Mid week haul & first impressions

** Excuse the lighting, this picture was taken at night, so lots of artificial light going on here! **

You know those days where you just want to go into Superdrug and buy stuff?  You have no real idea what you want to buy, maybe there's one thing you know you want, but you just shop around?  Yeah, I had one of those days on Thursday.  I popped into Superdrug as I really wanted to dry that new Maybelline brow mascara stuff, and from there just wandered around looking at all the new stuff (by 'wandered around' I mean 'guided around by the staff who know me, showing me all the new stuff').  I'm sure Superdrug see them as awesome sales staff, personally, they're enablers :P 

So, on to the purchases!  Two of these were actually purchased when I did my online shopping with Ocado (the cotton pads & makeup remover), I'll come on to them in a bit.

Maybelline BrowDrama

Described as a sculpting brow mascara.  You get 7.6ml of product and a very strange brush!  I have the shade dark brown.  I've only tried it once, so it really is a first impression, but it seems decent enough.  I did feel I still needed to fill in my brows with my HD Brow palette* as they're so thin, but it did give colour to some of the downy hairs around my brows and help the normal brow hairs stand out a bit more, as well as give them shape that held.  I'm looking forward to trying this more, watch this space!

£4.99, and although I bought mine in Superdrug, it's not on their site yet, so here's the link to Boots

Bourjois Java Rice illuminating powder

This is pretty special stuff.  The packaging is beautiful, not something I think I'll ever throw away, and there's practically no makeup I think that about.  This is a foundation setting powder, that has a sheen/glitter to it, and smells amazing.  When you swatch it on your hand, you can really see the shimmer, but when you apply it to your face it's a very delicate shimmer that isn't noticable.  You can concentrate it to your cheekbones for the most delicate highlight, but that's not really where it's effective.  It's very very finely milled, and again, smells so lovely.  I really did see a difference in how radiant my skin looked, I'm really looking forward to trying this more.

£9.99 - I purchased it as part of a buy 1 Bourjois product, get second half price.

Bourjois Bronzing primer

** I hate how much like a poo this looks, luckily it doesn't smell like one **

I know I'm late to the bandwagon on this one, but the first review I read of it was Tattooed Tea Lady's, and she hated it, but then I read The Black Pearl Blog, and she loved it.  So I was torn.  Especially as it's a small tub and costs £9.99.  But because of the offer mentioned above, I picked it up :)  This smells lovely by the way!  I used it today, I applied it with my Sigma F40 brush and used it to contour.  It created a lovely glow, and in my opinion, a more natural looking glow than powder as it's a cream based product.  It didn't look orange either, it looked really pretty.  Looking forward to using this more, review incoming in the next few weeks :)

£9.99 in Superdrug as part of the buy 1 Bourjois product, get second half price.

Revlon Nearly naked powder

Oh boy did I hesitate buying this.  I'm really not a fan of the nearly naked foundation, but despite hearing mixed reviews of that, I'd heard very good reviews of the powder.  On swatching it in store it felt soft, finely milled and gave a lovely soft matte finish to the back of my hand, which did have a very oily swatch of a not very nice foundation on it.  I didn't use it today, as I used the Bourjois Java rice illuminating powder instead, so there's no first impressions review with this one I'm afraid, you'll just have to keep your eyes peeled for the review instead :)

£7.99, I have the shade 010 Fair

Ocado haul - cotton pads & makeup remover

This isn't very glamours but necessary!  I wanted to do a bit of a spending ban in September (I don't think that's going to work out one little bit!) so in preparation for my Bioderma running out, I stupidly thought I could replace it with Waitrose pure eye makeup remover (I know, very silly moment that was). The cheap cheap price should have been a warning sign... it took my makeup off well, but left any part of my face it touched feeling sticky.  I had to go and wash my face with a cleanser afterwards, just so it felt normal.  I'm not a fan, but I don't want to waste it so I'll continue to use it for my eyes only and hope I get through it quickly.  The cotton pads I bought were also on Ocado and they're by Irish Breeze, I of course had to opt for those being half Irish ;)  They're fine, pretty thin but with a textured side, and they're in a zip-lock bag, which I like.

Cotton pads are £1.90 a pack, and the Pure eye makeup remover is £1.99

Just as a random photo to finish off - I seem to have compiled my makeup into one half of a Birchbox at the moment with products I'm trying to use more, either make myself like or finish off or just try because I need to review them :)  Seems silly when I have boxes right next to me where it's all organised (box for eye shadows, box for lipsticks etc) to have a box with a mishmash but hey ho, it's working for me at the moment :)

P.S. I don't think I've ever talked so much about a haul!

