And to celebrate, I was sent a few bits and bobs to test out it’s efficacy!

I was provided with a mixing palette, a few lipsticks blotting papers (its actually *not* a sanitary towel…), a lipbrush and some lipcote to have a try of. Oh, and we also received a specially made jammie dodger style biscuit, but I couldn’t find that for the photographs… *wipes crumbs away*

Now, while I love the idea of mixing up lip colour (and I usually do that for clients when doing makeup), returning home last night after a typically hectic shift, and a trip to the garage curtesy a mystery noise beneath the car, I was in a pretty bad mood, and decided to test it on one of my long-loved-never-worn shades. This one happened to be Byzantin by Chanel…

… In actual fact the lipstick is NOT fluorescent pink as this picture suggests, however I had lighting issues and no idea how to resolve them, so my profuse apologies for this!

Now, I have memories of lipcote from around 15 years ago, involving it stinging on application, and feeling very drying on the lips, so I was a little concerned that the same would be true this time around…

Use is simple enough – the product comes in a nail polish type bottle and is painted over lipstick.

So how did it fare? Well, the stinging sensation still happens, but passes fairly quickly, and the product definitely doesn’t feel as drying as I remember. I could see this possibly leading to lip dryness if it was used on a daily basis, but as a product used every now and again for night times or strong lips it’s not bad, given the £3.45 pricetag.

As for fading – I did notice that when eating and drinking there was some lip-colour transfer onto glasses or cutlery, but definitely less than I’d expect with a creamy formula lipstick, or a strong colour. There was no bleeding of colour, and the lipstick was definitely more smudge-proof than normal.

Lipcote also deserve a big thumbs up in my opinion for being a cruelty free brand, which is suitable for vegetarians…

So, my honest overall thoughts on this are that this is a handly little product for nights out and “special occasion” use, but those with lips prone to drying might want to give it a miss.

Disclaimer – this is a sponsored post.

I’m a latecomer to the wonder of nail art and nail wraps in general – I did go through a (now not really spoken of) phase of having acrylics which I used to occasionally have art done “to me” on. But I never had a steady enough hand to make them look, well, not like a five year old with an alcohol problem had done them basically.

So the recent advent of nail wraps is a fun one to me. Nail art, like most things in life, if done well, can at best be great, and at worst, fun. I do however have that nagging voice in the back of my head telling me “oh well they might look easy, but I’m sure you’ll find a way to cock up the application….” So when Rebel Nails offered me a chance to try their wares, I (cautiously) got a little bit excited about trying them…

Each set comes with 16 nail wraps – 2 of each in 8 different sizes… The instructions seem fairly straightforward too –  Basically you clean the nails, select the correct sized wrap, and peel it off from the backing, holding the straight edge. You then heat the wrap with hairdryer and smooth it over the nail, and file off any excess. To remove you lift the nail wrap from the sides of the nail and peel back… There is a video on the Rebel Nails site which shows exactly how to do it HERE.

I was sent four sets to try and for my first attempt I chose the most work appropriate black with a pink tip…

So, I went ahead and gave them a go, hairdryer at the ready!

They were fairly easy to apply and did look pretty good for a first attempt. The design I picked probably wasn’t the best for my nails, because I have very small little fingernails, so the pink didn’t show up on my little fingers. I have pretty curved nails naturally too, and I think these might be a smidge easier to use if you have fairly flat nails, as I did get a couple of creases at the tips. Creases at the edges of the nails were easily dealt with though – just reheat with the hairdryer, and smooth out with a cuticle tool. As with all things likt this though I think practice will definitely make perfect.

I noticed that they were easier and applied better if they were really heated up well – don’t be tempted to slap em on straight from the packet…

Rebel nails are also launching a couple of great halloween designs, including the funky moonscape ones shown above, which are far nicer than the usual pumpkin designs you see… a little more subtle, and all the better for it. And if you spend a minimum of £10 on the site between now and 31st Oct, you’ll get one of their two Halloween designs absolutely free

The designs show are all available, along with many other designs on the Rebel Nails site - http://www.rebelnails.co.uk/ and I have a special discount code for use to get 15% off if you fancy trying them out – Simply enter the code MIZZWORTHY15 at the checkout between 20th Oct and 1st Nov 2011, and you’ll get 15% off your wraps (P&P will remain same though), with no minimum order. 

