Browsing Tag

blusher

Make-up

Elf Studio Cream Blush Review

June 10, 2014

cream-blush

I’ve really wanted to try the elf studio Cream Blush pots for ages, so when they were in their recent clearance sale I was overjoyed! I picked out “flirt” which is bright pink and “tease” which is more of a peach/russet colour. When I pulled these out of their boxes, the first thing I noticed was how big the pots were. They are literally the size of my palm and packed with a lot of product. The consistency was quite nice to touch once I’d opened the pots and it took a little bit of playing around with my fingers to get to grips with this.

elf-studioblush-swatch

The formula is a cream to powder, I was actually surprised by how pigmented this was and also how well it blended and applied to the skin. Both swatches above were applied with my fingers, the left side of the swatch is more heavily pigmented as I blended the product towards the right, which worked exceptionally well and was very easy to work with. I was a little worried at first that I would end up with way too much product and struggle to make these look anywhere near natural, but the Cream Blush is easily built up for full control and even easier to blend. I’m yet to try this with an actual make-up brush and I think I’ll definitely need to play with it for a lot longer before I start applying this to my face with a brush and as much as I love the pots in all of their enormity I am afraid these will often be left behind on gig days and festivals because I just wont have space in my makeup bag! With that being the only downfall, I’m definitely going to keep a look out for more cream blush’s in the future.

I picked these up for £3.25 each instead of the usual price of £6.50 so if you hurry, you may still be able to grab it in elf’s 50% off clearance here.

Have you tried any of the cream blush’s? If so, I’d love to know how you found them in the comments below.

Totally hellbent for half price and surprisingly creamy wonders

-Pants

 

Make-up

Bourjois Paris Little Round Pot Blush in “Rose d’Or” Review

April 30, 2014

bourjois-blusher

Recently, I’ve been lusting after the Bourjois blushers like nobody’s business. I admit I’ve always been a fan of their whole range, but the really good stuff is just out of my price range and I really can’t justify buying it when I already have so many things. This one however, has been following me around like a lost puppy for months, so on a recent Boots trip after finding out I had over £40 worth of points on my card, I may have had a little accident and dropped this in my basket … whoops.

bourjois-blush-2

I still don’t know if it was the cute packaging, or the creamy blush texture that really sold this for me. I couldn’t quite decide on which shade I wanted to go for out of the whole range available, but I ended up with “Rose d’Or/Golden Rose” – a beautiful, shimmery pink colour. When swatched, it’s even more gorgeous than in it’s adorable packaging – which is also blessed with a mirror! It’s perfect for blending and does come with a teeny application brush, but let’s face it girls – who actually uses these? I also think it’s made from animal hair which is also a bit of a no no. Despite this, I’m in love – it’s also slightly perfumed, which really reminds me of sitting a my mother’s dressing table and playing with her powders when I was little.

bourjois-blush-swatch
A little more than I would usually pay for a single blusher, but totally worth it. For £7.99 you can be the proud owner of this delicate, yet feminine blush from your nearest Boots. This little round pot has stirred something inside of me and I can only imagine that little something is the urge to go out and buy the rest of the collection!

Have you tried Bourjois’ Little Round Pot range? If so I’d love to know what shades you picked and what you thought.

Totally hellbent for spending my hard earned points on something I really really want!

-Pants

 

Make-up

Sleek Blush by 3 in Lace Review

March 29, 2014

sleek-thumbnail

 

I’d been eyeing up the Sleek Blush by 3 Palettes for quite a while before I finally gave in and chose “Lace” on a recent Gem and Pants shopping trip. Out of all the colours I figures this would be the one I would get the most wear out of.

sleek-palette-front

 

One of my favourite things about the Sleek range is their packaging. It’s so … well … sleek I suppose! It has a real luxurious feel to it and reminds me of NARS with it’s matte black casing but without the hefty price tag. On opening the palette, you are greeted with three stunning bold blushes.

sleek-palette-open

Lace is a trio of matte and shimmer pink/peach shades that are absolutely gorgeous. As always, I’ve resisted using it until I’d taken my pictures and how I managed to keep my hands off it for that long I don’t know. These three shades are perfect for me and I’m looking forward to being able to pick between three different blushers (instead of just one shade that I have to pick and chuck into my make-up bag) when I take this out and about on tour and for gigs. I’m definitely going to pack this for my upcoming trip to Scotland!

Onto the swatch:

sleek-palette-swatch

 

These were stunning to swatch. They feel so soft and silky and literally glide on. I love the coral/peach colour on the far right which along with the first shade is a Matte colour. The middle has a beautiful shimmer to it and will be perfect for a more glamorous night out.

There are eight shades of the Blush by 3 range at the moment – some of them are quite daring colours for blusher but I definitely want to get my hands on a few more – especially “flame“, “pumpkin” and “California I.A“.

