darker than the previous SuperStay 24HR foundation which concerned me due to my deathly pale skin. However I swatched the Better Skin onto my hand and found that it blended in nicely and when left for half an hour did not oxidate. The shade range is slightly limited with only 8 shades although the range does seem to cater to us pale girls well with the lightest of the bunch Light Beige.

Application:

Upon application I noticed it was quite thick consistency which made it a little difficult to blend, this meant it required a quick hand during application to get a flawless finish. The thick consistency means that it has a good coverage, it covers blemishes well but still requires a touch of concealer; the formula also blurs pores quite well. 

How it wears:

Shade Light Beige Blended in - With Flash

I wore this foundation with and without primer and without a primer the foundation gave a matte coverage that didn’t require powder to set; after an hour and a half wear out in the sunshine on a Saturday it did require a touch up with my L’oreal Nude Maqique BB powder as I had developed a bit of a shine.

Worn with Benefit  POREfessional primer during an 8 hour shift in a extremely hot laboratory environment it still felt light and breathable, although after an hour in the 35 degree chamber it was looking a little shiny! However when this wore away eventually it wore away evenly so the skin didn’t look patchy but the coverage reduced throughout the extremely hot conditions.

Conclusion:

The Foundation is one of the best I’ve found in the “drugstore” but is a little more high coverage than I’d usually wear day-to-day but I’ll still be keeping it for evenings out as it gives a lovely finish, lasts quite well and is a rare gem for those of us who require a very pale shade that doesn’t oxidize as the day goes on. It’s very budget friendly at £8.99 and widely available at Superdrug, Boots and other Maybelline stockists.