Huda Beauty Liquid Matte in Bombshell

It's been a little while since I put fingers to keyboard and wrote a blog. Life has been pretty manic, but I thought the Huda Beauty Liquid Matte liquid lipstick would be a great way to jump back into things!

While up in London last weekend I noticed a cheeky new stand in the Harrods beauty hall. Huda Beauty, small in size, but the queue of people sure made up for the lack of floor space devoted to the stand. To be honest, I'm really shocked at quite how small her stand was in the store? I mean, the other products have been a huge success everywhere they have launched, and I see no reason why that wouldn't be the same here in the UK…but that's just my personal opinion.

So anyway after waiting in line for what seemed like forever, it was finally my turn. However, I wasn't actually able to get anywhere near the stand still as it was jam packed so I had to order my lip colour using a little swatch booklet and luckily I already knew the lashes I wanted. The shopping experience wasn't great, so i would highly recommend sitting in the conform of your own homes and ordering directly from cultbeauty.com

On to the product. Let me first give you a little warning before you purchase any of the Huda Beauty Liquid Matte lipsticks…WARNING…if you don't want the rest of your lipstick collection to seem pointless then do not purchase the Huda Beauty range. After just a few uses I'm already so hooked to her Liquid Matte that I just don't know if I can use any other formula!

And here's why. Not only does it seem A-MAZING, the actual formula is so smooth and beautiful. It really is a pleasure to apply this matte lipstick. Unlike other matte lipsticks I've tried, this one isn't that drying and it lasts SO long without flaking or leaving your lips patchy.

It's longevity you ask? Incredible! I applied a layer at 8.30 before jumping into my car to hear to a client meeting, I drank coffee, I drove to another meeting, I had a soft drink and then I had a sandwich for my lunch and the whole time my lip colour stayed in place and looked beautiful. By the end of the day the colour had started to fade a little, but it was still clear I had a lip colour on. I couldn't believe how well it held up! Honestly, I don't know of another brand that can hold this well while looking good and feeling good.

Huda, you have ruined every other brand of liquid lip in the world with your perfect formula.

P.S. they also smell DIVINE! like coconut and holidays :)

DLJ
Xoxo

Juvia's Place : Nubian 2 palette

I swear Nikkie Tutorials literally costs me a fortune in random make up purchases. However, this beautiful palette was on the seemingly 'cost effective' end of the scale!

The Juvia's Place Nubian 2 palette consists of 12 HUGE pans (8 glitter/shimmer and 4 matte) giving you a net wight of 45g, which lets face it, is a lot of product!

On first swatting the palette I was blown away by the glitter/simmer pans, but found that the matte colours didm't seem to have as much pigment. However, once I actually applied it to my eyes, the mattes were also extremely beautiful. All of the colours are creamy and super blendable when on.

Swatch time…as you can see, the glittery / shimmery colours are very bold vs the mattes. I swatches them from left to right, top to bottom.

All in all, you get some pretty impressive colour pay off from these shadows and you get a hell of a lot of product for your money. They are easy to work with and look great on. I would say this would be perfect for someone who is just starting out and wants to get a grip on doing eye looks right up to your pro's like Nikkie and Jaclyn!

Happy blending babes

DLJ

Xoxo

Brow Definer Dupe?

While wandering around my local Boots today, I spotted this little baby in the corner of my eye. Being an Anastasia Beverly Hills lover, I was surprised to see what appeared to be a Brow Definer...in the Soap & Glory range!

Of course, I had to take a closer look and I was quite surprised to see just how similar the ABH Brow Definer and the Soap & Glory Archery Brow Sculpting Crayon & Gel were. At a glance, the only real difference I could see what the fact that the Soap & Glory product comes with a brow gel in the same applicator instead of just a spooly. 

Oh and the other key difference was the price.

ABH Brow Definer : £16
Soap & Glory Archery Brow Sculpting Crayon & Gel : £10

So, £6 isn't a huge difference, but when Boots are doing 'buy 1 get one half price' thats TWO Soap & Glory Archery Brow Sculpting Crayon & Gel's for less than ONE ABH Brow Definer.

