Benefit B.Right Skincare

Benefit were kind enough to give me a sample box of three items from their new skincare range (launches april 16th in stores), which is geared towards those looking for long term brightening solutions. Above are the five full sized products that are launching in April. A further three, specialised products will be released around a month later. 

This rather cute little box came with three miniature goodies inside.

Triple Performing Facial Emulsion

Foamingly Clean Face Wash

It's Potent Eye Cream

I love the new packaging, it's certainly a vast improvement on the old, mismatched range. I also like the refreshing smell of all the products, (cucumber and light floral). If anyone remembers B. Spot, it smells similar. However, the scent is fairly strong, and in general i believe that fragrance free or very lightly fragranced products are better for your skin, less likely to cause a reaction, and would therefore probably appeal to a wider audience for this reason, to compete with companies like Clinique.


I've been using these products for a couple of weeks now and while i like all three, i feel it's too early to tell if my skin is any brighter or clearer, especially as i usually break out when first changing skincare regime. Benefit claim they have invented a revolutionary new Tri-Radiance complex for this range. Although this sounds like marketing garble, i think there could be some truth in there. My favourite is probably the eye cream, which feels lovely when applied. I'm not a huge fan of foaming face washes, but i do like the way this one feels, and the moisturiser is nice and light.


I think the highlights of the range are actually the two products that i don't have, the Total Moisture cream (contains mango butter) and Refined Finish facial polish. These both feel really good and when i used these on my hands, i could definately see a brightening and smoothing effect. I think Total Moisture would be an ideal night cream and i recommend that if you are thinking of trying the range, i would start with the scrub and a moisturiser and then the eye cream if you suffer from dark circles and tired eyes. I'm interested to hear what other people think about this range, please let me know!

Glamour and Clinique

This is a quick and actually completely out of date post but i just wanted to point out to any of you who weren't already aware that Glamour magazine have got a fantastic free gift this month in the shape of 10 different Clinique goodies to celebrate their 10th birthday. These range from skincare to makeup and all are definately worth the £2 even if they are small sizes. I bought two and this is what i got: 

Clinique Superbalm moisturising lip gloss in Grapefruit
Clinique Take the day off eye makeup remover 

If you can still get hold of them i strongly suggest you go out and grab as many as you can...now!

Pondering over tinted moisturisers

I know that this is a much covered subject and this is quite a long ramble (apologies), but i thought i'd share my experiences with tinted moisturisers because i prefer them to a heavy foundation any day and i've used a fair few in my time. Today i will be reviewing these three as they are the best ones i've come accross lately. 

I need to improve my photo taking skills, work in progress.

 So these are the following:

• Dermalogica sheer tint moisturiser in light £20
• Laura Mercier illuminating tinted moisturiser in bare radiance £32
• Benefit You Rebel lite £23.50

The first thing to note is just how different they are in shade. The Dermalogica is on the pinkish side, the You Rebel is very yellow based and the Laura Mercier is somewhere in the middle, almost neutral but leaning slightly beigy yellow. I'm a neutral/cool toned NW15 or lighter, so the Dermalogica and Laura Mercier work best for me colour wise. If you are pale and yellow toned (NC15/20) i think that You Rebel would be perfect for you. I'm still amazed at how different companies cater for "fair skin" and from these swatches alone you can see how difficult it can be to find a good colour match. 


Dermalogica Sheer Tint Moisturiser 
I had been using this religiously for months because i loved that being a skincare range, it felt like it was good for my skin and i loved the shade. It gave a very sheer coverage, just enough to even out the skin tone a little. However i would rarely wear this alone, usually using a mineral foundation on top as the coverage is so light. The price is probably not worth it as the tube is so small so although i like this product, i doubt i will repurchase. Also worth noting it has quite a clayish smell, some people might find this unpleasant. 


Benefit You Rebel Lite
Next i moved on to You Rebel TM. I used this because i love the consistency, it's very creamy and the tube is great, you can squeeze the product out like toothpaste, making sure you don't waste any. I also really like the smell, and apart from drugstore brands, i wasn't aware of many other TM's at the time and so believed this was the best around. I think that the original colour is a great product for those who have a more tanned complexion or want a light instant face (or body) tan. However, i think Benefit have fumbled the lite formula and either need to think about making the product more neutral toned or bringing out more shades in general. This is certainly too yellow based to really flatter my complexion and I feel that presuming all people will fit into a dark or light category shows a lack of awareness for the needs of their customers.


