Monday, 30 June 2014

Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream SPF 30




Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream SPF 30* - £17.95

The blemish balm craze is still going strong & the latest one I've been trying out is the Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream. As with the Singaporean brand's Green Tea Marvel Gel there's a lot of love for this product within the beauty community. BB Creams offer lightweight coverage with added skincare benefits. This Ginvera one is infused with hyaluronic acid to deeply hydrate the skin. The inclusion of green tea, allantoin, ginseng & angelica helps to encourage cell renewal, prevent the formation of dark spots, nourish & revitalise the skin. The antioxidants in this BB Cream help to prevent fine lines as well as concealing existing ones. It also boasts SPF 30/PA++ so this cream works brilliantly as a Summertime base product.

The Nude Cover BB Cream looks really lovely on the skin. Most of the BB Creams I've tried ended up making me look greasy as hell so the velvety matte finish was a pleasant surprise. It gives the appearance of naturally flawless skin. It balances my skin well as it reduces the amount of oil in my T-Zone & doesn't cling to any dry patches. Even though it feels really light on the skin, the coverage is excellent. It conceals imperfections, enlarged pores & pigmentation. Pretty much all of my freckles & post-blemish scarring get covered up. The only place I feel like I need concealer with this is underneath my eyes. I'm not fond of having to touch up my makeup throughout the day so longevity is important to me when choosing a base product. The staying power of this cream is incredible, this stuff lasts all day long. My face looks as fresh at 8pm as it did at 8am. This one product covers, hydrates, protects & repairs. Basically it's a helluva BB Cream.

My one issue with this product is the colour. BB Creams are supposed to adjust to your skin tone so that many people can use the same product. I'm paler than most though so it's rare that 'one colour fits all' products ever work for me. Before applying it I was quite scared it would turn me into an Oompa Loompa but the colour match isn't that bad. Despite looking incredibly dark on my hand, it actually blends into my face quite well. However it does still look ever so slightly too peachy for me. I'm wearing a low cut dress here so the difference between my face & neck is rather noticeable. Ginvera suggest applying it with your fingers but I like to apply it with a buffing brush as I need to blend it pretty far down my neck to make the colour work for me. I think I can just about get away with it in the Summer but otherwise the colour isn't quite light enough. I would say that it'd probably work for the majority of people - just steer clear if you're super pale or super dark. I really love the formula & the way it looks on my skin though. If only there was slightly fairer version I'd happily wear this every single day.


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Thursday, 26 June 2014

Flamingo Candles Peach Splash




Flamingo Candles Peach Splash Classic Square Jar Candle* - £12

In general I tend to think of candles as more of an Autumn/Winter thing. However when companies like Flamingo Candles bring out gorgeous arrays of Summery scents there's no reason why you can't burn some all year round. I've waxed lyrical (ho ho!) about their candles several times before. Their range of fragrances is amazing & each scent completely fills the room. Plus their square jar packaging looks so unique & those acrylic flamingos that adorn each candle are too darn cute. I used to be really into collecting Yankee Candles until the paraffin wax starting giving me headaches. I've since replaced all of them with Flamingo Candles as they are made using EcoSoya soy wax. Many consider soy wax to be one of the hardest waxes to attain a good scent throw from but Flamingo Candles have no problems in that area. They also feature a natural cotton wick which provides you with a cleaner, longer & non-toxic burn. Each of these classic square jar candles offers up to 50 hours of burn time. As you can see I've amassed quite the collection. They look so pretty on my mantlepiece & they last for absolutely ages.

For Spring/Summer 2014 Flamingo Candles brought out five fresh new fragrances. The collection encapsulates all the scents that we associate with the current season. The candles available in this range are Orange, Mandarin & Basil, Green Tea & Lemon, Pomegranate & White Fig, Cucumber & Melon and Peach Splash which is the one I that have here. The scent of this candle is described as a 'complex & full modern accord with notes of green leaf and sweet peach next to violet, rose, lily, jasmine, amber & warming patchouli'. It's a very fresh & floral scent experience which is perfect for perking up your house during the Summer. I was expecting it to be a bit peachier to be honest. In the jar it smells very fruity but when it's burning I can mainly detect notes of lily & jasmine. I really enjoy the light & uplifting aroma it offers. Whenever I burn it I end up craving some peach green tea, delish! I just adore this Summery candle. Flamingo Candles are such good quality yet incredibly purse friendly, I can't recommend them enough. Are you a fan of Flamingo Candles?


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Wednesday, 25 June 2014

Illamasqua Gleam In Aurora





Illamasqua Gleam in Aurora - £18

There was a point in time when I was completely obsessed with buying as many different highlighters as I could possibly find. I think it's because the foundation I was using, Estee Lauder Double Wear, has such a matte finish. I was desperate for radiant glowy looking skin and didn't realise that all I had to do was switch my base product. That being said I still can't resist the extra oomph that a good highlighter can add to your face. They just make my cheeks look so much prettier & I don't think I've ever left highlighter out of my daily makeup routine in the past few years. In my search for the perfect highlighter I bought this creamy offering from Illamasqua. I'm generally more into powder highlighters but when this product first came out the campaign photos were so breathtakingly beautiful. The dewy looking cheeks of every model in those pictures were something I still coveted even though I had more than enough highlighting products already. I simply had to have it.

Creamy highlighters were nothing new to me, having used MAC's Cream Colour Base in Pearl for several years but Gleam is so much better than that. The consistency is incredibly creamy & it blends like a dream. I like that I can build it up without the texture looking weird. You can use it as subtly or as dramatically as you desire. The pearlescent finish & that luminous quality it gives to your skin are to die for. For a cream product the staying power is really impressive. With the MAC CCB I always had to apply a powder highlighter on top to make it last all day but this stuff is good enough on it's own. I like to use a ton of highlighter because I basically want my skin to glow like crazy. I pop some on my cheekbones, underneath my brow bone, down my nose & on my cupid's bow. I just use my finger tips to dab it into place & blend - there's no real need for brushes here. The soft champagne shimmer illuminates my complexion giving it an instant lift. It really looks lovely on the skin. Highlighter placement is important because you only want to look shiny in certain places. Cream products can tend to make you look a little oily if you're not careful but Gleam in Aurora always looks stunning, never greasy.


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