Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Mistress

I bought this lipgloss last week on a complete whim. I'm really not a lipgloss fan, I always find it too sticky and SO irritating when my hair gets glued to my mouth. But I was browsing the Debenhams sale section online and saw this, and since I'm not one to refuse a bargain, I just had to get it. I've never tried anything from Illamasqua before, so I was quite excited!

The lipgloss is usually £13 but is currently selling at £5.99 on Debenhams, and you get free delivery if you have a beauty card! I went for the shade Mistress as from the pictures online, it looked like a nice orange/coral. When I opened the package, I was gutted because it looked a bright red colour in the tube! However, once it's applied it does tone down a bit and it is more of a sheer coral on the lips. I really like it!

The thing that surprised me most about this lipgloss was the lack of stickiness! It's a really great consistency which gives good colour pay-off and high shine, but it doesn't feel like I've smeared syrup on my lips - yay! I really didn't like the applicator, it made it really awkward to apply the colour so I've been squeezing it out on my hand and then applying it.

I'm really tempted to pick up a few more shades whilst they're at this price!

Have you found any great bargains in the sales? Have you tried Illamasqua's lipgloss?

ELF High Definition Powder

I always have to use a powder to set my foundation as I do have oily skin and I prefer a matte look. This ELF High Definition Powder pretty much instantly mattifies my skin and I love that I can use it throughout the day without it being cakey. It's a very finely milled white powder which I find gives a "soft focus" effect to my skin. You do have to apply it with a light hand, or you risk ending up with a white face - not a good look! I've also heard that it can sometimes give a "ghost face" appearance when used in flash photography, but I haven't found that at all.

The one negative thing that I have found with this product is the packaging. It's bulky and messy. It comes with a powder puff but I prefer to apply it with ELF Studio Powder Brush so that I can better control how much product I'm using.

If you're looking for a powder to set your make-up, provide a soft-focus finish and mattify without cakiness - this is it. ELF's prices are super affordable, this costs £6 but since the tiniest bit of product goes a long way, I think it's great value for money. It also comes in a shimmer variety and a corrective yellow powder.

ELF are currently having a huge 50% off everything with the code INDEMAND50 for orders over £30 and with most products being between £1.50 and £3, I'd get stocking up now and take advantage of this great offer!

What's your favourite setting powder? Are you a fan of the ELF make-up range?

JolieBox June 2012 - Birthday Box

2 weeks after its dispatch, I finally received my first JolieBox. I unsubscribed to GlossyBox last month and since this month's JolieBox is their birthday edition box, I figured it was as good a time as any to subscribe. I know there's been a lot of frustration and anger surrounding the delays with the box, but I'm not going to talk about that here because I'm really pleased with this box so I'm keeping it positive! The box costs £10 a month plus £2.95 P&P, and you receive 4-5 luxury samples.

There were 2 different box designs this month. I had already googled the spoilers to death, so I knew that I wanted the orange box and I'm so pleased I received this design. It's bright and colourful and will look super lovely as storage in my room.

As if the orange box hadn't pleased me enough, I opened the box to find the products in a cute little draw-string bag - more handy storage! I'm a sucker for pretty packaging, and JolieBox has definitely impressed me in that aspect.

Time for the exciting bit! I received 5 products this month plus the additional nail file.

1. Leonor Greyl Volumizing Shampoo - I'm really excited to have received this as I do have fine, limp hair and I've been looking into buying a volumizing shampoo for a while now. I tried to find the RRP online but I can't find a UK stockist, so if you have better luck than me then please let me know!

2. Institut Esthederm Bronz Repair - I've heard great things about this brand and the sample size tube will come in handy when I go on holiday in September. The anti-wrinkle aspect isn't something which I'd particularly go out of my way to find in a product, but I'm looking forward to trying this anyway.

