REVIEW: Rimmel Fix & Perfect PRO primer 002

Hey guys - I've had this primer for a while now and when I first bought it I bought it with a few Rimmel products. I originally though I was allergic to Rimmel products because all of the products I used seemed to burn!! However, looking back I think it's because when I was using the products I scrubbed my face WAY too hard before hand so my skin didn't react well to the products.

This primer claims to be a "Skin- perfecting" primer for "5 in 1 results: smoothes, resurfaces, brightens, mattifies and protects. Prolongs foundation wear."

Well, I have to say that it actually does those things, to a certain extent. Bear in mind I have OILY skin - even the best mattifying products don't last for too long on my skin. This primer does certainly smooth my skin, (not so sure about brightening, can never really tell and I'm kinda pale but brightening has never been a priority for me anyway) and in terms of resurfacing my pores do seem a bit smaller and as for protection I can't really tell either, since I haven't been placing my skin under any adverse conditions. (It's exam season, so I'm in my room 99% of the time.)

But all in all, it does mattify my skin for a few hours, possibly 2/3 hours then my oil begins to seep through. If you have normal, dry or only mildly oily skin I think this primer is pretty good, my skin certainly feels wonderfully velvety after applying this.

White, gel like texture. Blend very nicely on the skin, lovely velvety finish.

Pros -

- Feels great and velvety on the skin, certainly makes my skin feel smoother
- Pores seem a bit smaller
- Light
- Not expensive, around £6
- Did reduce my redness a little on my face.
- You only need a little, so quite long lasting.
- You can wear it without foundation, the gel blends out clear.

Cons -

- If you have ultra oily skin, this won't be a miracle product by any means. But if you've got a nice mattifying foundation or have other ways of controlling oil then this could work in combination with other products I guess. (But then again, if you have oily skin then I don't think there is one holy grail product that takes away all oil forever! Good skincare, a good foundation for oily skin and milk of magnesia will probably do the trick for long lasting oil control though. Oh, and a good powder too.)

Read More

DIY brush guards! Make your own brush guards! Cheap Brush guard tutorial! (Big brushes, tiny brushes and a angled eye liner brush!)

Brush guards are great - after washing your brushes you can really get the water out of them by placing your brushes upside down while keeping the shape intact. They're also great for travel too, so your brushes don't get squished in transit. I'm too cheap to buy brush guards, particularly with the amount of brushes I have, so I DIY them. You can buy the mesh on Ebay for extremely cheap, I think I ordered 1m from China for 99p, so it took a month but hey, it arrived.

I don't think I'm the first to do this - if someone else has done it then by all means go for it. A quickie post on how I did it and that's all from me folks!

You'll need thread, a needle, scissors and the brushes you wanna make guards for. If you only want to use guards for big brushes, then you won't need anything but scissors and you can slide your brushes through straight away.

I've used the mesh on a variety of brush sizes, the DIY will cover how I made a guard for a tiny tiny eco tools eye brush, and a zoeva angled liner brush.

The angled eye liner brush, due to to it's shape, will be cut differently and won't be as tight as other brush guards, further explanation below.

1.  Cut enough mesh to cover the head of the brush.

2. Cut the mesh at an angle, so the largest part will be the part covering the brush head.

3. Get sewing! Doesn't have to be nice or neat, just poke the needles through the mesh holes and bind the mesh together firmly so the mesh doesn't come apart and can take a brush being pushed through.

 4. You end up with a thing that looks like this.

5. Slide the brush into the mesh starting from the bottom of the brush, and there you have it. The angled brush shouldn't be squished up and should be able to be placed upside down for drying without the brush falling through. If it does fall through, it means you need to sew it tighter. Better tighter than looser when sewing these - if it's too tight then you can just stretch the mesh a little.

6. Leftover mesh? 

7. Make a tiny brush guard!

8. See how thin it is in comparison to the brush? (Travel sized tiny brush by the way.)

9. But it fits perfectly cause of the stretchy - ness! With normal brushes you can just make the guards as tight as possible - the angled brush is an exception because it's flat, so you don't want to squish up the sizes and deform the brush! That's why I made the guard flatter and a little bit looser than my other guards. 

