AVON PERFECTLY MATTE LIPSTICKS

Due to pure curiosity, I ordered 3 of these Avon lipsticks. I was never really a fan of Avon but I was intrigued to try these matte lipsticks...

These lipsticks are on sale from £8 to £5.50 and you can buy them here.

As almost a third of the price of a MAC lipstick, these claim to be "more matte than MAC'. First I tested these on their own, but when I saw the results, I didn't even think about swatching these next to my MAC matte lipstick because it was clear that these are no way near as matte as MAC!

^ Left to Right: Marvellous Mocha, Absolute Coral, Posh Petal

^ Left to Right: Posh Petal, Absolute Coral, Marvellous Mocha

Formula:

These lipsticks are very creamy during application and they are very pigmented for their price. However, they do not last very long and tend to wear off quickly when you eat/drink which is inconvenient. When applied, they have a slight sheen and you would expect it to go matte but disappointingly it doesn't.

Shade range
On the website the shade range for these lipsticks looks incredible and very similar to some popular high end shades. It is unfortunate that the shades don't match the corresponding ones on the website which is also very inconvenient if you're looking for shade dupes for trails. If you do find a good shade that would be an alternative to high end lipsticks, the price of these lipsticks is conventient for trying out if you like the shade before you spend a lot of money on a high end one.

Is it worth it?
Personally, I won't be purchasing more of these lipsticks and i'd recommend spending a bit more on a higher end lipstick for instance MAC, or there are plenty dupes in the drugstore like the Rimmel lipsticks that are closely compared to good quality ones.

Shades

Absolute coral is an orange toned red which is great for summer. This lipstick shade doesn't match with the colour on the website which is more of a brown toned orange. I think this lipstick would look good on a lot of skin tones due to the red undertones.

Marvellous Mocha is the most successful shade out of the 3 that I have. It also corresponds to the colour on the website the most. It is a shade that would be a dupe for many lipsticks since it's a very pretty browny nude shade. 

Posh Petal is a very baby pink shade that would only suit the most fairest skin tones. The colour on the website looks very lilac and mauve when really it is straight up pink. Do not purchase this if you have darker skin tones because this can be closely compared to a pink undertone concealer.

Let me know what you think of these lipsticks if you own one..

-natalia-

LEE STAFFORD HAIR GROWTH PRODUCTS REVIEW

Lee Stafford, let's say, it breaks the bank but I am thankful for all these offers. So recently, I wanted to try out this Hair Growth line and so I got a few for christmas, then I saw a 3 for 2 offer in Boots and so I bought 3 more products. Let me tell you about each product in more detail - and of course the prices. Besides the prices and the really small shampoo and conditioner bottles than honestly last you about 3 weeks or less, I love how all the Lee Stafford products have 9 different product ranges as you see in the photo below. (screenshot from the boots website)

So back to the products that i have..

Hair Growth Shampoo - 200ml £7.49

This shampoo is a protein based complex to fertilize your follicles which creates a healthy environment on the scalp to help hair grow faster and reach its maximum potential length. After using this product joined with the Conditioner, your hair smells amazing and also feels so soft and nourished. All of that is great but you have to keep using this product until your hair grows out to your wanted length and this means that you may have to spend a lot on this to get your through it. This 200ml bottle lasts less than around 3 weeks.

Hair Growth Connditioner - 200ml £7.49

So similar thing, these two product need to be used together to get the maximum potential out of this process. The shampoo and conditioner really leave your hair feeling really nice and soft but it doesn't weigh your hair down.

Hair Growth Treatment - 200ml £8.49

This treatment is like the cherry on top to the Shampoo and Conditioner, but instead you use it in between those rather than on top. Yeah I make no sense. This is the product that works the most wonders, you lather on an 'egg sized' amount and massage your scalp with it for around 5 minutes. It's the most daunting task but the most effective. Now that both my shampoo and conditioner ran out a while ago now, this has still helped me out. "If the earth's not nourished, you'll never grow beautiful flowers" is the philosophy behind Lee Stafford Hair Growth Treatment

Hair Growth Leave In Treatment - 100ml £11.99

This is another treatment that you can optionally use after all of the others. You don't wash this product out so it is continuously working on stimulating and strengthening from within. To use this effectively, you towel dry your hair and then spray evenly throughout roots to ends and brush through. 

