please note: this post contains affiliate links which means that if you purchase anything using these links, a very small percentage of the product's cost will come to me at no expense to yourself. This helps with the running costs of my blog, thank you!

I was meant to finish writing up my Kiehls Turmeric & Cranberry mask draft and post it next in my Turmeric Tales series (read my first post describing Turmeric benefits here), but life has massively got in the way of blogging as consistently as I intended for this year and recently I’ve been using this Disciple Good Skin facial oil-serum (due to my skin reacting to something), so I felt it deserved to be bumped up the Turmeric Tale list as I haven't been using much else (in a bid to make my skin return to normal).

I haven’t yet tried the Dreamy Skin facial oil in this Discovery Set that I bought, so I am focusing this blog post on the Good Skin Facial Oil-Serum, but the Dreamy Skin sounds amazing and I always look for sets when purchasing new products from brands, so I’d recommend buying this one to see if you like both, as it works out better value for money.

Read on to see what my thoughts are on the Good Skin facial oil-serum and why it may be good for you too..

Sunday Swatches: L'Oreal Infallible Sculpt Collection Review + Mario Dedivanovic Tips!

Hi guys!

Thanks to L'Oreal, I had the amazing opportunity to attend their "Sculpt School" on Friday with none other than Mario Dedivanovic.

If you don't know who he is, he's only the guy who brought to our attention the concept of "contouring" through Kim K (see pic below) and since then the craze has spun out of control (a quick scroll through IG makeup pages will give you an idea!)

I knew I had to attend the class as soon as I received the invite and was totally enthralled along with other bloggers/youtubers/press watching Mario work his magic on the model below.

Mario used the new L'Oreal Infallible Sculpt Range which aims to make "sculpting"/contouring easier for everyone and addresses sculpting every part of the face including base/complexion, eyes and eyebrows, cheeks and even lips (all products except the sculpting brush below).
 
Today's swatch post will feature the complexion products in this new range: 

Sunday Swatches: Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani Palette

Hello my lovelies!

Today's Sunday Swatches post features the highly anticipated Gwen Stefani palette which has been on my wishlist since I first laid eyes on it.. 

Not only is the packaging of this palette a beaut, it's also luxe looking, much like the style icon herself and the colours are just a perfect selection of neutrals with a pop of jewel colours as you'll see below.
12 of the shadows are completely new, and 3 are repeats. So basically the whole palette is practically new for a hardcore UD fan.

No Doubt you'll be lusting after this palette too once I've finished this review too (see what I did there?!), so read on for more info and swatches.

Sunday Swatches: Urban Decay Vice 4 Palette

So this weeks Sunday Swatches post follows up from the Vice 4 Palette look on Friday (here).
The last Vice Palette I have is the Vice 2 (missed out on the 3 last year!) but this palette looked promising and I love that it comes with a pouch so when I was kindly sent the palette to review I knew I had to dig in and create a look with the burnt orange shade "Bitter".

Sunday Swatches: Urban Decay Matte Revolution Lipsticks

Hello my beauts!

After my last post regarding The Swatch Gallery Project, I thought I'd follow up with a swatch post of my own with the relatively new Urban Decay Matte Revolution lipsticks.

If you remember my post with the non-matte Urban Decay Revolution lipsticks, you'll know I rated them with a FrootiFactor of 5 because they reminded me of the YSL Rouge Volupte lipsticks and were insanely pigmented.

I have to say these Matte Revolution lipsticks are just as impressive as the original Revolution lipsticks. I'll be showing the lipsticks swatches and comparing them to the original Revolution lipsticks in this post.

Sunday Swatches: Urban Decay Naked Smoky

Following my last Smoky makeup look post, it's only fitting to follow up with the review and swatches of the new Urban Decay Naked Smoky palette!

As a previous Urbanette (someone who applied makeup for Urban Decay on a counter), you could say I have ample experience with the brand and am still a hardcore UD fan as many of my friends, family and readers will know.
I've loved seeing the brand grow from strength to strength, you can read my Urban Story and Naked History for some background info on my experiences!

I've had the pleasure of reviewing and creating makeup looks for all three previous Naked Palettes on this very blog, and came up with my own guide to which Naked Palette is for your skintone here.

However, this Naked Smoky palette is something slightly different; I have to say I was a huge fan of the Smoked palette and still dip into it now and then, but now the Naked Smoky palette is on the market with 12 shades of matte, satin and sparkle, it may well be the palette I reach for more when I need a quick smoky look.

Sunday Swatches: Too Faced Born This Way Foundation and Love Flush

Hello my loves, hope you're all well!

