Something a bit different here on MizzWorthy today, but I’ve recently realised that although I share my big passion for makeup and skincare, I don’t really share much else, which I’d quite like to! One of the things I have always loved to do is get engrossed in a good book. It’s a habit I grew out of for a while, but recently I have rediscovered the joys of getting drawn into a good tale.

My reading habits are very varied – I like a book that makes me think one minute and the next I want chick-lit, the literary equivalent of daytime TV (it fills the time, but you know you’re not exactly expanding your horizons!)… the next I love a classic.

This time around I picked up a little chick-lit… I view these kind of books as a kind of stress relief, and lets just say thats been necessary for me lately!

The Blurb on the Back Cover;

“Issy Randall can bake. No, more than that – Issy can create stunning, mouth-wateringly divine cakes. After a childhood spent in her beloved Grampa Joe’s bakery, she has undoubtedly inherited his talent.

When she’s made redundant from her safe but dull City job, Issy decides to seize the moment. Armed with recipes from Grampa and with her best friends and local bank manager fighting her corner, The Cupcake Cafe opens its doors. But Issy has absolutely no idea what she’s let herself in for. It will take all her courage – and confectionary – to avert disaster…”

Why I picked it up… Cakes, romance and friendship seemed like a nice little piece of mental chewing gum. I also love tales telling the tale of the underdog, and fulfilling dreams… It cost me £7.99 and I picked it up in WHSmith, but you can get it much cheaper on AMAZON…

The Plot… Basically it doesn’t get much more complex than the outline above in the blurb, but add one clearly unsuitable suitor to the mix, as well as an obviously “perfect” bloke for our cake baking heroine, and a couple of friends with their escapades and you’ve pretty much got the picture. There’s also the odd smattering of recipes scattered through the book, as well as little snippets of the local characters and customers at the eponymous Cupcake Cafe, which add interest.

What Did I Think? My expectations of this book weren’t massively high, and were proved correct overall. The plot of the book was fairly predictable, which I don’t usually mind in chick-lit (lets face it, you know you’ll get happy ending in these books when you buy them!).

Unfortunately in this case, unlike with most other chick-lit books, the female protagonist didn’t have enough depth, or emotional intelligence to hold my interest, and I found myself reading the book more to find out about the other characters involved in the plot, rather than Issy. At certain points I wanted to reach into the pages and shake her… the bad boyfriend for example, practically has “arrogant waste of human organs” stamped all over him from the line he is introduced to us, and despite the fact that he craps on Issy from a great height several times, she keeps going back for more. The reason for this doormattery is apparently the fact that at 32 Issy is worried that she will never fulfil her dreams of having a family.

Now, as a newly single lady of a similar age, I can sympathise with that notion, but really, no one is that stupid, desperate or blind to put up with the crap this guy pulls!

Obviously Issy see’s sense in time though, and ends up with the “perfect” bloke, as we all knew she would…

Overall, I’d have to say I’m not bowled over by this one – if you are going to buy it I’d definitely trawl online stores for offers rather than paying full price for it. Has the main character had more sense, or an iota of dignity I’d have probably got on better with it. Overall a nice way to spend a couple of hours, but nothing life changing here. Reading this hasn’t made me want to rush out and read more by this author.

Please let me know your thoughts on this book too if you’ve read it, as well as whether you are interested in posts like these – I’m planning more posts about baking,and possibly other crafts too… So I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Eyeko is a brand I’ve seen a lot about on you tube and blogger, so when I was asked to try and review some of the products from the range, I was interested in the products to see if the range could live up to all the attention it gets… I was sent three fat balms, a mascara, a highlighter wand and the intruigingly titled Magic Liquid Eyeliner;

I’ve had the products for a few weeks now and been trying them out on a regular basis, and there are a couple of really great products in the range. All products are available at eyeko.com and asos.com

First of all – the packaging – this range is clearly (in my opinion) packaged for the teen and early twenties market, cheerful and cutesy and ever so slightly cartoony. Nice enough, and also seems to be functional too…

Eyeko Fat Balms – These come in three “flavours” – Strawberry Raspberry and Minty. They cost £5 each – you get 8g of product. It comes in a twist up tube like a normal chapstick, only (as the name suggests) chubbier. The product has a diameter similar to a £1 coin, and is approx 1cm tall when twisted up fully. I’m not sure whether the packaging is a little deceptive here – the tube is a lot bigger than the amount of product, however you do still get a fairly decent amount…