If you want to get your hands on this collection - well only 3 different products - then head over to Boots because its on sale so it's a great opportunity to get a whole batch of them for less!

natalia
xXx

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NARS ALL DAY LUMINOUS WEIGHTLESS FOUNDATION & RADIANT CREAMY CONCEALER

This blog post is aka the longest title ever.

Sadly the foundation is my mums purchase but i thought that i would test these out together and write about them. I actually really really love this concealer so it will be a definite repurchase for me, carry on reading to find out why..



Besides the fact that this foundation is way to dark for me (it's in the shade Barcelona) it has a really nice finish. As for the texture it is quite watery but has light to medium finish. When i was trying this on i did two layers of it on the other side of my face and it had a lot more coverage yet still looked exactly the same as the one layer. So far this foundation is the closest one that looks like skin because it doesn't build up as much texture as a thicker and fuller coverage foundation. It also blends in seamlessly with this concealer. When buying online, if you choose the shade of foundation, it shows you what shade of concealer will help you achieve a good highlight and that shade is Chantily for this foundation shade. I almost thought i had the Kim Kardashian countour and highlight - no kidding.

If you love the Collection Concealer then you will love this Radiant Creamy Concealer. I like to use this under my eyes and if i want to highlight anywhere else. A lot goes a long way as to how much you reply but if you layer up, it still doesnt look as cakey as the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer would look. This concealer already has a lot of coverage so there's no need to layer up too much, but if you're trying to contour a lot then get yourself a really light powder to not build up as much texture. I find that it blends well when using a beauty blender under the eyes but a brush works just as well - i just figure that it works better for me with a beauty blender (both damp or not damp is good). I also thought i'd mention that this concealer doesn't have any shine to it or shimmer.

As you see, the shade difference is very different. On the left is the Foundation in the shade 'Barcelona' and on the right is the Concealer in 'Chantilly'. When they blend together on the face it looks amazing!

N x



KIEHL'S HAUL

 

Welcome back, long time no see. I want to share the products that i got on Black Friday with you. Talk about a belated haul - its been 4 weeks already. I was meaning to try out some Kiehl's products already from hearing only amazing things about it. I previously visited Kiehl's and got a few testers since i was looking for a new skincare routine.

 

 

Usually these three products would retail at the price of £74.50 all together but with the luxury of Black Friday it was 20% off meaning that it was £59.60. I got the Calendula Deep Cleansing Foaming Face Wash (£22 - 230 ml) which really helped me with getting rid of my blemishes quite fast. This has a gel formula that acivated with water to create foam. This is suited for normal to oily skin types. It is made from completely natural products like flower extracts etc. which means that it won't harm your skin. After using a lot of Clinique products, i realised that my skin works better with natural products that are more gentle and not so harsh on the skin. I haven't had any problems with this product so far and i'm really happy with it.

 

Next, I picked up the Ultra Facial Toner (£16.50 - 250 ml), this isn't your usual toner because it is more of a thicker milky consistency meaning that it is more moisturizing and leaves your skin feeling soft. Your general toner has a water consistency which refreshes your skin however, this one doesn't which is the only negative side of the product. It soothes any dryness on the skin so makeup application is smoother and provides ideal preparation for moisturizer.
 

Lastly, my favourite of all is the Daily Reviving Concentrate (£36 - 30ml)  which acts like a moisturizer (for me atleast). I usually switch between a proper moisturizer to make sure my skin is hydrated - I use my Clinique Dramatically Different Mousturizer. This product provides antioxidant protection thanks to the natural oils like Ginger Root, Sunflower oil and Tamanu oil to keep your skin feeling fresh and look energized if you haven't caught up on all the sleep haha.
The Ginger Root Essential Oil preserves the efficacy and gives the natral scent.

