Makeup Revolution Shimmer Bricks Review - Radiant and Rose Gold

If you have the Bobbi Brown shimmer bricks on your wishlist, but they are too expensive, then these are the perfect substitute. It was only a matter of time before Makeup Revolution brought out their own version of the shimmer brick. As you know, Bobbi Brown is the queen of the shimmer brick product and a lot of other company's have tried too match this standard of quality and most of the time, they do not get anywhere close. Make-up Revolution launched their version of the shimmer bricks earlier this year bringing out two of them. Radiant and Rose Gold are perfect for this time of year if you want to add a bit of bronzer and highlighter to your skin. If you have seen or own shimmer bricks before, then you will know that the product can be used as a separate highlighter/bronzer or can be swirled together for a beautiful light bronzer with lots of shimmer.

The shimmer bricks are cased in a slim black plastic box with a clear lid that makes it easy to see what shade you have without opening it. I think the packaging seems sturdy enough which is good, especially if you are planning to travel with these bricks as they will hopefully not break in your make-up bag. 

Make-up Revolution claims the shimmer bricks 'Combine the warmth from a bronzer with highlighters to give gorgeous definition to all skin tones. Either use each shade from the shimmer brick on its own, or swirl your brush round to pick up all the colours'. 

 Radiant is perfect for me as I am very pale and this gives me a healthy glow without looking too much. This is very much a cool toned palette with a lot of pale pinks and golden shimmers. I believe this is a dupe for the Bobbi Brown Shimmer brick in Beige as it has the same kind of colours. 

The first strip in the palette looks like a white shimmer but once applied to your cheekbones, it has a yellow gold tone to it which is just beautiful. The second strip looks pink in the palette, but once applied, it is a peachy pink with gold shimmer. The third strip is a brown with gold shimmer. Strip four is a beige/champagne that is lighter than strip 2. Lastly, strip five is a golden brown. When swirled together, it produces a champagne/golden bronze shade which looks perfect on paler skin.

Rose Gold  is definitely a lot darker in colour, but do not let that put you off using it. When using this shimmer brick, use a light hand and blend especially if you are pale like me as this can look too much if you use it heavily. This is a lot warmer in tone and is a dupe for the Bobbi Brown shimmer brick in bronze. 

Strip one is a yellow toned white just like the one in Radiant. Strip two is a darker pink and in comparison to strip two from radiant, it is a lot darker. Strip three is a bright copper with golden shimmer. Strip four is a red bronze and strip five is a dark taupe brown. When swirled together, it produces a darker/warmer bronze colour which would look great on darker skin tones. For me, I found it too much and I would have to use the tiniest bit and blend it out. 

 These shimmer bricks are just a dream to work with as the formulation is very smooth and soft to touch. As I have mentioned previously, they are very pigmented so use a light hand when applying to the cheeks especially the rose gold brick. The shimmer bricks are a multi-purpose product, so you can use it on the cheeks, eyes and body. When trying this product out, I applied the shimmer brick at 9am and removed my make-up at 10pm and I can confirm that it lasted all day without completely fading into nothing. 

Overall the Make-up Revolution shimmer bricks are a brilliant and affordable dupe for the Bobbi Brown shimmer bricks. I think these are just as pigmented and soft in texture as the Bobbi Brown ones. I love these shimmer bricks and they are perfect for the summer to either add a glow or a bronze glow. 


The Make-up Revolution shimmer bricks are sold online and in Superdrug at a price of £3 each.

Gosh Lip Oils Review

I have never tried lip oils before because one, there are not that many around that are affordable and two, I was happy with my old trusty vaseline aloe vera lip balm whenever my lips were chapped and dry. So when Gosh came out with their version of a lip oil, I was intrigued to try it out for the first time.  These are a great dupe for the Clarins instant light lip oils and I think they do give the Clarins oils a run for their money. When I bought these lip oils, my lips were dry and very chapped. I was using the Maybelline baby lips dr rescue and it was not doing anything to make my lips better. I just needed something to help my lips out and this is where these lip oils come into play...

