Category: makeup

Winter Bronzer | Nars Laguna Bronzer

I’ve finally understood what all the hype about the Nars Laguna Bronzer is about! Right now I am the palest I have been in a long time and my usual bronzers/contour powders are looking too dark and orangey on my skin. I have had the Nars Bronzer for a while, I won it in a giveaway some time ago but never really loved it. It seemed like it didn’t show up much on my skin and basically did nothing.


However when I decided to give it another go lately and I fell in love with it. It’s not too orangey, doesn’t make me look like I have drawn on a line on my face and blends beautifully. This is like a fool proof product, you can never apply too much and if you do, you can blend it so it looks natural on the skin.

What are your favourite Winter time Bronzers? 

Summer Essentials: Waterproof Eyes


If you have oily eyelids then hot weather is your worst enemy! I propose going for Waterproof eyes, making use of long lasting waterproof items, that look great and perform for hours. Here are a few items that I have found last really well and look great.


Too Faced Shadow Insurance
To make sure your eye shadow lasts you have to make sure to lay a good primer base underneath any other make up. I love the infamous Too Faced Shadow Insurance. It is kind of a loose formula and I find it best to shake it well before every use.

Squeeze out a tiny amount and apply a thin layer on each eye lid. Next apply your favorite eye shadow or cream and it is guaranteed to last longer. However, as with all products, do not over apply as this will result in the opposite effect.

I got mine from Ebay.

Rimmel Scandal Eyes Waterproof Kohl Liner and Stick
I have both the kohl liners and the chubby stick like product from Rimmel and I love both types. They are very long lasting and have amazing color payoff.

Use the nude colored one on the water line to brighten eyes and make them look bigger and less tired. Use the taupe one both on water line and all over the lid. Apply thinly on eye lid and blend quickly. Reapply for more intense color. Do not build up too much product or it might crease a little, but I find they usually last all day and look amazing with my dark brown eyes.

Lastly the bronze shade looks amazing on slightly tanned skin, all over the eyelid. Use alone or top up with a powder shadow if you prefer. Either way it lasts all day.

I got mine from feelunique.com. 


Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Tattle Tale
This shade looks great if you are feeling tired. It makes the eyes and your whole complexion look brighter, cheating everyone into thinking that you are well rested.



Tattle Tale is only slightly shimmery and can be used on its own or topped with a powder shadow. The Benefit Cream Shadows apply really nice and creamy and set into a sleek and dewy finish.

For a more in depth look at more Cream Eye shadows click Here.

You can get them on feelunique.com, they have re-packaged their products or look out for them on Ebay.


Maybelline The Falsies Waterproof Mascara
To complete any look, go for a waterproof mascara that gives you lots of volume. Maybelline The Falsies has been so far my favorite mascara. This mascara has a bristly curved wand that allows you to get all the lashes from the root. Use the curved on the inside side first to lift your lashes then use the other side to finish off the look.

Apply about three coats, depending on how much volume you want. The waterproof version does not budge all day. Remove with some kind of oil based eye make up remover.

I also get this from feelunique.com.

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Summer Essentials: Don’t Forget to Contour


As Summer is approaching, everyone feels like spending less time on doing their make-up in the mornings and due to the heat and to your sun kissed skin you won’t need much anyway. However it is important not to skip certain important steps, like using waterproof concealer (especially if you live on a hot island like I do), a bright fun lipstick, waterproof mascara and contouring your face!!

Why Contour?
Well contouring brings definition to your face, brings out your cheek-bones and makes your skin look healthier over all. If all you put on your face is some foundation, concealer and mascara then the contouring will make you look more polished without too much effort!

Two great products that I use for this purpose are the Sleek Face Contour Kit in Medium and the infamous NYC Smooth Skin Bronzing Face Powder in Sunny! You can use them one at a time or in combination as I will explain later.


