Rimmel Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation 100 Ivory

When I was picking up this new lipstick as it was on 3 for 2 I decided to try the new stay matte foundation. I'm struggling lately to found foundation pale enough. I think any colour I had from the summer has definitely disappeared.

It is in a simple squeezy tube which is practical for this type of foundation as a bottle wouldn't work well with getting the product out. You get 30ml which is average for foundation and it does come in at a budget friendly £5.99

Rimmel Claims 'A Feather-light, liquid mousse that blends flawlessly for natural-looking and an all day shine control

Silky smooth formula for a perfectly matte, baby-soft finish.

Lightweight texture won’t feel heavy or greasy.

Minimises the appearance of pores'

I was suprised by the texture. I don't know what I expected from a l.liquid mousse. I find it was quite thick. As the picture below shows when squeezed out it stays where it is on the hand. I does blend into the skin softly. For me at the moment I prefer to use it without primer as I find it is working better.

When blended in it really evens the skin tone out and I was surprised how light it felt on my skin. I thought the thick texture would mean it felt heavy. It did a good job at covering my red cheeks and freckles and gave a good match finish so I barely powdered my face.

Here it is on the skin with only foundation on. Ivory is a good colour match for my pale skin. There is also one shade lighter. Disappointingly there are only 6 shades released so it's not going to be a foundation for everyone.

Here is the finish with full make up. I really liked the finish. My skin looked healthy without being too covered. I'd say it was a medium to full coverage but didn't look cakey. It felt light on the skin lasted well throughout the day. Towards the end I find it had caked a bit between my brows but lately all my foundations are doing this.

Overall I'm impressed and definitely think it's a good winter foundation. I personally prefer fuller coverage foundation for winter.

Have you tried the Stay Matte Liquid Mousse?

Love M

xxx

Lush Santa's Lip Scrub

I'm a huge lush fan and have been for a while now. There is nothing I love more than a good bath with a bubble bar and bath bomb. I also love the face masks. They are some of my favourites. When Lush has a blogger event a few weeks ago I couldn't wait to go down and have the chance to just wonder round the store.

On the way out we were given some goodies and the Santa's lip scrub was one of them. I'm never one to try the limited edition products. I tend to stick to what I know, but was excited to try this as my current lip scrub is a now discontinued one. As an everyday lipstick wearer I find I always use a lip scrub morning and night. They are especially good for these winter nights.

I love that the lush lip scrubs are natural products so can just be licked off. The santa's lip scrub is a bright red. I was slightly worried it would stain my lips but it didn't. I love that is has little edible hearts at the top. The cola flavour is really tasty and not too fake. Personally for me the bubblegum one is too much.

Santa's lip scrub is a wetter lip scrub than the others I've tried. On my hand you can see sweet lips is drier and more sugary. It does have cherries and dates in which make it wetter than the normal ones but it still works as good.

I'm definitely a lip scrub lover! If you fancy a cola lip scrub you should snap it up quick as it's limited edition. 

Have you tried lip scrubs or do you think it's an unnecessary step?

Love M

xxx

Inspiration: Hunger Games Catching Fire

Hello all!

I'm sure like everyone else on the planet you are all excited for the latest installment in the Hunger Games trilogy. When I first heard about it from a friend a while ago i thought....what the hell?!

But she persuaded me to read the books and I was HOOKED. I loved them and couldn't wait for the films!

In light of the latest film coming out this week I have decided to do an extra post with inspiration from the film and the districts, I hope you enjoy the ideas!

Unfortunately I've been struck down with some kind of flu; I've been suffering with the usual aches, swollen glands and ear ache so I've been confined to bed and watching a lot of tv.

Because I'm not looking quite as attractive as normal (ha!) I decided to stick to simple ideas and have a lip and nail idea for you. They're quite simple which is what i like best and i took inspiration from the name Catching Fire. 

First up is the nails, here's what I used:

China Glaze Smoke and Ashes (from the Official Hunger Games Capitol Colors Collection)
OPI Bond Die Another Day
OPI Bond Girls Liquid Sand Jinx
OPI Goldeneye
Revlon Sequins

Excuse the messy mid-way photo, I used to sponge to apply a gradient polish effect. I started with the black and green glitter from China Glaze and progressed from left to right using the polishes in the above photo.
I used a sponge to do this in multiple layers layering to the gold colour which i used on the tip.

