So here we are in 2019 with more amazing guest bloggers I hand pick to review products.. this Tuesday Takeover is by Amina who's guest posted before a couple times because I love the honesty of her reviews and also love that she's a mummy like me who I just gel with; do check her out on her blog and socials!

In this post she'll be kindly reviewing a few Rodial Collagen Boost Lip Lacquers I was PR gifted, but felt Amina would maybe appreciate and use more, so read on for her thoughts!

Tuesday Takeover: Amina - Aliandher

I've got another Tuesday Takeover from one of my blogger faves, Amina!

The last time Amina guest posted for me, she reviewed the Too Faced x Kat Von D Ultimate Eye collection (here) and today she's reviewing the NYX Cosmic Metals Lip Creams!

Read on for her thoughts and swatches <3

Tuesday Takeover: Halima Fashionicide

Hello my lovelies!!

Today I have a special Tuesday Takeover for you from Halima of Fashionicide.
I have loved Halima's blog for a long while now (I currently have serious pastel hair envy!) and I knew when I attended the Illamasqua launch of the To Be Alive collection that Halima would be the perfect person to review the products!

The collection is dominated by the colour blue and comprises of an iridescent lipgloss (Iridesce), a lipstick (Vendetta), an eyeshadow palette (Spirit) and a beautiful iridescent nail polish (Prismatic).

Find out what unicorn princess Halima thought about the lipgloss below and don't forget to follow her blog!

Sunday Swatches: Urban Decay Naked Spring 2014

This weeks Sunday Swatches and review is from the Spring Naked collection from Urban Decay, featuring the new Naked Ultra Nourishing Lipglosses and the Ultra Definition Loose Finishing Powder, used in my Friday FFF/FOTD makeup look post (here).

Naked Ultra Nourishing Lipglosses

These glosses are named "Ultra Nourishing" due to their ingredients; the hydrating and conditioning ingredients include: Hyaluronic Filling Spheres™, vitamin E, avocado oil and shea butter. Rosehip seed oil provides an extra vitamins, including vitamin A and vitamin C.

Colour & Pigmentation:  The colours Nooner (light nude with micro sparkle), Lovechild (medium light pink) and Rule34 (medium brown nude) are all fairly sheer as expected after seeing the swatches on Temptalia; despite loving the Lovechild Super Saturated Lip Color (SSLC), I was a bit disappointed with the pigmentation of this gloss by itself.. I'm yet to try it on top of the SSLC which may make it look better or on top of a lipstick/lipliner.
Texture: The texture is quite thick, but not sticky.. like a very rich balm/gloss.
Packaging: The packaging is the best point of this product! I absolutely adore it, from the rose-gold tube with cutout "Naked" to the paddle applicator which applies just the right amount of gloss.
Longevity: Due to the thickness of the gloss, it tends to last up to 1.5/2 hours on me.
Scent: I'm not personally overly keen on the minty smell of these glosses; it's like a sweet(ish) mint smell but despite the smell, it doesn't have that tingly feeling that the Lip Junkies (or other minty balms/glosses) have.
Price: At £14 each, they're the same price as an SSLC and £1 more than the Lip Junkies.

FrootiFactor: If I could rate the product based on the packaging alone, I'd give it a 5! However the pigmentation is slightly disappointing despite the fact that I know it's part of the "Naked" range. I do like that the ingredients seem to be great for the lips and I think the glosses will work well on top of lipstick/lipliner so I'd give the product a 3.5:

Naked Ultra Definition Loose Finishing Powder

Again, another greatly packaged product (Urban Decay have been outdoing themselves with product package design of late!) and one that I'm quite loving too. It's free of oil, parabens, alcohol and fragrances and "Optical Blurring pigments" in the powder cause a soft-focus/blurring effect that is actually visible in the swatches below!

Medium Dark swatched on the finger

Medium Dark blended in - lines are blurred!

Colour & Pigmentation/Coverage: As this powder is meant for setting makeup and blurring imperfections, the pigmentation isn't really meant to offer much coverage. I went for Medium Dark in the colour range available (based on their shade match to the Naked Skin foundation) and feel like it may be a bit on the darker side, however it blends out beautifully and isn't very noticeable.
Texture/Finish: The texture is light and silky; it reminds me strongly of their translucent Razor Sharp Finishing Powder, but with colour. The finish is a demi-matte one, great for using on combination to oily skin but not too drying on drier skin. I like that it doesn't leave a chalky finish either!
Packaging: The packaging is sleek with its gunmetal lid and the sifter is cutely embossed with the "UD" logo inside. 
Price: At £22 it's £1 more than my favourite Razorsharp powder, however I do like that the shades available work well with the Naked Skin Foundation range and have a buildable coverage.

