New CiD Cosmetics i-Glow Compact Shimmer Powder

Hello there!

A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to attend a wonderful evening at St David's Hotel and Spa and come home with a goodie bag of lovely products from Paul Mitchell and New CiD.

We've been using them over the last few weeks and couldn't wait to share the amazing i-Glow Compact Shimmer Powder.

The i-Glow Compact Shimmer Powder is another of New CiD Cosmetics hand baked powders which uses waxes to stick ingredients together. This helps to make the product glide over your skin smoothly creating a more radiant and youthful look - this all sounds pretty wonderful to me!

The other ingredients in the shimmer powder help to 'bounce' the light off your skin which is why the best way to use the product is by picking up a really large brush, swirling it over the powder and dusting it over your cheekbones, collar bones and just about anywhere you want with a bit of a glow!

i-Glow is available in three different colours; Icy Pink, Sirocco and Coral Crush.
We were given Sirocco which is a lovely gold colour, the shimmer is amazing but the particles are so small it gives an amazing glow.

I've been really impressed with the colour payoff but also how blendable the shimmer powder is, it's easy to blend with any base make up I put on and has been suitable to wear in both the day and night.

Here it is on:

I really like the glowy look it gives, I've had so many people compliment me on it and ask me what it is as they want to buy it too!

You can purchase all of the iGlow products for £26.00 for 9g of product in the compact. The compact itself is also super sturdy with a decent mirror size, I'm overall really impressed with this and I definitely want to try out the Coral Crush and Ice Pop to see how the glow changes.

What do you think of New CiD baked products? Have you tried iGlow?


L xxx

This was one of the products I couldn't wait to try out as I already own ice pop (well my mum did but she wasn't giving it the love it deserved so gave it to me!) which I love. The texture of these are amazing they are so smooth and give an amazing highlight to the skin. Ice pop just adds such a pretty pink flush to the cheeks.

Sirocco is more of a bronzey shade, these are so pigmented as you can see from the swatch below (apologies for the slightly dark photo, I was battling the bad weather spell when I took these!). They have a really soft blendable texture which makes them so easy to work with.

Now I've got these two I really want the i-bronze as the colours in that one look amazing. These are baked products so they're going to last for ages. My ice pop is older than I should admit and doesn't look used still. Another great thing is they sell these in minis for £16, you get a lot of product in the original and I find I rarely use a blush up so it's nice to have the option to grab a smaller size one.

Love M

xxx

Review: HD Brows Foundation Powder

Good sunny Sunday to you all!

I can't believe how nice the weather still is, fingers crossed it will last a bit longer!

We're back with a joint review for you today. We were very kindly sent HD Brows new Foundation Powder to trial a few weeks ago and we can't wait to tell you all about it. It's a pressed mineral powder compact that claims to create a flawless finish.

As you probably know by now, luckily we are the same colour in foundation so took a gamble looking at the colours online and chose Number 2. There are 6 shades in total, numbered 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9, which as you can tell is a little confusing!
I would assume they plan to fill out the numbers by producing colours in between i.e. 4, 6, and 8 but who knows. It's quite easy to see online the colour changes between the shades and so we were quite confident when choosing our foundation shade.

(The website can be found here)

They say:
A foundation and a concealer in one can be used for light, natural or full coverage, the smooth formula blends seamlessly, absorbing excess oils to create a flawless finish.

So what did we think?!

I am a completely sucker for simple packaging, and this ticks all the boxes for me.
Plain black cardboard box for the outer packaging with clear logo and info stamped on the back, plus a super simple black plastic compact containing the products.

I love that when the compact comes out of the box, you have to not only peel a plastic layer off to get to the actual compact covering, but there is also a sheet of tissue paper to protect the HD Brows logo, which makes it feel that much more luxurious and special.
I felt like I was unwrapping a watch or very expensive electrical gadget that i should keep the plastic on for as long as possible!

I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we absolutely loved the design. I've never seen anything else like it and its so funky and easy to use.
The compact opens up to show a square shaped mirror in the lid and a clear plastic tray housing the make up sponge. You need to lift out the sponge and flip the plastic bit to the side to reach the powder itself, which is snazzy, compact and so simple.

The powder itself is very fine and a little goes a long way. The sponge is great for layering on the powder on areas that need more coverage and for touch ups throughout the day, i.e. the dreaded oil slick starting to appear on your T-zone from lunch time onwards.

I also use my Real Techniques powder brush to apply a thinner layer in the morning for setting purposes and it's worked great at creating a flawless base and lasted me until the afternoon before I need to apply any more.

My only bug bear about it at all is the name.....HD Brows Foundation? I think it's great they've branched out into other products from their super amazing brow kit that everyone raves about and can't get enough of (I haven't been lucky enough to try it myself yet!), but i can't help but think HD Foundation might have been better to stick with the whole HD theme. But that is of course my 2 cents on something that I have no idea about and maybe they couldn't rename it!

