Hi my lovelies!

This weeks TFWOC review is the last of the Make Believe products - the Sunbeam Bronzer. 

This bronzer is matte and a deep peachy-brown colour as opposed to orange-brown or red-brown bronzers. It comes with its own kabuki brush which is surprisingly soft and decent quality compared to other products that include brushes (usually they are much cheaper quality!).

swatched on my wrist

Packaging: I love the packaging of both the Sunbeam Bronzer and the Tinted Moisturiser as black and gold give a classic rich-like feel.
Finish: Matte.
Texture: Pressed powder.
Application: Can use the Kabuki brush provided, or face/blush brushes.
Smell: No particular scent.
Who this would be perfect for: I think this product would be better suited to cooler/peachy skin tones rather than more darker ethnic/yellow tones, but again, like the tinted moisturiser, the peachyness isn't too obvious once blended in on the face. It doesn't give a "dirty" look to the skin and I quite like that it has a useful brush included, ideal to carry around if you just wanted to touch up on bronzer. Having said that, the packaging is quite chunky to carry around so you'd have to have a big makeup bag!
It does give a more healthier look to my complexion (NC35-40) without it looking obvious. Very fair skins can use this for contouring. I'd say matte powder bronzers are better for normal/combination to oily skin types as they don't make the skin look shiny but give subtle colour.

FrootiFactor: I'd give this product a 4 out of 5 as it does what it says on the tin but you get the added bonus of a decent quality kabuki brush and a mirror to travel with, so I give it a 4:

The Sunbeam Bronzer is available from the Make Believe website here for £15.

GIVEAWAY:

If you would like to win both this Sunbeam Bronzer and the Glow Tinted Moisturiser all you have to do is the following:

RULES:

• To win, leave a comment below saying "enter me".
• Follow Make Believe on Twitter and Facebook.
• Please make sure you are a follower of my blog, this contest is only for Frootibeauty followers. 
• This competition ends on the 5th of November 2012 at 11.59pm GMT and a winner will be chosen at random whereby Make Believe will send the products out to the winner.

Good luck!

Have you tried any Make Believe products? Which bronzers would you recommend?

 

Review: Xen-Tan Dark Lotion Absolute Luxe

Product 5 of the TFWOC series is by Xen-Tan - the Dark Lotion Absolute Luxe.

This product is a caramel/coffee-like colour and spreads on my skin invisibly:

I applied it to my right arm only and compared it to my left arm:

The tan is very natural looking and looks like I've just been on holiday - perfect!

Packaging: The packaging is dark brown metallic with gold writing and certainly looks "luxe". The instructions and ingredients are very clear which I like.
Finish: Lotion.
Texture: Creamy caramel/coffee coloured lotion that settles in skin when spread with the hand.
Key Ingredients/Facts: Paraben free with Green Tea extract (antioxidants for aging) and Shea Butter for nourishing the skin.
Application: After the usual routine, the Absolute Luxe lotion can be applied with the hands or a mitt to the face and body; I applied it with a glove as I didn't want to with my hand, but I found it emulsified, so I used my hand to blend in and washed it straight away! 
As the tan was practically invisible once blended in, I couldn't see where I was applying and ended up with a bit of streaking.
Smell: The scent is described on the packaging as "Vanilla scent" however when I applied the product all I smelled was the tan smell. Once dried on the skin however, the tan smell was not as obvious (almost completely gone unless you inhale your arm!) which was quite impressive as I was sceptical about their "scent secure" claim.
Who this would be perfect for: I think this product leaves a lovely natural looking tan, very like the tan I usually get when I go on holiday! I'd recommend it predominantly for darker skin tones as I think it would be too big a colour difference in very pale/fair skin tones, even though I find it to be more of an olive tan than orange which is great.  FrootiFactor: I have to say I quite like this product a lot, my husband even commented at how nice it looked so that's a plus point! The downside is that it left streaking as it blended into my skin tone when applying. I give this product a 4.5 out of 5:

The Dark Lotion Absolute Luxe can be bought from the Xen-Tan website for £33.99.

Make sure you follow the other girls' reviews on this project as well: 

  Annie Epiphannie

LaaLaa Dolce Vanity

Sophia Tattooed Tea Lady

Tass Une Tasse

Grace All That Slap

Hafsa Muslimah Beauty

Yinka Vex In The City

Stephanie Nerd About Town

Dija Dija's World

Lola LolaStar Heart

Have you used any Xen-Tan products before? Which tanning products do you like?
 

Avon Arctic Goddess event & quick review

I recently attended the Avon Arctic Goddess launch which introduced 9 new products to their already substantial cosmetics range; the Arctic Goddess collections includes two new palettes, three lipglosses & nail varnishes and a mascara.

I've haven't properly tried Avon products lately; I tried a few products here and there when I was a teen and reacted to a Color Trend eye pencil - not good!

Fast forward a couple years and here I was eager to see how things have changed. Luckily it wasn't just the Arctic Goddess products being shown at the event, so I got to peek at the other permanent ranges like the foundations and lipsticks.

One of the palettes that caught my eye - gorgeous colours!

I decided to get my nails done by Marian Newman and chose the Arctic Goddess colours Sea Breeze and Green Goddess on top as the greens went with my outfit.

Getting my nails done by celebrity manicurist Marian Newman

Sea Breeze underneath Green Goddess

Sam & Nic of Pixiwoo were there to give lovely makeup advice as well as just a general friendly chitchat. We talked about the new Avon collection and how best it can be used as well as YouTube and names like Pixiwoo and Frootibeauty!

