Illamasqua Gift Set

Hello my lovelies,

It's not very often that I get a proper good bargain in the sales; everyone seems to always get there before me where the really good deals are concerned but I was lucky enough to get hold of one of the Illamasqua Freak perfume gift sets on offer at Boots for a fraction of the original price. I've been wanting a bottle for the longest time but never been able to afford to splash out so I couldn't say no to this little set...

In the gift set there was a 30ml bottle of Illamasqua Freak, a nail polish in the shade 'Raindrops' and a pure pigment in 'Furure'; both pieces of makeup are full size which really surprised me and I only paid £13.50 for the lot!! As you all probably know, Illamasqua isn't cheap makeup so I couldn't believe this was such a steal on the Boots website. 

Freak is a very unique scent and I would imagine it's a bit like marmite; you'll either love it or hate it because it's so different. It's a heavy scent which is firstly what draws me to it because I like a fragrance which is easily recognisable when I've got it on, I think it's the frankincense which comes through the most for me which gives it a really oriental kind of scent (exactly what I like). 

The pure pigment in Furore is absolutely perfect for me; it's a peachy beige high shimmer metallic which is perfect for using as an eye colour and as a highlighter. It can be used wet or dry to create some truly beautiful looks. I never thought I'd be able to make pigment work because the high shimmer makes it look unwearable to me but I'm so glad I've got this because I think it'll become a staple in my night time makeup routine.

Raindrops is a light grey/blue jelly finish nail polish with tiny little flecks of glitter to give it a gorgeous finish on your nails. It's a perfect winter/spring shade and I can't wait to actually try it out on my nails. It's only £5.80 to buy separately on the Illamasqua website at the moment which is an absolute bargain in itself!

Basically I got over £50 worth of gorgeous beauty products for a quarter of the price! Unfortunately, this particular gift set is no longer available on the Boots website but keep a watch on the individual Illamasqua Freak 30ml bottle because it was only £10.50 and the words 'currently out of stock' would suggest that it might come back in stock, although I obviously can't guarantee it'll be so cheap!

Sales

Hello my beautiful lovely dolls,

Now I don't know about you but I love a bargain or two. Bargains come in all styles like sales, charity shops, offers ie buy two get one free or half price etc. since Christmas I have bought from two sales...so far! Both times from Boots, I have looked at other stores but nothing really took my fancy which is a shocker. Anywho here is what I got.

Now I do have some more but can't seem to find the pictures so I will have to take more. When I do I'll update this post.

Now this lovely bundle cost £18.89 and I paid using my boots club are points which was amazing that I had even accumulated that many points, as I've not had it that long.

Since I bought these I have used the mark hill straightening set which includes shampoo, conditioner, heat protection spray and straightening balm and let me tell you it's amazing. It does exactly what it say and straightens hair perfectly. Ok I used straighteners as well but I didn't need to go over my hair so many times and it gave my hair such a shine, which for my hair is kind of hard to do.

I've also used the lee stafford set, which includes dry shampoo, dehumidifying spray, heat protection and a comb. How all I've used is the heat protection and dehumidifying sprays and they are brilliant, along with these I use lee stafford quick dry spray which you put on damp hair and brush through and it cuts your blow drying time in half. It used to take me an hour and a half to dry and straighten my hair. Now with the quick dry spray and can blow dry my hair and straighten it in less than an hour. Ok maybe an hour, but I faff about trying to pin my hair into sections. 

So I would gladly suggest investing in these products, trust me you will never use any other products again.

Real Techniques Miracle Sponge

Hello my beautiful lovely dolls, 

I have finally managed to get my hands on one of these lovely little sponges. Now most of you will probably have already heard of them, some may have already got one. For me it took months of finding and finally during a little Christmas (yes I said the C word) shopping in Boots with my lovely mama I finally picked one up. I have only used it once and I did the cardinal sin. I used it dry *gasp* now the reason I did this was to see how my foundation went on and I must say the sponge soaked up most of the foundation so I ended up using the Real Technique Stippling brush instead.

It's a lovely little sponge, from pictures I have seen I thought it was going to be a bigger sponge, but it sits comfortably in my small hand lol. I will try it damp, not wet wet (wet), but damp. I have tried a cosmopolitan sponge but didn't like the finish it gave me. I used it damp and it still soaked up the foundation so I am hoping this sponge is different.

 As you can see from the pictures it has different surfaces and the flat surface is the one I used to do the main areas of my face and the ends I used to get into the corners of my nose and under my eyes. Areas that I can't get to properly with a brush and I don't like using my fingers to put my foundation or concealer on as I find it unhygienic even if they have been washed I still don't like it.