 Firstly, these lip oils are part of the spring/summer 2016 collection 'Copenhagen' and they are not limited edition. These are very much part of the permanent line from Gosh which I am super happy about as they are just lovely. I believe this is the first lip oil within the UK drugstore that is not highly expensive but a more affordable alternative.

The lip oils come in a clear plastic tube with a matte black top. I like how the packaging is clear so I can see if I am running out of product. The name of each lip oil is on a sticker at the top of the packaging. Once you twist the product open, the doe foot applicator is unusual. I have never seen a doe foot applicator which is flat and long. I don't really get the concept of this, but I am assuming it is to get a lot of product on the applicator without having to re-dip. When I tried the oil out, I used one side of the applicator for my bottom lip and the other side for my top lip. I found this gave me enough product on my lips without putting too much or too little but just right.

Within the collection, there are four shades to choose from; Clear, Sea Buckthorn (Golden yellow), Rose (Red) and Raspberry (Pink). In the tube, they look quite pigmented but actually on the lips, it gives a very sheer hint of colour. On my lips, they all look the same because my lips are quite pigmented and strong in colour, so you definitely do not need all four shades.

Once I applied the oil to my lips, it felt very smooth and hydrating and no sign of any stickiness. It just felt very nice and easy to apply without too much trouble. The oil lasted on my lips for about 2 hours before fading, but it definitely made my lips super smooth for the rest of the day. I use the lip oil mostly at night before I go to bed and it lasts all night till I wake up in the morning. The oil lasts longer due to not talking and smacking lips together.

After a couple of days using the oils, my lips were transformed from chapped to hydrated, good looking lips. It worked a treat and made my lips go back to normal. Within the oil, there are four nordic super active ingredients to make your lips better. Sea Buckthorn protects and nourishes, Moringa, Argan and Macadamia oils moisturises the lips and Vitaskin E repairs, constructs and recovers the lips. I love how there are other benefits to this product as well as being a great lip oil.

Overall, I am in love with these lip oils because they have made my lips look and feel much better than a normal lip balm and they are so nice to use. They might not last long, but the lips will thank you for the benefits inside the oils.

Gosh lip oils are available from Superdrug instore and online at £7.49 each.

NYX Cosmetics now available in Boots UK

This has been a long time coming for the UK make-up addicts, NYX has finally launched in to Boots UK. If you don't know, NYX is an American make-up brand that has affordable yet brilliant products. NYX has slowly been coming into the UK. For example, NYX is being sold in Next, however, there is a limited amount of products and it is usually not the newest products on the market. I also have noticed that Selfridges are starting to sell their products which is brilliant and now Boots are finally stocking NYX online. I don't know if they will be stocking this brand in the shops, but you can definitely  buy NYX online. For the UK people, we do actually have a NYX website, but it looks like this never gets updated with the latest products and the stock is very limited.

On the Boots website, they did announce that NYX cosmetics was coming to Boots a couple of weeks ago. Now they have officially launched NYX into their range of beauty brands and it is available right now on their website. It looks like they have a small range of products on the Boots website at the moment, but hopefully they will sell a bigger range when it becomes more popular. The latest lip product by NYX is the Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick and this is actually available in the UK as well via Boots. Also, they have the very hyped up highlight and contour kit that got everyone raving about.

I am very excited about NYX cosmetics being sold in Boots in the UK because I have heard so many good things about this company and I can finally buy some of their products. You can find NYX cosmetics in Selfridges, Boots and on their own website.

Are you excited to try any of their products?

October Beauty Savings and Deals

This is going to be another new series of posts on my blog. I thought I might as well write a blog post about all the savings and deals that are around in the shops either online or in store for people in the UK. I love finding deals and saving money on products that I actually want to purchase myself. It can be quite hard to figure out which is the best deal within different shops, so I have designed a post that will help you with that. Every month, I will research the latest deals within the two main drugstore shops (Boots and Superdrug) and any department stores within the UK. 

Moving on, I have researched and selected the main deals and savings for October 2015.

