Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush - Hot Tamale

I'm not going to beat about the bush.. you may have already seen it in my last disappointing products video (see end of post) but I thought it still deserved a mention on the blog.

I actually took these photos the day I got it, while still in Las Vegas and so the lighting etc is not to my usual standard, apologies! I've always had a love/hate relationship with cream blush, I've tried so many formulas and very few hit the mark for me. I find the majority remove any product underneath (eg. foundation/concealer) and most are too creamy to powder over. When I first tested this I was excited, it's a cream to powder formula, very similar to the dream mousse textures but possibly a touch more powdery.  It's just such an odd thing, you really have to apply it with your fingers but I feel a brush would give a better finish,  it turns to powder almost immediately and is impossible to blend without totally rubbing away your base makeup. I found the only way I could wear it was on bare skin and even then it was a little patchy.

The colour pay off isn't fantastic either, I chose the brightest shade, Hot Tamale, but ha I gone for one of the more subdued looking one's I doubt it would have made an impact at all. Perhaps that's the issue, do you have to layer this to get the desired finish? This bright coral shade would be a bit much if I built it up but maybe the lighter shades would work better, I don't know.

I've tried it several times since I've been back, today included and it just does not work for me. I initially loved the packaging but now I see it limits your application. If it was in a pot or a regular pan you could get a brush in there and rough it up a bit but as it's a dome it's not quite so easy without making a big mess. I really wanted to love it and I will keep trying but overall it's a miss for me. I'm not sure when/if these will be launched in the UK but for those that have been dying to try them.. you're not missing much!

If you have this and absolutely love it please share your secret!

Miss BB

Get Cheeky with Miners

When I received the 3 new lipstick formulas from miners I also received these new cream stick cheek products. In general I don't get along with cream colour products so I didn't think I was going to like these but they are not what I expected them to be and I'm actually really enjoying them. 

None are so pigmented they look garish which is often the issue for me but it was the formula that won me over. They aren't at all greasy. They're almost dry, blendable but smudge proof.. really just totally different from anything else I've tried. I'm not sure how they'll fare over time, I get the impression they might dry out to an unusable state earlier than I'd like but I will have to get back to you on that one.

The only one real negative is that these are the only shades available so if this bronze/blush or highlight doesn't suit you there are no other options. I don't know if they plan to expand at a later date but I would imagine it will depend how popular they are. I expected to be comparing these to the old Eyeko Fat Balms but I found those sticky and unusable as cheek products where these are too dry to be multi-purpose for the lips as well.. swings and roundabouts I guess. 

The Cheek Of It is available from Miners online for £3.99 here

Pretty "First Date" Drugstore Makeup

I've had several requests for a full face of drugstore makeup and a couple for "first date" looks so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone. I'm uploading my tutorial to YouTube now but it's a bit blurry (I've had it with trying to film using my SLR) so here are some photos of the look and a run down of the products I used. Hope it's helpful.

I used mostly MUA, their new pro range has some fab stuff. I threw in my new 2true liner as an alternate as I don't have a basic black from MUA and I must say I was impressed. I'll be using that again! I love the overall look but the standout discovery for me has to the mosaic blush. When I first bought it I didn't think much of it, it didn't seem to have an colour pay off when I swatched it and I don't think it ever even made it on to my face. Well... I'm very glad I used it in this tutorial 'cause it's awesome! It gives a really sheer wash of colour and a beautiful sheen, not sparkly at all just glowy, I wish they did a neutral highlight powder in this formula because for £2.50 that would be my number one drugstore product. I have a mosaic bronzer too so I'll be trying that out tomorrow. Just goes to show you should give things another go.. I am often too quick to judge and once something is put away in my collection it could be lost forever.. I would have been seriously missing out.

I also want to point out I used a tiny bit of lipstick with the gloss to create a more tinted lip.. this lipstick is a really bold pink when used normally.

Mosaic Blush in English Rose £2.50

Dusk Til Dawn Palette £4

2True Khol Liner £1.99

Extreme Curl Mascara £2

Lipstick Shade 3 £1

Lipgloss Shade 4 £1

Here's the tutorial video...

What are your favourites from MUA?

FAMOUS - Face Palette - Swatches

So I bought this palette for 2 reasons.

1. I was looking for something "do-it-all" for my trip to disneyland

2. It was £9 with £3 off which made it SIX POUNDS!

It was practically free so I HAD to buy it and I am sooo pleased that I did. It's fabulous! I have always lingered around the FAMOUS section, their nailpolish and single eyeshadows always appeal, the colours draw me in but the prices are hit and miss. You can get stuff like this that's an absolute steal but singles of things are overpriced in comparison. 

Anywho, this post is not about the brand it's about this palette and how you all need to go out and buy it while they're still on offer. While I was in superdrug I swatched the new Sleek palette.. I still don't have any and thought it could be a good one to pick up but this caught my eye and I'm glad it did! You have more colour choice, more product and it's cheaper right now!!!

So here's a little overview in pictures/swatches

Note, the upper of the two eyeshadow swatch pictures is not the greatest true to life photo ever, it kind of makes the colours all look a bit blah but in reality they are incredible... really! They have to be seen to be believed for this price.

I have filmed a travel makeup bag video which a has a dedicated review to this in the middle.

I will post it here as soon as it's live.

If you've already tried it let me know what you think, and if you haven't you absolutely have to!

MAC Haul

Ok so I was supposed to be on a bit of a spending freeze but in my defence there was a sale on and BONUS POINTS and I had vouchers... so it barely counts! I spent less that £20 in all so this stuff was practically free...