FrootiFactor: I'd give this product a 5 out of 5 as I'm pleased with it and like that it visibly blurs lines on my finger, let alone my face!

Both the lipglosses and powders are available to buy at selected Debenhams and House Of Fraser stores as well as online at the following retailers: LookFantastic, HQhair and BeautyBay. 

Have you tried any of these new Naked products? Which are your favourite Urban Decay products from the Naked range?
 

Sunday Swatches: Estee Lauder Pure Color Metallics 2013 Review

Estee Lauder has been one of the beauty industry's most established brand for over 60 years now and though I've never really blogged about individual products, it's been cropping up in my makeup wardrobe a lot more these days as I've found the brand is more appealing to both younger and maturer customers.

My most reached for foundation every day is now the Estee Lauder Invisible Fluid foundation (which I will be doing a foundation post on very soon!)

Colour Cosmetics
Pure Color has been a range of colour makeup for the eyes, lips, nails and face for a while and this Holiday 2013 has included the new Pure Color Metallics which feature new:

• High Intensity Lip Lacquers - 12 shades
• Vivid Shine Nail Lacquers - 8 shades
• Vivid Shine Lipsticks - 6 shades
• Instant Intense Eyeshadow Trios - 9 shades 

Although I'm more of a lipstick girl these days, the High Intensity Lip Lacquers (HILLs) caught my eye as they promise the full impact of a lipstick, but with hydrating ingredients that last on the lips.
The Intense Eyeshadow Trios (IIETs) also had my attention as some of them sparkle so brightly, and being a magpie attracts me to things like that!

I've picked my favourite shades from the collection this year to review; of the Lip Lacquers I loved the bright orange "Melting Sun" which has flecks of glitter in it, and also the plummy "Wet Plum" which has no shimmer or glitter.
Of the Eyeshadow Trios the one that stuck out most to me was the Steel Lilacs trio as it's both purple and super sparkly.

High Intensity Lip Lacquers

As aforementioned, these glosses hold all the pigmentation of a lipstick but with super shine and hydration that lasts on the lips.

Colour & Pigmentation: The pigmentation of these glosses are pretty amazing, they do have a major colour payoff and with the brighter shades (like Melting Sun and Wet Plum), they can even stain a little (see non-lip swatches in Intense Eyeshadow Trios review below).
Texture: The texture is quite thick and while I wouldn't say it's really sticky, there is a slight "stick" to it for those who aren't keen on that kind of texture.
Packaging: The classic gold lids with the embossed "EL" logos give a feeling of luxury, whilst the paddle type plastic applicator is curved in the middle to hold a reservoir of gloss and also serves as a fairly precise applicator for the cupids bow area.
Longevity: This Lip Lacquer is said to last up to 6 hours, however I felt the glossiness/stickiness wore away after about an hour or so, but the stain (particularly in Wet Plum) meant the colour was still on the lips at least 3 hours later with eating and drinking.
Scent: I love the scent of these as it's a sweet sugary smell!
Price: At £21 each, they are a more premium price than your regular lipgloss, however because of the lipstick/gloss hybrid and longevity, it's definitely one that would be good to stick in your handbag for everyday if you wanted, or for going out equally.

FrootiFactor: Despite the fact I'm not usually a gloss kind of girl, I adore the scent and colour saturation/pigmentation in these Lip Lacquers, so I'd give them at least a 4:

Instant Intense Eyeshadow Trios

These eyeshadow trios are designed to highlight and define the eyes and contain a little clear plastic guide on where to apply the shadows on the eye to do so:

Colour & Pigmentation: This particular eyeshadow trio was very sparkly and had fairly high pigmentation despite the sparkle (see swatches above). It's hard to try and capture the true sparkliness of this trio but you can see a bit from the middle picture above that it's pretty damned glitzy.
Texture: Due to the glitteriness of the shadows, they are a bit crumblier than a normal eyeshadow, however I find these type of shadows apply best with the finger.
Packaging: Again, the shadows are encased in the classic gold EL packaging with a handy mirror in the lid. The applicator is a regular spongy one.
Longevity: These trios are supposed to last 10 hours but I haven't quite tested that out yet as I'm yet to wear the shadow for that long; the glitter did however stick to my arm fairly well after applying with no primer, so it may well be true!
Price: At £27 each, they are a again a slightly premium price to pay for a trio of eyeshadows, but would make a lovely gift for a true Estee Lauder fan and of course a fan of sparkle, particularly for Christmas!