Have You tried Rebel Nails? What are your thoughts?

Disclaimer – this is a sponsored post, however contains only honest opinions based on my own experiences with the products shown.

Because sometimes I just want to look like myself but slightly less… tired… (actually, this rule applies most of the time)

Anyway, a supernatural, super-fast face of the day;

On the skin I applied Illamasqua Skin Base with fingers, and powdered with Illamasqua loose powder. A little Bourjois chocolate bronzer to contour, and Illamasqua blusher in Morale applied very lightly to the cheeks.

On eyes I skipped concealer, but layered a little extra foundation, and applied one coat of Illamasqua Masquara.

On lips I applied Sleek True Colour lipstick in Liquor.

I’ve noticed actually whilst writing this post that a few of these products have become staples – the Illamasqua skin base is one of my regular “reach fors”, as is the masquara, and their blushers, in whichever colour I am using, never let me down. What are your “can’t do without” products right now?

x

My return to blogging after somewhat of an extended break, has to start with a bit of an apology… I admit I’ve been a bit of a rubbish blogger of late, but life sometimes gets in the way, and it’s easy to get out of the “blogging habit”. Balance is obviously the key, so I’m going to try to blog more regularly, but not to put pressure on myself to do it every day – as I always tell everyone else, blogging is a hobby, not a job!

So, thanks for sticking around if you did!

First post, I need to announce a few giveaway winners…

First of all, the winners for the Garnier Ultralift Creams!

The winners of the full sized creams are – Lori, Shinypigeon, Sarah, Fum, Carole and Danni – I’ll be emailing you all for your details and I’m planning on getting them in the post on Tuesday. Just a reminder that this is a UK ONLY giveaway!

All other entrants (Leah, Nicola B and Shifa) Will all receive trial packs…

EDIT – several entrants to this are unfortunately untraceable – if you entered please email me and I’ll try to ensure the prizes go out to those who are eligible ie in the UK!

Secondly, the winner of the Nails Inc set from Fabulous Magazine…

The winner is Louise. I’ll be emailing you for your details Louise!

Secondly, I also wanted to give a shout out to Ondolady’s blog which you can find HERE – She recently surprised me by asking me if she could interview me for her blog, so I’d love it if you could take a look! You can read my interview HERE…

I’ve finally got round to trying the new Skin Base foundation from Illamasqua (I’m shade six), and my first impressions are very good – I’ll do a full review when I’ve had more time to try it. I’m liking this applied with fingers and layered in areas where I need more coverage, for a dewy, medium coverage yet very natural looking finish…

I was off today so fancied something pretty but not too OTT, as I was only doing a few dull errands and things…

As mentioned, the skin is Illamasqua Skin Base in shade six, applied with fingers. I didn’t bother with concealers, just layered a bit more of the Skin Base where I felt I needed more coverage.  I set it with a little MAC setting powder on the T-Zone only. On the cheeks I contoured lightly with the bronzing side of my Bourjois mineral powder, I used the new Sleek Suede blusher mixed with a little of one of the Illamasqua eyeshadows I used on the eyes…

On the eyes I used Illamasqua powder shadows in “Courtesan”, a pale lilac pink shade on the lid, with a little “Feint” which is a darker chocolatey-pink blended on the outer corner and socket. I lined the eyes with black kohl, and also added a thin line of precision ink in “Abyss” to the upper lashline.

On the lips I used a Rouge Bunny Rouge lipstick in the shade “Word of Mouth”, which is a fresh cherry-pink shade…

Hope you like it… Do you like wearing girlie shades like pink?