The shape of the actual product was literally the exact same for both products: 

And the ingredients don't differ too much (everything in pink is the same and blue is similar. I'm pretty sure the other ingredients are very similar or have the same properties, but I'm not a chemist, so I can't be sure!)

ABH Brow Definer 
Behenic Acid, Mica, Rhus Succedanea Fruit Wax/Cera, Lanolin, Triethylhexanoin, Sucrose Tetrastearate Triacetate, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Sorbitan Sesquiisostearate, Hydrogen Dimethicone, Caprylyl Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Tocopherol, May Contain: (+/-) Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Ferric Ferrocyanide (Ci 77510).
 

Soap & Glory Archery Brow Sculpting Crayon & Gel 
Hydrogenated soybean oil, Hydrogenated coco-glycerides, Hydrogenated vegetable oil, Zinc stearate, Stearic acid, Copernicia cerifera (Carnauba) wax, Polyglyceryl-2 triisostearate, Tocopherol, Caprylyl glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Ascorbyl palmitate, Hexylene glycol, [+/- (May contain) Mica, CI 77891 (Titanium dioxide), CI 77499 (Iron oxides), CI 77492 (Iron oxides), CI 77491 (Iron oxides)]. 

But what about the colour? Well these is a slightly noticeable difference when I swatch the two colours next to each other, it doesn’t appear to be huge, but colour can make a massive difference when you’re doing your brows. Below I swatches ABH Taupe with S&G Brown & Out. 

I'll leave you to be the judge!

DLJ

Xoxo

Chanel Perfection Lumière Foundation

I already have a few Chanel products in my make up collection so I was really excited about trying out the Chanel Perfection Lumière foundation. I have a very oily t-zone and then dry patches on my chin and the rest of my face is pretty dehydrated. So seriously combination skin! Because of this I'm always cautious of purchasing a new foundation without testing it. I was colour matched in store and took a little sashet home to test. 

Whenever I'm about to try a new foundation I always ask to be given the foundation with the most amount of coverage. Even at 25 I still get break outs and have some scaring from past years where I've picked at my skin so I try to stick to a foundation that will attempt to hind my red patches (not because there is anything wrong with spots, but because I feel that when I can see them, other people are starring at them!)

First thoughts :

I could tell straight away that the coverage wasn't going to be enough for me which was fustrating given that I had asked for a full coverage foundation. None the less, I continued with my application in the hope that I could built up to the coverage that I required. I really didn't like the way the foundation was settling on my skin and within just a few hours I started to look patchy, my worst nightmare!! 

I applied the foundation with both a brush and a beauty blended and the application on the day when I used the beauty blended was defiantly better, but not enough that I would want to use this foundation again. 

The colour had heavy pink undertones and I felt like my make up was much more obvious on my skin, which is not good especially if the foundation is going to go patchy. 

I felt like the foundation broke down quicker on the day that I applied it using my brush and stayed intact a little longer on the day that I used the beauty blender. All in all, I was so disappointed with this foundation. I have a few other beauty and make I products from Chanel and have been really impressed with them, but this foundation is defiantly not a keeper. 

DLJ

Xoxo

Bioderma Hydrabio H2O

I've been holding on to this little bottle for some time now. I was really feel torn about testing the Bioderma Hydrabio H2O. On one hand, I already use the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water and seriously love it, but on the other hand, I love a new product!

So after a few months of having this little bottle sat in my 'to try' pile of products, I decided enough is enough. I can't stand it looking at me waiting to be used! This little bottle lasted me just over a week and a half. 

Bioderma claim that their Hydrabio H2O is a 'cleansing and make-up removing water that respects the facility of sensitive skin and stimulates moisture' and states it is the ONLY dermatological micelles water that is 'perfectly compatible with the skin'.

So the first thing I tested? How well it actually removes my make up. I tested this on my normal 'everyday' face of make-up which includes foundation, powder, blusher, mascara, brow product and mascara.