Sunflower Oil helps reinforce the skin barrier,

Tamanu Oil helps reduce the appearance of daily damage, as well as replenish and soothe the skin.

 

Usually when you buy something from Kiehl's you get many testers, the number depends on what the product actually is - say if you want to try their shampoo, i recieved around 3 shampoo's and 3 conditioner sachets but for the Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution i only got 2 sachets. For my first purchace I wanted to try out the Midnight Recovery Concentrate which comes in similar packaging to the full sized product but a lot smaller - it's perfect for traveling because you really need a couple of drops of it on your face so this saved you from carrying the full sized product. The tester bottle can also be refilled, so when i use it all up i will put other liquid form products inside when travelling.

The second thing i got as a tester was the Ultimate Strengh Hand Salve 30 ml tube which if you ask me looks like a full sized product. I really like this because its really moisturizing but doesn't leave your hands sticky for ages - I never use hand cream because I feel like i can't touch anything for about 10 minutes seriously..

So along with these goodies, I recieved a little clear zip washbag with tough black material and a white Kiehl's print in the centre. This is good to put in your school bag or regular bag to keep a few makeup bits for touchups.

 

Also, Kiehl's have a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee which means that you can exchange or return opened products within 28 days of using if you hate the product or you get a reaction from it. So keep your reciepts just in case!

 

What are your favourite Kiehl's products?

KIKO LONG LASTING STICK EYESHADOW REVIEW

Let's just say this is the best shadow stick that is super affordable, and insanely pigmented.

Overall, I love Kiko as a brand since they are drugstore prices but better quality than most products from the drugstore - and they do not test on animals.

These retail for £6.90 however Kiko tend to have a lot of good offers or sales frequently.

There is a wide shade range of 32 different shades, there are a few neutral shades which I love but the other half are mostly hues of blue etc. You can purchase or have a look at the shades here.

All of these stay on for absolute ages which means its quite difficult to take off with face wipes, get yourself a good makeup remover too. You may think that its a negative that it doesn't come off easily but think about it, its basically waterproof and you can wear it all day and night since it doesn't crease.. 

The one I have is in the shade 07 Golden Beige which is just a beautiful champagne-y gold shade.

It's super pigmented and creamy at application.The amount of looks you can create with this shade in particular (and any other) is insane - day time looks, night time, for birthday parties, for events. Bare this in mind though, you need to work fast with this if you want to blend it out a lot, it sets to a dry finish which means no creasing. Also, if you don't like very glittery shadows, I would advise you to test it out in store first because it can look very glittery in certain lightings (but not a lot, only some places).

As well as the actual product, the packaging is very convenient, easy to store and travel friendly. It's a twist up product which means it won't necessarily smash like a normal eye shadow would straight away. It also won't get messy and you don't really need a brush, you can use your fingers plus you don't even need a crease shade since it looks amazing on its own. 

The next shade of these that I really want to try is 01 Pearly White, I swatched this one in store and it looked like an insanely light reflective brow bone highlight.

Are there any Kiko products you'd want me to review?



NEW L'OREAL TRUE MATCH FOUNDATION FORMULA?

Recently, i was reading a lot of reviews about the new formulation of the Loreal True Match foundation and all of them are positive. So in this post i will compare both formulas and explain why i don't like the reformulation..

I ran out of my original formula of the Loreal True Match and i went out to repurchase since i really loved it, however i didn't realise that the formula was changed, only the packaging hence the same name. This is why i'm doing this blog post along with the thousands of other beauty bloggers doing the same thing, but i'm warning people with oily skin that this is not the foundation for you!! Let me explain..

These are two very different foundation and i really wish that they still had the old formula available (hence it was an extremely popular and well loved foundation) and release the new one as a seperate product along side the old one too. 