Yep, this is another one of those products, or even in this case ranges, which seem mandatory to blog about. Apparently the FTC will be all over my ass if I don’t. Or something.

Anyway, I’m twaddling on about the MUA professional range of course, and more specifically the Heaven and Earth palette, which costs the princely sum of £4 in Superdrug – I was lucky enough to actually find one of these in my nearest Superdrug, as I understand they are proving more difficult to find that rocking horse shizzle… I’ve actually been sent some of the palettes too by the lovely MUA PR, so I’ll be posting further reviews on the range. This one however I bought with my own cash…

As you’re probably aware this palette is being given a lot of favourable comparisons to the Urban Decay Naked palette, which I don’t own so I’m unable to comment on. What I can say though is that these are buttery smooth, easily blendable, and well pigmented.

The other great thing about these shadows is that they don’t crease on me for hours and hours without a primer, but last forever with a primer. This palette in particular is so easy to use in terms of easy colour combinations, and like I say, they blend like a dream. The only criticism I can come up with for this palette is that there aren’t any matte shades – they are all shimmery and some contain small amounts of glitter, which for me this deems this not suitable for work…

Lovely palette, and worth every single penny. If you see it, grab it!

I have to say one of the great things about cheaper ranges of makeup (which I’m discovering are often as good/if not better than a lot of my heartbreakingly pricy “I’ll be eating baked beans on toast for the next three weeks” makeup purchases), is that it encourages me to play a bit more with my makeup. Whipping out a Sleek or MUA palette and experimenting doesn’t seem so “formal” or wasteful as playing with my YSL stuff for some reason. Do you know what I mean?

Anyway, apparently my playing with makeup has also extended to my nails – remember when the Barry M shatter top-coat came out and promptly sold out? By the time I got my hands on it, the rest of the blogosphere had pretty much pronounced themselves as “over” it. But I never played with shatter coats at the time, so I’ve pretty much unashamedly got back into them, especially coloured ones. I picked up the purple MUA shatter coat (or Nail Quake in the shade “Broken Arrow” as its formally known), and had a bit of fun…

Here it is applied over Orly’s “Lollipop”, a pastelly peachy shade…

For what it’s worth (ie for those who aren’t “over it” – this is not a bad shatter coat. I like the fact that it’s metallic and shiny rather than matte, which a lot of shatter coats seem to be. As is normal with shatters, a thin layer will give a finer shatter, whereas a thicker layer will give a more defined big ole crevice looking shatter… I can’t comment on the wear as I’ll probably only keep this on til I think of another shade to put it over.

Yes. I am 32.

Righty-ho, after hearing so much about BB creams, I decided to step blindly into their mysterious realms after reading about the launch of Garnier’s version, which happens to be the first one in the UK available on the highstreet or “drugstore” if you will. I first read about this on THIS post by the fabulous British Beauty Blogger, who also tipped me off to it being available ahead of time on Superdrug online (HERE).

So first of all, what IS a BB cream? From what I can gather BB, or blemish balm creams were initally developed in Germany, but garnered a massive amount of popularity in Asian countries. They are becoming huge and are set to be the next big thing – Illamasqua recently launched their Skin Base which has many BB properties, and other high end brands such as MAC and Lancome are set to follow this year. BB creams basically claim to be an “all in one” for your skin – moisturiser, SPF, foundation, primer, anti-ageing, and some also claim to have skin-whitening properties.

Having never tried a BB cream before, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I had hopes that this would give decent coverage, make me look less like I’d been doing night shifts and have decent staying power…

This BB cream makes the following claims;

• evens tone and boosts glow
• blurs imperfections
• smooths fine lines
• 24 hydration
• SPF 15 UV protection.

Above – another pic of skin before (remind me why I do this to myself!)

Onto the after pictures… thank Gawd!

Above – Entire face after application

Above – Close up of skin after application.