Unless you only wear a super light foundation or BB cream etc, this Bioderma product is not removing your make up. I mean I'll give it some credit, it took off a lot of my actual face products, but didn't budge any of my eye make up and I had to rub pretty hard to shift my brow products too. However, that being said, when I use the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water, use it AFTER I have washed my face and before I apply my moisturiser. With this in mind, for the rest of the week, I simple switched the Bioderma Hydrabio H2O in the place of my Garniner Miceller Cleansing Water, only seems fair. 

After using the Bioderma Hydrabio H2O for just over a week, morning and night in place of my Garniner, these were my thoughts...

Although the Bioderma Hydrabio H2O smells absolutely incredible (the smell to me, is just like how clean fresh air is on a summers day, yeh imagine that every day on your face lol) it wasn't enough for me to want to stop using my Garniner Miceller Cleansing Water.

Price was, the Bioderma Hydrabio H2O comes in two different sizes 100ml (£5.00) and 250ml (£10.50) vs the Garniner Miceller Cleansing Water 400ml (£4.99). Which is quite a difference.

Personally, I didn't feel that my skin benefited at all from switching over to the Bioderma Hydrabio H2O and so for that reason that I won't be switching from Garniner Miceller Cleansing Water.

DLJ

Xoxo 

Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip in Bumble

The first things I want to get off my chest with Colourpop is ... SORT OUT POSTAGE TO THE UK!!! This brand is all over my Instagram newsfeed ALL the time and yet they are still not doing international postage, what is that all about Colourpop?! I mean really, come on.

Anyway, now that little rant is over, lets move on to the product. I was desperate to get my hands one of these lip shades as they have literally rocketed recently. I was a little bit apprehensive to order a lip colour on line without trying a swatch first in store as I am so pale and have to be really careful with my choice of lip colours or I look a little bit dead. However, I feel like I've seen pretty much every Ultra Matte Lip colour on every skin type through the power of Instagram and because Colourpop have the most amazing swatches on their website…

I decided on Bumble as it is a warm terracotta and I find that my skin tone suits these colourings. Having used a few matte lip colours in the past, I was aware that the Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip may leave my lips feeling dried out and crumbly. However, I was really pleasantly surprised with the formula. 

I have tried a few matte lip colours and I have to say, none of them have been this creamy! Normally, I find that when you wear a matte lip colour, you can feel that your wearing a lip colour and I hate that. The Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip on the other hand sits so nicely so I don't feel it at all. It also lasts for AGES. I wore this out to dinner a few weeks ago and I wasn't left with patchy bits of lippy here and there (although I did get a little bit of transfer from my bottom lip onto my chin but then I was eating a huge burger, so I mean what can you expect?!)

So we know the formula is amazing, but what about the price? You'd expect to pay a fortune for this given that it's so good right? Well you're wrong. These beautiful lip Ultra Matte Lip colours are just $6 (around £4) each!! What is there not to like?! Other than the fact that you can't ship to the UK....Oh Colourpop it was all going so well until I remembered that huge bummer. So if you're off to the state or have someone who will order for you and send them over the 'pond', do it!!

DLJ

Xoxo

Urban Decay Electric Palette

This palette had been on my wish list for a good year or so before I finally took the plunge. I had been eyeing up these beautiful bold colours but always deciding not to order as I was worried I would end up never using the colours. Then, around a month ago, JustJodes advertised the palette as brand new on her depop with a lovely little discount vs the high street value. I um'ed and ah'ed as to if I should buy it or not, then with my phone in one hand and a glass of white wine in another, I decided to just go for it! And ohhhh myyyy am I glad I did!

I LOVE this palette so much, it may even be my favourite palette?! Can you believe I almost missed out on what may now be my favourite palette of a little fear of not using the colours?? Insanity. 

First things first, can we please take a moment to appreciate the packaging?! Isn't it so beautiful? And the thing I really like is that you don't loose the beautiful design once you take the palette out of the box. I really dislike it when companies design really beautiful packaging for the outside of the product then when you go inside the product it's is plain and boring. The theme packaging runs throughout with this product and this really pleases my OCD. 