The Old Formula:

1. Had much more coverage (medium to full) than the new one

2. Suitable for most skin types such as oily skin

3. Didn't cake up if you wanted to achieve a more higher coverage and when powdering

4. It stayed on for much longer throughout the day (as for oily skin)

5. I think the colour range wasn't as good as the one now

The New Formula:

1. It's much more sheer and light to medium coverage

2. Definitely not good for oily skin - it contains gold shimmer flexes (see photo above), now don't get me wrong this looks amazing on normal skin in the warmer months but it just doesnt work well with oily skin

3. It's dewy and very lighweight (almost watery) and radiant. It feels like a BB Cream as for the consistency and the coverage

4. The packaging is gorgeous - it looks so sophisiticated, high end and quite sleek. The bottle is also much more taller which makes it better for storage

5. It tends to cake up if you want to get more coverage out of it and then powder throughout the day if you have oily skin

(Left: New, Right: Old)

The Similarities:

1. They both offer a Spf of 17

2. Both are really blendable

3. 30ml bottles

 To conclude all of this, I really really wish that I can still buy that foundation.

L'OREAL ELVIVE SHAMPOO REVIEW

I recently found this tester of the new L'Oreal Shampoo in an Elle Magazine and decided I'd give it a try and maybe review it! It's really inconvenient that they didn't put a Conditioner tester there too, when in my opinion the conditioner is the 'cherry on top' to really get the 'Luminous' hair they claimed that it achieves.

 

But nevertheless I generally think this is a good shampoo for giving your hair a little sheen and gloss boost. I didn't see intense differences but I think I will buy the full bottle and see further difference (if there are any).

 

If you've tried this shampoo, tell me what you think of it!

URBAN DECAY NAKED 2 BASICS DUPE

 

 

Products Mentioned:

- Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 Palette

- W7 In The Mood Palette
 

 

 

(L to R) Skimp, Stark, Frisk, Cover, Primal, Undone.

 

This is my favourite ever palette, it's the most softest eyeshadow which makes it so easy to blend and build up. These are more cooler tones than the original Basics palette.

 

 

 

 (L to R) Shrimp, Oops, Venice, Wink, Katie, Cargo.

 

This palette is more difficult to blend, meaning that when I tried blending it with my finger on my hand, the place where I put the eyeshadow was still visible (aka a clear circle which took time to blend out). This would just mean that it would take more time to work with to get the desired look.

But that means it can be perfect for a smokey eye look.

 

Left: First Shade 'Skimp' from the Naked 2 Basics Palette.

Right: First Shade 'Shrimp' from the W7 In The Mood Palette.

Both of these palettes have a demi matte shade which means that it has a slight sheen to it making it perfect for highlighting.

Both are basically similar but 'shrimp' is more white toned and 'skimp' is a more yellow/flesh undertone which just makes it more natural.

 



EYELASH CURLERS & REPLACEMENTS



Eyelash Curlers Mentioned:

- Champneys £7.50

- No.7 £8

- Revlon £5.99

You know when you use your eyelash curler a lot and you get that line in the middle till it just cuts through? That happens to me a lot. Especially with the rubbers that come with the curler.

That's why I ordered a pack of 12 from eBay and they were 10x times better.

I had the same replacement in for over a month, and by this time, and original one would've been broken (sorry I cant find the exact one I bought).

Good Things About the Item:

- It has a thin banner where the brand is written which makes it easier to see what you're doing

Bad Things About the Item:

- Doesn't open up as much as the others which makes it difficult to fit in your lashes

- Doesn't keep the curl in place, and the curl looks unnatural.

Good Things About the Item:

- It's cheapest out of all of these

- Has a big curl

Bad Things About the Item:

- Not like the other one, this one opens a bit too much which makes it difficult to have control over it. It's just easy for it to get out of hand and you could pull your lashes out due to the speed of how quickly it opens up.

Good Things About the Item:

- Is basically in between of both of those curlers, it opens up just right.

 so you still have control over the curler

- It holds the curl very well.

Bad Things About the Item:

- There's nothing really, this is my favourite eyelash curler out of the three!

I hope any of this made sense because it did in my head!

 

FAVOURITE DRUGSTORE MASCARA

I mentioned this mascara in my Drugstore Mascara's Review (Click HERE) and only said good things about it. I always repurchase this mascara since it's a safe purchase, since I'll definitely know I'll love it more each time.