10. Ta da! Perfect for putting your brushes in to dry after washing!

Read More

REVIEW: Garnier NEW Simply Essentials ultra cleansing wipes

Quickie review for you all! 

I like them. Well that was easy. Hehe, but really, I just bought them today and I was experimenting with some gel eyeliner (Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner) and it wiped off nicely! The wipes are quilted and soft, and they left me feeling refreshed without rubbing my eyes harshly like other wipes. I haven't worn any waterproof mascara to test its claims of being able to remove it, but for now I'm really happy with them.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Recommended! I haven't tested them with water proof mascara thought. 

Read More

The No7 foundation match service and REVIEW: No7 Stay Perfect Foundation (Deeply Beige)

Sorry for the long gap guys - university work has been piling up and exams are just around the corner! But I'm here, with a quick post for anyone interested on the recent (OK, it's been out for a while, but here's my 2 cents) foundation match service and the foundation that resulted from it.

When I went in for the colour match service the girl  used the little machine twice (once on each lower cheek/jawline) and the colour matched was Deeply Beige. She asked what type of skin I had, and recommended me the No7 Stay Perfect foundation for my oily skin.

Here are some after thoughts:

1. I should have stressed that I have pretty oily skin, at that point I thought I was just oily, but now I realise that I can in fact get very oily, with my eyelids shining and nose glistening in the sun. I am currently deciding whether to get the matte foundation or instead use a oil control primer. (Might just go down the Milk of Magnesia primer route.)

2. Despite the foundation not being the best for my skin type, (it's water based as well, which isn't the best when using a sponge to apply foundation, despite the bottle saying you can use a sponge) it's pretty darn good. When applied well, it did stay nicely but I could feel the oil coming through. In photos I looked pretty good considering.

Apologies for the terrible teethy smile, but as you can see, with flash photography it's pretty darn good overall! 

3. For me, the colour match service is a life saver. I have not got the time to try all foundations on earth, and when something like this comes along I couldn't be happier.

4. I've had the foundation for while, and for some reason inside the bottle you can see a white sort of liquid mixed in with the foundation - this liquid doesn't really mix when you shake the bottle, but I highly recommend to do so because chances are it's something to do with the foundation being water based. You don't want a liquid foundation coming out watery!

REVIEW:

Pros: 

Colour match was perfect (for me)

Foundation was pretty good though it wasn't the best for my skin type (I can just use a primer but I'm tempted to get the matte foundation).

The colour you're matched to can be used to pick different types of foundations, so I can go and buy other finishes in the same shade.

Cons:

Around £14, can't help but feel like I wasted a bit money on a foundation that wasn't quite perfect (but I could've done so much worse! Can't expect to find the Holy Grail the first time!)

Colour match service may not work perfectly for everyone.

FINAL THOUGHT:

Make sure to emphasis your skin type! But overall, excellent.

*UPDATE* 28/05/2013 My skin has been pretty lousy as of late - breakouts, blemishes, large pores, you name it! It's not due to the foundation but when I do try to use it it just settles into fine lines and pores and makes my skin look horrible textured. Just wanted to tell you guys that if you have bad skin like me at the moment, this foundation is not suitable AT ALL. But , as always, a healthy lifestyle with the right skincare is so much better than a heavy coverage foundation! I just need to sort myself out and cleanse well before returning to make up, I think.

Read More

REVIEW: Revlon Nail Polish/Varnish: 863 Ruby Ribbon and 919 Black Lingerie

Hey guys! I bought these polishes a little while ago, but only recently used them. Here's a quick review :)

919, Black Lingerie. A pretty intense black in the bottle, but on nails? It's actually a bit streaky. One thin coat and I could see the lines of my nails show through. Nevertheless, it is still very good! 2 thin coats (the way it should be done really) is great for this one, and it is a nice true black when applied. 

A nice, very opaque polish. A darker red, more like burgundy if anything. Has some nice silver shimmer to it, applies well. You could do well with just one coat of this stuff.

And here's a quick pattern I did - my first time doing it with a hairpin actually. You get a hair pin/ bobby pin and bend it so it looks like a V shape. Use one of the bobble ends to make nail varnish dots you your nail.

Overall, Revlon have a pretty go reputation for nail varnishes so I do recommend them! 

See you later guys! :)

Read More