One of my favourite Urban Decay Palettes

Urban Decay We don’t do animal testing… How could anyone?

I absolutely adore Urban Decay products – definitely my HG eye shadows - so was delighted when I opened this gorgeous palette on Christmas morning (easily one of my favourite and most used pressies!)
The 6 colours are Minx, URB, Gunmetal, Twice Baked, Smog and Half Baked. I think Half Baked has to be one of the most famous and utterly fantastic gold -toned nude shades and I find myself going back to it again and again, each time being surprised at just how pretty it is!

This also comes with the classic 24/7 glide-on eye pencil in zero and an ickle mini bottle of Primer Potion in Sin (which I forgot to take a picture of!)
I think I actually adore the packaging of this palette as much as the shadows… anything that has adorable animals all over it is fine by me :)

What I love about this collection of colours it that you can use them to create a complete eye look. I love my Deluxe Shadow Box, Dangerous Palette etc but I find I opt for those when I need a pop of colour as opposed to a simple all-in-one-little-box eye selection
Above from top: Gunmetal, URB and Minx
Above from top : 24/7 Glide-on eye pencil in Zero, Half Baked, Smog and Twice Baked

Rubbish eye shadow

Max Factor Smoky Eye Effect in Bronze Haze

If you don't have time for a full review I'll try to sum it up as succinctly as possible. These are absolutely crap

In theory this is a brilliant idea. I mean 1 pen sized applicator that gives a complete smoky eye look without the use of brushes or fiddly applicators? Yes please!

The colours available are all totally gorgeous but I figured I'd go for a simple pale cream/dark brown combo for everyday use. The cream end is rounded and meant for use of the entire lid but the colour is so pale when applied that it hardly seems worth the effort. The brown end is tapered and is meant to be used as the crease/liner colour; the shade is really pretty but much lighter than it looks once it’s been applied
The biggest problem I have with this is that it creases. And not just a little bit. I wore this today over my Soap & Glory Primer (It's About Prime) and by the end of the day I had a practically no colour on my lid and a thick unpleasant looking line along my crease. This is a frequent complaint when it comes to cream shadows and also the reason I usually avoid them
Another thing that bothers me about this is the actual method of application because the little sticks are shaped to work with the contours of the eye but can’t be sharpened… I find them perfectly easy to use at the minute but I can't see things being quite so straightforward once the tapered end of the brown colour wears down cos it'll end up being a big round stick of colour, which won’t be too practical when I'm using it as a liner or crease shade
I found this really disappointing and although I really hate wasting money on products that I only use once or twice I just can’t see me bothering with this in the future. To think that I could have bought 8 fantastic high quality MUA eye shadows for the same price!

Other stuff :

Cost - £7.99
Shades available - 8
Would I repurchase? - Not even if the price was reduced to free

Red lip gloss - gorgeous, flattering and free

Barry M Limited Edition Valentines Day Lip Gloss

You’ve probably noticed that I’m a massive fan of the Barry M lip glosses… I own about 10 or 12 at the minute and literally can’t think of a single thing I don’t like about them! Every time there is a limited edition one I fall in love with it, which kinda sucks cos they’re available for such a short time :(

I almost never wear red lip colours as I usually go for dramatic eyes and pale, subtle lips but when I swatched this red Barry M gloss I just had to have it; I’d happily create a whole makeup look round this one item!
This is a limited edition Valentines day special which is free when you spend £6 or more on Barry M goodies. I had a look in Boots today and this is still available but I’m not sure when the offer is due to end

The smell is a mouth wateringly fruity sweet scent, almost too nice cos it makes me wanna just lick it off. The colour is a 1940s style berry red that makes my lips look bright, my complexion even and smooth and my teeth white. Which is no mean feat for a lip gloss!

I just wanted to mention this cos I know a lot of people are nervous of such striking colours but I think this shade would be flattering on most skin tones and the texture is a lot more forgiving that a lot of bright red lipsticks :)

Miss Sporty - 5 awesome products under a fiver

Miss Sporty is one of those brands that doesn't really draw me in when I'm shopping for cosmetics. I'm not entirely sure why cos I've bought some awesome goodies from the line but I generally wander past the stand without giving it a second glance…

But I was sorting through my makeup the other day - I find that throwing out a load of makeup ensures my next shopping trip is virtually guilt free. I mean I need new stuff - and came across tonnes of Miss Sporty stuff that I absolutely love. These are a few favourites that I had to mention!
So Matte Perfect Stay Foundation in Light £3.49 : I think this is one of the most underrated drug store foundations ever. I really must get round to doing a full review but it’s basically a long wearing shine controlling matte finish foundation that lasts hours and only costs £3.49. You just cant beat that!
Fabulous Lash mascara in Xtra black £3.29 : This has a classic conical bristle brush which is easy to work with and does a good job of separating all my lashes. The formula is glossy and not wet enough to leave my lashes clumped together but not so dry that it leaves the hairs feeling brittle and like they’ll break if I touch them
Ladies Night lip gloss in In The Spot Light £3.49 : This is one of those all-round-great-for-every-day-use-bargaintastic products that I will happily use day in and day out. The colour looks scarily pink in the tube but is a subtle pretty pink when it's been applied. The texture is not too sticky and not too slick so it stays put for more than 5 minutes (unlike a lot of glosses I’ve tried recently)
Ohh Blushed Again in Sienna £3.09 : This is one of my favourite peach blushes. It looks really natural and pretty because it’s a completely matte powder and I’ve found that it builds really well
Ultra Shine Gloss in Envy Me £2.99 : One of the best smelling glosses I’ve ever tried! I love the pale pink slightly glittery colour and the texture is lovely. I’ve bought a whole bunch of different shades from fragrancedirect.co.uk for 99p each and I’ve got loads of use out of them :)