I went with Numera, Tanzina and Asmaa and we managed to get a sneaky pic in before meeting Alesha Dixon, Avon's Beauty and Empowerment Ambassador:

Alesha was absolutely gorgeous and friendly, explaining why she became the ambassador and how she supports domestic violence initiatives. She modelled the new Arctic Goddess blue palette (which I got to take home) and gushed about how she loves the Ideal Flawless foundation and perfectly nude nail varnish too; personally I think her natural skin is flawless, as a makeup artist I know a good base helps a makeup look look amazing, so that's her real secret!

I didn't get to take a proper FOTD picture but I have one pic that you can sort of see what I wore:

excuse the funny face!

The new collection is all very Snow Queen and icy but also slightly Mermaid-like too with the green nail polishes and second eyeshadow quad.
I got to take a few goodies from the new collection home:

I found the blue quad's matte colours to be more pigmented than the shimmery ones:

The Ultra Colour Rich lipgloss in Pink Icicle was surprisingly unsticky which I loved. The pink shimmer is sheer but the multicoloured glitter was pretty enough for me anyway. I also liked the thin applicator for precise application:

Finally, one of my favourite nail polishes from the range, Arctic Waters:

I do think my opinions of the company have changed as the quality seems to be a lot better than what I knew of it; I'm also quite impressed with the Supershock Gel Liner that I got to try out at the event and take home so looking forward to see if it lives up to the hype!

The Arctic Goddess collection launches in November and can be bought from an Avon rep (if you have one near you!) or online at www.avonshop.co.uk.

Have you tried Avon products before? What are your thoughts/favourite products?
 
 

Review: Make Believe Tan Lotion & Glow Tinted Moisturiser

Product 3 & 4 of the TFWOC series is by Make Believe. I made a mistake of thinking that week 3's product was the Vita Liberata mousse so I've had to wait til that one has faded (and it's a 2-3 week tan!).
Luckily I had some St Tropez tan remover and scrubbed away at my arm but I had left the other arm un-tanned so for this post I'll be using the one arm.

Review 1: Make Believe Self Tan lotion with bronzer [w/b 24th September]
I was sent zone 4 (Golden Tan):

The product when first applied looks like a chocolate-caramel kind of smooth colour (no glitter or sparkle) and it's what I'd say is a "colour guide" as it's dark and you can see where it's been spread on the skin.

I applied it to my right arm and took a before and after of the same arm so you can see the difference:

no tan

zone 4 just applied

after washed off

As you can see, when just applied the tan is very visible. After washing the tan off the colour is less obvious and more natural looking.

Packaging: The packaging looks like its an established/quality product and has easy to understand instructions.
Finish: Lotion with bronzer.
Texture: Creamy chocolate-caramel coloured creamy lotion that when spread settles in skin.
Key Ingredients/Facts: Lipo-Care Complex - keeps skin looking toned and can help reduce the appearance of cellulite so great for thighs and arms! Anti-Oxidants and fruit extracts help protect skin against aging.
Application: After the usual routine of exfoliating, shaving and moisturising before applying a tanning product, the Self Tan lotion can be applied with a glove or mitt to the face and body; not with the hand as instructed unless you want orange palms! This particular product can be re-applied for a deeper colour.
Smell: The scent as described by Make Believe is an "exotic fragrance". On first smelling the product I could smell a cinnamon/cinnabon kind of smell which isn't bad! But when the product settles in there's a tan smell as with all tan products.
Who this would be perfect for: I personally think this product leaves a lovely subtle warm tan to my skin tone; I wouldn't recommend zone 4 for very fair skin tones as I think it would appear too orange, however for more olive/tanned skin tones this is lovely and looks quite natural.
FrootiFactor: Aside from the tan smell which is eminent in pretty much all tan products, this Self Tan Lotion is good as it applies with an instant bronze guide and looks very natural. I'd give this product a 4 out of 5:

The Self Tan Lotion can be bought directly from the Make Believe website for £24.50 or from Boots.


Review 1: Make Believe Glow Tinted Moisturiser [w/b 1st October]
Make Believe also do a few products especially for the face and I received a Enhance Glow Tinted Moisturiser to review.

It comes in a 30ml size and has a fairly thin nozzle so you don't get too much product out in one go.

Once blended in there's a slight noticeable shimmer:

You can see where the cream isn't on my skin shows as a yellow tone, therefore I found the shade to be too peachy/light for my skin tone.

Packaging: I love the packaging of the tinted moisturiser; black and gold are a classic combination for a rich-like feel.
Finish: Tinted moisturiser cream with shimmer.
Texture: The product is a cream texture and takes a bit of blending in to sink into the skin.
Application: I used my hands to work the cream in which does need careful blending; it may be better to use a blending brush for this reason.
Smell: No particular scent.
Who this would be perfect for: I think this product would be better suited to cooler/peachy skin tones rather than ethnic/yellow tones, but the peachyness isn't too obvious once blended in on the face. The shimmer is lovely, not too over powering, and it does give a subtle "glow" if you're looking to achieve that dewy look. Having said that, this product is not good for people with dry skin as the glitter clings to dry areas accentuating them.

FrootiFactor: I'd give this product a 3.5 out of 5 as its a good product if you're looking for a "glow" however it's probably too light and peachy for more darker/yellow or red skin tones.

The Enhance Glow Tinted Moisturiser is available from the Make Believe website here for £15.

Make sure you follow the other girls' reviews on this project as well: 

  Annie Epiphannie

LaaLaa Dolce Vanity

Sophia Tattooed Tea Lady

Tass Une Tasse

Grace All That Slap

Hafsa Muslimah Beauty

Yinka Vex In The City

Stephanie Nerd About Town

Dija Dija's World

Lola LolaStar Heart

Have you used any Make Believe products before? Which tanning products would you recommend?