The gold glitter is then applied all over for a 'spark' effect; you can't catch fire without one you know!

I hope you like my nail design, i had lots of fun doing it whilst sat in bed. It's always the best place to be when you're ill. I've even got myself some tea and homemade cake, lush!

My other inspiration idea was an ombre lip, similar to the nail design. I used the following products:



Rimmel Kate Moss 107, Rimmel Kate Moss 12, Maybelline Color Sensational 912 Electric Orange.





I also used Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner, Rimmel Scandaleyes Kajal and L'oreal Color Appeal Eyeshadow in Pure Gold.



I applied 107 to the outer corners of my lip, 12 to the middle and then Electric Orange to the centre of my lips blending together as I went.
In order to make the lip line neater I used the red lip liner to give my lips more definition and shape, and then used the black kajal pencil to make it darker at the outer corners.



To make the middle of my lips look even lighter I then used the gold shadow to highlight the centre and just dabbed it on the centre.



This was a lot of fun and a completely different look than I'd normally choose. I love playing with eye make up and this was a fun change from that; I'm not the biggest fan of taking photos of my mouth as i see some that look ridiculous and my lips aren't the biggest so have the worst pout!

What do you think of my Catching Fire inspired looks? Will you be trying either of them out?
Have you see or will you be seeing the latest film?

We're going Tuesday, i cannot wait!

L xxx

Bourjois Happy Light Primer

When we went to a Cardiff meet a few weeks ago all of us went off shopping. Of course we had to go to Boots. I'd planned on not spending anything but after trying this out on my hand I just couldn't resist picking it up.

The Bourjois Happy Light Base Serum Matte is a lightweight primer which seems to just sink into the skin without leaving it feeling masked and heavy as I find a lot of mattifying primers do.

It comes in a glass bottle with a pump which is my preferred type for foundation and primers. Glass bottles just feel more expensive to me. Annoying to travel but I'm not someone who goes abroad much so it's not a problem for me.

The primer is a nude colour and does feel as light as a serum. I love that this leaves the skin matte without feeling like silicon. It seems to smooth onto my skin and sink in. I've found it really helps my foundation stay oil free but I don't think it makes it last any longer. I am currently having a love hate with all my foundations and lasting power at the moment.

It is smaller than most other primers as it's only 15ml. It retails for £10.99 but I picked it up for £6.99. Due to size I wouldn't pick it up when not on offer. Luckily 3 for 2 is usually on in boots so I'll be repurchasing when this is on.

Would you be put off by size? Porefessional is another small size primer.

Love M

xxx

Having tried this on the back of my hand, I was super excited for this primer as like m mentioned above, I'm also having a love hate relationship with my base products at the moment.
My skin is finally under control (mostly) but make up wise I just cannot win.

I still get shine so I need powder and mattifying products but my skin is so much more dehydrated now that I need products that aren't going to clump and cake on my face. Sigh.

Packaging wise, i like the thin glass bottle and the sturdy pump that dispenses a nice small amount without wasting any product.

However the bottle is TINY when you realise there's only 15ml of product in there which is equivalent to a full size OPI polish. Although they are priced similarly at £10.99 for the primer, I just couldn't justify the price knowing that I'd use a decent amount of it every day.

This did apply nicely to my face and I found that I didn't need loads of product and I felt it mattified my skin and left it ready for my foundation to be applied.
After foundation application I felt my make up was 'stuck' to my face, mostly in a good way as it felt that it was going to stay on my face and last. However I didn't find that it did, on my cheeks and patches on my forehead my base clumped together in patches and my t-zone was still shiny.
I tried this with multiple types of foundations but unfortunately so far this has not been for me.

I'm intent on finding something that works with it to see if I do love it like others have, if you have any suggestions let me know?

Maybe I'd be better off with the other primer they've just released as there's also a Normal/Dry skin primer but as my skin isn't dry I'm not sure it's appropriate either?

Sigh!

L xxx