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Hayley from Water Painted Dreams

 

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August favourites

Its that time of the month again, time for August Favourites!  You might have seen me mention that I wasn't going to create YouTube videos any more.  But, after about 3 weeks away from it I really started to miss it, so I decided to go back to it, whoop!  I love the whole process of creating videos and sharing them with you, so pictured above are my August favourites, and here's my video to go with it :)  

What were your August favourites?

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Hayley from Water Painted Dreams

 

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My favourite lip crayons

When the Clinique chubby sticks first hit the market there was quite a lot of excitement about them, they were different - they were in a pen format, but they were essentially a tinted lip balm, and they didn't need a pencil sharpener.  Jumping on the bandwagon I ran out and picked up two - pudgey peony (more for the name than anything else!) and mighty mimosa.  From there all different brands started launching their versions, most recently Rimmel.  I don't have a big collection of these, but I do have a few, so here are my favourites :)

 ** L-R Clinique chubby stick mighty mimosa, Bourjois colour boost in Orange punch, Revlon Just Bitten Kissable balm stain in Honey **

Everyone's different, but on my lips I prefer to either have no colour at all, or bold colour with a bright or dark lipstick, I seldom go for a tinted lip balm, so when I do, I go for a small amount of colour, if the product is sheer, that's a bonus.  For me, the Clinique Chubby Stick in Mighty mimosa is the most wearable colour of all these, it's a bit of a 'your lips but better' shade, but keeping them hydrated at the same time.  The Bourjois Colour Boost is probably my second favourite, a bit more colour than I'd normally go for, but it's just so pretty!  Despite the orange packaging, on me at least it doesn't really come out like that.  It's probably the glossiest of the three, but arguably the prettiest too.  Then there's the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain (seriously Revlon, think of a longer name next time!), now this one is slightly different to the others, it has a minty scent which doubles up as a slight plumping agent.  I can't say it makes any noticeable difference but it is a pretty colour and does look nice on, it's slightly glossy too.

The chubby stick is probably the driest of the three, if you're looking for hydration more than colour I'd recommend the Bourjois Colour Boost, then the Revlon Just Bitten.  All three are lovely, totally wearable everyday shades and will help keep your lips free of dry skin.  The question is, which is your favourite?

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Hayley from Water Painted Dreams

 

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Helen E Cosmetics stage foundation

Going back to the beginning of July I headed down to London for a blogger meetup.  Well, at the meetup we were given some pretty amazing goody bags, and this little beauty was inside it.  It's not a brand I'd heard of before, but it is a brand I'd like to try more from, here's what I thought.

I know these aren't the most amazing photo's to show off the foundation, and there isn't even a before photo, silly me forgot to take one! 

My main concern with this foundation was the shade, as you know, I'm very pale, usually needing the palest foundation there is, well, this was the lightest shade in the range.  However, after applying it (I used a foundation brush) it actually didn't look too dark (my shade is Monroe).  It did need a little lightening, I used my Neve powder foundation just to dust over the top, set it and lighten it (you can see the difference in the picture.

It's definitely got more of a yellow undertone to it as opposed to pink which falls in with what they claim on their site, apparently the slightly darker Bardot shade has a more peach tone, so keep that in mind.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this.  It didn't clog my pores (awesome), it stayed on well (great), a good level of coverage (medium and totally buildable) and it had a really beautiful finish to it, (dewey).  You could tell I was wearing foundation, but it didn't look heavy or cakey, it just made my skin look nice and even.  I must have gotten a good 10 hours out of it before it started wearing off.  But as a negative, I did get quite shiny with it, but and it's a big but, I get this with every foundation or BB cream I use, so it's no different from the others, and I was only oily on my T-Zone which is where I always turn into an oil slick.

Would I repurchase it?  If I wasn't a beauty blogger with an inordinate amount of foundation yes I would, but I have others that I prefer (cue Dior BB cream / Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua).  What this has earned is a good place in my foundation box, for the days when I need a bit more coverage, or perhaps in winter.

The Lowdown

• 35ml of product in the tube
• Costs £30
• Available in 4 shades (Monroe, Bardot, Loren, Hepburn)
• Ingredients: Looks good, can't see any parabens or mineral oil, talc etc

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Hayley from Water Painted Dreams

 

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Benefit Watt's Up highligher

A few weeks ago my colleague at work excitedly rushed over to my desk to show me her latest Benefit purchases which included the Watt's Up highlighter.  It really stuck in my mind as a really beautiful product and very pretty highlighter, so when it was the Cardiff Benefayre I snuck into John Lewis first and bought one for me, a little treat for no good reason (the best kind!).  See what I thought of it below.