Superdrug 

• Free Tote Bag  - If you buy any products that are in the 3 for 2 scheme then you will receive a Tote bag. The tote bag looks to be a normal size tote, so you can get a magazine in the bag without folding it in half. However, you are still getting one product free (The cheapest) and you get a free tote bag. I will definitely be going to Superdrug soon as I have a hit list of products and I will see what this offer is all about. This offer ends 24th November 2015 and only one bag per transaction. 

•  Buy 1 get 2nd half price on Rimmel Tanning products - At the moment, Superdrug is running a deal on Rimmel tanning products. This is all the tanning products from instant to gradual to face bronzers that Rimmel makes. It is getting into that time of year where we all wish to have a nice looking tan and this deal will certainly help you to achieve that look.

Boots

• 750 points if you buy 2 Clarins products - This offer is only available to advantage card holders. You should own an advantage card if you buy a lot of beauty products anyway! So if you buy any two Clarins products (Skincare and Make-up), then you will receive 750 points on your advantage card.
  

•  Free gift at Revlon - If you buy three Revlon products then you will receive a free Revlon Photoready Prime + Anti - Shine Balm. The shine balm costs £9.99, so you are getting a brilliant saving. Also, because Boots are running their 3 for 2, you can also buy three products, get one free and then get another free product. I think this is a very good deal.

• Save 1/3 On L'oreal Skincare - I know 1/3 off products is not an awful lot of saving, but it is still money off right? At the moment, Boots have reduced most of the L'oreal skincare line by 1/3. So for example, if I wanted to buy the Skin Perfection Anti Fatigue cream, it would cost me £7.99 instead of £11.99 saving me £4.00. This deal is good if you use their skincare range already or would like to try some of their products.

• Barry M Halloween Bundle - On the Boots website, I found this make-up bundle. Basically, this bundle of make-up is for Halloween and it involves some dark shades/colours.Within this bundle, you will receive; Black and White Nail Paints, Lip Paint in Blac and Kohl Pencil in blac. The Barry M bundle costs £10, which saves you £3.46 when you buy all the products separately. I have checked this on Superdrug and it is definitely a saving. 

• Sleek Halloween Bundle - I also found this Halloween bundle on the Boots website. Within this bundle, you will receive; I-Divine palette in Enchanted Forest, I-Quad Eyeshadow palette in Black , a true colour lipstick in Vamp and a dip it eyeliner in Black. Obviously, these are all dark colours due to the theme of the bundle. When you buy all these products together, it will cost £17.49 rather than £23.46, giving you a saving of £5.97.

                                                      Debenhams

£10 Elizabeth Arden lipsticks - The last offer for this month's post is the amazing deal by Elizabeth Arden. They have temporarily reduced all the lipsticks within their brand to just £10. As everyone knows, Elizabeth Arden is a high end brand that charges £18 - £21 per lipstick which is a lot of money. If you buy a lipstick for £21 and it is currently reduced to £10, you have saved £11 which is an amazing save. This offer is only available from 19th to 25th October, so go and get your lipstick now.

So they are all the best deals and savings that I could find for this month. I will try and do this kind of post every month to share with you the deals that I can find. If you want to know the latest deals for next month, then subscribe to my blog.

New Product Alert - Sleek Solstice Highlighting Palette

If you are subscribed to my Youtube channel, then you would know I am a sucker for highlighters and this palette is right up my street.

Sleek launched a highlighter palette late last year, which went down a storm. Now they have created a brand new palette with new shades ready for the Christmas period. This palette comes in a nice, pretty rose gold packaging, which is the 'in thing' at the moment. I think making the  packaging a rose gold colour makes the palette extra special and makes it look more higher end than it is.
Within the palette itself, it comes with a mirror that covers one side and a brush to apply the product with. I usually don’t bother with the brushes that come with the palettes due to the brush being a bit crap and worthless. But if you are travelling, then it is an ok make-up tool to have. The palette comes with four highlighters that are all different colours that can be used in different areas of the face and body. Two of the four highlighters are baked powders, one is a shimmer powder and the last one is a cream formula. So you do get a good variety of textures and colours in this palette. The top two highlighters are Ecliptic which is a champagne cream and Hemisphere which is a pink/purple baked highlighter. The bottom two are subsolar which is a yellow shimmer powder and Equinox is a bronze baked powder. Apparently Equinox is a dupe for the Becca highlighter in champagne pop, but is a lot affordable and easy to get in the UK.
I do like how there are different colours of highlighter, with different formulas to suit everyone's needs. Sleek claims this palette to enhance the complexion with a radiant glow with a metallic finish that gives a sheen to the skin. They also say these highlighters can be used on all skin tones and can be used for the skin and body.