 I picked up two blushes I'd been lusting after for a while, 

Peaches and Desert Rose

Swatches

and what I believe to be a slightly more wearable version of Impassioned..

It's kind of a daytime hot pink if you will

(see my big lipstick swatch post for comparison)

what have you guys picked up from mac recently?

Bella Bamba & Sugar Bomb

I made a lunchtime trip to benefit today *yay* I've been toying with buying Bella Bamba for a while but sugar bomb was calling out to me too... So I figured it's been my birthday treat weekend... Why not buy both?

Sugar Bomb is A LOT tamer.. More of a warm glowy highlight really, not mega colourful, the 4 shades might look nice on the eyes in summer too.. I'm excited to experiment as it could prove to be a handy little compact!

The Bella Bamba in contrast is very highly pigmented with little effort.. You can tell when swirling your brush that there are less binders as the powder comes away from the pan very easily, it's almost loose! It's a really beautiful shade that I can already tell will complement my hoola tan nicely!

So.. Who else has been waiting to Bamba? I think I'm going to need the whole benefit powder collection.. Theyre just so pretty..

What's your favourite? What should I go for on my next trip?

xoxo

Miss BB

Venomous Villains Swatches/Haul :)

Hey Guys!

This has got to be my most exciting beauty purchase to date!!!

(maybe even including the UD Naked Palette)

The Black Box arrived from MAC this afternoon and I almost jumped for joy!

It was a special moment when I opened it up to see the beautiful packaging...

First up the two lipsticks I picked up...

The nude I picked up from the Cruella DeVille collection

Innocence, Beware! 

It looks a lot pinker on my lips... very sheer and needs to be built up to get a really good colour but overall a very wearable nude for my NW20 colouring and I'm sure this one will get a lot of use! 

The next lippie is Toxic Tale from the Evil Queen Selection.. 

It's a real corally/orangey red kinda colour.

Very vibrant and really pigmented, It's a satin finish but is really kinda matte.

I'm pleased to report it's stubborn, when I tried to wash off the swatches and my lips it really stuck,

It may become one of the more wearable brights in my collection if it has this kind of staying power :) 

Next up,

Nail Laquers...

This collection offered 3 new shades and I picked up my two faves..

They are fab glittery "duo-chromes" that almost change colour when seen in different light/at different angles..

The reddy/pinky colour is "Bad Fairy" and the darker Purply/Teal colour is "Formidable" 

Bad Fairy is my absolute ultimate favourite polish of ALL TIME!!!

It is an absolute must have peeps so you all need to rush out and buy this

WHILE STOCKS LAST!!!

The MAC website describes it as a red base with red multi-changing pearl

It's so cute and not too dramatic

You could wear this every day and your nails wouldn't look too dressy..

just FABULOUS!

I really tried to get a good shot of how metallic/glittery it is but it was tough :(

The Formidable shade is cool but so not as good as Bad Fairy..

It's a much less wearable shade for me,

quite dark and the teal/darker shades to it would put me off a bit

The effect is much the same and so cute with the whole light refelction/colour change deal but the colour is a bit "so what" for me... a little dissappointing but hey... you live you learn!

This one is again very glittery but not quite as WOW as Bad Fairy

Lastly (this should have been first)

The one and only thing I absolutely HAD TO HAVE from this collection!!

It's from the Evil Queen collection and it's a blush called "bite of an apple"

I wanted this SO bad when I saw the preview pictures like MONTHS AGO

This picture is deceptive because it's SO much brighter than it seems..

It's a lot closer to what it looks like in the above picture through the plastic.

It's a cure kind of hot matte coral colour.

On the left is a swatch of the blush at its brightest

On the right is the blush blended out

It's so versatile, I think this one would be great on most skin tones because it's so blendable and so pigmented so it can pretty much be whatever you want it to be..

This is my favourite from The V/V Collection for sure!

So...

My overall Thoughts...

I was SOOO excited as you all know, for this collection to launch.

In some ways I was a touch dissappointed.

The lippies were my first ever by MAC and I think maybe I expected too much... they weren't a creamy formula as I'd hoped for but I think perhaps because of that they will have a much longer lasting effect so I'm hoping my opinion of the lipsticks will change!

The Formidable Nail Polish was raved about by those in the US that got it before us so I was looking forward to it but it's just not really for me... I'll stick with it and it might grow on me... I'll keep you posted!

Lastly the packaging on the blush felt really cheap.

I compared it to my other MAC blushes and it was like half the weight and it just felt so plasticky and kind of "toy-like" if you understand?

I don't know, maybe it's just me but these blushes are slightly more expensive than the usual blushes... surely they should be of a slightly higher quality?

I love the blush colour, I love the lipstick colour, I LOVE the Bad Fairy Nail Laquer so overall I do still kind of ADORE the V/V but I have to be honest with you guys... I don't spend big money on designer products and when I do I want to be WOWed and a couple of aspects about this collection were lacking. On eother thing was the Nail Laquers which were created specifically for the collection didn't have V/V packaging... whaaa??? I get when They put in mascara, liner, brushes etc in with a launch they wont re-brand but if an item is new for the collection it should have the cute packaging so that kinda sucked...

I really buy into that stuff :p

ANYWHO!!!

I am blogging while my video uploads - it's taking like 3 days as it's supposedly in HD - We'll see!

so I am readying the blog in advance... for those of you checking this out before the video is live... be on the lookout... it's coming to a youtube near you very soon!!

Thanks for reading, share your VV excitement/reviews below

love you guys

xoxo

miss bb