Once your past the beautiful packaging you will find 10 insanely pigmented and creamy colours. Across the 10 shades are three different textures : matte, satin & shimmer , all of which are actually blendable. 

And the swatches live up to your expectations! 

                

                 (Two different lights) 

And how do they look on you ask? Oh my, they are even better! Hands down my favourite palette EVER! And surprisingly transferable to every day looks 

DLJ 

Xoxo

Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Mascara

Over the past few years I have been a pretty die hard Benefit mascara fan. I wasn't really looking to try a new mascara as I was pretty sure that nothing else on the market could top my love for They're Real and Roller Lash. It was by chance that the Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme mascara feel into my hands and not being one to pass up the excuse to try new make up, I decided to branch outside of my comfort zone and give this mascara a try.

The mascara itself comes in the standard Estee Lauder blue packaging, which I like. Inside is where the mascara gets a little bit 'jazzy' (yes I sound super old what I say the word jazzy, but it just felt right so I'm going to go with it!) Anyway, back to the packaging, as I was saying, when you open up the standard blue box, you are greeted by a beautiful golden tube of mascara bearing the Estee Lauder 'EL'. I like the fact that the packaging gives off an elegant and classic look, so based on appearance this product ticks all the right boxes.

Anyone who uses mascara will tell you that the applicator brush is one of the most important aspects of the product. Without a good brush, your lashes won't get that sexy, long lasting curl we all want and aim for. The application brush defiantly lives up to the name Sumptuous Extreme! The brush, or 'brushcomber' as it's technically called for this mascara, is huge and voluptuous allowing you to pretty much cover all of your lashes in one swoop!

But for me, that's when it all starts to fall down a little bit. I love Estee Lauder products and my mum literally swears by their whole range, but I just found the formula a little bit clumpy! I feel like although my lashes appear longer and fuller, my lashes also stick together so much so it's like I have a few very long and very full lashes and then a few bold spots, which to be honest, isn't the look I'm going for. But this issue is only on my upper lashes and not on my lower lash line, which means that this mascara is greta for when you are wearing false lashes, but not so much when your not…we can't have everything right?

Priced at £21 for 6ml in the option of either black or brown, I can say that I won't be picking up another one of these when this one runs out. It's been great to try and I will use it all as I hate waste, but I'm sorry to say that once this baby runs out, thats the end of the line for us.

DLJ
Xoxo

Makeup Revolution Ultra Base Corrector Palette : Colour Corrector

Last year was the year of the contour and this year appears to be the year of colour correction. So far, there aren't masses of colour correction palettes on the market, but as this trend gets bigger, I am sure that you will see palettes popping up left, right and centre.

One palette on the market in the UK is the Makeup Revolution Ultra Base Corrector Palette. (FYI Make Up Revolution ship internationally to all my non-UK readers). I really like the packaging of this palette too. It seems to be really well made sturdy, I actually have palettes that I've paid more for that don't feel this strong.

Home to 8 creamy colours, this palette seems to be a great first step into the colour correction market. But now you own the palette, what do you do with all of the colours? Although some of the colours are subtle and not too far from what you may already be using, there are a few colours which, like me, you may not have thought about using on your skin!

Pink : Brightens
Lavender : Neutralises yellow tones
Green : Neutralises redness
Orange : Neutralises blue tones
Peach : Helps to balance out slight discoloration
White : Adds natural highlight and brightens
Cream : Neutralises purple and covers dark areas
Brown : Balances ashiness in medium to dark skin tones

To get started,
1) Prep your skin as per usual e.g. cleanse, tone, moisturise and add your primer
2) Use your colour correction palette to reduce any marks or colours you don't to see
3) Apply your foundation and concealer over the top (I would recommend using a beauty blender to do this so you don't move any of the colours below)
4) Continue with your normal make up routine!