Saying that i can get this colour to work for me, but mainly because again, the coverage is sheer, more so than the original colour, and i would probably only wear this alone on holiday or in summer. I think that the price isn't too bad because the product lasts so long and as i said the tube is economical. I would consider repurchasing, if only the colour was a little less yellow i would love this. 


Laura Mercier Illuminating Tinted Moisturiser
This is my newest addition. I had heard loads of people raving about LM on other blogs and thought i'd splash out and give it a try. I went for the illuminating formula as i felt that this had the best colour match for me and i felt i needed some added "glow" over the winter months. At the moment, i loooove this product and have been using it now for around 3/4 months. The reviews were not wrong and it is the best TM i have ever used. I do think that it is more the consistency of a foundation than a TM but for me over the last few months this has been ideal. I currently wear this with a little powder over the top or mixed with another foundation to tone down the glow a little. I don't find that it is too shimmery, although i am yet to try it on a hot sunny day, when it would really show up. 


I feel that the LM is almost not comparable to the other two TM's because they feel like they serve a different purpose. i use LM as a foundation and Dermalogica/You Rebel as a moisturiser with a hint of colour. I will probably repurchase LM but i'd also really like to try the non illuminating oil free version. If i feel that porcelain can work for me i will probably try this one out for the summer. Yes they are expensive, but for something i use every day i'm happy to pay the £32 and honestly i feel that most of the time (there are exceptions) you get what you pay for.


In Conclusion
I've been impressed in different ways by all three but Laura Mercier Illuminating TM is definately worth trying if you havn't already, it is one of the rare products that has lived up to the hype. If you have darker skin i would also try You Rebel original and You Rebel Lite for NC15/20s because these are still good products and a little more affordable. 

Makeup storage/my shrine

I thought that i would do a post about my makeup storage because i enjoy seeing the ways that other people come up with and seeing other people's collections. I've always wanted to own a proper dressing table and have my own little area to organise my makeup. I recently moved house and finally i've got almost exactly what i wanted. i've just about got things in a way that makes sense, but i will have to re-shuffle as my collection grows. So here it is...

Excuse the clothes on chair...

Long shot - dressing table 

Eye pencils, glitters, eyeliners 

Face products - other drawers are lips, palettes/brushes and odd bits/bottles

Jewellery stand

My home made makeup brush holder. apologies for poor quality photo.

My new spotlights and small perfume collection

Now, i do cheat a little bit because i keep a lot of my makeup in my wardrobe or at my own house, however, most of what i really use is here and i'm pleased with how it's turned out, i'm not a tidy person by nature and i try hard to keep this area looking nice. The pictures don't show but i also keep my straighteners and hairdryer on hooks at the side of the dressing table. In case anyone is interested here is a list of where i got everything from:

• mirrored dressing table - M & S
• mirror - Next
• jewellery stand - was a present 
• makeup dividers in drawers - Muji, 
• makeup brush holder - the mirrored box and silver/black beads are both from Hobbycraft
• spotlight shelf - Clas Olsen. 

I hope this is interesting for some of you. Show me some of your beauty storage solutions! 

Benefit Goodies!

Look what the postman brought me...

...yay! Ok this is actually my allocation for work rather than my own cash spent but it's still fun and exciting to get loads of new stuff! I had pondered long and hard over which items i wanted to get. This is my first allocation and i mainly wanted to get useful items that i didn't already have, plus a few presents for friends/family. I'm unsure what bits i'll keep and what i'll sell or give away but keep your eyes peeled for reviews on some of these items, if anyone has requests for any products let me know, happy to oblige. So this is what i got: 

• Hoola bronzer
• Stay Don't Stray primer
• Magic Ink
• That Gal
• Girl Meets Pearl
• Birthday Suit Creaseless Cream 
• Bikini Line eyeshadow
• Eyecon eye cream
• Gabbi bag
• Talent brush
• Fluff Shadow brush

As i work with these products every day i have a pretty good idea about how well they work etc. but so far i'm loving That Gal, (i'd previously run out) because it brightens up my reeeally dull looking winter skin, and admittedly i'd use it just for the smell. I'm also loving the perfect combo of the Talent brush and creaseless cream shadows, plus very happy to finally have my hands on Birthday Suit after wanting this for about four years! It's a nice shimmery everyday wearable colour that i've been using on its own or with Mac bronze or Get Figgy creaseless cream in the crease/outer V. I've got some more experimenting to do but I'll try and do a look using all or most of these items soon... 