Overall I think this is a good little addition to my ever growing make up box and brush collection. Can not wait to use it how you are suppose to lol.

Have you got a miracle sponge? What are you opinions on it?

Soap & Glory Kick Ass Concealer

Lets talk concealer. I am totally in love with Soap & Glorys Kick Ass Concealer. I mean just look at the packaging so cute and it captures your eye which is what you want a product to do. Seriously who in their right mind would pick up a product that was dreary and boring? It's a brilliant product as well, I've looked and tried most concealers, but I have never managed to find one that actually stays put. That's where this product is different. 

 You see there are three steps to this product step on (pink side) this goes under your eyes and hides dark circles. I have terrible dark circles and this hide them pretty well, I wouldn't say completely but they were hidden. Onto step two (cream side) this is the blemish concealer and this is a life saver for me, I suffer from acne and really need a concealer that hides my acne, I don't care if you see bumps but redness I can't stand and this covers the redness so well. When I first put it on I was like omg they are gone, it wasn't until I got right up to the mirror that I noticed the bumps. So to say I was a happy bunny was an u understatement.

Finally step three, this is an ingenious idea. It's a setting powder that you put on over the concealer to set it before you move on to your foundation (if you put your concealer first that is) and this setting powder actually keeps the concealer in place. I do tend to put concealer on first then foundation the again with concealer. Yet with this I did not need the second round of concealer. My mum was actually shocked with how covered my acne was, she's even tempted to buy some. 

I bought this from Boots for £10 and it is worth every penny. I would defiantly say if you haven't got this product and want a concealer that actually conceals blemishes then go out and buy this. It is a great investment.

MUA eye palette

It was the Pixiwoo girls that first introduced me to MUA more than a year and a half ago when they featured the Heaven and Earth eyeshadow palette in one of their videos. Since then, I've read countless blog posts praising MUA eyeshadow palettes as a cheap but good quality alternative to the Urban Decay Naked palettes (with Undressed being modelled off the original Naked, and Undress Me Too the Naked2 palette). I own and adore both Naked palettes, so I never felt compelled to try out a more affordable version (especially when it involves buying online — something I try to avoid unless desperate, which seems to be quite frequently). What really pushed me over the edge though, was recently watching Fleur De Force's £20 Makeup Challenge where she raves about Heaven and Earth and uses 4 shades from it as part of her look. Once I started to properly inspect swatches of Heaven and Earth, I realised practically all the shades appealed to me.

The palette consists of 12 shades — 3 highlight shades, 5 medium shades and 3 darker shades. Each individual eyeshadow doesn't have a name, so I've labelled them 1 to 12 for convenience.

In the top row, shade 1 is a frosty pale champagne/off-white, 2 is a warm, copper-tinged light-to-medium brown, 3 is a dirty yellow gold mixed with a hint of olive, 4 is a pearlescent light pink, 5 is a warm, dark chocolate brown and 6 is an amber/orangey-gold. On the bottom row, shade 7 is a medium-to-dark chocolate brown, similar to the second last shade on the top row but lighter, 8 is a neutral, light-to-medium beige/brown, 9 is a pale, frosty peach, 10 is a cool, silvery, purplish taupe, 11 is a warm, medium-to-dark bronze, and 12 is a slightly ashy dark brown with silvery glitter.

My most used colours are 2, 5, 8, 10 and 11. I tried 3 and 6 as all-over lid colours, but still prefer the other more neutral (read: beige/brown) shades. The shadows aren't uniformly pigmented and some of them were surprisingly difficult to swatch (2, 3, 8 and 10 in particular). Generally, the highlight shades (1, 4 and 9) have excellent pigmentation, with 9 being the clear standout for whatever reason. Shade 5 and 6 also have better than average colour payoff. Surprisingly, I haven't experienced all that much fallout, unlike with my Sleek orWet n Wild eyeshadow palettes. Though all the shades are shimmery, they're more of a subdued, satin finish and aren't as intensely metallic as say, the Sleek i-Divine palette in Storm.

Are these shadows comparable to the Urban Decay Naked palette? I would say a resounding no. Anyone who has experienced both palettes will know what I'm talking about. The MUA simply doesn't hold up to Urban Decay's stunning pigmentation, metallic depth, blendability, smoothness and lasting power. But for the price I paid (under $10), I'm satisfied with the quality and shade selection. There's a good mix of safe, everyday neutrals that you can use for almost any occasion. For the sheer ratio of potential all-over lid colours in one palette, Heaven and Earth is worth having in your collection.