I wasn’t really too excited when I saw these – I was expecting slightly tinted lip balms really, but these have a lot of colour in them… here are some swatches to demonstrate…

L – Raspberry; M- Minty; R – Strawberry

The raspberry fat balm has a very feint smell of raspberries, however I also detected a hint of crayola colouring crayons too? This one is the darkest of the three and is the least shimmery of the three. Strawberry has a strawberry scent and is slightly shimmery, while Minty is a very pale shimmery pink shade. I was really surprised that the Minty version was my fave of the three. I simply found the Raspberry and Strawberry versions too dark for me, and the fat applicator made neat application to the lips a difficult task, so I ended up looking like a kid who’d been at the jam…

The minty balm is really lovely – it leaves a barely there pink shimmer on the lips (Not glittery, just shimmery…), which I have attempted to capture below…

They feel very moisturising on the lips and don’t highlight any lines on the surface of the lips liks some shimmery products can. The raspberry and strawberry versions would also work as blushers, especially on darker skintones.

I also really liked the “Magic Liquid Eyeliner”, which looks like a colourless liquid liner. It is actually an alcohol solution (similar to those used in pressing eyeshadows). You rub the tip of the liner across an eyeshadow of your choice, and hey presto, it turns it into a “smudge proof, water resistant” eye liner – you clean off the pigment using good old soap and water so it can be used to create a lot of different coloured liners… It doesn’t leave any lasting damage on your eyeshadow either, I hasten to add – I tested it on the edge of my MAC Contrast shadow, and once dry the shadow worked fine, no nasty hard bits or anything. The tip of the applicator it thin and flexible too, so you can create decent lines with it…

Once dry the liner is pretty secure too – smudgeproof and you need a decent cleanser to remove – this again costs £5

Another product I was really surprised by was the mascara. The packaging is unusual, as it comes in a squeezy “mini toothpaste tube” style container… I also felt slightly underwhelmed when I saw the brush, which have attempted and failed to capture on my craptacular camera (Dear father Christmas, I would like a new one!)…

So, as you can (just about) see, the wand is very thin and the bristles are arranged in a spiral formation… I looked at this and expected this mascara to clump like crazy, but I’m very happy to say I was wrong. The mascara gives a natural lenghtening and volumising effect when applied (I didn’t even attempt to photograph this, however I would like to direct you to this fab video by GemsMaquillage who will demonstrate how the mascara looks…). Zero clumps and a nice formula too – the actual mascara is not to thick or thin, so you can build up nicely – I couldn’t manage to get mine looking quite so dramatic as Gemma though! (She clearly has superior application skills!). The mascara is £6.

Finally I was also sent the “Touch Up & Glow” Highlighter. This comes in a Touche Eclat style dispenser – except with a twisty base rather than a clicky one. It looks like this when it first comes out…
And looks like this when blended…

Again, my camera has done an amazing job with this one – its actually quite a pink based shimmery (again no major glitter chunks) highlighter, which dries to a smudgeproof finish. I think this would work well for nights out… I’m not sure it would look great if you have a lot of open pores, but the same goes for a lot of highlighters. This is no Rouge Bunny Rouge Illuminator (AKA Candlelight in a Bottle), but its a decent product for the price. I would say this would look best on paler skins too.

What other products do you like from the range? Have you tried any of the products mentioned and what did you think?

MizzWorthy xxx

I was given these products some about six weeks ago by the lovely Lisa from Immediate PR to try out – top marks to Lisa for actually asking me about what hair type I had before blindly sending me products, and she actually read on the blog that I had recently dyed my hair red so she also too that into account.

First of all I recieved the BC Bonacure Colour Save Sulfate-Free Shampoo. This is available here for £7.75 for 250mls.
I like the packaging of the shampoo – its sleek and expensive looking and looks nice on the bathroom shelf lol. The product boasts that due to its sulfate free properties, it protects the colour and shine of coloured and chamically treated hair, and leaves it looking brighter and more vivid for longer.

One of the things I love about these higher end shampoos is that they have that “salon smell” – you know that sort of almondy yummy smell that a lot of salon shampoos have, and this one doesn’t dissapoint in that respect. Being sulfate free it doesn’t lather up massively, but does clean the hair really efficiently, and rinsed easily I found this worked really well, and was surprised that it didn’t cost more.