** product fully extended **

I'll give you a pro tip off the bat - remember to fully wind it in before replacing the little cap, I had an incident with mine where it became stuck to the inside and some tore off - not the end of the word, but a silly mistake by me.

On to the product itself.  It's a cream formula in a stick, but that on application dries to a powder finish, unlike the Sun beam style products which have a slightly different finish.  This is double ended, the highlighter at one end, and a squishy sponge at the other for blending it in.  You could use your fingers to apply this, but I prefer to apply it straight from the stick - I just swipe it on my cheekbones, and switch to the sponge end and dab it across the edges to blend them in.

The lasting power isn't phenomenal, but it is decent.  I didn't really have any left when I was heading home from work (after applying it at about 7:30am), but I do tend to lean on my hands during the day and touch my face, so I wasn't that surprised.  It's a soft gentle highlighter, not in the slightest garish, which some of them can be far too obvious.  It really is very pretty.  It might be because it's a soft focus highlighter that it doesn't last quite as well as it's liquid counterparts, but I'm fine with that because in my opinion, it's much better.

I've managed to wear this every single day since I bought it, which means I might go through it a little quickly, but hey, at least it's being used :)

The lowdown

• You get 9.4g of product
• Cream to powder formula
• Costs £24.50
• A soft focus highlighter for your face
• Ingredients: Nothing nasty :)

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Hayley from Water Painted Dreams

 

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Philosophy purity cleanser

A bit of a cult product in the beauty community, there certainly is a lot of hype about this product, maybe not to the same extent as Bioderma, but certainly enough that you're likely to have heard of it.

Whilst this isn't the cheapest cleanser (£27.00* on QVC), you do get a lot of product for your money (480ml/16 fl oz - works out at 6p per ml) compared to other leading cleansers, like the Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser (£13.25 for 100ml - works out at 13p per ml), so in the long run it does work out cheaper, you just need to fork out a bit of extra money to start with.

The Philosophy Purity cleanser is packed with lovely ingredients like flower, wood and seed oils/extracts, but if you're not keen on parabens, it does contain some of them (methylparaben & propylparaben).

It took me a while to work out what the best way was to use this, so, via a cotton pad like Bioderma, or by using hands like Liz Earle.  From speaking to others on twitter and my general experience, I found using it like a hot cloth cleanser worked best.  It's safe for the eyes so you can work it in to your lashes like C&P too.  It removed all my eye makeup, including Maybelline Rocket volum which is just as stubborn as a waterproof mascara when it comes to removing it.  It left my skin feeling soft and nourished and didn't break me out.  It works just fine on a cotton pad too - but you will need to rinse your face afterwards.

I really like this and fully intend on replacing it when it's all gone, it's good value for money and does the job really well.

Have you used this before?  What did you think of it?

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Hayley from Water Painted Dreams

 

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NYC all day long foundation

Today I'm talking about the NYC All day long foundation.  I was in Superdrug the other day and I had the urge to try some new things in the hope of discovering something worth raving about.  So I picked up a few things from NYC, a brand where I'd only ever tried their Show Time mascara (didn't like it) and a nail varnish (really liked). There was a memory in the back of my mind somewhere saying that this was a surprisingly good foundation, it might have been a Emily Noel video.  Either way, I picked it up.  It retails for £3.99, but when I bought mine it had £1 off, so was only £2.99.  For that price, I didn't have high hopes.

My Thoughts
If I had to liken this to another foundation, I'd say it reminds me of Revlon Colourstay, not in it's consistency, but it's finish and feel.

The all day long foundation claims to last for up to 14 hours, by that I'm not sure if they mean looks perfect at 14hrs or there'll still be traces of it on your face after 14hrs.  For me, it was traces of it after 14hrs, but it stayed looking decent throughout a typical day (7:30am - 6pm).  What it did that I didn't like though was make my t-zone very shiny quite early on (about 10am), but by simply patting the area the shine was reduced considerably.  The coverage was ok (light/medium & not buildable on my skin), it definitely evened out my skin tone and reduced redness, even under my eyes.  It set really nicely, just like the Revlon Colourstay foundation and didn't cling to my pores.

