MUA Pro Base Conceal and Brighten Kit

Hello!

Today I'm writing about a super cheap concealer palette from bargain cosmetics brand MUA.

I was in Superdrug picking up a 3 for 2 deal and couldn't resist picking this up to try as my final item. It was a bargainous £4 at the time and I'm sure you'll agree, a palette for £4 is always worth a try!

It has three different colours and consistencies to cover a wide range of blemishes that I was quite impressed with.

I assume there must be other colours as this kit comes in Porcelain-Beige, but I'm not sure as I would have automatically picked up the lightest colour!

I like that there are the three different shades and effects.
The first is a pinker shade and more illuminating, great for under the eyes.
The second is a thicker, creamier shade that's great for covering redness from spots and other blemishes.
The last is a thicker and more duskier pink coloured concealer that would be great for scars and birthmarks.

These concealers are actually, dare I say it, really good for the £4 price tag.
I'd expect this to cost around £12 if I'd been shown it without any brand names.
All of the concealers are different and apply really easily with your fingers or a brush.

You can see the concealers when applied to my arm below:

In the photos below (taken at 6am in the morning rush...apologies for expressions and quality!) you can see where I've applied the first concealer (pink toned and highlighting) to my undereye.

It has worked really well at concealing dark circles and feels really soft and blendable.
I have only got foundation and concealer on in these pictures so you can see how much of a difference it makes!

I also then applied the middle concealer around my nose area where the skin is slightly redder for some reason. It sometimes looks like I have a cold...when I don't!
As you can see below it has easily covered this up:

I was pretty impressed with the coverage of this concealer. As for longevity, it lasted pretty well throughout the day. I work in warm labs which is a bit of a test for my make up, my under eye concealer did crease but I would say most concealers do this to an extent. The concealer around my nose also needed to be reblended at some point in the day but it was easily done with my fingers which others you couldn't do.

I'd say this was well worth the price tag and I'd recommend to anyone looking for a great multifunctional concealer palette!

Have you tried a palette like this? What do you think of MUA's cheap as chips range??

L xxx

Review: REN Glycolactic Face Mask

Hi all!

I'm sure you've seen and heard lots about REN skincare recently. Their masks are a big favourite with bloggers and are increasingly popular due to their ethic on producing products without using any chemical nasties (more on that later).

My first purchase from REN was this Glycolactic Face Mask.

I'd seen rave reviews from others on how well it worked on brightening skin tone and evening out blemishes.

I already owned cleansing masks and hydrating masks so this was my next on the never ending wish list ;)

My skin had started to clear up (finally!) so I rushed to John Lewis and snapped this up over Christmas time when my spending was already out of control so another mask hardly made a difference.

I love REN's simple packaging, I'm not one for busy prints and  multiple colours and I love that the range seems to be colour coded. 

Orange signifies the Radiance range, and there are plenty of others that I'm sure I will be testing out soon which you can find here.

You can also find out more about REN as a company and read about their ethos into 'Clean Skincare' on this link.

It's an interesting read that doesn't waffle on like others. I had no idea that the company started in 2000, it's come such a long way since then and is now found in 50 countries all over the world.

Copied straight from the site:

REN is free from synthetic fragrance, mineral oil, petrolatum, sulfate detergents, synthetic colours, animal ingredients and parabens. In addition, REN products do not contain potential irritants including: glycols and diglycols (such as propylene glycol), PEG's, PPGs, urea, D.E.A, T.E.A, PABA and other synthetic sunscreens, aliphatic alcohols/hydrocarbons, phthalates, fumarates, amines, alkanolamines, synthetic AHAs/BHAs, polyacrylamide, metacrylate, elastomer, poloxamer, styrene, vinyl, polyquaternium, synthetic chelating agents, nylon, nitriles, nitrates, nitrosamine releasers, bromates, fluor, aluminum and alumina et al.

This is an absolutely massive list! And very impressive when you compare to other brands available to purchase on the same scale which use quite a few chemicals in their products.

Both me and M always choose 'free from' products where we can.

So back to the mask, it's basically a cross between marmalade and orange juice in smell and consistency.

I'd heard about it being like marmalade but its not as thick as that, definitely mix with orange juice and then that's about right!

I used to hate oranges, but since Christmas I've become obsessed and now I eat one almost every day. The smell now reminds me of Christmas so every time I eat one it takes me back to that and it's the same with this.

I love the smell of oranges now so when I put this mask on it always puts me in a good mood on smell alone.

REN claim that this mask:

• Removes dead skin cells to renew the complexion
• Skin looks brighter, healthier, more radiant
• Helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
• Combats congestion, blackheads and blemishes

This mask has also won an award from InStyle for a Best Beauty Buy in 2008.

I follow the instructions above and slap it onto my face and neck. Make sure you avoid the eyes though as this is not something you want to get in them!

After 10 minutes or so I then wash it off using the muslin cloth that comes with the mask.

I find that even after having this on for 10 minutes my skin feels brighter and more uniform. I feel like my skin is cleaner and has had the top layer of cells removed to let newer ones shine through. It does tingle a little whilst it's on but nothing too bad and I find that it's worth the perseverance. It sort of tickles my skin and makes me want to scratch it more than anything else so I find it's a case of sitting on my hands to stop myself!

I also love that the pump has a cap of its own aside from the lid, this helps so much with stopping it from drying out which is a bonus. 

I would 100% recommend anyone who is looking for brighter skin to purchase this. REN is a great brand whose products seem to do what they claim at relatively affordable prices, and also without containing any other chemical nasties.

Have you used REN products before? What's your favourite type of mask? 

Do you use brightening products?

L xxx

Review: Origins GinZing

I'm sure most of you have tried this out at some point as it's one of those HG products that everyone loves!

Origins Ginzing is a gorgeous eye cream that claims to de-puff the eye area and brighten dark circles.

Firstly I love the name, GinZING! Definitely makes me want to apply it in the morning in the hopes of waking me up and making me look/feel more human.

(I am not a morning person if you couldn't tell!)

This has not replaced my beloved Eye Doctor  as I still use that in the evenings, but this compliments it by working its magic on my dark circles in the morning.

The packaging is great as usual, and the orange tub adds to the Zing factor that I love.

You can see the colour and consistency of the eye cream below, really thin but in a good way so that it sinks into your delicate skin around your eyes without requiring hardly any rubbing in.

The colour as well shows that it won't show up as a white film and as it has tiny tiny particles that reflect the light it can really help to combat those dark circles.

It almost reminds me of high beam in a way as the particles are so small that they most definitely do not show up as glittery but the colour is the same. 

By no means is this a weird under eye highlighter, its the perfect combination of soothing eye cream and subtle reflection.

I absolutely love this product, I wouldn't be without it in the mornings!

It is a little pricey coming in at £21 but for a gorgeous eye cream that sinks in asap and reflect the light so dark circles don't show, whilst also being eco friendly and free from chemicals definitely has my vote.

If you have the money I would definitely splash out!

I have a few more Origins goodies to post about after using them for the past 2 months.

What is your favourite Origins product? Do you have a lust list?

L xxx


(Giveaway link is here)