FrootiFactor: I loved the sparkliness of the shadows, however I found the texture quite dry to work with, so I'd give the shadows a 3-3.5 out of 5:

Estee Lauder products are available to buy from the Estee Lauder website, as well as the regular department stores (Debenhams, House Of Fraser, John Lewis etc) and Boots.

Which is your favourite Estee Lauder product and why?

 

Sunday Swatches: Illamasqua Christmas Envy Collection 2013 Review

Following my previous FFF makeup look post (here) and holiday gift post (here) with my picks from the holiday sets and collections this Christmas, I wanted to give my thoughts on the gorgeous Illamasqua Envy Collection.
I received the package by surprise last Saturday and couldn't contain my excitement at receiving two of the products I'd lusted over from the new collection inside, namely the Powder Sculpting Duo and the Fatale Palette: 

 
Fatale Palette
I fell in love with the Fatale Palette as soon as I saw David Horne use it on his Instagram page to create this beautiful look.
I think the colours are gorgeous tones suitable for all skintones and love the warmth they bring; perfect for a festive look with its gold and cranberry tones.

Colour & Pigmentation: As always, Illamasqua shadows are gorgeously pigmented as you can see above from the swatches and translate just as you see them in the pan. 
Bronx: bronze gold shimmer
Ensnare: berry shimmer
Charm: violet shimmer
Mystify: chestnut brown shimmer

Texture/Finish: Powder shimmer

Longevity: Pigmented shadows like Illamasqua's do last long, however I always recommend to wear with primer.

Price: At £34 it's the usual price for an Illamasqua quad and works out £8.50 per eyeshadow; a single eyeshadow is £15.50 for 2g and here you get 4 x 1.5g which still works out cheaper!

FrootiFactor: I can see myself using this palette as a great addition to my kit for Asian brides as it holds 3 of the main colours I use for brides in it (gold, red and brown) with the addition of the gorgeous violet shadow. I give the quad a 5 out of 5 as I feel it would suit pretty much every skintone!

Sculpting Powder Duo
I have to say I'm a huge fan of contouring kits as I absolutely love the effect it gives to the face especially in bringing out the cheekbones, so when I saw this sculpting duo by Illamasqua I was very excited.
My hesitance on the product was that the contour shade looked like it would be too light for warmer complexions like myself, but the highlighter shade in Lumos certainly had my attention, especially as a Harry Potter fan!

Colour & Pigmentation: Again, the pigmentation is of usual high Illamasqua quality. I found Lumos highlighter to be even more so pigmented than Heliopolis.
On my NC30-35 skintone, Heliopolis actually shows up on my face, more so than it does in the swatch above on my arm for some reason!
Lumos: shimmering champagne 
Heliopolis: neutral peanutty brown 

Texture/Finish: Both powder; Lumos is a champagne shimmer and Heliopolis is a neutral matte.
 
Longevity: I'm a fan of powders on the face as I feel they last much longer on the skin. The Lumos shimmer lasts especially longer than Heliopolis.

Price: At £26 it works out £13 per shade; personally I tend to spend more on highlighters/bronzers and contour shades as I use it pretty much every day more so than blush, so for me it's totally worth it.

FrootiFactor: I was pleasantly surprised that the Heliopolis contour shade showed up on my face as I was almost certain it would do nothing for contouring on my skin. I would however recommend using the Heliopolis contour shade as a matte bronzer/in between shade for contouring on deeper skintones, or as a contour shade on the eyes.
I hope Illamasqua release more of these sculpting duos for a variety of skintones as I know it will be a hit and unfortunately this particular contour shade wouldn't do any justice for contouring on much deeper/black skintones. For this reason alone, it loses out on half a lipstick rating, but other than that its a 5 in my books!

Intense Lipgloss - Maiden
A surprise colour addition to the Christmas collection is the Intense Lipgloss in Maiden; I'd say it's more of a Spring colour but it would go well with a smokey eye if you wanted to tone down the lips so works well.

Colour & Pigmentation: As the name suggests, it has high pigmentation in a warm peach colour, with all the intensity of a lipstick.

Texture/Finish: Glossy, slightly thick for my liking but I guess it's due to the saturation of colour!