3. Elysambre Long Eyelashes Mascara - I was really hoping to receive one of the Elysambre lipsticks, so I was a little disappointed to receive the mascara. I got it in a brown shade, and since I don't own any brown mascaras this might come in handy for a "no make-up" make-up day instead of my usual intense black mascaras. The thing I do love about this brand is that they use 99% natural ingredients, which is great.

4. L'Occitane Angelica Hydration Cream - I already talked about this in my June Favourites post, as I received it in my Latest in Beauty skincare box. I love it, so I'm glad I've got a second mini pot because they're so handy for traveling and it means I can pop one in my handbag, and keep one at home.

5. Yon-Ka Pamplemousse for Normal to Dry skin - this was the first box where JolieBox offered a customized product for those who had filled out their online beauty profiles. However due to the delay and box mix-up, we were told that we may not receive the correct customized item. I have oily, blemish-prone skin, so I was a little gutted to receive the dry formulation. But I've tested it on the back of my hand and it's not too heavy or greasy and it smells divine, so I'm hoping I'll be able to use it at night since I do still love a nourishing moisturizer at night.

There was also a JolieBox nail file as an additional bonus product.

Overall, I'm really happy with this box. If I'd have received the oily formulation of the Pamplemousse (isn't that just the best word you've ever heard?!) cream, I'd have been even happier. Even though there were a lot of problems with this month's box, I'll still continue to subscribe for next month.

Did you receive a JolieBox this month? What did you get?

Sleek Au Naturel Palette

Sleek i-Divine Au Naturel Palette

I finally bought a Sleek eye palette! I rarely use eyeshadow but that could be down to the fact that the only eyeshadow I own is in an ANCIENT Virgin Vie palette and there isn't much left. When I do use eyeshadows, I prefer a neutral, understated look so I figured that this palette would suit me best. I really wanted to get the Urban Decay Naked Palette but I can't justify spending nearly £40 on eyeshadow when I rarely use it anyway! So I opted for Sleek's more affordable palette.

Sleek palette case

You can buy Sleek make-up at Superdrug, or online here, and this Au Naturel palette retails at £6.99. There are 12 shadows included, 8 of which are matte shades, and 4 shimmer. This is great value for money considering you could pay that for just one eyeshadow from another brand. The shadows come in a simple but sophistcated black matte case with the Sleek writing on the lid.

Shades in Au Naturel palette

Above, you can see the colours included in this palette. You also get a handy little eyeshadow applicator, and a large mirror on the lid of the palette. The packaging is so pretty, I didn't even want to swatch the shadows because they look so nice as they are! But I did swatch them, just for you guys.

Swatched

I've tried to catch the shadows in the best light possible, but I do apologise as it's still quite hard to see, especially the lighter shades. From L-R, the shades are Nougat (a pale matte cream), Nubuck (a light grey-brown matte), Cappuccino (a light matte beige), Honeycomb (a warm yellow-beige matte), Toast (a matte light orange-brown), Taupe (a shimmery light brown/gold), Conker (a shimmery purple-brown), Moss (a shimmery green-brown), Bark (a matte true brown), Mineral Earth (a shimmery dark brown), Regal (a dark matte purple-brown) and Noir (a true black matte).

My favourite shade is definitely Taupe, it's the perfect gold-brown for me. I haven't used these on my eyes yet so I can't comment on their durability, but they are well-pigmented and at £6.99 for 12 eyeshadows, you can't go wrong really!

Have you tried any of the Sleek palettes? What's your favourite shade?

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter

This is yet another product that I've heard so much about, and something I've been dying to try since I heard about it! As I've mentioned, I'm not a lipstick fan at all. I'm always too conscious that it's there, it feels awkward to eat or drink with and I somehow end up with lipstick all over my teeth and god knows where else. So when I heard about this lip butter, I thought it sounded great - basically a moisturizing lip balm with colour!

I intended to purchase the shade Peach Parfait but I couldn't find it anywhere, so I settled for Tutti Frutti which is more orange than I anticipated. Revlon claims that these lip butters will make your lips softer, more hydrated and and smoother as they are enriched with mango, shea and coconut butter.

