Marie Claire Freebies!

Marie Claire (September 2011 issue) are giving away a choice of 2 Ciaté paint pots and 2 Dove Express Treatment Conditioners along with the sachets inside the magazine! The magazine retails at £3.60 and the nail polish alone is worth £9. The 2 shades available are a deep metallic purple with shimmer (Wait Until Dark) or a nude light peach/cream colour (My Fair Lady).

I picked up 2 of Wait Until Dark with the Dove Nourishing Oil Care Express Treatment conditioner, I did think of trying My Fair Lady but I'd just received Beach Melba also by Ciaté in my July GlossyBox, and it's a very similar shade.

I'll review and do some posts about both products and possibly even about the Sanex sachet included!

Thank you for reading!

What do you think of the shades available? Have you picked yours up yet?

Review: Wet'n'Wild Eyeshadow Trio - 381B Sweet As Candy

My amazing friend Paige sent me a lot of beauty products at the beginning of the year (and during!) but the Wet'n'Wild trios were in the winter package. They are available at drugstores in the US/Canada? and retail at $2.99. I will be reviewing them all individually in the near future.

This is the eyeshadow trio in Sweet As Candy (381B), containing 3 quite neutral everyday, wearable shades. The trio is again split into different shades for the eyelid, crease and browbone, which are suitably stamped onto the shadows. All shades can be used individually to create different looks and combined with other eyeshadows for even more looks!

- The Browbone shade is a creamy white frost/shimmer.

- The Crease shade is a neutral brown shimmer.

- The Eyelid shade is a baby pink shimmer.

They are highly pigmented shades but not as highly as Silent Treatment (335). They are very pretty colours and easy to work with and apply onto the lid, using these eyeshadow colours as suggested gives a very pretty look which I think would suit all skin tones. I felt like I needed to pack on the colour a lot more but I think that's probably because my eyelids are a little darker than my face.

Swatches without primer

They wear well alone and with primer, I would definitely use an eyelid primer with this trio though to help the colours look more true on your eyes. The packaging is the same plastic flip-up combination and works perfectly. They also include 2 applicators, a sponge applicator and a small brush which I don't find to be very useful at all. This trio works well for an everyday look but I wouldn't say is an essential.

Product: 7/10

Pigmentation: 7/10

Texture/Formula: 8/10

Wear: 8/10

Packaging: 4/5
Application: 4/5
Repurchase: No

Overall: 7.6/10

This new rating system is to provide a quick snapshot of my experiences with the product. The product itself, the level of pigmentation in comparison to how pigmented it should be, the texture and/or formula of the product. Wear is a rating of how long and well the item stays on, packaging and application are also reviewed. The repurchase line is whether I would repurchase the item again or not. Overall shows the average scoring of the product out of 10.

Complete Beauty Spending Ban!

As of today (Saturday 6th August 2011) I will be on a complete beauty spending ban aside from any subscriptions I have. I want to start saving up properly and when I do save up I'll feel better too. I also want to see how long all my beauty products will last me until I have to buy something again or I won't be able to shower or wash my hair or whatever!

I'll also be doing empties posts from August every month to see how much of everything I use up. I'm not going to treat myself either, I think I already have for an entire year.

I'd love your support and to see where I can go with this! I'll be posting my makeup collection soon too, and a few final hauls, so you know the amount I have and how long it'll last someone!

Thank you so much for reading! :)

Review: Wet'n'Wild Eyeshadow Trio - 335 Silent Treatment

My amazing friend Paige sent me a lot of beauty products at the beginning of the year (and during!) but the Wet'n'Wild trios were in the winter package. They are available at drugstores in the US/Canada? and retail at $2.99. I will be reviewing them all individually in the near future.

This is the eyeshadow trio in Silent Treatment (335), containing 3 beautifully pigmented shades with a soft creamy texture. The shades are split up into a shade for the browbone, one for the crease and another for the eyelid, which are stamped onto the eyeshadows. This doesn't mean that they necessarily have to be used in the same way, but can be played around with and obviously other shades from different palettes can be used to create different looks. Many different looks can be obtained from 3 shades alone though!

- The Browbone shade is a light peach frost, not chalky at all.
- The Crease shade is a deep brown/plum shade with gold specks of glitter.
- The Eyelid shade is a shimmery frost light purple/lilac shade.

The pigmentation of these eyeshadows is amazing, they are very pigmented and only one swipe of the shadow results in an opaque swatch. This really impresses me, because I've recently been playing with some more expensive drugstore quads, and the pigmentation is so poor I was trying not to break into tears thinking of the money wasted...but anyway...


Swatches without primer

The shadows apply beautifully, they are soft and creamy but not excessively. They wear for a full day without any issues at all with and without primer, however wear best with primer. They are packaged well in basic plastic packaging, but I like the simple-ness, as anything more elaborate would be unnecessary. I think this is excellent value for money and the amount of product received, I love this trio! This can be used for a more dramatic day look or a very dramatic evening look.

Product: 9/10

Pigmentation: 9/10

Texture/Formula: 9/10

Wear: 8/10

Packaging: 4/5
Application: 4/5
Repurchase: Probably wouldn't ask for another because I wouldn't use this up!