I also recieved the matching conditioner – BC Bonacure Colour Save Conditioner, available at same site for £8.75 for 200mls.
Again, this is a sulfate free products, which claims to filter UV rays, and keep colour looking fresh even after 30 washes. This is one of those conditioners which is left in for two minutes while you busy yourself with some other cleansing ritual, beore rinsing. Some might find this slightly annoying – I personally like these types of products as it feels like you are treating your hair with each wash.

I found this conditioner pleasant to use – left my hair fresh and shiny, with no annoying flyaway bits.

The two products used together worked really well in terms of keeping colour bright and vital too – I have red dyed hair, and red is a mare to stop from fading, but these products did seem to help – I’ve tried other drugstore ranges for coloured hair and not had results like this, so these get a definite thumbs up from me. I did find my hair felt slightly greasier on the third day, but this was a fairly minor problem, and easily sorted with a squirt of dry shampoo, however if you have oily hair, this range might not work well for you – the conditioner may be too rich especially.

I also recieved BC Bonacure Colour Save Coloured Ends Treatment Creme (£8.75 for 75ml)
This creme promises to repair and protect dry coloured hair ends, making it easier to keep longer coloured hair looking good. To use, just apply sparingly to the ends of the hair and style as normal, without rinsing.

This product also worked well – it definitely made the dry ends of my hair feel more hydrated and silky and seemed to temporarily repair split ends (not majorly awful split ends, just the split ends you get when you know a trim is due…). It didn’t weigh hair down either, which was another definite plus – I have fine hair and it is very easily weighed down and overwhelmed by leave in products – for this reason may not work on very thick hair though…

Finally I also got to test Clynol Look At Me “Glitz” Shine Serum, available here for £10.95
This product claims to stop splitting hairs and keep colour fresh.

This is a slightly different serum to any I have used before – it is far more creamy and light in texture than products such as FrizzEase or any silicone based serum. For this reason, it feels a lot lighter on the hair and doesn’t feel greasy in the slightest. I didn’t really find this had as much effect on split ends as the BC Bonacure Coloured Ends creme, but it did make my hair look shiny and healthy. It smelled nice too, adding a fresh scent to my hair, but not too overpowering.

Hope this helps!
MizzWorthy xxx

RMK Creamy Foundation

In consistency, this foundation is similar to whipped cream – i.e. its thicker than a liquid, however it’s not as solid as a mouse type foundation. I find one scoop using the spatula is more than adequate to cover my face, and I have been applying with my flat illamasqua foundation brush (similar to a MAC 190).

I have to say, this is one of the nicest foundations I’ve come across in a long time – it blends like a dream, and provides medium to full coverage. Without powder it gives the skin a lovely dewiness, and a glow, without looking oily, and when set with powder it still has a lovely glow, only less so (depending how heavy you go with the powder obviously!)

There is a fairly good colour range – but those with very dark and very pale skin may not be able to find a colour match. The range comes in yellow undertones and pinky undertones (but nowhere near as pink as MACs range…) – I purchased the shade 201, which is the palest pinky undertoned shade, and it’s a lovely match for me.

I would say this one is suitable for normal to drier skin types – those with oilier skin, or who prefer a matte finish might prefer a lighter/less moist formula – also some people might find it too high coverage in the summer, and it might loose points for some as it has no SPF (I personally don’t believe that the SPF in most cosmetics is worth a button anyway – you’d have to apply half a bottle to get the level of protection they promise!)

For me though, this is worth every penny, and a definite re-purchase – love it!

Jemma Kidd Pro – “Skin Rescue Bio-Complex Veil” with SPF 15
I recently picked this up after watching a few reviews on you tube which piqued my interest in the brand – having loved her foundation brush number 10 I decided this had to be worth a try! That said, I almost choked as I handed over £31.31 for this at Space NK!

The product makes a lot of claims – “A revolutionary ‘all in one’ moisturiser, prep, primer, illuminator and tint. Age defying botanical complexes and active peptides protect and repair skin. SPF15 for Added protection”… Designed to be used under or instead of foundation either with a brush or fingers. Limited colour range – Pink and yellow undertones, but only a couple of shades for each one.