The Sleek Face Contour Kit contains
a gorgeous deep bronzer and a shimmery highlighter
Although the Sleek powder may seem very dark it applies gorgeously if used with a light hand. This product is a very fine powder that blends beautifully on the skin. Take a small amount on a big fluffy brush and apply to the hollows of the cheek, temples, neck and slightly on the sides of the nose. This defines the important points of the face without too much hassle and if you don’t feel like applying eye shadow why not use this to create a slight shadow in the crease of the eye for more depth?

The usual Sleek packaging, classic black!
In the shade Medium.
Swatches for the Sleek Contour Kit

The NYC Bronzing Powder in Sunny
is a very matte light nude shade
The NYC Bronzing Face powder is amazingly great if you are always in a hurry in the mornings and still very sleepy. It requires no effort at all and not too much attention to the detail. Because of its lighter shade it allows you to safely apply a little more than you would normally dare and with no harsh lines. With bronzing powders it is always suggested to start slowly and building up the colour, however with this powder it is very difficult to over-do it! Having said that don’t pile it on as this is never attractive.

The powder blends gorgeously on the skin and gives definition without looking like you spent hours doing your make-up. If you have medium skin like me or a lighter skin tone, this works really well but for darker tones I think this shade would be way too light. The product is totally matte without a trace of shimmer in it which I find is essential for contouring unless you want to look like a disco ball!

The NYC Bronzing Powder packaging
is very compact and light, perfect
to carry or travel with
A swatch of NYC Sunny


What are your favourite contouring powders? Have you ever tried these?

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When in Rome…Mini Rome Haul

I know this has been a long time coming but this is my haul from my holiday at the end of Summer in Rome! It is fairly a small haul, this is just the cosmetic part as I did buy some clothes and other accessories too. Let’s get started with a closer look at the products:

Sinful Colors Nail Polishes in
(Left to Right) Vacation Time and Bubbly
Gorgeous neutral shades perfect
for every occasion and very classy colours
Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in Strut

The gorgeous gunmetal shade: Strut
Two H&M brand Face Masks in Raspberry
 and Chocolate flavours
A body lotion in the scent; White Musk and a
Body Mist in the scent; Vanilla
The brand is Project
Two gorgeous products from an Italian brand;
Kiko which I had been dying to try out.
An eye-shadow and a waterproof eye-liner marker
Kiko eye-shadow in shade 114
Random Nail Files from Sephora and the
flowery ones I bought from a random shop
Limited Edition: Labello Mint Magic Lip Balm
I love the Labello lip balms, they are identical
to the Nivea ones 🙂
Small purchase from MAC, my first purchases!
MAC powder blush in Coppertone and
MAC Creamsheen Lipstick in Modesty
Coopertone
Modesty
I hope you enjoyed my haul! Please let me know if you would like a review on any of these products 🙂

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Summer Favorites: Cream Eyeshadows

In Summer time the last thing you want to do is spend hours blending away on your eye makeup. Cream eye shadows are a great alternative to the powder ones. They offer you a fast and easy look with one swipe and long lasting color all day. These are some of my favorites that I have used all Summer long!

Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow/Liner
The Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow/Liner are great products. They give you a great selection of shades to choose from and they last all day on your eyes even without a primer. If you have oily lids and want to use a primer than the staying power is guaranteed. I have these in 3 shades; Tattle Tale, Sippin’ n Dippin’ and Bunny Hop.

From Left to Right: Bunny Hop
Tattle Tale, Sippin’ n Dippin’
They come in these cute little pots
containing 4.5g/0.16oz of product
Benefit’s Bunny Hop
Swatch of Bunny Hop

Benefit’s Tattle Tale
Swatch of Tattle Tale

Benefit’s Sippin’ n Dippin’
Swatch of Sippin’ n Dippin’
A little goes a long way with these products. They are easy to blend, they give you enough time to distribute over the eyelid and then they set to a near powdery finish. They can also be used as a base under your eye shadow for a more intense look. You can apply these with your fingers or using a synthetic brush.

Next are the Rimmel Colour Mousse 8Hr Eye Creams. I have these in only 2 shades, both wearable and gorgeous shades. Glitz and Sassy are the names of the shades.