You can find the Foundation Powder on the link above, and it retails for £21.95.
Will you be giving the HD Brows Pressed Mineral Powder a go?

L xxx

As L said the packaging is amazing. The little plastic bit that hold the sponge is great. I find where the powder is so fine milled the lightest touch with a brush will pick the product up. If I'm too heavy handed the powder doesn't go anywhere as the plastic casing holds it. I like that there is something to keep the sponge off the powder too. It's a great handbag powder.

Due to the warm weather I'm loving either layering this over tinted moisturiser or even just on it's own. Where it's a powder foundation it can be used to set make up and give extra coverage. It works really well over tinted moisturiser and has been lasting impressively in this heat wave we've been enjoying.

For anyone who's a fan of powdered foundation this is definitely one to put on your list. It's got great lasting power, provides light coverage and helps to control oil.

The colours online do make it hard to pick but the swatches do look pretty accurate. I think it's always hard to pick colours online but our guess paid off well and the colour of shade 2 is great and would work on pink or yellow skin tones.

I will be trying more products from HD Brows and do want to try the ever popular brows powder as if it's similar texture to the face powder I can see it being great.

Hope you're all enjoying some time in the sun!

Love M

xxx

You can pick up the HD brows line from HDbrows.com

Review: Smashbox Powder

Happy Saturday!!

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend so far!

I'm a big fan of powder, I use it in the morning to set my make up and throughout the day to stop my face looking too shiny.
This normally means I use quite a lot of it and so it's good to have one to carry around in my hand bag as well as at home.

Cue this little beauty from Smashbox.

This is their Photo Set Pressed Powder compact, which I picked up in Light.

I got mine from Cosmetics Company Outlet (I swear it steals all my money) so it was a little discounted but I believe it retails for £19. It comes in 5 colours with Light being the 2nd lightest, there is actually a Fair which is lighter which is definitely good news.
Light is a great colour for me but I can imagine over winter I might possibly need Fair when my skin hasn't been in the sun.

I love the neat black packaging, it's perfect for throwing in my bag and its small enough but strong enough too. The only downside is the black colour meaning it would get lost in my bag but I'm used to that already!
I'd prefer it to look good, which this one does. 

Inside the palette is the powder on the left, a large mirror and a sponge.

The sponge might be my favourite part, it's actually leather backed and is beautiful!
After I've finished the compact I fully plan on keeping the sponge as it's great quality and will hopefully last a while.

The powder feels silky soft on your skin and although I apply it with a massive powder brush (Real Techniques) in the morning for speed and even coverage, the sponge applicator is great for on the go moments and applying to troublesome spots where more coverage is necessary.

This lasts pretty well on the face and if you have dry skin would definitely last you the day. I do need to repowder my tzone around lunch time but that's because I'm picky and don't like my face to keep progressing over the afternoon to look like an oil slick at tea time, but each to their own!

You can see in the photos below that my face (awkward photos, always find them complicated!) doesn't look shiny at all and in the close up below it doesn't look cakey at all but has been mattified by the powder.

Having never used a Smashbox powder before I can say I am a firm fan, I'd buy this again and will be looking after the sponge ;)

L xxx

Don't forget to check out our giveaway here

Review: Benefit Hello Flawless Powder

We recently posted about our visit to Swansea for the Benefit #bbloggers event for the launch of Fake Up which you can see here.

At the same time we also received a Hello Flawless powder to try, both of which were 'Gee I'm Swell' Ivory.

We were really intrigued as we both love compact's you can just throw into a bag to use anywhere and because of the wide variety of colours available, including different tones which I hadn't noticed that Benefit did before.

Benefit are currently celebrating the first birthday of Hello Flawless which has been a top seller for them since day one. 

Firstly even from the packaging we loved it, as it contained SPF and also it's a custom powder so it means you can build it up and use as little or as less as you like.....perfect!

Also looking on the back of the box you can see that in this compact, not only is there your expected product and mirror, there is also a compartment underneath for both a brush and a sponge.
That's right, both a sponge and a brush!

This is where the custom coverage comes in as the brush can lightly cover any areas you want, and the sponge can apply a heavier layer to cover up any areas that might need a heavier touch.

We both loved the instruction and tips leaflet that came with it, as they do with every Benefit product and it's always a fun and light hearted read.

I love the feeling of this product on the skin. I've applied it every day to set my foundation and to cover up some problem areas I have had.
It's been great for throwing in my bag and taking around with me and so far it's made it to Harry Potter Studios, on a hen weekend, my birthday night out and all manner of others!

I do have one slight negative to it though....it is so light and silky that it picks up a little too easily for some brushes and I've found myself wasting some product and my constant use of it over the past 4/5 weeks has meant that I have already hit pan!
I was really disappointed as although it's an amazing powder I just wouldn't be able to buy one of these almost every month at £25.50.

I think if I used a smaller brush to apply it I wouldn't have picked up so much extra product and so I will be trying this until I actually finish the whole compact.

