Wednesday 9 August 2017

July Favourites



Iconic London Original Illuminator
I am obsessed with the Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops. The high shine metallic finish is everything I want in a highlighter. The main downside to them is that they are very expensive. I have them in the light pink shade Celestial but as I have a lot of yellow in my skin I wanted to try them in a slightly warmer colour. Instead of buying another bottle from Cover FX I decided to go for Iconic London's Original Illuminator as they recently had a £10 discount code on their website. The consistency of the Iconic London Illuminator is a bit thinner & the texture is slightly oilier which actually makes it a lot easier to apply & blend out. You still have to work quickly but it's a lot more forgiving. The sheen is just as intense & the glow it gives my skin is breathtaking. The colour isn't quite right for me though. If you look at my face from the side on you just see this blinding highlight but if you look at my face from the front it looks like a dark orange stripe. I can get away with it by blending it out really well & using a white powder highlight on top but it's something to bear in mind if you aren't a tanned goddess like the girls you see using it on Instagram. I still love it & use it despite the orange base because it really does look that good from the side. I just wish one of these companies would come out with a metallic liquid highlight in the exact same colour as theBalm's Mary-Lou Manizer because that would be sheer perfection.

L'Oreal Paradise Extatic Mascara
This highly anticipated mascara has finally made it's way over here & despite being slightly different to the American version, I really love it! It lacks the pretty pink packaging of the American Lash Paradise Mascara and L'Oreal UK have added castor oil to the formula for smoother application & to keep your lashes feeling soft. Before buying it I had heard rumours that it was a dupe for Too Faced's Better Than Sex Mascara. The wands do look very similar but personally I think that Better Than Sex is a slightly superior mascara. It curls & fans out my lashes in a really pretty fashion which is something that Paradise Extatic doesn't do. Apart from that issue the Paradise mascara does give my lashes tons of length & volume. Some people have said that one coat is enough for them but I like my mascara to look a bit clumpy so I prefer to use two coats. It clumps up in a nice way so you look like you have thicker, fuller lashes not gross spider legs. My lashes are left looking intensely black & defined. It doesn't transfer or flake on me throughout the day & the addition of castor oil means that it's helping to nourish my lashes too. When it comes to mascara, L'Oreal is my favourite drugstore brand & the Paradise Extatic Mascara certainly doesn't disappoint.

Rimmel Stay Matte Liquid Lip Colour in Pink Blink*
I recently signed up for Influenster who sent me some of the new Stay Matte Liquid Lip Colours from Rimmel in one of their complimentary VoxBoxes. I think their website is a great way to try out new products & share your thoughts with fellow beauty lovers. Anyway I have amassed quite the collection of matte liquid lipsticks, Jeffree Star's being my all time favourite formula. One thing I think his lip collection is lacking in is natural pink shades. He comes out with a lot of nudes & crazy colours but every pink I have from him is either very light or very dark. There are fifteen liquid lip colours available from Rimmel, I received five & four of them are gorgeous everyday pinks so I couldn't be more grateful to add these to my makeup stash. My favourite colour at the minute is 200 - Pink Blink. This gorgeous warm toned rosy pink is the perfect MLBB shade. In terms of formula they are almost as good as my Jeffree Star ones. They last such a long time on my lips without any smearing & only fade from the middle of my lips if I eat a big meal. The consistency is quite thin so they are slightly streaky. However the colour is buildable & they layer well without cracking. They are very comfortable to wear & don't dry out my lips. Overall the quality is top notch & these are easily the best drugstore matte liquid lipsticks I've tried.

NAF! Cherry Pie Cuticle Oil Pen
NAF! Salon in Glasgow create some of the coolest nail art around. I love checking out their Instagram for nail inspo & if I lived in Scotland I would visit there in a heartbeat. For those of us who don't live anywhere nearby they also have an online shop where you can purchase some of the items they sell in the salon. The owner of NAF! actually used to own DIY Nails who specialised in water activated nail decals & I featured them on here a few times. She still sells some nailcals on NAF! Stuff but the star products now are definitely the scented cuticle oils. I picked up a few of these as I'm trying to look after my nails more & my cuticles often look worse for wear. I normally use OPI Avoplex but I wanted something more portable that I could chuck in my handbag & the idea of scented cuticle oils was too cute to resist. They were developed by the nail technicians at NAF! & they use these on all the clients in the salon. The cocktail collection smells incredible but my favourite is the Cherry Pie Cuticle Oil Pen. It smells exactly like maraschino cherries & the blend of Vitamin E with Jojoba Oil really helps to nourish your nails.

LQ Liquid Health Supplements Skin, Hair & Nails*
I reviewed these liquid collagen supplements a little while ago after finishing a one month trial of the product. As you need to continue taking the supplement in order to get the best results, Sparkle PR very kindly sent me another month's supply! I'm just finishing off the last few bottles now but the effects have definitely been more noticeable this time around. My skin is looking pretty fantastic if I do say so myself! It looks & feels plumper, I have hardly any fine lines & any blemishes I get are healing in record time. My hair feels stronger & I've had minimal breakage. Bleached hair is generally very fragile & I've really struggled with breakage in the past so I'm glad to see that these collagen drinks are doing my hair good. During the first month's trial I didn't notice a difference in my nails but they're growing like crazy right now & only one has broken in this whole month. I've also noticed that my nails have fewer white spots which may well be down to taking these supplements as I haven't changed the rest of my diet at all. LQ's Skin, Hair & Nails is still working really well for me & if you're looking for a supplement to accompany all your other beauty regimes I'd highly recommend giving these little drinks a go.


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2 comments:

  1. I really want to try the L'Oreal mascara, I've heard lots of good things about it!

    Caz | thisiscaz.com

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  2. I really want to try the illuminator, i reckon it would be quite orange on my skin too but glad to hear that you can make it work! Also I must try the mascara I've heard a lot about it x

    KMales

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