Review: Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights in Baked Starburst

This was a sneaky CCO purchase a few weeks ago when I was supposed to be on a spending ban and obviously that went straight out of the window.

I mean, I didn't own anything from Smashbox and ended up in a store with it discounted. It was fate!

Look at how shimmery and beautiful it is:

This is Smashbox's Fusion Soft Lights in Baked Starburst.

It's a highlighter with a touch of colour, not enough for it to be a shimmery bronzer but enough to give you a warm glow.

We're both massive fans of Mac's MSF in Soft and Gentle, and I imagined this would be a similar kind of product.

It's baked just like MSF and is a very fine powder that you can swirl on top of make up for a shimmer without being glittery. It sort of gives that 'been in the sun for an hour at lunch and managed to catch some rays' kind of look.

It is fragrance and paraben free which is always a good thing, as pointless chemicals are nassssssty.

Look at those colours! They're so pretty and easily swirled together on top of any make up look. Just relax and check out the make up porn for a little while...

So how does it actually look on the skin??

You can see my skin has a shimmer to it, particularly where I applied it heavier on the cheek bones where the light catches. It's a beautiful colour and perfect for day wear. It's very subtle and doesn't look too glittery on the skin that it's over the top.

When comparing this to MSF, this is the much more subtle day wear version and I believe I have used this most days since I bought it. 

I tend to save MSF for weekends now as to be perfectly honest that one is still my favourite. Though I think sometimes it's too much for day wear especially work as it's not the kind of place for lots of make up.

Ultimately I love them in equal amounts as they're different enough with Smashbox having warm tones and MSF having champagne gold colours and both show up beautifully in photos.

What do you think? What's your favourite highlighter?

L xxx

Review: 17 Doll'd Up Mascara and Eye Liner

I'm sure most of you have seen 17's new mascara 'Doll'd Up' on the stands at Boots.

I picked it up a few weeks ago when me and M went to London for LFW. At the time it came with their new 3 Way Liquid Eyeliner also from their Doll'd Up range.

We'll talk through the mascara first....it claims to provide up to 24 Hour Curl, which is something I have mentioned before that I am in vital need of!

I am lucky enough to have very long eye lashes which are also really thick. This is great for the fluffy eyelash look, but using every trick in the book my lashes just do not curl.
I've not had them permed yet so it's a possibility for the future when I've found somewhere I can trust with putting hot things near my eyeballs....



Back to the mascara.
Because my lashes are long i rarely spend much on my mascara, I don't need lengthening or volumising as such so a mascara from Rimmel, 17, Maybelline etc usually does me fine as there's not much point spending a lot for me.
(Having said that I absolutely love Benefit's They're Real!)



The brush is a comb type brush, the bristles are quite short and hard but cover the brush all the way around, so it's more than just a comb.
I find this is really good at picking up all of the hairs individually and find all of them are coated and separated out.



I have other eye make up on in the photo below but you can get the jist of it in regards to the mascara....it lengthens and separates out all of my lashes individually and looks pretty good if i say so myself!



This was such a good price to pay for the mascara, I've tried more expensive ones and got the same results so I'm pretty pleased with this.
It lengthens, separates and does give my lashes some curl though due to their stubborness this doesn't last long.

The eyeliner as I have previously mentioned came free with the mascara. I was dubious about this but also very interested to see how the design made a difference.





Firstly I love the simple packaging, monochrome will always win me over.
Secondly the cute bow design is pretty but not over the top, enough for us girly but not overly pink and glittery types like myself.
Thirdly LOOK AT THE BRUSH/TIP/PEN THING!

I'd previously seen another brand had brought out a similar design (Clarins was it?) and it was mentioned that  using the 3 tips dotted along the lash line made eyelashes appear thicker at the base and therefore more voluminous as well as producing a varied range of eyeliner looks.



As you can see by my hand abov the pen draws a really smooth and straight line pretty easily when the pen is turned with the tips aligned.

For a thicker line you can use all three vertically, though as you can see you would need to colour in the small gaps.

As for the dots at the base of the lashline theory, I tried multiple times to create this look but failed miserably. It was hard to do without looking like I'd drawn dots on my lashline and I think these pen tips are just too big.


It is super easy to draw a flicked out wing though particularly in the morning rush hour at 7 so it's definitely been a useful product for me.



I always find with pens like these that even with the lid on tight they seem to dry out pretty fast but so far so good with this one. Will update once I've used it a little while and see how it is then!

What do you think of eyeliner pens? do you prefer the ease or something like a gel eyeliner instead?

I will always prefer gel eyeliner due to its long lasting colour all day and staying in place, but this is a worthy contender for it's ease especially for work!


L xxx

NOTD: OPI James Bond Collection 1

So I feel that there is something I need to clear up about me.