L xxx

I was so pleased to receive this at the Benefit event. I've not used a high end powder before. I tend to just pick up cheap powders and spend more on foundations.

When reading the information that came with the powder (I love that all benefit products come with tips and tricks for best application, it's so helpful) I was intrigued by seeing using the sponge and brush gives different finishes. 

I decided to try using it as more full coverage instead of a foundation. I was impressed with the coverage it gave and the finish wasn't powdery as I had expected it to look. It gave a really natural finish on the skin and lasted really well. This will be great for Summer.

It's handy that it comes with the brush and sponge and space for both of them to be stored. The brush doesn't feel quite as good as I expected from having the blushes and loving those brushes, but it doesn't shed and is great for touch ups.



I tend to use my RT powder brush and then the brush that comes with it if it needs any touch ups. It is great for setting foundation and adds a bit of extra coverage on bad skin days. It's been thrown in my bag and the magnet closure is secure enough for it not to have opened whilst in there.

It's a very fine powder so sits beautifully on the skin, a light hand is needed with a brush though or you'll waste a lot of product. I've used it almost everyday since getting it and not hit pan yet. I really like it and think I may be converted to try more expensive powders. Especially during the summer as an alternative to foundation.

Love M

xxx

Review: Max Factor Colour Adapt and FaceFinity Compact

A few months ago all of my foundations were too orange and I threw a strop and ran to my local Boots with the aim of spending a lot of money in rebellion.


I actually didn't end up spending too much which was a nice surprise and came away with some pretty reasonable purchases!





First up I bought the Facefinity Compact as my powder was also running out at the time.


I ended up buying this in 02 Ivory, but in hindsight 01 probably would have been better.


It has SPF 15 in it and states that it provides all day colour and contains 'Permawear'

The compact comes with a decent sized sponge, I like them when they're thicker like this as some of them are so small you can barely hold them and apply your make up at the same time.

The mirror is a decent size too but I was disappointed in the 10g size of the product itself, I felt that it should have been more but that's being picky I suppose.

It's a relatively decent product, I'm a little annoyed that the colour was so dark though. Ivory is a pale colour, yet Max Factor still seem to think it's dark!

I'm not normally the palest colour in the range and am normally one shade darker, when I tested it it seemed fine in store!

This product was probably a little too thick for me and I wouldn't buy it again. I'm finding it hard to describe my reasons but it was just an 'ok' product that could have been so much more and I just don't have any kind of inclination either way.

I don't love it or hate it, it didn't last a long time on my face but it wasn't the quickest powder to let the oil through either.

I'm hoping this makes sense! Basically I was underwhelmed with the product.

I also bought the colour adapt foundation in Creamy Ivory, which was definitely a good choice colour wise.

This perfectly suited my seemingly odd paler skin tone (it seems to come and go!) and was a really thick creamy formula that gave me good coverage and a nice finish.

The only downside to this product is that it does NOT like being put on using the Real Techniques stippling brush. I think it may be too thick, I'd definitely avoid using it and would apply it using my Mac brush (168) instead.

It seems a pretty good foundation but I don't get much wear out of it as I only use it when I'm on a pale day, maybe one day when I've worked my way through the back log of other foundations I'd buy a darker shade.

(clearly the colour adapt technology doesn't stretch that far!)

Buying both the foundation and compact meant that I also picked up this freebie:

I've already blogged about the nail polishes here and here, but I thought the mini mascara and mini eyeliner were both pretty decent items and was impressed with them

Usually you get some rubbish colours or pointless products, but these were usable and widely used shades!

What do you think of Max Factor? Does your skin change colour all the time like mine?

L xxx

Max Factor was a range I first started using when I was in school. The FaceFinity was 'the' product to have. I remember loving it but using that as my foundation. I haven't used this in years so can't comment.

When L told me she picked up colour adapt I was excited to see how she got on with it. Colour adapt stayed a firm favourite with me all through my uni years and was my go to foundation. I loved the soft silky texture the medium finish to cover my freckles and spots and the lasting power. 

The colour adapt technology in it really is fab too. I'm using paler than L in foundations but in this one I'm currently using 45 warm almond and it really doesn't make me orange. It's a great spring transition foundation as you can go for a shade darker in my opinion and it blend fine and come to summer and it still look good on the skin. (had I know L was getting it I should have shared this with her)

It's a thicker foundation and blends well into the skin and I think best applied with fingers.

Downsides to this are it's matte. If you are looking for a light dewy finish this isn't for you. I do find as I get through the bottles the foundation really does thicken up. Not to where you can't work with it but just something to be aware of.

I'm really glad L bought it as I discovered I still had a bottle in my make up bag and have gone back to using it a bit. I tend to Mix it with my Max Factor Second Skin (my summer foundation love due to it's lightness, you need a good colour match on this though) so that it gives a more dewy finish.

Have you tried any Max Factor foundations? I love most of the ones I've tried.

Love M

xxx