But does it really work? For a bargain price of £6 this palette is well worth a try. I mean for £6 you can't really go wrong can you? The colours area very creamy and do blend out really nicely. When you first blend everything out, your skin can look pretty 'white' so you couldn't use this without adding your foundation after. Also, I'm not sure this would work for people with dark skin tones. If you are fair or medium, then this palette will work for you. Sorry to my dark skinned beauties, fingers crossed Makeup Revolution will be bringing something to market just for you soon!

Overall, I've been so impressed with this palette. The colours have made a difference to the way my make up looks and has been great at hiding my patchy bits. I would be really keen to try out other brands, specifically the NYX palette so that I can have a palette to compare this one to. If your on a budget or not, this palette is a great start to the world of colour correction!

DLJ
Xoxo

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Definer Defined

I'm pretty sure that anyone who has an Instagram account at the moment will see images of this product popping onto their screens, whether their account is make up based or not. With a following of just under 8 million people, Anastasia has a pretty strong army of brow loving girls and boys. So it doesn't come as any shock to see how quickly this product is making it's way to the masses and onto my screen.

Being one of the 7.9 million followers and a user of ABH I was keen to be quick off the mark with trying out the new Brow Definer. 

Having used the ABH Dipbrow Pomade for well over a year, I knew that Taupe was going to be the right colour for me. I promptly placed my order with Cult Beauty and was chuffed to receive my order next day!! 

The Brow Definer pencil is unique in that it has three different ways to outline and fill in brows:

Thin : use the sharpest point of the tip to create fine, hair like strokes
Medium : use the back side of the pencil to create thicker, hair like strokes
Wide : use the pencil on its side to create broad strokes.
(source : http://www.anastasiabeverlyhills.com/brow-definer.html)

Personally, I would say that I feel that it has two ways to define your brows. However, I did mess up the thinnest part of the pencil on my first application because I didn't read the above! Had I have know this, maybe I woudn't have been so heavy handed at first application!

I love my dipbrow pomade, so the brow definer has a lot to live up to. So with a little bit of apprehension, I decided to take the plunge as soon as my brow definer arrived. As I guessed, the colour was a perfect match, but what about the final look?

Even though I have pretty dark hair, my skin is really pale, so for every day looks, I stick to Taupe as I can always add brow powder / eye shadows on top to make the colour darker if needs be.

It did take me a few attempts to get my brows right, but that is just down to the fact that it's a different technique to apply this pencil over the dipbrow. However, once I had finally got over using something new, I was very impressed. 

My brows look so much more natural and the colour stayed in place much longer than my dipbrow pomade. Because I have pretty oily skin, by the time I get home after along day on the road my brows can appear a little deflated. They don't smudge per say, but they aren't exactly in the right place if that makes sense?

The texture of the pencil is creamy, but with an undertone that has more 'friction' to it. The dipbrow pomade on the other hand is just very creamy and doesn't have much to really 'hold' it in place. It's hard to explain without physically touching the products.

According to CultBeauty.com, Anastasia designed the Brow Definer to work in conjunction with the Brow Wiz...'After defining the eyebrow outline with Brow Wiz, use the wide end of the Brow Definer's triangular 'nib' to fill in gaps, before using the narrow end to create finer, hair-like strokes for a more natural effect'.

I think the most noticeable difference however is the amount of product you get for your money. The Brow Definer is £16 at CultBeauty.com and for 0.2g of product, the Brow Wiz is £15.50 for 0.08g of product and the Dipbrow Pomade is £15 for a whapping 4g of product. Now that is a hell of a difference. I find that on average, my Dipbrow Pomade will last me around 5 months, after just two applications of the Brow Definer, this is how much I have left....

 The verdict? I love this product so much, that even though you get so much less product for your money VS the dipbrow pomade, I'm still going to be adding it to my shopping cart! If you find something you love, then you just have to take a deep breath and click 'proceed to checkout'.

DLJ

Xoxo

Chanel Hydra Beauty Nutrition Lip Care

With the heating being on full pretty much everywhere I go, I find that my lips really take a battering this time of year. Because I'm constantly in and out of buildings for work, moving between heating that is on full wack and bitterly cold weather makes my lips dry and painful.  