Today I'm going to be reviewing the Too Faced Born This Way Foundation in shade Sand and the Love Flush blush in I Will Always Love You.

As you may well know from my last post on the Too Faced Bronzer Wardrobe, I have always loved Too Faced for their super sweet girly packaging. 

Tuesday Takeover: Mohima Farchu

Hello my Frooti Beauties! 
This weeks Tuesday Takeover is from Mohima who I discovered through Instagram with her stunning looks and honest reviews.
I hope you guys enjoy her review today, don't forget to follow her on Instagram and Facebook!

Illamasqua Gel Colour - Fluster

Hi Guys! Thanks to Safiyah for letting me do the Tuesday Takeover blog post. I love a good natter about all things makeup so I'm going to get stuck in straight away!
Today I'll be reviewing Illamasqua's new Gel Colour cheek tint. These come in stick form and provide an instant flush of colour to your complexion.
Now let me just take a moment to tell you that I love Illamasqua. Anyone who follows me on social media knows I harp on about them all day, everyday. They always think outside the box and keep it interesting. When I saw this product launch I wanted it immediately!
The Gel Colours include two shades, Charm (Apricot) & Fluster (Pink). I will be reviewing the latter. There is also a contour colour, referred to as Gel Sculpt, in the shade Silhouette.

Tuesday Takeover: Pyari Beauty

Hello my lovelies!
Apologies for the lack of posts over the last 2 weeks, but if you've been following me on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter, you may have noticed I've been away to give birth to my beautiful son.. So I think that is a valid excuse for now!

Once again I've asked a fellow blogger to guest post and this week it's none other than blogger and friend Aaliyah of Pyari Beauty, who will be reviewing the MAC Pro Longwear concealer that we shopped together for as it's one of my most favourite concealers and kit staples.

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer | £15.50 

Hello everyone! I’m Aaliyah from Pyari Beauty, when Safiyah asked me if I wanted to guest post on her blog of course I jumped at the chance. Today I will be reviewing the MAC Pro Longwear Concealer. I first came across this concealer when Safiyah included it a few months ago in her concealer stash on Instagram. After hearing her positive thoughts on it I knew I had to get it. When in Westfield Stratford one day, I finally got matched and the shade I was matched to was NW20. I purchased it there and then and it's been love ever since. For those who love the ever popular Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer, the Pro Longwear Concealer is the big sister of that except the Pro Longwear Concealer is oh so better. You get 5 ml of concealer in a sleek glass vial which comes with a pump. You only need the tiniest amount so you need to be careful when you dispense the product. The formula of this is creamy but it dries fairly quickly which can make it a little difficult to work with, so you need to make sure to blend it before it dries. I love using this for my under eyes and any blemishes, it's for sure one of those multi purpose concealers which can be used anywhere. To apply it underneath my eyes, I use my ring finger which is my preferred method, however you can use a Real Techniques Buffing Brush as well. When I apply this underneath my eyes, I do find it creases slightly but powdering over the concealer helps with this problem. Longevity wise this concealer is amazing. I don't find that I need to reapply my concealer after a few hours as I have experienced with other concealers. It's something that I can apply and not need to worry about whether it'll still be there at the end of the day. Overall I'm very happy with it and I have definitely found a new favourite. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a multi-purpose, long lasting full coverage concealer.

What's your favourite multi-purpose concealer?

Find Me On → Bloglovin; Facebook; Instagram; Pyari Beauty; & Twitter.
 

Tuesday Takeover: The Blushing Giraffe

Hello my lovelies!

Apologies for the lack of posts, I have a backlog list of posts as I've been busy with my 2014 masterclass, but now that it's over, I will be posting more as I should have some more time.

In the mean time, this weeks guest post is by the lovely Iqra over at The Blushing Giraffe; another recent blog discovery, I love her writing style and pictures, so do check her blog out <3 

My Favourite High Street Nude Lipsticks

Hello lovely FrootiBeauty readers! My name is Iqra, and I am a fairly new beauty blogger over on The Blushing Giraffe! I am so excited to be able to do write a guest post for the beautiful Safiyah and I hope you enjoy this read!

Nude lipsticks are almost fail proof, they’re easy to apply without it smudging over the edges (red lipsticks), they aren’t loud and in-your-face like some brighter lipsticks, and usually they accentuate the eye makeup beautifully. The tricky thing with them is finding the right nude for YOU. I have been hunting for this since I started enjoying makeup and the creativity that it allowed, but each lip product I tried either washed me out, made me look gaunt and scary or was too brown to be considered a nude colour for my NC30-35 skin tone. I have to admit I am quite the fusspot when it comes to lipsticks anyway, I find they can be a real faff to wear because they seem to either cling to all the dryness on the lips or they keep fading and need reapplying!

