Quick Reminder! - CLOSED

You have only 2 days left to get all your entries in to win:

- Sleek's Mediterranean Collection
OR
- 17 Nail Polishes and 17's Summer 2011 Palette
OR
- 17 Nail Polishes and Rebel Nail Wraps

Please read all the rules and click here to enter.

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: 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

17 Nail Bar in a Bag

Hello!

Here's the post about 17's offer/GWP. Purchase any 2 17 items and receive this for free! It includes 2 nail polishes, 1 nail file and nail art stickers. I got mine when I bought the Miami Pop Collection and I picked up some more nail polishes too! (I love 17 and nail polish...can you tell?)

Here's an image of what's included in your lovely gift:

The 2 nail polishes included are Pink Grapefruit and Knockout Red. Then there's the nail file and nail art stickers. I've been messing around with the file and stickers and they both seem of great quality, the nail art stickers I didn't think I'd like at all because of the animal print (I hate animal print), but they look surprisingly good on nails!

I've yet to use the nail polishes, but as soon as I have a few times I'll definitely stick a review up on here! Not to worry ;)

Overall I think this is a great deal, I bought 2 nail polishes and got this set, making the deal essentially BOGOF plus extra bits! I generally find that 17 products are of a high quality too and have yet to experience any problems with them so I was very happy with this! I would have preferred it if there were different shades of nail polish available, maybe 3 different sets and you could go on a collecting mission...but I'm very happy with my purchases and my free gift(s).

Thank you for reading! :)

What do you think of this set? Have you picked yours up yet?

17 Summer 2011 Limited Edition Miami Pop Collection

Hi!

I thought I'd write a blogpost on 17's Miami Pop Collection for this summer as I haven't seen that many posts on it so far, and as you know I'm a fan of 17 so I thought I should!

This collection is out now and available in Boots stores across the nation, starting from as little as £2.99 to a slightly higher price of £4.99. As you can imagine, in my excited state I bought the lot! The items themselves are of a decent size and the packaging is very clean and funky with flamingos patterned on top.

There are 4 items in this collection, very bright, colourful and on trend with pinks and oranges. These are as follows:

• Bronzer - £4.99
• Lipgloss - £3.99
• Nail Polish in Palm Beach and Down Town - £2.99 each

This is the first bronzer I've ever purchased so I'm hoping it doesn't make me look terribly orange, like all other bronzers and their respective artists have piled onto my face resulting in a walking-talking orange...me. *shudders at the memories*

So anyway, there will be separate reviews as soon as I've tried the collection for a period of time I consider to be adequate for review. At the moment there is also an offer on 17, so when you buy any 2 17 products you receive a Nail Bar in a Bag. This consists of 2 polishes, nail art stickers and a nail file - brilliant! I'll put that up in another post for you too.

Thank you for reading! :)

What do you think of this collection? Will you be buying?

Review: 17 Solo Eyeshadow in Statuesque

This is one of 17's gorgeous single eyeshadows in a very pretty pink shade. I've shown various angles in the picture and the swatch is one swipe of the shadow without any primer. (I love the way my skin looks in the picture so wrote all over it...yes I am weird...) These retail at £3.89 each but are usually on offer at 3 for 2. As I'm sure you can tell I love 17, as a brand and all of their products that I have tried to date. I haven't found any problems with anything although I haven't tried everything!

I wore this today, alone without any primer or anything else and it wore really well. Application is easy, no mess, no fallout, no issues there. The colour itself shows up really well on my eyes and goes on smoothly. It lasted without any problems, no creasing or fading for at least 8 hours, after that I got bored and took it off because I wanted to wash my face! I expect it would have stayed on just as well for longer. I've used it before with similar shades from Sleek's Storm Palette and it fairs well with other eyeshadows too, with primer the colour is instantly intensified and brighter so I would recommend using a primer for your eyes before putting on any eyeshadow really. I've noticed that primers work wonders. I have normal eyelids, for reference, so it may crease/fade for those with very oily eyelids.