No one likes have dry lips, so I am constantly on the look out for new products that soothe and repair. The newest treatment to be added to my collection is the Chanel Hydra Beauty Nutrition Lip Balm.

The Chanel Hydra range 'responds to the hydration needs of every woman, regardless of age or skin concern'...according to Chanel.com. The whole range is specifically designed to promote moisture retention and consists of serums, creams, masks and this lip balm. 

As you can imagine with any Chanel skin care product, the price tag is a little on the heavy side. This 10g tub is £30 in the UK. So with that price tag, for the amount of product you get, you'd hope to get some amazing results, fast! 

Because of its price, I opted to leave my lip balm on my bed side table to use as part of my night time skin regime. I go through lip balms like no bodies business and seem to loose them all the time (a risk I wasn't willing to take with this baby).

After applying my face oil, I put a nice think layer on my lips before bed to make sure they are feeling soft and ready for the next day. 

The balm itself has a beautiful silky texture and glides on. It sounds hard to believe, but within around 30 seconds my lips aleady feel smoother and the horrible chapped bits seem to disappear! But let's face it, you'd expect nothing less from Chanel, right? The texture is light and isn't greasy at all. It seems to almost melt into your skin. 

It's smell is also really delicate and fresh so you don't end up with anything too over powering on your face before bed which is also really nice. Small things, but they do make a difference. 

So to sum up, is the Chanel Hyrda Beauty Nutrition Lip Balm worth the price tag? I would honestly say that it really is. It does what it says on the tin and leaves my lips feeling wonderfully soft and smooth. Are there other lip balms on the market that can do the same job but for less? I would imagine so...I just haven't found them yet! Will I be buying another one of these when it runs out? I sure will. And after having so much success with this balm, I've decided I want to try some other products from the Chanel Hydra range. Watch this space. 

DLJ

Xoxo

Eylure Pre Glued Lashes

Anyone who wears lashes will know the pain of waiting for lash glue to dry. But what if there was another way to apply your lashes that didn't require waiting? 

Eylure have launched 'Pre Glued' lashes to their extensive range and I wanted to see if they really are the god send they first appear to be. 

I have a few sets of these lashes and recently tried out a set from their 'texture range'. I'm already a real fan of this range as I find they give a beautiful natural appearance with extra va va voom!

Unlike normal lashes, the pre glued lashes come with a thick band across the top of the lash which is, as you may have guessed from the name, pre glued! Other than this the lashes are exactily that same, and when on, appear the same as lashes what you glue yourself. 

But now for the important stuff, application. Are they any easier to apply? Well for me, this all depends on if you are a 'well seasoned' lash wearer. I have tried these lashes on two occasions. Once around 5 months ago before I really started wear lashes on a regular basis, and oh my god they were so hard to apply!! Because they are already sticky, they do not leave room for any error and if you have already done your beautiful eye make and then you stick you lash on wrong, it lifts your shadows leave patches and well, that's really not what you want when your about to head out. 

If on the other thand, you are a regular lash user, these are great. Now that I apply lashes on a weekly basis, I'm getting pretty nifty at the old lash application process. Because I apply lashes so often, I generally have pretty good aim, so find I can add these babies where they are meant to be. 

Each box comes with a spare pre glued strip which to be honest, I haven't had to change yet (as I've only worn each set once) and because quite frankly I don't think the lashes would come out well. Another issue with them being pre glued is that they are a bit of a pain to get out of the box because they are literally stuck to the surface. Pulling the lashes away from the box needs to be done in a quick and smooth motion or else the lashes can become disformed. Again, not always great if your getting ready to head out (and if your anything like me, already late). 

Here's how they look on

The verdict? They are a really nice idea. I don't think they are great for first time users but may be handy to throw into your handbag or make up bag. Price wise they are the same price as the normal lashes, so if I had the choice between pre glue and normal lashes? Normal lashes every time.

DLJ

Xoxo