The packaging is nicely designed – a hybrid between a tube and a pump, so its hygienic to use. You get 35mls so slightly more than the standard 30mls…. As for the product itself, some days I think its amazing, other days I think its a just ok… On good skin days, this looks great on, and just evens out the skintone and gives you that “my own skin but better” look… on bad skin days it doesn’t seem to do much as it is very low coverage alone.

The product feels nice on the skin, and has that “slippy” feel you only really get from silicone based products (dimethicone being the second ingredient listed!) – that’ll be why this is also recommended as a primer then!

I usually wear this with a light dusting of transclucent powder over the top, and it doesn’t “ball up” on the skin like some silicone based products I have tried, which is a bonus. It lasts reasonably well – about 5 hours or so while I’m at work.

Overall, this product hasn’t made a massive impression on me really, and I doubt I’d repurchase at this price… Would recommend this for people with good skin who want it look even better, but forget it for problem or oily skin types in my opinion.

Anyone else used either of these? Any recommendations on how I can work the Jemma Kidd product – at that price I’ll have to use it up lol!

MizzWorthy x

All my pretties together!

I know a lot of people out there are interested in Illamasqua’s blushers, so I thought I would show you the ones I have, complete with some swatches/thoughts etc…

First of all, Illamasqua blushers come in two forms – cream and powder. Both types are well pigmented and I find that they last really well once applied.

Cream blushers – £16 for 4g of product, 14 shades are available. I have read a lot of comments/reviews about the cream blushers saying that people dislike the fact that at times (especially in hot weather) these sometimes get “beads” of an oily substance on the surface. While this is true, I’ve never found that it effects the quality of the product – I actually think this substance keeps the blusher moist and makes them really easy to blend. I can see however why some people might not like this, so this might be worth considering…

They can be applied on top of/under foundation for different effects. I usually dot it on with my used foundation brush and blend with fingers or a brush designed for creams/liquids (usually my foundation brush). They can be built up from subtle to full on dramatic looks. What I also love about these is that they can be used on the lips too.

So here are my cream blushers…
1. LIES

I actually don’t think this would work as a blusher on most people apart from the super super pale – I consider myself really pale (MAC foundation NC15/20 for example) and this doesn’t work as a blusher on me – I use this as a highlighter around the browbone and cheekbone. I also use it and a lipgloss. I think this could also be used to tone down other more vibrant colours or adding shimmer to other blushers (this is the only shimmery blusher they make at the moment).

2. DIXIE

This one is a really wearable peachy-raspberry pink. Goes with most colours and although it looks a bit loud in the pan, it’s very wearable when blended.

3. RUDE

This one is has been described as a cream version of NARS Gina (by the lovely Bubblegarm) – I don’t actually own that so I’m not sure, but as you can see by the dent I have created in it, its one of my most reached for cream colours – it also looks great on lips.

4. PROMISE

This one is a cool lilac pink with blue-ish undertones. Works well with blue and purple eye looks. Again, can be built up or kept subtle.

4. LIBIDO

OK, So I admit it, this one is farly scary in the pan – I have only recently purchased this. It is a gorgeous bright orange-red, a classic tomato shade if you will! For some reason I always feel attracted to red blushers, but I really really really love this on the lips – below is a (not very good) picture of this swiped onto the list using fingers…

I personally adore this shade, but it’s definately not for the faint hearted!

Finally on the cream blush front, here are some swatches…

Top row L to R – Rude, Dixie, Promise. Bottom row Libido, Lies.

Powder Blushers – Again these cost £16 for 4.5g of product. 28 shades are available. All the ones I have so far are really well pigmented. Because of the size of the pan as well, they are easy to use even with bigger brushes (again, same goes for the cream blushers). Some of the powder blushers might appeal more to pro’s or makeup artists – eg Possess – a yellow shade, however a lot of the shades are really wearable. They are all matte, and I find them easy to blend – they also last really well on the skin (unlike MAC’s powder blushers in my opinion!)

1. INTRUIGUE

Obviously, this is not really best described as a blusher – it is a matte, pure white powder. I love this as a highlighter for more formal looks – it adds a sheen to the skin without adding shimmer if that makes sense. Can be used below the eyebrow as well as a brow highlighter. Can also be used over other more vibrant powder blushers in order to tone them down and give a “doll-like” effect.

2.MISCHIEF

Again, this is clearly not a blusher for most skintones – Illamasqua do a lot of “brown” blushers – all designed to be used as contour shades. This is one of the lighter ones and works really well on my skintone. There are loads of different contour shades available.