I think this level of quality for only £3.89 is a bargain, especially with the constant offers on 17, I give this eyeshadow 9/10.

Thank you for reading :)

Look What I Found! NEW 17 Adapt-itude...

Last week I picked this lovely item up for £4.99 at Boots, it will retail for £6.19 but this is an introductory price. I believe it is a brand new foundation from 17, it doesn't have too many claims as a foundation, I'm not sure if it's minimal/medium/high coverage but when I was testing shades in the shop it did blend really well with my fingers and covered up many blemishes. I'm not going to review it yet because I've hardly worn it, but will test it out for at least 2-3 weeks and write a review on it!

The shades that I saw were as follows: fair, medium, medium-dark, dark. My shade is medium, I'll include more pictures in the review post!

Review: 17 Lasting Fix Nail Polish in "Forever"

£2.99 for 8ml at Boots

I love this nail polish! It shouts spring in a very subtle way (oxymoron woop!) and it's a very pretty nude/beige colour. I believe it came out with the new spring collection from 17, (with the very pretty eye palettes) but I just caught sight of it recently.

Texture: I really like the texture of this nail polish, it has a creme(?) finish, and is nice and shiny without being over the top. Not gritty, no glitter, very smooth and pretty.

Colour: I really like this colour, I think it's suitable for all skin tones and perfect for the transition period between winter and spring and spring itself! It is a nude, light beige-cream colour with light pink undertones I think - quite difficult to describe!

Application: It goes on very well and quickly, no marks, no streakiness, but I would recommend a minimum of 2 coats (as suggested by 17) for an opaque finish.

Wear: I've had mine on for 5 days now (without top coat) and there is a little tip wear but not so significant, the claim is that the polish is chip resistant and there should be 5 days of last colour and it's true!

Brush: The brush is just right and I love how my whole nail is covered in 3 strokes and it isn't flimsy. It also allows you to decide how much polish you want on it and doesn't drip splodges or pick up too little.

Drying Time: I have a huge problem with drying my nails in time before smudging them or getting fingerprints on them and I don't want to have to buy another item to help that (even though I've tried so many!) This polish dries to the touch in 5-10mins, and properly in about half an hour, so it's the same as most polishes but I appreciate the quicker drying time (to touch) than some other polishes!

Price: £2.99 is a bargain for such a pretty colour and a lovely polish!

Overall: 8/10

Thank you for reading! :)

WINNER OF GIVEAWAY!

As I still haven't heard back from the winner I went back to random.org and selected a new winner!
Therefore the new winner is:

Entry Number 1: PAIGE BIANCA!

As soon as I hear back from Paige I will send out the items! :)

Nav xxx

Last Day to Enter Giveaway!

Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter my small giveaway of a No7 mascara and a 17 eyeshadow palette, just click here and you'll be directed to the giveaway page where you can enter!

I also still have a foundation left to giveaway on my Foundation Frustration Post, so if you have a darker skintone please check it out and you can get yourself a foundation for free!

Thank you and good luck! :)

Foundation Frustration! - Everything's GONE

I have a problem...and I'm sure many women have come across the same issue and suffered in the same way as myself.

I can never match foundations or concealers to my skintone perfectly, especially in drugstores. Due to this I now have 3 foundations and 1 concealer that do not match at all.

I've taken a decision and it is to give them away on here, nothing has been used very much, the 17 Photo Flawless Foundation has been used once - to check colour, the Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid has had about 4 pumps taken from it because I tried mixing it with a L'Oreal one that also doesn't match. (I'm not giving away the L'Oreal one as it has a brush and that's a bit unhygienic, I'll just have to pretend I have an orange skintone until it finishes...) I also have the Dream Mousse Concealer which is too fair for my skin to give away, that has been used once, just to check the colour match.

