Review: Stila One Step Illuminating Primer

Good morning! 

Hope you're all doing well. I'm currently at my first ever work conference and I'm excited, nervous and a general bag of beans about it all.

It's all paid for including meals and over nights stays by my company which is lovely and I'm going with another of the girls from work which will be good for some general bonding as I haven't been there long.

But enough of the life updates, we're here to talk about products!

Today I've got a review on a well known Stila One Step Illuminating Primer.

I love using this when I'm in a 'treat' kind of mood or for weekends and nights out.
I've had it since Christmas and have used it most weekends when going out and to events like weddings etc, which when you see pictures below of the product you can see how much I still have left!

This is one of their triple swirled serums which not only primes, brightens and illuminates the skin but also fights wrinkles and smooths fine lines.
As if that wasn't enough it also minimises pores, controls oil and generally hydrates and balances your skin.
This is just quite simply a bit of a wonder product really isn't it?!

Being a triple swirled serum it absorbs into your skin really easily which is great when I'm in a rush, nobody likes sitting around waiting for things to sink in!
The serum is compiled of three different colurs for three different purposes.

Light gold highlights the skin, the pale pink warms the complexion and 'kitten' (an infamous Stila shade) brightens and illuminates.

As mentioned previously I still have so much left of this primer considering I've had it and been using it since Christmas. You need such a small amount to cover your face as it's a serum and it looks great.



I could honestly look at this all day. Things like this will always baffle and entertain me, being a scientist I just want to know how it works and why!



You can see the primer once it has been dispensed on my hand below, it was the easiest way to show the colours, but even so they're so hard to photograph it's hard!

Both me and M are huge fans of Stila primers as we've already posted about their Color Correct serum previously. This was a great present from my mum at Christmas as she knew I'd love the illuminating one too!

It absorbs super quick, leaves a great base, illuminates my skin without being glittery and helps to keep my make up in place for the majority of the day.
In order to maximise my make up longevity I do often mix thi with Revlon's PhotoReady primer for the benefits of them both combined and it's a winning combo for me and my skin!

What's your faovurite Stila product? I've seen some beautiful palettes and blushers, which would you recommend?

L xxx

Review: Bblonde Colour Toner

Today I'm sharing with you a review of Bblonde colour toner. As someone with blonde hair and hair that seems to love to go ginger when died (thanks mum) toner and purple shampoo is something I always use.

When I saw a review of Bblonde on twitter I tweeted the person saying it sounded great and was lucky enough to be contacted to see if I wanted to review it too. The toners came in three colours so there is one too suit all shades of blonde. It comes in Champagne, Honey and Platinum colours. I choose to try champagne.

The champagne toner is great to remove brassiness and brighten hair subtly adding blush hints. When I read that it would add blush hints I was initially a little worried. I was also concerned using a home toner would dry out my already highlighted hair.

In this photo you can see the pink tone to the toner.

You are meant to do a patch test but to be honest I'm really bad and don't even though I really should. The toner is really easy to use, simply use a clarifying shampoo and then apply the toner into towel dried hair from root to tip.

Pre Toner

Post Toner (you can see it's a lot less brassy and more blonde, ignore my roots!)

The next step is to cover hair with a plastic hood (I used cling film) and apply a hair dryer for 5 minutes. I left it on for the maximum time of 30 minutes and then washed out and applied conditioner.

I was so pleasantly surprised that my hair wasn't dry after using this and it felt in good condition. I blow dried it and was pleased it wasn't too blush toned and just looked brighter.

Since using it I've felt I need to use my purple shampoo less and my hair has been less brassy then it normally gets in between my highlights. I'm so pleased with the colour it has gone.

I've liked the toner so much I've since bought the platinum one to try in the next few weeks as I'm planning to dye my hair lilac in November.

Love M

xxx

FOTD featuring Illamasqua Pigment in Fervent

It's been a while since I've done a face of the day. I love playing with make up but lately I've been being lazy as being busier later in the evenings mean I just want my bed in the mornings.

When searching through my stash I found my illamasqua pigment that I haven't used much so decided to play around.

I applied my Avon eyelid primer all over my lid and started with a matte base using Foxy from Naked 2.

I then blended Tease (again from Naked 2) into my crease. This is my favourite crease colour. I love it for easy make up and use it most days. It's the perfect neutral matte brown.

I decided to use the pigment as a liner. This can be done in a few ways. You can either wet your brush to dampen the pigment. What I did was use something I got in the front cover sets (the ones in boots at christmas time) which is like a clear liquid that makes any colour eyeshadow a liquid liner.