Quite Cute!

This is the collection i've most been looking forward to this year and i literally CAN'T WAIT!  I love the pastel colours and it seems refreshing after the last few collections which have contained much warmer, more gaudy shades. 


This one's right up my street and i'm most excited about the mineralise blushes, as i am yet to own any and I LOVE the heart design. Hearing that the heart runs right through is good news too, as we know more often that not Mac just use over sprays. 


I'm really hoping that Sakura (the purple blush) will suit my fair complexion as i've been looking for a lilac blush ever since i missed out on Hang Loose from In The Groove collection. 


So far i'm planning on getting Sakura, Playing Koi lipstick, at least one lip glass, probably the pink and the nude, and naked lip pencil. 


I'm intrigued about Miss Behave (peachy blush) as i can't see it showing up on many skin tones and i wonder what the mint green will look like on cheeks, but if it looks like a unique highlight colour i'll probably get that too....
so it looks like an expensive haul for me soon!  The eyeshadow quad looks pretty but i'm not sure those are colours i will use too often so i'll try and restrain myself there. 

A Mac tag to get started with

How long have you been using Mac?
I really started to get into Mac when i did my makeup course at the end of 2009 so about a year and a half
What was your first Mac product?
After my course i went and did a huge Mac haul to start my kit so i got a lot of things at once, but mainly it was eyeshadows and a pro palette
What's your all time favourite Mac product?
At the moment it's Well Dressed blush and Pink Poodle lip glass. I also love Bare Canvas paint. In my opinion, the ultimate eye base and perfect with liquid liner. 
What's your least favourite Mac product?
Mac Studio Fix foundation is too heavy in a sticky sense and oxidises badly on me
Do you own a Pro Card?
I had a temporary student one that ran out after 4 months. :( It would be really useful right now. 
Your Mac foundation shade:
NW15 
Your favourite Mac-Foundation:
At the moment i'm not using any Mac foundations but i like face and body and also MSF natural as a light foundation.
Eyeshadow:
Satin Taupe/Woodwinked (when i can get it to show up gold not orange)
Lipstick:
Cut a Caper, Overtime Pro Longwear
Lipgloss:
Pink Poodle and Babysparks
Liner:
Feline
Brush:
217 - perfect crease brush
Nail Lacquer:
I don't own any, not that into nail products lately 
Pro Product:
I love the pro palettes, but don't you find they get so dirty!
Prep + Prime Skin:
Yet to try
Full Coverage Foundation:
I tend not to like heavy foundations so i havn't tried this
Studio Sculpt Foundation:
never used
Face + Body Foundation:
I do like the finish this gives, very dewey, and the bottle size is immense. But i always feel a bit sticky and again slight oxidisation problems. 
Mineralize Satin Finish:
Never tried
Studio Fix Fluid:
I would only use this on special occasions and would probably mix with something slightly less heavy. However i do love using this on other people, especially the medium shades eg NC/NW30 
Hyper Real Foundation:
Never used.
Select SPF15 Foundation:
Never used
Studio Tech Foundation:
Never used.
Studio Fix Powder:
This seems ok, nothing too special. 
Studio Stick:
Never used
Hyper Real Pressed Foundation:
Never used.
Beauty Powder:
Havn't tried these mainly as i havn't managed to see these yet. 
Sculpting Powder:
Never used.
Shaping Powder:
Never used.
Loose Blot Powder:
Never used
Pressed Blot Powder:
Never used
Mineralize Skinfinish Natural:
I love these....however, i've had problems finding the perfect colour. Post to follow on this!
Mineralize Skinfinsh:
I don't have any yet but i really want some! I'd like to get my hands on Petticoat and Refined amongst others so i hope Mac either repromotes these or brings out something similar! 
Bronzing Powder:
Havn't tried these, i'm not much of a bronzer person but i use Hoola and Laguna atm.
Powder Blush:
Well Dressed is an amazing blusher, it gives me exactly the right shade of pink that i had been searching for. I'd love to try some other pinks like Dollymix and Pinch o' peach, Peachtwist, Springsheen and other such peachy blushes are on my wishlist. 
Blushcreme:
I recently tried out the new Cremeblend blushes and i loved So Sweet So Easy, but i'm debating whether this is too close to Benefit Posie Tint for me to justify. 