The colour was a pretty good match, perhaps a little ashy or grey to begin with, but once I had bronzer/blusher on it looked perfectly fine.

Overall, I was really pleasantly surprised by this, for £3.99 it's an excellent foundation and a decent dupe for the Revlon Colourstay which is over £10.  This is perfect for adding some coverage for everyday wear, like popping to the shops, going to school/work.  Now I have this, I doubt I'd replace my Colourstay when it runs out, not when this is so similar, and it has a pump dispenser, unlike the Colourstay which is a pour.

The lowdown

• £3.99 in Superdrug
• 0.92 fl oz or 27.3 ml of product
• My shade 737 Classic Ivory
• Packaging - pump
• Bad ingredients: talc, phenoxyethanol (faux paraben), Revlon Colourstay has Methylparaben and Probylparaben (which is a little worse)

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This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Hayley from Water Painted Dreams

 

Oriflame triple core 3D lipstick

The Oriflame 3D lipstick I received in my goody bag from the July London blogger meetup I went to this year.  I know it's a little strange to look at with it's triple core, but it looks very very pretty on, and applies really easily.

I'd describe this as a 'Your lips but better' shade with a bit of a dusky pink in the mix.  It's easily wareable for every day wear, even teamed up with a dark eye.  It feels soft and hydrating and doesn't apply to thickly.  The way it's structured with the balmy ring in the middle, it adds sheen to your lips and helps define them.  You know how some people do the tip of a lighter colour in the middle?  Well this does all of this in one bullet.

You can see the colour is fairly sheer, but to a nice degree.  It lasts well, a good couple of hours before needing another run over, and I didn't feel I needed a lip liner with it.  Because of how the rings are structured, the outer colour almost works as a liner itself as it defines.

I really have been trying to wear more lipstick and lip products recently since I have so many of them, and this is one I've found myself reaching for more than any other.  It's so easy and quick to apply, not like most lipsticks I usually wear (which I usually choose to apply with a brush first), this one I can glide it on nice and quickly before I leave the house, drop it in my bag and I'm set for the day.

It comes in 5 different shades, mine is Nude Peach and costs £10.95 on their website.  If you're ever in the market for trying something a little different, I really would recommend this, it's a lovely product that I'll definitely be replacing when it runs out.

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Hayley from Water Painted Dreams

 

Written by Georgina Kent

Ginvera BB Cream & Marvel Gel Giveaway

If you've been following my blog for a long time, you'll know I love the Ginvera green tea BB cream, I've been a fan of their products ever since my first little sachet sample of the BB cream came in my SheSaid Beauty box last year.  I loved them so much, I chose to add their logo on to my blog as a 'brand of the month' and left it there for about 4-5 months.  But you know what it's like when you're a beauty blogger, you discover other brands as you try different things to blog about.  But, in all this time of trying all these different products, their BB cream still remains as a cult item for me.  It's scent is amazing, the coverage fantastic, and the finish beautiful.  If you want to see my review of it, you can read it here, and watch my video here.

More recently I've tried the Marvel gel.  This is a bit of a wonder product, here's what they say about it 

"Ginvera Green Tea Exfoliating Marvel Gel works by specifically targeting the cornified skin layer, dissolving and removing the dead skin cells on the top most epidermis layer.

This gentle yet effective exfoliating action zeros-out blackheads thoroughly and painlessly and helps remove deep layers of dead skin. When the dead skin barrier is removed, the new skin underneath is revealed, allowing your skin’s healthy radiance to glow from within. It helps prevent pimples and controls oil secretion to help you stay shine-free the whole day!"

That pretty much matches my experience.  As you massage it into your skin, you start getting little lumpy collections (I know that sounds gross, but it's really not), which is basically dead skin.  There's no rough beads in it like most exfoliators, so this is gentle enough to use every day.  It has helped to minimise my blackheads and has left me with lovely soft skin.

During my last big giveaway, the lovely Jan from Janiro (UK Ginvera supplier) contacted me to see if I'd like to do a giveaway of the BB cream and Marvel gel - this I didn't want to say no to, I love the products and Jan is one of the lovely people I've had the pleasure of meeting (in a digital way!) from any brand that I've worked with since starting my blog - she's been an amazing support.  As you can see from the photo, the prize is a full size Green tea BB Cream, and a full size Marvel gel.