I decided to pack the pigment on so you could really see all the colours. I love how it's reddy toned with some green tones depending on the light.

This is the first pigment I have got from illamasqua and I love it and want more. I love how they can be used in different ways and look different depending on how you apply them.

Here you can see the difference in colour depending on where you pack the pigment or blend it out. I really love the colour when it's packed on.

As it's a pigment it does get messy so I also do my eyes before foundation if I'm losing a loose pigment as it's much easier.

I used a coat of They're Real as I didn't want to use false lashes as I think they would be hard to blend with a coloured liner.

I used my studio fix fluid foundation. I don't really love this but I think it's more due to a the fact mine seems very yellow even though it's NW15 :(. I've been trying to use up an old mouse blusher. It's ok just not a colour I'd use any more and as always I used my Liz Earle bronzer.

I decided on Mac Plumful on the lips as it's a soft pink. I love this colour, especially now it's getting colder. I think it's a winter pink.

I really like how you can just see the glitter through the lashes and think it makes a change to the normal black liner.

Lately I've been getting back into using my Benefit Erase Paste. It is my favourite under eye concealer. It's so thick and just disguises those dark circles and lasts all day.

I think I need to get back into using different eye shadows for liners and using my make up more. It's so easy to get stuck in a make up rut!

Do you switch up your make up? I love finding that product I forgot about.

Love M

xxx

Dr Organic Day and Night Creams

Good evening!

This post has been a long time coming as we were given these at the Bristol Blogger meet a fair few months ago....but working through our stashes it has taken a while to get to them.

Dr Organic is a great brand, they have an amazing versatile range and cover every possible scent you could ever wish for from a brand. They include pomegranate, lavender, tea tree, coconut and manuka honey, they even have a product containing snail gel!

Today we're reviewing their Virgin Coconut Oil Night Cream and Moroccan Argan Oil Day Cream.

The Coconut Oil Night cream has a list of claims detailed on the side of the box which sounds very promising! These invlude overnight hydration even down to the trans dermal level, improving firmness and tone of skin and protecting against free radicals.

I love that Dr Organic list all of the bioactive, natural and organic ingredients in their products, some of which I've never heard of but I love the honesty.
As we've mentioned in previous posts on products from Dr Organic, all of them are free from parabens, SLS, artificial colours, fragrances and any harsh preservatives.

The packaging is really simple and the pots are made of glass which is a really nice touch. The screw top lids are really good too, it might be a random thing to notice but they're really easy to unscrew but there's no chance of them coming off and spilling product everywhere.

And as always, i love simplistic styles and this ticks all my boxes.



For me, the Coconut Oil night cream was really thick in consistency and is initially hard to absorb into the skin. I found applying it as a face mask before bed was a better way for the product to provide it's maximum hydration.
I loved the feeling of my skin the next day, but as it's so thick I did use a lot more product than i would normally but I think it was still worth it!
Plus it smells gorgeous!





The Argan Oil Day cream is lighter and has the same claims as the night cream, with an added one of increasing Vitamin C production.

The Argan Oil Day cream absorbed more easily into my skin than the night cream, which is obviously better as I'm always in a rush in the morning and haven't got time to sit and wait for it to absorb before applying my make up.

This day cream smells pretty good too, and I love that the pots have the three main features of the product on the sides: Firming, toning and cell protecting. all three of these sound pretty good to me!

I have really enjoyed using both of these moisturisers and look forward to purchasing more from their range. I am a big fan of the lip balms and their coconut hand cream is amazing!
There are plenty more products I'd love to try including their Virgin Coconut Oil Moisture Melt Body Oil, Rose Otto Facial Serum and Snail Gel.

Which are your favourite products from Dr Organic? I really do want to try EVERYTHING!

L xxx

I was initially concerned about using these products as I have oily combination skin and worried that a product for nourishment and hydration would be too much for my skin but I was pleasantly surprised.

I love the glass packaging. Glass always makes something feel more luxurious. Both the day and night creams are really thick creams that sink into the skin. The day cream feels light on the skin and doesn't leave me oily. It leaves my skin with a great base for my foundation. 

The night cream is really thick and I did think because of this it would leave my skin feeling super soft but as L mentioned you do need to apply a lot of it to get those results. I do feel like I need to use more of this than most creams and therefore have found it's not been lasting too long.

I have liked both of these creams and they have made me want to try more of there products and some specifically for my skincare. Any recommendations?

Love M

xxx