Firstly, how gorgeous is this packaging?! I love it. You can see how bright it looks in the applicator, but it actually applies quite sheer so there's still a pop of colour but it's not so in-your-face. These retail at £7.99, but Superdrug is currently selling them on offer at £5.99.

Swatched on hand

It applies really smoothly and has a very creamy, buttery (as the name suggests) consistency. I love the fact that you can apply it really easily as it's more like a lip balm than a lipstick, so you don't have to be as precise as you do with lipstick. Great to chuck in your handbag for touch-ups during the day! And - bonus! - this hasn't transferred on to my teeth at all yet!

I'll be making sure I pick up a few more shades of this on my next trip to the shops, it's so easy to apply, made my lips feel super-soft and gives a lovely shine without the stickiness of a gloss.

Have you tried Revlon's lip butters yet? What's your favourite shade?

June Favourites!

L-R, top to bottom: Bioderma Crealine solution, L'Occitane Angelica Hydration Cream, ELF HD powder, Caudalie Beauty Elixir, Benefit Sugarbomb blush, Benefit Porefessional, Essie Fiji, Topshop Lip Stick in Powder Room

Firstly, I can't believe it's July already! This year is just disappearing for me! I thought I'd do a post rounding up my favourite beauty products from June. A couple are skincare products, and the rest are make-up products.

1. Bioderma Crealine H2O Cleansing Solution - if you haven't already heard of this product, where have you been?! I finally bought this cleanser after reading so many rave reviews online, and I'm so glad I did. I got mine on eBay and it was about £12 including P&P, which is very reasonable consdering it's a huge 500ml bottle. It's a micellar solution and it basically breaks down the make-up, meaning you can just wipe it off! I use a small squirt of this on a couple of cotton pads, and ALL my make-up, including stubborn mascara, is gone within a minute. Perfect for us lazy girls!

2. L'Occitane Angelica Hydration Cream - I previously mentioned this in my LIB box post (which you can find here) so I'm not going to say too much about it. It's £29 for 50ml, and I have a 15ml sample pot. I have oily skin, but I also have dry patches around my nose so I like to use a moisturiser which is really nourishing but not too heavy. This is perfect for that! I only use it at night and my skin is always so soft and replenished by morning. Smells gorgeous, too!

3. ELF High Definition Powder - I use this once I've finished doing my make-up, and it adds a lovely soft-focus, matte but not chalky finish. I just love it. I've read some reviews saying that it can give a ghost-face effect in flash photography, but that hasn't happened to me yet. You have to be quite light-handed with it, and the packaging is quite messy but the actual product is great, and it's so affordable! It costs £6, and is also available in a corrective yellow colour, and a shimmer colour.

4. Caudalie Beauty Elixir - this is another seriously hyped up product, and I was worried it would disappoint me. But it definitely hasn't! I bought the 30ml size which cost £8.80 from LookFantastic. I've only had it for a few days and I've already used about a quarter of the bottle.. whoops! I love the scent, it's very herbal and almost medicinal, but it's so refreshing. I spritz it after using toner, and then throughout the day to freshen up my make-up.

5. Benefit Sugarbomb Blush - this is my favourite blush I've ever owned so far. It's not highly pigmented, so I do use quite a lot to get a good colour, but I love how subtle it is. It gives such a gorgeous glow, and even if I use this alone without foundation, concealer or anything else, it instantly perks me up and makes me look healthier. It retails at £23.50 which I find quite expensive for a blush, but I've used it daily since I got it and it looks like it'll last me a long time. It has 4 colours (a dusky pink, light pink, lilac and peach) and you swirl all of them together, or you can even use them on their own. It smells amazing, too!

6. Benefit The Porefessional - I received this sample size tube in Glamour magazine last month and was really excited by it as I've heard great things! This instantly helps to minimize the pores on my nose, slightly blur any imperfections and provides a great, smooth base for my foundation. It has a slight beige tint and a really creamy consistency so it blends like a dream. It retails at £23.50 and I can definitely see myself repurchasing this once I've used up my sample. 