So, lets get to the giveaway, here's the rules.
1.  This is open internationally
2.  You MUST follow my blog via Bloglovin' (I will check, and any people who have falsely said they're following will have all their entries removed & discounted) and follow @JaniroLTD on twitter
3.  If you're under 18, please ensure you have permission from a guardian
4.  This giveaway will run for 2 weeks from Saturday 24th August

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Hayley from Water Painted Dreams

 

Written by Georgina Kent

Kawaii haul and update

Cast your mind back to Monday, I posted about my love of Japanese things, especially Kawaii (cute) things. Well, on Tuesday I think, I was browsing Instagram and someone I follow had done a haul of some really cute Kawaii pieces from a brand called Kawaii Wonderland, just a small little online shop based here in the UK selling cute Japanese things.  After seeing how cheap they were, I immediately jumped on the bandwagon and made an order.  Two days later my haul was here on my desk, and I was cooing over all the cute stuff!  Anyway, here's what I bought :)

** Top left were freebie bits, then there's a squishy donut keyring, then a cute pen, then a badge, then ice cream earrings, then bottom left two hair grips **

** These are 3 little stationary sets, perfect for sending out to accompany giveaway prizes **

I really love these little pieces, and what's more, they chucked in some cute little sweets too - just like when I bought my phone case from YY Kawaii - she put a little lollipop in with it :)  The little stationary sets are really cute - 3 pieces of paper, a couple of stickers and 2 envelopes in each set and each one is only 99p, adorable!

I know this is pretty far from being beauty related, but I do want to have more lifestyle posts on here, so I hope you enjoy seeing little hauls and snippits like this of things I like outside the beauty world.  I'm also missing creating videos for YouTube, so even though it's only been just over 2 weeks, I am considering going back to it, and just filming for the love of it just like I used to - would you like to see more videos?  If so, are there any specific requests?

I hope you're all having a fantastic Friday - be sure to come back tomorrow as there's an awesome giveaway launching then, exciting times!

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Hayley from Water Painted Dreams

 

Written by Georgina Kent

Chanel superstition autumn 2013 collection haul

 ** You'll have to excuse my camera, when I use HD mode, it sometimes picks up light strangely, hence the lightest colour in the palette looks a bit odd in this picture **

So yesterday I blogged about my September wishlist, which featured a Chanel creme blush, Bioderma and an Estee Lauder Gelee blusher.  Well, a couple of hours after this went live I'd had a couple of tweets that the Gelee blushers were limited edition and pretty much sold out everywhere.  With that thought I scarpered out at lunchtime to Boots in search of the Gelee blush, and as you might imagine, since it launched in May, they were completely sold out and had been for some time.

With that thought, my mind wandered to the Chanel autumn creme blush that was also on my wishlist and how that was also limited edition.  Not wanting to miss out on both I headed to the Chanel counter to peruse their autumn line up.  Oh, my, god, it's beautiful!  Deep deep greens that are almost black, deep dark greys and sparkling neutrals.  Then there's the creme blushers, the shade I wanted was 'Fantastic', but when I swatched the tiniest amount, I was actually put off it by how crazily pigmented it was, too dark for me.  So I turned my attention to the lighter shades and finally found one I thought would be really wareable and pretty, 'Revelation'.  It actually reminds me of my favourite Chanel powder blush 'Orchid Rose', but in a creme formula, this I'm excited about!  What's more, by the time you're reading this, I'll already be wearing it for the first time, whoop!

After seeing Sophie Meloa's Chanel haul the single eye shadow in Gri Gri also caught my eye.  In her photo I had thought it was similar to Fauve, but when you see it in real life, its not like it at all.  Fauve has, surprise surprise, mauve in it, whereas Gri Gri is more like a soft sparkling neutral that will look so pretty in the autumn, especially when teamed up with the autumn quad I purchased!  Yep, I also picked up the Mystere quad!  To look at in the palette, it doesn't look overly amazing, apart from the top left shade (deepest greeny black with gold glitter), but when you swatch them they transform to the prettiest eye shadows.  I only intended on picking up the creme blush, but when I saw Gri Gri too, I had to have it, then the quad... well, I couldn't decide, so I thought, I'm having it all!  And, even though I was spending £88 there, the cheeky mare on the till tried to sell me a nail polish and eyeliner from the collection, doesn't she think I spent enough!

So there you have it, one little innocent blog post yesterday, turned into me spending £88 at Chanel, and you know what? I don't regret it for one second.  Chanel is by far my favourite makeup brand and has been for the last 10 years, the quality is outstanding of both the product and the packaging, you really do get what you pay for.

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Hayley from Water Painted Dreams

 

Written by Georgina Kent