This hunt I should add didn’t include higher end lipsticks, and I’m sure if you went to a MAC counter and asked to be matched to a few nudes, you’d find a shade to your liking that ticked the boxes. For someone who usually wears nude tones, a high end and expensive lipstick isn’t the most purse friendly thing, so thankfully I have found two lipsticks that both look absolutely beautiful and are half the price of a MAC lippie! On top of that they feel comfortable on the lips and are creamy and moisturising rather than drying. 

The wear time is decent, I get a good few hours before I feel the need to top up, and as mentioned before they don’t cling to the lips so reapplying is also a breeze! If you haven’t already guessed by the photo, I’m talking about Rimmel’s moisture renew collection of course! These particular ones are the older packaging, and they have recently bought out even more shades in slightly sleeker outer casing, but as far as I am aware the older kind are still available (for now!)

Starting with my all time favourite, Notting Hill Nude it is pretty much the perfect ‘my lips but better shade’. It’s nothing like concealer at all (winning!) and is more of a peachy shade with a leaning towards pink, so doesn’t wash you out in the slightest. I really do think this would look wonderful on most skin tones because in terms of a wearable nude lipstick it’s hit the nail on the head! 

It’s very easy to use, and I tend to pop this on when unsure what colour to go for. What’s great about it is how it would look beautiful on skin tones over NC25-30 too because most drugstore nude lippies seem to cater for the skin tone and under only!

The second lipstick is more of a ‘true nude’ and funnily enough is called Nude Delight. I always stayed away from this shade, thinking it was going to wash me out far too much, but when I saw the beautiful Sana from lookamillion wearing this with one of her amazing eye looks I decided to try it and I’m so glad I did! When I have made a bit of an effort with eyeshadow and really do want the nude lip look this is the shade I go for, the perfect nude for skintones NC30 and under, it’s just beautiful with or without a gloss on top.

Available for £6.49 from boots (but always wait for a 3 for 2 offer!) these lippies are well worth a look!

Thank-you for reading and a huge thank you to Safiyah for this opportunity! It’s an absolute honour <3 

You can find my blog at www.TheBlushingGiraffe.com, as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, so please do say hello ^_^

Iqra | The Blushing Giraffe x

Tuesday Takeover: Beauty and the Chic

This week's Tuesday Takeover is featuring the lovely Claudia from Beauty and the Chic.
I recently discovered her blog and love the clean friendly layout of it as well as the lovely clear pictures and easy to follow reviews, so be sure to check her out!

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick - Obsessed

Hi FrootiBeauty readers, I'm Claudia and I write the blog Beauty and the Chic and I'm so excited to be guest posting for Safiyah today as I love her blog so much, I'm so addicted to copying her make-up looks, they are incredible. 

As a fellow Urban Decay lover, I decided to review one of their Revolution Lipsticks for you in the shade Obsessed. First off I have to comment on the packaging, the lipsticks are encased in the beautiful shiny gun metal grey with Urban Decay engraved on the side and UD on the top of the lid. They have to be one of the prettiest packagings out there. 

Obsessed is a baby pink shade which usually, I steer clear of as I thought it didn't suit my complexion however I feel this one does and it's become one of my favourite shades now. When I swatched this on my wrist, I loved how it felt moisturising and was very glad to find that it's lovely once applied to the lips too. I like to use mine after applying a lipbalm to make sure it doesn't sit in any dry patches and I found it was fine. I like to build this colour up so it's nice and bright and bold and I love the finished look. In the picture it gives off a very glossy look because of the balm underneath however, without a balm they do have a sheen to the finish and I really like this. I also found it didn't apply patchy at all, so top marks! Wear time is extremely good for me, it lasted about 3 hours and it didn't transfer easily which is always a plus as most of the lipsticks I own do transfer easily and it can be annoying. 

Now my next statement is very bold, I think these lipsticks are incredible and they have 100% taken over my first place choice of MAC lipsticks, don't get me wrong I still love them too but I have the over-powering need of wanting every shade of the Urban Decay line now and I prefer the packaging of these too, everything about these lipsticks I love.

Thank you again for letting me guest post and if you fancy having a read of my blog, feel free to pop over to Beauty and the Chic to say hi! 

Have you tried these lipsticks? What are your thoughts on them? 

Take care! 

Claudia xx 

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?