7. Essie Nail Polish in Fiji - AAAH! This is definitely my favourite nail polish I've ever owned. The colour is the lightest, barely-there opaque baby pink. It applies beautifully, I love the fan brush and it's completely opaque in 2 coats. The colour just looks so sophisticated and dainty, and if you can't already tell, I am in love. I can't help gushing about it. The only problem is that because it's such a light colour, any little mistakes are really noticeable. I'm not the best at applying nail polish YET, but I'm sure I can find the time to practice!

8. Topshop Lip Stick in Powder Room - I literally just bought this yesterday, and it's already a firm staple in my handbag. It costs £7 from Topshop, and it's basically a lip crayon. Full review here.

So, that's my June favourites! Have you tried any of these products? What have been your June essentials?

Topshop Lip Stick: Powder Room

Topshop Lip Stick in Powder Room

Continuing my foray into the realm of lip colour, I decided to purchase a Topshop Lip Stick in shade Powder Room. I actually really wanted shade Coy, but my local store was out of stock so I settled for Powder Room. I'd also like to apologize for the picture quality, my digital camera is broken so I'm having to make the best of my resources - Blackberry camera and a webcam! It's really hard to get the true colour to show up, but I've tried to catch it in the best light I can.

Topshop Lip Stick in Powder Room

The packaging is gorgeous, as expected from Topshop. It looks really cute in my make-up bag and I just love it.

Topshop Lip Stick in Powder Room

I thought the colour would be a dusky sort of rose pink, but when applied it's actually brighter and more of a baby pink. Very summery and easy to wear!

Swatched on back of hand

 Application wise, I love the fact that it's a chunky crayon because I find regular lipsticks to be quite fiddly to apply. You basically colour in your lips and I also like that the colour can be built up from quite a natural flush of pink, to a brighter colour. The formula is matte, so it is a little drying and I found that I had to give my lips a really good scrub before I used this, or my lips would look really dry and horrible.

In terms of longevity, I found this to be amazing. I applied it at 12pm yesterday, went for lunch, got caught in the rain, smoked, ate and drank and the colour still looked freshly applied at around 7-8pm. This really surprised me because every other time I've used a lipstick, I've had to retouch every hour or two because it just wiped off. I think because this is a matte formula it's much better at holding the colour to the lips.

I can safely say that I love this product! I'm still on the hunt for Coy, but I'm really glad that I bought Powder Room because it's going to be a staple in my make-up bag. Topshop Lip Sticks retail at £7.

Have you tried the Topshop make-up range? Do you have a favourite product?

Superdrug/Boots haul!

Today I finally landed myself a job after 4 months of trying. So I decided that was reason enough for me to have a little shopping spree! I've been lusting after SO many products for months now, so I finally got my hands on certain bits and bobs that I've been wanting.

First up is the Sleek i-Divine Au Naturel Palette. Sleek is a brand I had never really heard of until I started reading beauty blogs, and I've been dying to try one of their eye palettes ever since! I bought this from Superdrug and it cost £6.99, which I think is very reasonable considering there are 12 shadows inside. I opted for the natural palette as I'm not a huge eyeshadow wearer anyway and when I do wear it, I prefer neutral, understated colours. There are 8 matte colours and 4 shimmer colours, so I think there's something for everyone! Really excited to use this, it might even convert me to the "dark side" and I'll be going eyeshadow crazy!

The second item I bought was from Boots, and it's the Clean & Clear Blackhead Clearing Daily Scrub. I have never been a huge fan of Clean&Clear, Clearasil, etc etc, as when I was younger I used a lot of their products to try and battle spots, but they ended up making everything worse. However, I have read some great reviews on this and I've noticed that my nose is full of blackheads which refuse to budge despite numerous attempts using pore strips and various other scrubs! It cost £3.99, but I think Boots have a 3 for 2 offer on at the moment!