Foundation of the moment - Wake Me Up by Rimmel

I'm always a bit wary of "brightening" foundations cos I've found that words like brightening and illuminating are often code for glittery. I'm not averse to a little sprinkle of glitter but I generally prefer it being limited to a swipe of eyeliner or lip gloss; a whole face full of it just doesn't appeal to me

But of course the advertisements won me over (damn those gorgeously airbrushed pictures!!) and I couldn't resist giving this a try. Most stores seems to have this foundation on offer at the minute so I got it for £5.99, not too bad considering it's absolutely brilliant and genuinely brightening, not just glittery :)
The thing that impressed me most about this is how natural it looks, it actually reminds me of Healthy Mix by Bourjois because it looks like skin. Much clearer, smoother, brighter skin than my own but still natural and not cakey or powdery or shiny or sparkly or… well you get the idea. This basically leaves me looking like a better version of myself, kinda like I've had 12 hours sleep followed by a nice hearty breakfast and a walk along the beach. None of which I've done for a very long time

It's everything I've come to expect from Rimmel; looks great when it's first applied, lasts well, feels really comfortable on the skin, is a total bargain and even smells nice!
Like a lot of people I generally opt for different levels of coverage depending on the time of year, what state my skin is in etc. I reckon there the majority of foundations fall into the medium coverage category but there seems to be huge variations in the level of coverage between the medium coverage ones. If that makes sense? Wake Me Up gives a light medium coverage. It would take a really good skin day for me to wear this without a few dabs of concealer
Oh and I should probably mention that this foundation never "sets" and stays quite moist on the skin pretty much all day. Personally this is perfect for my skin at the minute because I feel like a dried up old prune in this weather so anything that adds a little moisture is a bonus but I'm sure it'd be a deal breaker for a lot of people!

Other stuff :

Cost - £8.99 (on sale for £5.99 in most Boots and Superdrug stores at the min)
Size - 30ml
Shades available - there's only 6 so there'll be a lot of disappointed people who cant find a match

Cant believe I actually like this foundation...

Pan Stik in Fair (25) by Max Factor

I remember trying this out on the back of my hand when I was a teenager and thinking it was the grossest foundation ever! It seemed so thick, cakey and unnatural that I couldn’t imagine anyone actually using it. 10 years on and my opinion has changed somewhat… I now absolutely love it

First things first: The texture. Lets not beat about the bush; the texture is more like a high-coverage concealer than a foundation which is one of the reasons I avoided trying this for so long. So I was amazed at how it melted and blended into my skin with minimal effort! I haven't tried this with a primer yet, I just use the stick to draw lines straight onto my face (the term war paint has never seemed so apt) and then I use my fingers to blend this in. It’s one of the few foundations I use that looks better when applied with my fingers instead of a makeup brush so it's great to use on the go if you don't wanna carry around foundation and/or stippling brushes
The coverage isn't thick and mask-like as I'd expected, if anything it's actually a lighter coverage than some of the liquid foundations I use such as Double Wear by Estee Lauder. The finish is surprisingly natural and leaves my skin looking dewy and even-toned but doesn’t cover every little imperfection so I still have to use a concealer for the worst offenders. The dewy/satiny finish definitely wouldn't be to everyones liking so I reckon most people would top this off with a powder but I kinda like the glow this gives me

As for staying power… although this isnt really advertised as a long wear product I've found it lasts really well and when it fades slightly throughout the day (particularly around my nose) the packaging comes into it's own as the stick design is perfect for top-ups
I kinda wish I could just rave about a product and not have anything negative to say but there always seems to be something that could be improved upon and in this case it's the range of shades available. Currently there is only 6 on sale and I found the numbering quite strange; I have ridiculously pale skin and had to use number 25 (fair) which was a bit, ahem, warmer looking (i.e orange) than I'd normally go for but it actually matched my skin tone fairly well once it had been applied

This gives the perfect coverage for this time of year but when we get into the summer months I reckon I'll just use this as a concealer for minor blemishes and dark circles instead of a foundation

Summary

Cost - £6.99
Size – 9g
Cons - Not nearly enough shades available
Bonus - Only costs £6.99, is really widely available and doesn't dry out

Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who took a few minutes to enter my little giveaway! Apologies for taking so long to pick the winner, it’s been a very very bad month :( On the plus side I rather enjoyed reading the list of favourite foundations but it would seem I definitely have to try out a BB cream or two… Had no idea they’d become so popular!

Anywho the winner is the lovely Summer from Slhx Beauty CONGRATS!! - an email is on it’s way to you :)

Thanks again to everyone who entered! I’ll be posting another giveaway in a few days so feel free to keep an eye out for that one

Much love

Joy xxx