From Left to Right:
Glitz and Sassy
These have a very cooling sensation on the eyes and they apply with a metallic sheen which I love. They also set to a lovely glossy finish that lasts for a long time on the eyes. I have tried these both with and without eye primer underneath and they last all day on me both ways.

These are slightly larger pots
containing 5ml/0.17oz of product

Rimmel’s Glitz
Swatch of Glitz

Rimmel’s Sassy
Swatch of Sassy
As you can see the consistency of the Rimmel Cream shadows differs from the Benefit ones. For longevity they are pretty equal in my opinion. The price differs a lot between brands as expected but I love them both nonetheless.

If you haven’t tried any cream eye shadows for fear of creasing, I urge to try some and I am sure you will not regret it. They have been my favorites this Summer and I’m sure they will continue to be in the other seasons too.

What are your favorite cream eye shadows? Do you like Rimmel and Benefit?


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P.S. I have just returned from my Rome holiday! So expect a haul soon!

MAC MSF Dupes!! NYC Chroma Face Glow Review


Recently I was browsing through an online makeup site and came across the NYC Chroma Face Glow and they immediately reminded me of the MAC Mineralize SkinFinish. They were available in two lovely shades; Sunstone and Moonstone, and obviously I had to get my hands on both of them. Sunstone is the corally/warmer shade and Moonstone is a pinkier/rosy shade.

The products come in very simple but
sturdy packaging which allows you to see the product
without having to open the case which can sometimes be a little
bothersome. From Left to Right: Sunstone and Moonstone
The products have veins in them that provide great
effect in the Summer. They are both not overly pigmented and
very shimmery. These products work great for a very sheer blush or
as a highlight shade! I find these perfect to apply on tan skin for that sunkissed look 

NYC Chroma Face Glow in Sunstone
A gorgeous corally shade with veining of brown and mint,
gives a glorious dewy finish to a tanned face together with a
bronzed or warm eye look
You get 0.36oz/10.2g of product
I got mine from The Cosmetic House for 2.25 pounds
I love how the back of the packaging is so fun and bright!

NYC Chroma Face Glow in Moonstone
A delicious pinky/rosy shade with plum and gold veining
Gives a nice light shimmery sheen that goes well with light shades on the eyes
You get 0.36oz/10.2g of product
I got mine from The Cosmetic House for 2.25 pounds

From Left to Right: Moonstone and Sunstone
I find that once applied to skin they may look very similar,
however it also depends on how I use them.
If I use the product just as a highlight shade then the difference is not very noticeable,
but if I just use bronzer on the face and a touch of the NYC Chroma Face Glow on the
cheeks the product color shows up more
I love how this product although it gives a gorgeous sheen, doesn’t have big glitter chunks that end up all over the skin. The product is not too powdery either so that it doesn’t end up all over the face and makes you look like a disco ball. The sheen as you may notice is really amazing and on the face the effect looks even better. If I were to recommend this product I would say that you can get away with just getting one shade, however I really love this product and for the price I am really glad to have gotten them both. You really end up using a small amount of product so I am sure these will last a long time!

Have you tried the NYC Chroma Face Glow? How do you think it compares to the MAC MSFs?


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Product Review: Constance Carroll Blush in Mystic Rose

This blush is gorgeous for Summer with glamorous tanned skin. This is another of my favorite blushers by Constance Carroll in the shade Mystic Rose which is a gorgeous mauve/reddish shade. This shade is also gorgeous in Winter months as it gives paler skin a nice glow to the cheeks.

The packaging contains the blush and a 
little blush brush which is not practical for use.
Simple and sturdy packaging!
The shade is 23 Mystic Rose and
the brand is Constance Carroll
The blusher has very little shimmer
so you don’t end up looking like a disco ball!
It usually looks like its matte when applied
to the skin which is my favorite type of blush!
The color payoff is really great as you can see
and the shade looks gorgeous on the skin!
It has great lasting power on the skin too.

Do you like this shade? What is your favorite Summer blush?