Longevity: Glosses tend to last longer than lipsticks due to their stickiness so I'd imagine this gloss to be just as long wearing as other Illamasqua glosses I've tried.

Price: At £14.50 it's more than I would usually pay for a gloss, however I am a fan of highly pigmented glosses when I do go for a gloss, and £14.50 is around the average price for a high end brand.

FrootiFactor: Unfortunately this gloss is much too light for my skintone and pigmented lips; it translates a much whitish colour so doesn't suit my lips at all, however I do think those with less pigmented lips than myself would suit it beautifully, paired with a smokey eye. For this reason, this shade is not particularly for me and I'd have to give it a 2.5 for it's pigmentation and longevity.

Nail Varnish - Blizzard
This polish is perfect for the wintery months, immitating snowy weather on your nails. You can wear it alone or I found it even better over a dark nail varnish (like Boosh) so the iridescent white speckles show up even more.

Colour & Consistency: A clear based nail polish with flecks of iridescent white sparkles in chunky hexagonal shapes and smaller shapes too. Two coats will give you the amount of sparkle in the above pictures.

Longevity: Fairly long wearing due to the particles in the polish; as with glitter they tend to last longer but I didn't find it as hard to take off as glitter which is good!

Price: At £14.50 it's a slightly pricier polish but gives a lovely wintery effect on your nails if you're looking for something to suit this season.

FrootiFactor: I'd give this nail polish a 3.5 out of 5 as I find it looks best on top of a darker colour polish and needs two coats for the full "snow" type effect. I do however like that it isn't as hard as glitter to take off!

This "Christmasqua" collection is a great addition to their existing products in my opinion; I'm particularly fond of the Sculpting Powder Duo and the Fatale Palette which I can see myself using on in my kit as well as myself fairly regularly. I do hope they bring out more shades in the Sculpting Duo as I can see it being a very popular product for everyday and going out.

All Illamasqua products are available to buy in store or online at Illamasqua.

What are your favourites from this Holiday collection? Will you be buying any?

 

Illamasqua Mystery Box

Hello my lovelies! 
Apologies for the lack of posts recently, after getting back from holiday I had a fair bit of catching up to do with clients etc as well as actually working and washing all those holiday clothes (glamorous I know!)

Anyway, I've thought of a couple posts that may be of interest to you so over the coming weeks I shall try my best to get these up!

This is a quick post and mini review based on the Instagram picture I put up regarding the Illamasqua Mystery Boxes, excuse the picture quality in this post as they are from my phone!:

There's two versions of this box that came out last year and as far as I know I think they were only exclusive to Debenhams.  
I chose this "Alter Ego" box as it only has one nail polish in it (the other "Eyes and Nails" box has two), which I wouldn't use as much. My box included 6 full size products, 4 of which are mystery shades.
I happened to come across these a few times but was too worried I'd get products I won't use, but whilst strolling past the sale table in the Lakeside Debenhams I saw the price had been slashed down to £17.50 from £35, I couldn't say no.
One blush alone is around £18, so this was certainly a steal and even if I got products I wouldn't personally use, I know I could always use it in my kit or on a shoot (my failsafe excuse for any makeup purchase!).

what I got in my box!

Shades in my box: 
*Nail Varnish in Collide (neon pink) [revealed on outer box cover]
*Liquid metal in Electrum (metallic antique gold) [revealed]
*Intense lipgloss in Move (mauve rose pink)
*Lipstick in Fetish (violet/blueberry)
*Powder blusher in Panic (red with pink tones)
*Powder Eye Shadow in Fallen (lilac-grey)
Everything except the nail polish is swatched below:

The box is worth up to £96.50 based on current prices however some of these products are discontinued, for instance Fetish lipstick and Fallen eyeshadow. Having said this, as I mentioned on my Instagram account I'm really pleased with my mystery box; I know some other bloggers/reviews have had some not so wearable shades but I believe it was pot luck that I picked a good box, considering! It felt like the lucky dips you get as a kid, when you wish for good stuff but mentally prepare yourself for something you may not have wanted lol!

I love the colours I got, even the neon pink nail polish is surprisingly pretty and something I would wear in Summer. I was dubious that Move lipgloss would be too light for me but even that looks fine on my generally dark lips and it doesn't feel sticky.

If you happen to come across one of these boxes at your local Debenhams, be sure to snap it up as you'll get more than a bang for your buck and as you know I'm massively a fan of their products as they are super pigmented so you can't go wrong!

Did you get any of these mystery boxes? What did you think of it and which products do you like best?

 

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?