3. NYMPH

A really easy to wear pale dusky pink, with cool undertones – I’d class this as an “everyday” blusher, it goes with pretty much everything cool or pink toned…

4. LOVER

My other “everyday” blush – a pale peachy shade, warmer in nature than nymph (obviously what with it being peach lol). Again goes with anything peachy based – Nymph and Lover are probably the ones to go for if you like versatile colours or are pale. Would probably also work on darker skins but in a different way…

I have to say, this is my personal favourite of all the Illamasqua blushers I own – its a matte hot orange shade. Wierdly though, even though this is matte, it doen’t look like a “flat” colour on the skin. Obviously if you are a fan of neutral looks, then this may not be the one for you, but I adore this shade. Both this shade and Tweak (below) and both pigmented enough to use as eye colours as well.

6. TWEAK

Yet another scary looking colour – this ones a pinky red shade. The reason I bought this? I saw this picture – http://krystleclayton.blogspot.com/2009/06/dotty.html on Krystle’s blog, and I came over all creative lol… It can be applied with a brush like the MAC 188 for a less intense look though! A really pretty colour, which looks great paired with simple lips and a black winged eyeliner.

Powder Blush swatches…

Top row – L to R – Lover, Tweak, Nymph. Bottom row – Excite, Mischief.

So there you go – well done for getting to the end if you have lol! If you want any more info on any of the shades I own (No doubt further colours will be added lol) then please feel free to ask anything and request swatches or looks etc…Does anyone own any other shades? I’d love to see what ya got! After all, it would enable my addiction further!

MizzWorthy xxx

Hi everyone,

So I picked this up for my local Tesco’s recently in a “two for £11″ type of offer… I have an “issue” with always wanting to try new foundations… they usually get a couple of tries before being discarded for my favourites (Illamasqua and NARS…)

My only other foundation experience with Mabelline was with the dream matte mousse, which I HATED! – Dry looking and caked on were the phrases that sprung to mind over that one…

Mabelline claim that this foundation gives a 100% poreless look, an air-brush finish, full yet lightweight coverage, ultra-blendable, comfortable texture and a satin like luminous finish and is available in 8 shades…

Good points
- I liked the fact that this cames in a lighter shade – light porcelain, which is a pale pinky undertoned shade. I usually really really struggle to find shades light enough for me in drugstore ranges, with the lightest shade often still too dark, or worse still orange… I’m not sure how great the range works in the darker end of the spectrum!
-It does minimise pores somewhat, especially when used over my primer (RMK Makeup base…), and I’ve noticed this effect seems to last quite well.
-As with all drugstore brands, the price is a bonus too, with £30 mls for £7.80 ish (although it’s on offer in a lot of places at the mo!)
-It’s easy to blend – I used my fingers to apply this and didn’t find it too bad, needed to be worked in a little more than some higher end products such as chanel pro-lumiere, but did blend ok in the end
-Felt fairly lightweight on the skin… Nice finish too, not too matte, not too shiny. Didn’t highlight any dry patches

Bad Points
- Poor staying power – I used this today over primer and set with mac setting powder and it was virtually completely gone when I got home…
-coverage does not live up to product claim – I found this gave light to medium coverage, but definately not full coverage… slightly buildable, but I found it just started to look cakey rather than higher coverage…

Will I Buy Again?

Hmm, doubtful – I have two bottles to get through, and I do like my high end foundies. That said – I was pleasantly surprised by this foundation. Given how much I hated the dream matte mousse I was fully expecting to hate this – I’ll probably use it up, but I’m sure given the rate that drugstore companies make new formulas there will be something else for me to try by the time these are gone lol! I’ll probably use this for work for more natural looks…

Hope this helps… anyone else tried this?

MizzWorthy xxx

Hi everyone,

I need help, but not in the way you probably think lol x

So the next foundation I want to review is the MAC studio stick, which I purchased the other day. As you all know I like to do a bit of research prior to posting my reviews so as to give you realistic expectaions of the products rather than just my own opinions…

Prob is, on both specktra.com and makeup alley, there are only a few reviews of it – I personally love the foundation, but like I said, want to give a balanced view

So my question is, does anyone know any other sites where I might find cosmetic reviews?

Thanks in advance xxx

MizzWorthy xxx