Overall: 8.6/10

This new rating system is to provide a quick snapshot of my experiences with the product. The product itself, the level of pigmentation in comparison to how pigmented it should be, the texture and/or formula of the product. Wear is a rating of how long and well the item stays on, packaging and application are also reviewed. The repurchase line is whether I would repurchase the item again or not. Overall shows the average scoring of the product out of 10.

Review: 17 Miami Pop Collection Lipgloss

This is part of 17's Limited Edition Summer Collection named Miami Pop. Today I'm reviewing the lipgloss, which was available from Boots at £3.99 for 6.5ml. (I'm not 100% sure if it's still available or not...I haven't seen the collection in Boots for some time now though!) It's a very bright pink colour without any shimmer but with a pretty shine.

It has a doe foot applicator and very sleek packaging. I love the bright pink and flamingo on the tube. When applying it takes about 3 pumps to cover my lips entirely, but as they are quite pigmented already only a pink sheen is visible, it can be layered to make it more opaque but I liked the touch of colour for summer. The applictor remains very clean only picking up product on the doe-foot, I really like that about this lipgloss. It wears on me for around 2-3hours with eating and drinking, and didn't look terrible when worn away either. It isn't sticky which is something I always look for in a lipgloss so is great in that sense. The formula seems to soften and moisturise my lips, I hadn't applied any lip balm prior to putting the lipgloss on but my lips felt moisturised upon application.

I think on less pigmented lips this would look a lot brighter and more "summery". Although I really like this lipgloss I wouldn't class it as an essential or an absolute necessary buy, but it is a bargain at £3.99, and has many pros.

Product: 7/10

Pigmentation: 7/10

Texture/Formula: 8/10

Wear: 7/10

Packaging: 5/5
Application: 4/5
Repurchase: No

Overall: 7.6/10

This new rating system is to provide a quick snapshot of my experiences with the product. The product itself, the level of pigmentation in comparison to how pigmented it should be, the texture and/or formula of the product. Wear is a rating of how long and well the item stays on, packaging and application are also reviewed. The repurchase line is whether I would repurchase the item again or not. Overall shows the average scoring of the product out of 10.

Review: Rimmel London Glam'Eyes Professional Liquid Liner in Black Glamour

This is Rimmel's liquid eyeliner available at Boots/Superdrug at £5.29 for 3.5ml. It is in the average packaging for a liquid eyeliner but in a lengthened conical shape. The brush is very thin and has just the right amount of flexibility to allow for an easy application ensuring perfect control at all times. This forms a very thin line and can easily be formed with one "pick-up" (for want of an even slightly better word/phrase!) of product, but can easily be perfected with a little more eyeliner. The pigmentation of the eyeliner is fantastic, it's not ridiculously sheer like I've found some eyeliners to be! It is a lovely black with a little shine when placed on the lid.

Application is very quick and simple, the texture of the eyeliner is very smooth and the formula strong and budge-proof without it feeling like it's sticking to your eyelid and is very easy to remove - it can even be taken off with lots of water, but obviously that's not recommended! It wears very well, stayed on me for above 9hrs without any issues aside from when I rubbed my eyes and they felt a little uncomfortable near the end of the day. I do like this eyeliner a lot and prefer it to a lot of cheaper versions.

Product: 8/10

Pigmentation: 8/10

Texture/Formula: 8/10

Wear: 8/10

Packaging: 4/5
Application: 5/5
Repurchase: Yes

Overall: 8.2/10

This new rating system is to provide a quick snapshot of my experiences with the product. The product itself, the level of pigmentation in comparison to how pigmented it should be, the texture and/or formula of the product. Wear is a rating of how long and well the item stays on, packaging and application are also reviewed. The repurchase line is whether I would repurchase the item again or not. Overall shows the average scoring of the product out of 10.

Review: 17 Adapt-itude Adapting Skin Match Foundation SPF15

Available in 4 skin-tone adapting shades, Extra Fair, Fair, Medium, Medium/Dark this is 17's answer to a light-weight summer foundation, and it is! You can find it at Boots for £6.29.

17 Say:

You’ve met your match with our no fuss skin adapting foundation. Blends seamlessly for an even skin tone and a natural, flawless finish. Blend-able, weightless coverage, with a flawless finish and SPF 15.

Swatch of Medium

I found this to be very similar to a tinted moisturiser but with more coverage, it feels very light when applied and is simple and easy to apply. I use a stippling brush or a foundation brush and tend to set with powder. It lasts for a full day (around 8hrs) without slipping/sliding/smudging. I feel it is the perfect drugstore foundation for summer, although there is some slipping in incredibly hot weather - as experienced today. It is generally transfer-proof but not as highly so as some more expensive foundations.

In terms of value for the 30ml of product at £6.29 and the quality of the foundation itself, I certainly don't think it's a bad deal at all. It is a pretty much perfect summer foundation. The nozzle on the tube is easy to work with and apply product without any waste. Using the 17 Photo Flawless Primer ensured that this stayed on more comfortably on my skin. As for the flawless finish promised this is achieved, and the SPF15 is always a welcome addition!

Product: 8/10

Pigmentation: 8/10

Texture/Formula: 8/10

Wear: 8/10

Packaging: 4/5
Application: 4/5
Repurchase?: I already have!

Overall: 8/10