I’m am most certainly overwhelmed by how beautiful this palette is and think it’s money well spent. For £9.99 you can pick up one of the many shades directly from the Sleek website here.

Have you tried out any of the Sleek Blush by 3 palettes? If so I’d love to know your thoughts.

Totally hellbent for silky soft corals – all over my cheeks!

-Pants

 

Make-up

Benefit Dallas Boxed Blush

February 26, 2014

Benefit Dallas Boxed Blush

Dallas Benefit Boxed Blush back

Benefit Boxed Blush Dallas

 

As a lover of all things Benefit I don’t know how I lasted so long without one of their signature box blushes!

Dallas could be considered somewhere between a blush and bronzer, and as a pale girl I’m so happy to finally have my hands on a bronzer that doesn’t make me look like I’ve been tangoed! Benefit describes this as “An outdoor glow for an indoor girl” and it certainly lives up to that.

Just a quick sweep over my cheeks brightened up my whole look, but it’s easily build-able for a more solid wash of colour. Used sparingly all over it gives a really natural warming glow, without ever looking even slightly orange!

Benefit Dallas

 

Benefit Boxed Blush Brush

The brush that comes with all Benefit boxed blushes is unfortunately made from animal hair (goat most likely) so it wont be going anywhere near my face. I think most people tend to prefer their own choice of long handled brush anyway, so no big loss.

One of my worries was that the cardboard casing would fall apart easily and I planned to leave this on my dressing table where it could come to no harm, however I love it so much I’ve had this in my make-up bag constantly (and have even taken it over-seas) and the box still looks absolutely pristine.

Dallas and I are in for the long haul together I think, but I’m already looking forward to adding more of Benefit‘s boxed blushes to my collection!

£23.50 from Benefitcostmetics.co.uk

Totally hellbent for an outdoor glow for a VERY indoor girl!

– Gem

Make-up

Elf HD Blush

November 29, 2013

elf hd blush

You know you have a serious makeup addiction, when you forget about unopened products for months.

I have a little box, that I keep packaging in, for reviewing purposes obviously. Alas, I had a nose in there and to my absolute delight I found two unopened elf products!

One of them was the Elf HD Blush in “Headliner”. I’d wanted this for ages and had completely forgotten that I had bought it on an earlier haul. I hadn’t even opened it to swatch! Anyway, I immediately rescued this from the depths of the box and had a play.

elfhdblushblob

Despite this being a “liquid” blush, it’s actually quite versatile. I only used a small amount when I tried it out and it blended in well with a nice fluffy brush. As you can see from the swatches below, even when more is used, it’s not so overpowering that you can’t work with it and blend it in.

hd-swatch(Left: Concentrated swatch, unblended Right: Small swatch, blended)

The colour is beautiful, there’s a slight shimmer to it and tied in with a good highlighter, I think is is going to look fabulous for the festive season and maybe even on stage.

I’m really pleased with how this looks and feels, since I remember thinking it could go either way after previously trying out “liquid” style blushes.

You can pick up a 10ml bottle of Elf’s HD Blush here for only £3.75. (It’s so large, I think this is going to last me forever!)

Totally hellbent for finding lost treasure

-Pants

Make-up

Elf haul part 1 – Pants

July 22, 2013

IMG_1184

Following Gemma’s haul, I thought it only fair to show off my half of our glorious “accidental” but perfectly justified retail therapy purchases.

I jumped at the chance of slinging the mineral primer into the basket, as with the Kabuki (I’ve been lusting after these for so long now). The others I had absolutely no need for (except maybe the brush Shampoo) I just simply wanted them, and will be looking forward to trying them all out!

I am especially looking forward to the lipsticks and blusher which are complete newbies to me from Elf!

Totally hellbent for new shinies – always –

-Pants

 

 

Beauty Boxes, Make-up, Skincare

Pants’ June 2013 Spoils

July 11, 2013

I thought I would share some of my favorite spoils with you for this month.

june13spoils

From left to right:

MUA blushers in “Bubble Gum”, “Candyfloss” and “Marshmallow” (check out Gem’s review of these)

Glossybox: Sarah Chapman Skin Tone Perfecting Booster

Beauty UK lipsticks in “naughty” and “vampire”

NYPM lipstick

Glossybox: Me Me Me Long Lasting Gloss in “Indulgent”

Glossybox: Helen E Eyeliner Pencil in “Electric Blue”

Model Co Black Eyeliner and Nude Lip Liner

Model Co Fibre Lashextend Mascara

Collection 2000 Skylash Mascara (a lovely Gem spoil after I helped her in her quest of “operation dressing table” look out for more about that in her blog)

Glossybox: Figs & Rouge Lip balm in Coco-rose

Glossybox: Boss “Jour pour femme” tester

 

I am most definitely looking forward to trying all of these out!

Totally hellbent for gifts and spoils

-Pants