The next thing I picked up was the TRESemme Liquid Gold Restorative Complex which cost £6.99 from Superdrug. I received a sample of Berber Oil in a Glossybox and I've loved it, but it is a little pricey for the full-size bottle so I thought I'd try this more affordable version! My hair is flat, fine and very dry at the ends due to years of bleach abuse, so I need all the extra moisture I can get.

I also picked up a Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti from Superdrug, which cost £5.99 as it was on offer. I think they're usually £7.99. I was really after the Peach Parfait shade, but both Boots and Superdrug were sold out of it so I went for Tutti Frutti instead. I've only recently gotten into lip products, I've always been a lipbalm-and-go kinda girl, but now I'm venturing into lip colour! I'll still be keeping my eye out for Peach Parfait, as I think it looks right up my street colour-wise.

The next item I bought was the Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in shade Fair - 1. I'm worried this may be a little too pale for me as even though I'm quite fair, this looked reeeeally pale when I swatched it. Again, I've heard amazing reviews about this product and I'm really excited to see if it lives up to the hype! It cost £4.19 from Boots.

Next up is the Topshop Lip Stick in Powder Room. I fell in love with the shade Coy after seeing Kate wearing it on her blog, and I just knew that I HAD to have it. So off I went to Topshop today, desperately scouring their make-up stand and Coy was nowhere to be found. :( But I found Powder Room and thought it looked gorge, so I purchased that instead and I'm very glad I did! Not going to say too much as I want to do a full product review on this. It cost £7 from Topshop.

The rest of my purchases were a variety of nail polishes! Again, I've never been into nail polish really. My nails have always been short, bitten and naked, but after seeing so many pretty nails on beauty blogs, I've decided that I need to start prettifying mine! First up is the Barry M Nail Paint in shade 317 Blue Moon. I thought this would be a gorgeous pastel baby blue, perfect for summer. I also bought Barry M Nail Paint in shade 318 Peach Melba again a lovely pastel shade (I adore pastels right now!) of coral. I also threw in my basket a Barry M All in One Basecoat, Topcoat & Nail Hardener because I don't even own a topcoat polish! Each of these polishes cost £2.99 and can be found in Boots and Superdrug.

Another product which was brought to my attention by beauty blogs is the nail polish brand Essie. I'm aware that they have only recently launched in the UK, so I bounced into Superdrug today like an excited little puppy to see if I could find my most coveted shades (I wanted Mint Candy Apple, Tart Deco and Fiji). Much to my disappointment, my local Superdrug had no Essie stand at all! So I gave up and went to Boots, but I was very pleased to see a brightly lit, gorgeously inviting Essie stand in there. I spied Fiji straight away and as it was the very last bottle, I snapped it up. I decided against buying Mint Candy Apple, as I had already purchased the Barry M blue moon and felt that the shades were quite similar. Tart Deco was sold out, sniff sniff. :( The Essie polishes retail at £7.99. I also quickly popped into TK Maxx and found a little trio of Essie polishes for only £7! Bargain. Although I have no idea what shades they are. After intensive googling, I think the brown is Little Brown Dress, the pearly topcoat is Kisses & Bises, and the amber clear coat I'm still not totally sure on.. But hey, a bargain's a bargain!

Finally, I picked up a Models Own Nail Polish in shade Golden Peach. The golden shimmer of this coral polish caught my eye instantly, and I beelined for it. This cost £5 from Boots, and I'm very excited to try this. I think it'll look ace with a tan!

So, that's my haul and first blog spot conquered in one! I'm very excited to use all of my new products, I think I'll be painting my nails 3 times a day just to use all of my polishes! I'm planning on writing full product reviews for these once I've given them a good trial run.

Have you tried any of these products? What do you think? And most importantly, WHAT SHADE is that clear amber Essie nail polish?! Seriously, I don't even know what it's for!