Mineralize Blush:
Don't have any yet but plan on changing that as soon as the Quite Cute collection comes out. 
Gel Blush:
Never tried
Cream Color Base:
See above. 
Studio Sculpt Concealer:
Never used.
Select Cover Up Concealer:
Never tried but heard good things.
Select Moisture cover Concealer:
Never used.
Studio Finish Concealer:
i couldn't wait to get this concealer but now i have it i feel it is a little drying. NW15 is a v gd colour match though. Studio Stick:
Never used.
Lip Erase:
I would like to try this one and see if it really works. My lips are quite pigmented and i struggle with the perfect nude lip. 
Tinted Lip Conditioner:
I'm intrigued, love the look of several colours but dubious as to how much they either condition or give colour to the lips 
Lipstick:
I love some, usually cream sheens, but i'm not convinced that they are better than other brands on the whole. Currently debating whether to get Hue, Creme d'nude or Myth.
Lipglass:
I love these more and more every day. The formula is just 10 times better than other lip glosses and i love the smell/taste. Tube is too small though. 
See Thru Lip Color:
Never used
Dazzleglass:
I love the ones i have, really pretty and these are fun to collect. 
Cremesheen Glass:
Never used.
Lip Gelee:
Never used
Lip Pencil:
I have In Synch which comes in handy and i'm looking to get Naked soon but i don't use lip liner very often. 
Solar Bits:
Never heard of these! 
Nail Lacquer:
Never used
Shadestick:
Want to try Penny and Sharkskin. 
Paint:
Looove Bare Canvas and a couple of the others look interesting. I would buy this again which says a lot for me. 
Paint Pots:
Meh. I recently bought Rubenesque and i feel like it looks prettier in the pot than on the eyes. Thinking it is over hyped a little and i prefer my Benefit Creaseless Creams. I'm open to having my mind changed, If anyone has any tips or suggestions for amazing colours let me know.  
Eye Shadow:
I love some of them, loads of choice, loads of unexpected useful colours aswell. However i wish i'd bought more every day colours when i was starting my collection rather than just the ones that look prettiest. Am looking to swap a few. 
Pigment:
I don't have any, i have tried them and find them difficult and time consuming to work with. I definately see their value but i don't plan on buying them as i'd never use an entire pot. An exception would be Vanilla, i'm considering trying this as a highlighter because so many people recommend it.
Glitter:
Never used.
Eye Kohl:
I got feline in the Cham Pale collection, based on rave reviews. It is the most intense black i've ever tried, which i love. But it is a b**tch for smudging and spreading all over the place. Tips welcome!
Chromaline:
Never tried.
Fluidline:
I have a love hate relationship with my fluidline. Sometimes i love the freedom that you have with it and other times i find it too time consuming. I'm a ''convenience'' makeup kind of person. May try the Bobbi Brown Gel liners in future. Good value for money though providing it doesn't dry out. 
Liquid Last Liner:
Never used
Lustre Drops:
Never used
False Lashes:
I don't think they are any better than Eyelure. This may be contraversial but i wear them so rarely i'd rather not spend much on them. I think the key is all in the glue you use. (Duo) 
ProLash Mascara,Zoom Lash Mascara,Plush Lash Mascara, Dazzle Lash Mascara:
I bought Plush lash in my first Mac haul and i regret it. Far better mascara's from L'oreal and Maxfactor. 
What has been your favourite Mac collection to date?
I loved Tartan Tale, i felt like it was very me. I'm gutted that i missed in the Groove as the blush duo's look amazing. Please Mac bring out more like this. I'm also really looking forward to Quite Cute (post to follow) as it looks perfect for spring.
Which Mac collection, in your opinion, do you think was disappointing, if any?
I think Cham Pale looked really pretty but i was disappointed at the quality and pigmentation of most items. Disappointed with Wonder Woman and have to say there's not too many upcoming collections that i am excited about. Prove me wrong Mac. 
What products do you think Mac are missing?
I feel that Mac don't make enough products to suit very pale skin tones and need more cool tones items. I also think they should do more palettes and gift sets, and have more permanent MSF's and Mineralise blushes.