This is definitely on my make-up wishlist as I love Sleek products and I love highlighters, so I need a trip to Superdrug to find it.


If you want to buy the Sleek Solstice Highlighting palette, it is out now and available from Sleek website, Superdrug and Boots. The palette is a part of the permanent line and costs £9.99.

Clinique Supporting Breast Cancer Awareness with Limited Edition Blush

It is that time of year where brands bring out limited edition products to support a very good cause. The cause I am talking about is the Breast Cancer Care Foundation and their ribbon logo is well known across the world. October is the main month where brands sell limited edition products to raise funds for the foundation. This month is also about making people aware of breast cancer and how to check for signs of any cancer within the breasts. All the money raised in October will mean Breast Cancer Care can provide nurses, local services and a support network for free to all those people who need it. 

Clinique is one of the main brands that support this foundation by bringing out limited edition versions of their products. The main one for 2015 is a limited edition cheek pop called Pink With a Purpose. Cheek pops are one of Clinique’s best selling products this year and they wanted to bring out a special one for this cause. 

Pink With a Purpose cheek pop comes in the same packaging as the standard cheek pop. The blush has an embossed berry ribbon to show their support rather than the flower design. Cheek pops are usually silky, natural looking and this cheek pop should be no different. The colour of the blush is a berry pink which should look subtle and natural when applied to the skin. The pictures show the blush as a bright pink but in reality it is a berry pink. You can build up the layers to create a more intense and bold blush look to the skin. 

Also when you buy this cheek pop, you will receive a mini bright pink pouch that can be used to keep the blush secure when travelling or can be used as a coin purse if you need one urgently. The Pink With a Purpose cheek pop costs £17 but Clinique will donate £2 to breast cancer for each one sold. This blush will be sold on their website, in boots, Debenhams and House of Fraser for the month of October.

I definitely will be purchasing this cheek pop because it is for a great cause and it looks like a great product.

The Pink with purpose cheek pop is out on the 8th October 2015.

Upcoming Product - Collection Illuminating Touch Foundation

Collection are on a roll with bringing out brand new products into their range at the moment. They have recently launched a contour kit and a highlighter stick. Now they are about to launch a brand new foundation to complement another product which is the illuminating touch concealer. Yes, they are bringing out an illuminating touch foundation to add to the illuminating touch range. 

The illuminating touch foundation is meant to give a flawless and radiant look to the skin by using light reflecting pigments within the formula. If you have dull skin this will work for you since this will lighten the skin to give a radiance boosting look and make you look more awake. This foundation is hydrating to the skin, which will be perfect for people who have dry skin and struggle to find any foundations that will not show any dry patches. The formula is medium to high coverage which will help to cover any problem areas like blemishes and redness. You can build the coverage up without looking cakey to make it full coverage.  Collection also claims this foundation to be long lasting that will stay all day without moving or slipping off the face. They also claim on their website that this foundation will give you a 'your skin but better' look.

The foundation comes in a glass bottle that has a frosted finish and comes with a black pump and a lid. I do like how foundations come with a pump and a lid for it. However, because of the glass bottle, it will make the weight of this foundation a lot heavier and if you drop it on the floor, then it will smash.  

There are six shades of this foundation; Porcelain (1), Ivory (2), Cool Beige (3), Warm Beige (4), Honey (5) and Golden (6). 

Personally, I am not sure if I will try this foundation since I have oily skin and have a natural shine from the oils within my skin. I might try this in the winter time when the weather turns colder and my skin needs a bit of a boost. 

The Collection illuminating touch foundation will be available from Superdrug/Wilko on the 23^rd September and will later be available in Boots on the 30^th September 2015 at a cost of £ 5.99 each. Collection already have a web page for this foundation ready for its launch, but it is still too early to buy online.