So, as you can see, the cream gives coverage something similar to a tinted moisturiser. It evened out my skin nicely, and cancelled out much of the red blotchiness, and has a dewy rather than matte finish. I also noticed that you can build up the cream by adding an extra layer if you want to… You definitely don’t need moisturiser under this cream either – I made that mistake the first time I used it and it slid off my (dry) skin… So, as far as the claims the product makes I’d say it pretty much delivers…

Negatives? Well, I did notice you have to use a decent amount of product to get the amount of coverage so you might go through the tube pretty fast. Secondly, I think I was kind of expecting a bit more coverage, but thats just a personal thing. Thirdly, there are only two shades available – light and medium, so darker toned beauties will struggle… I also noticed that this seems to “sweat off” my skin pretty easily so I’m still to make a judgement on it’s staying power…

I chose the “Light” shade, and it looks like this;

Above – swatch of product

Above – Product blended lightly on skin.

Having literally only had this cream a couple of days, I feel it’s way too early to give an unqualified “rave review” of it, but I can’t give it a total thumbs down either… I think my final judgement on it is going to have to depend on whether I notice any amazing improvements in my skin with use, as well as how well the coverage this does give lasts on skin – I have a feeling a light layer of this would act as a good primer for my current foundation of choice which is the new Bourjois mineral bronzing foundation mentioned in THIS post…

The Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream is available online now and launches in stores in a few days, and costs £9.99

What are your thoughts? Hope this review helped!

I recently placed myself on a bit of a spending ban where makeup is concerned… After all, a chest of drawers full of the stuff, plus the kit I use for jobs is more than enough for several lifetimes, and there’s rarely a shade I can’t dupe these days. So I’ve taken to rediscovering some of the forgotten treasures in my collection, in a bid to entertain myself, and appreciate the goodies I already have rather than wasting moolah on pointless duplicates…

In my makeup bag this week…

It seems this weeks stash selection is something of an homage to mineral makeup, and this is no coincidence – I often find when I go to work with anything higher coverage than tinted moisturiser I get a lot of comments and compliments, which is nice, but my main aim at work is to look human, rather than overdone…. a no makeup makeup look if you will. Secondly, my skin seems to have had a flare up recently, so I opted for minerals as they seem the least irritant to my skin. Finally, it gave me a chance to try the new mineral bronzing foundation from Bourjois…

On the subject of the Bourjois foundation, I’ve been really happy with it and I’ve been using it for about two weeks now for work. I love the packaging, which has a clever twisty shaker, which enables you to customise the shade of foundation, as well as eliminating the horrors of messy mineral foundation…

This gives light to medium coverage, depending on how much you apply and buff it in, I’m pretty impressed with the longevity too – it seems to survive a full shift at work on most days, which for mineral foundation on my dryish skin is impressive… Topping it with the ELF mineral booster pictured above seems to boost its longevity too.

Bare face before foundation application...

Face after application of foundation and light contour using the bronzer...

Have you tried this foundation? What are your thoughts?

Another Bourjois product has also found a place in my makeup bag this week as well – their healthy mix concealer (I use shade 51), which deals with undereye circles and blemishes well for everyday use – I have a host of MAC concealers which I keep in my kit, but this one seems to work well on me without looking cakey or overdone for day to day use.

I’m also loving these two items from the Body Shop’s past baked mineral collection – blusher in “Coral Nuance”, and eye colour duo in “Copper”, although I usually leave the eyeshadow off for work…

Finally the lippie I’ve been using the most is my trusty Estee Lauder Crystal Baby, which is probably my all time favourite lip colour. Definitely worth a mention though is Sleeks True Colour in the Shade Liqueur, which is a very close high street match for Crystal baby;

Top - Crystal Baby, Bottom - Sleek Liqueur.

As you can see, the two aren’t exact dupes, but when applied to the lips they are pretty darned close – Crystal Baby is slightly more peachy pink toned than the Sleek shade, but in terms of wear and feel on the lips, they are very comparable, so this is well worth looking into for those interested in Crystal Baby but want a more affordable option…

Finally a quick snap of the whole lot applied;

Apologies for the ungroomed brows and seen-better-days hair…

What are you loving at the moment?