I am not the kind of girl who likes films like the Notebook, I don't enjoy crying at films and just honestly don't get much enjoyment out of watching sadness and heartache.

I have seen the Notebook and enjoyed the story, I did feel sad at the end as I'm not a complete heartless bitch but I have no desire to watch it again.

What I personally love is films like Batman, The Avengers and my absolute number 1 currently: James Bond.

I absolutely LOVE the glamour, the Britishness, the fast cars, the fight scenes, the Bond girl's clothing, the exotic countries and obviously Daniel Craig is not hard to look at by any means!

Topping that off is a massive budget for everything and an all star cast which makes the films top notch in my opinion.

Image from Hollywoodlife.com

Obviously OPI bringing out a James Bond collection I was drooling and massively excited as soon as I saw the pictures.

Not having a job was a little detrimental to my plan to purchase them all but spotting them in the ASOS Christmas sale having finally been paid just sealed the deal.

I snapped up 7 of them as some were sold out (and I just couldn't part with that much money just for nail varnish) and so I bring you the first beautiful Bond polish from the collection:

This is the Spy Who Loved Me:

This is a beeeeeeeeeautiful red with gold shimmer through it

How gorgeous is it! The name makes it so much more exotic I know, but even as an all round red polish, the colour and shimmer are gorgeous.

I've been wearing this for weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeks on my toes as it's so easy to reapply and looks good with everything.

It's so beautiful and glittery but not over the top and applies like a dream.

I've worn it to work and been complicated so many times I couldn't tell you, even by men!

Did you pick up any from this collection?? I'm still missing a few but expect some of the others to be featured in posts soon ;)

I previously posted about The Living Daylights which you can see here if you'd like.

Which is your favourite so far?

L xxx

Spending ban Completed

So officially the spending ban ended last week. I think over the 100 days I've not done too bad. I did break a few times. I think for me I was lucky my mum got me a few bits to keep me going. Overall I think I did pretty well. It's definitely changed how I shop now. 

I went into boots the on Saturday as I really want an Apocalips but decided against it as I don't need it. For me I still want to use up more things before I allow myself to buy me. I'm really trying to get through all my samples at the moment.

 

On Saturday to celebrate the end of the spending ban L and I went to Laura Mercier in Bristol. We'd booked to have our make up done as we were going out that evening.

 

My wishlist has had the Laura Mercier on for a while. It was a hard choice between the silk creme and the tinted moisturiser. Both get amazing reviews. In the end I went with the illuminating tinted moisturiser as it's coming up to summer and my No7 one is running out.

 

Whilst there I couldn't resist picking up the under cover pot. I love that it has different concealers for under the eye and blemishes and a loose setting powder all in one.

 

I'm interested to see how this compares to Benefit's erase paste as I absolutely love that! So I didn't go completely crazy at the end of my ban. As for my wishlist MAC Brick-O-La still want, I'm desperate to swatch this but for some strange reason it can never be found on the stand even when in stock Urban Decay Setting Spray still want, will get at some point. 

 Illamasqua Pigment Base, I really want this soni use my pigment more Origins Cheeks and Balance, I do want this still as it's a product I love but I need to work my way through my hot cloth cleanser stash first. 

 La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo, I'm not feeling like I need to rush out to get this anymore but I'd like to try it. Daniel Sandler Water Colour Blush, another product I want to try but not running out to get. Elf Brush Cleaner another product I'd like to try still but not rushing to buy. Stocking Tights, I'm hoping nicer weather will be on the way soon so I don't need a new pair of these. 

 Maybelline Colour Tattoo, this is something I still want to try. Especially for summer this will be great for lazy days. Laura Mercier Undercover Pot Concealer wooo I have this. I can't wait to try it properly. Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation or the Tinted Moisturiser. I went with the tinted moisturiser. I don't know if the women didn't apply silk creme great or something but I just wasn't that sold! Maybelline Super Stay 10 hour tint gloss, I do want the rest of these as the one I have I love and wear a lot. 

 Maybelline Super Stay 14 hour lipstick, I'll probably pick these up in a 3 for 2 at some point. Van's, this is probably the thing on the list I want the most!! I just can't decide on colour at the moment. There's just too much choice! Skinny Jeans, are something I always want more of. I literally live in them. Finding jeans that fit is a huge issue for me though. I'm very much pear shaped with a curvy bum (as a recent dress fitting showed! 15.5 inch difference between my waist and hips!!) 

Hopefully I'll find some soon as I need black ones! Hope your spending bans went well. 

Sorry for the lack of posts since Friday, L was visiting my parents with me and we were busy and since getting back I've not had a minute it feels. Arggggh exams start in a week. I feel so much more pressure on me this time round! In previous posts I have said I'd continue the ban but I've decided I'm going to take a break till May and then start project 10 pan. 

 Love M 

 Xxx