It lengthens, It thickens, It holds.

Usually when I wear non waterproof mascaras, at the end of the day they drop down after I curled them, which is very annoying.

 People are usually scared of the word Waterproof for a daily use. There's nothing to worry about if you have the right eye makeup remover. The one I use is the Take The Day Off eye makeup remover.

Product:

Maybelline Colossal Volum' Express Waterproof Mascara 

 I've repurchased this mascara a lot, I always keep the empty bottles so I can wash them out to use the brush as a Spoolie to get rid of clumps etc.

The mascara has different prices depending where you buy it:

(click below to be redirected to the website)

Tesco £4.99

Amazon £4.99

Superdrug £6.99

Boots £6.99

Asos £7.50

There's a big difference between clumped lashes and thick bold lashes. This mascara doesn't become clumpy but it can create the advert lash look, all thick and full. You can easily achieve that look by doing three coats.

Some days I found that near the end of the day the mascara would flake away under my eyes, then I bought another one and that seemed to solve the problem. When the mascara dries it tends to have the flakiness as you apply it, because obviously it's dry and it doesn't come out as black. That's when you'll know you need a new one.

Does anyone know of any lower lash mascaras that lengthen and also thicken? 



MY MAC COLLECTION

Personally, I love Mac and especially the lipsticks. I'm so happy that I finally have a 'Mac Collection' that I'm satisfied with for now. So here are the things that I have..

 

 

Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation:

This is a medium coverage mattifying powder where you can use it on it's own or on top of foundation for extra coverage and for a more matte look. This Powder is good for combination oily skin. Personally, and recommended by the makeup artists in Mac, you shouldn't reach for the sponge to apply the powder since it will be a cakey mess. However, you can still use it through out the day to blend out/take off makeup (if you get what I mean then that's great haha)

 

 Mac Testers:

In these pots I have a mixture of the Prolong wear testers and Studio Fix Foundation testers.

I honestly have to say that I hate the Pro Long Wear Concealer, I definitely think that the Collection Concealer is far more better!

However the Studio Fix Foundation, is amazing and when I run out of my current foundation, I'm going to have to buy it!

 

 

Lustre Finish Lipstick in 'Lustering'

Since the lipstick is quite sheer you can 'regulate' the amount you want. A small stroke gives a pretty pink sheen to your lips. When you put a little more, its more of a darker pink.

 

 

Matte Finish Lipstick in 'Velvet Teddy'
Velvet Teddy is an all-season shade, which makes it my go-to lipstick. It'll bless your lips with a beautiful vintage aesthetic, chic and casual. Try it, its great!

 

Sheertone Blush in 'Pinch o' Peach' {discontinued}

This blush just gives a touch of colour to your face and the best thing about it, is that it is a sheertone which means it suits a lot of skin tones (even the most palest because you can put the tiniest amount). It blends well and is buildable (photo). This blush was also kindly gifted by my friend for my birthday :)

 

Mineralize Skinfinsh Natural Powder in 'Light'
The name speaks for itself, this powder is the most natural. Yes. The most natural, I've yet come across. Not matte but not glowy, it's like real skin. You a tiny bit under your eyes to set concealer if you're avoiding any caking or texture (not cute). Then again, nothing's perfect so do take note: you'll need to touch up. This doesn't hold up as well, hot and long summer days will get you reapplying. On the bright side, it's not cakey - nobody wants that, right?

*These next two products are purchased recently at Duty Free which means they are a few % cheaper and also I'll be doing a Haul.. So expect to see more of these two products later on!

 

'Etcetera' Pro Longwear Lip Liner

Personally, this is my favourite lip liner of all! It stays put all day, and doesn't transfer on cups when worn alone. It's creamy which means it can be worn alone.

Also it is one of the lip liners for the 'Velvet Teddy' Lipstick! 

 

'Painterly' Pro Longwear Paint Pot
Yet again, the name speaks for itself, It is longwearing.. It does not crease or move around. This is a fleshy tone which means it is also good for blocking out any discolouration on the lids. Everyday staple!

 

Are there any Mac products you think I should try?