I don't have a Paypal account and nor do I know how to hold blog sales, which I why I am giving them away, and I'm so fed up of them I'm very gladly giving them to you!

Please leave a comment with your email address telling me which item you would like and I'll email you back for your address and I'll get the item(s) sent to you asap!

Thank you so much!

N.B The Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid Foundation and the Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer have been given away! The 17 Photo Flawless Foundation remains still :)

17 Limited Edition Vintage Eye Palettes (and mini-giveaway)

These are the new limited edition 17 eye palettes for spring! I admit I'm a little late talking about these seeing as they've been out since late February. But they're so amazing I thought I should give them a mention with a little giveaway!

They're £5.49 each and have 6 different eyeshadow colours and a double sided sponge applicator and a very reasonably sized mirror. They are available at Boots if they haven't run out!

The design is very pretty and the colours are perfect for spring! The one on the left is called Perfect Pastels and the one on the right is Metallic Nudes. They swatch very well and are very pigmented and smooth.

I'm also going to give one Perfect Pastels palette away alongside a No7 Extravagant Lashes Mascara because unfortunately I couldn't find another one of the Metallic Nudes palette :(

The Prizes:

The mascara is worth £12.50 and the palette is £5.49, I have bought both prizes by myself and am very happy to be doing another giveaway!

Rules:
1. You must be a follower of my blog via Google Friend Connect
2. You must be 18+ or have your parent's permission if you are younger

To enter:
- Please leave one comment telling me what you're favourite eyeshadow palette is and why - for 1 entry
- And/Or tweet this giveaway, (you must be a follower on twitter for this entry to count!) - for 1 entry
Tweet: "Follow @nav_t and RT this to enter BBA's 17 Palette Giveaway! Details here: http://beautybloggingaway.blogspot.com"

You can only enter a maximum of 2 times, with the above methods! Giveaway closes at 10pm UTC on Thursday 31st March and is open internationally.

Thank you so much for following me and for reading this! Good Luck :)

January 2011 Favourites :)

My top 5 products that I've used over and over in the month of January...

1. E.l.f Studio blush in "Mellow mauve" - such a high quality, pigmented powder blush for the tiny price of £3.50

2. 17 Eyes Trio in "Metallic toffee" - the easiest, quick and simple neutral eye

3. No7 Stay Perfect Nail Polish in "Totally Teal" - a very pretty autumn/winter shade

4. Bourjois Khol and Contour Eyeliner in "01 Noir Expert" - I love this eyeliner so much! I'll be writing a review on this very soon and comparing to all black eyeliners I have tried, but it is truly worth it!

5. Blistex Lip Massage Lip Balm - I love the smell/taste of this balm and the slanted applicator, overall thumbs up :)

Review: 17 Eyes Trio in "Metallic Toffee"

I love this eyeshadow trio! I've been using it a lot as a neutral look for everyday, it's a shimmery trio which I think makes it very pretty. It's not over the top so it can be worn to work/school and not appear overly dramatic.

I like the packaging, it's very simple and there are 3 coordinating eyeshadows in it. There is a creamy shimmery white colour, a copper/light bronze colour and a deeper brown colour. I usually use the creamy colour as a highlight on the inner corners, the coppery colour as an all over colour and the deep brown as a crease/outer V colour. This creates a very pretty, easy to do neutral look.

The colours are very pigmented, easy to apply and easy to blend, and I also think they would be suitable for every skin tone.

17 have a larger range of these trios, most of which coordinate with one another, I would definitely recommend this, it's also very affordable at £5.49 from Boots.

I give this trio a 9/10 because I'm sure the copper/brown colours will finish a lot quicker than the creamy colour meaning I'll have to keep the pot around for longer!

Overall it is amazing quality for such a price and I would certainly recommend it, especially as it's so easy to use! And using the colours separately so mnay variations on looks can be created, I think it would be brilliant for summer too!