MUA Blusher Shade 1 Review

This little number is one of my very first purchases from MUA and the reason I keep coming back to this brand to try out lots of new things. In a nutshell, you cannot get better value for your money - I dare you to prove me wrong.

I will admit that the packaging is not particularly pretty. The plastic casing looks and feels very cheap, but for the price you could do a lot worse. It will protect the blusher from daily wear and tear if all you keep it in is your make-up case/bag, though I'm not sure it would survive being thrown around in a handbag or suitcase.

But, let's move on to the actual blusher. It's butter soft to the touch, blends easily as long as you use the right brush and has just the right amount of pigmentation to make application easy and straightforward. I honestly wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this and my much more expensive MAC blushes.

What I will say is that due to the softness of the powder, mine broke off at the corners a little bit, so a light hand is required or you might damage your blush.
This particular shade is a very pretty bright pink which looks a lot more shimmery in the pan than it translates onto the skin. In reality it makes for a very girly, light flush on the cheeks which goes particularly well with cooler skin tones.

MUA Blusher Shade 1 swatch in natural light

MUA Blusher Shade 1 swatch with flash

I simply cannot believe that these retail at £1 each. I really want to just run out and buy the whole colour spectrum. Even if the packaging isn't great, the quality of the product more than makes up for it, even putting some high end alternatives to shame.

Monthly Favourites: June 2013

Last month has been absolutely brilliant for discovering new products that I really, really like, so it was about time to whack em all into one neat little post just in time for the monthly favourites!

1) Neal & Wolf Intensive Care Treatment

For months I was absolutely obsessed with Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle and while I still think it's an absolutely amazing product, I've now found something that's just as good (or perhaps even better?) for my frazzled tresses. It leaves hair silky smooth, soft and easy to work with without making it all sticky or weighed down by heavy ingredients. What's not to love?

2) Bourjois Cream Blush in 03 Rose Tender

For years I used to avoid cream blushes, as they'd leave a shiny, slobby film on my cheeks that would slide off after about half an hour tops. Oh, how times have changed and the latest cream-to-powder formulations cannot be beaten for longevity and workability. On the high street, this new Bourjois formula is my new favourite alongside my beloved Topshop blushes. I'd say the Topshop ones are better for bright, heavily pigmented colour, while those that are after a more natural and easy-to-use colour are best off with Bourjois. You can read my full review here.

3) Models Own Nail Polish in Pink Punch

I bought this shade back in December, but now that the sun's finally out it really comes into its own. I am absolutely obsessed with neons at the moment and this colour just glows in the sun light like there's no tomorrow. It also looks brilliant against tanned skin and makes me happy every time I look at my finger tips. Lasting power is about average and depends heavily on the top coat you use with it.

4) Palmers Cocoa Butter Body Scrub

I'm not a massive fan of the Palmers Body Butter and to be completely honest I only picked up this scrub because that's the only one that wasn't sold out in my local Superdrug. And I'm completely blown away. It's like a rich body butter that dissolves into creamy, gooey deliciousness once on the skin, with loads of little scrubby particles suspended within. It smells absolutely amazing and satisfies my need for proper mechanical exfoliation all the while being soft and gentle on the skin. Cannot possibly recommend this enough.

5) Amie New Leaf Exfoliating Polish

Anyone else notice that face and body scrubs pop up quite a lot on my monthly favourites lists? Admittedly, I do love that stuff quite a lot. This one came in last month's Beautecobox and I loved it from the moment I opened the little tube. It smells like Solero ice cream and really gets my skin squeaky clean, but without causing any irritation. A perfect product for in-the-shower scrubbers who need something a little stronger that won't wash off straight away.

Bourjois Cream Blush Review - Shade 03, Rose Tender

There's been a bit of a hype around this launch, so I feel like I'm a little late with my actual review of the Bourjois Cream Blush - apologies if you're fed up of them popping up all over your dashboard, haha!

One of my very first blushes was actually from Bourjois, which at the time was a brand that was difficult to get hold of for me. Unfortunately I no longer own it and I don't even remember what happened to it in the end. Anyway, I now have a new one to play with, so I'm not too sad about it.

The packaging of these is very similar to the "little round pot" packaging that is so inherent to Bourjois as a brand. However, the cream blushes are a little wider, thinner, lighter and just overall sleeker. They also house a magnifying mirror in the lid, which is a bit small to do your make-up in, but will do the job in a pinch.
Out of the four shades that have launched I got 03, Rose Tender to review.

Bourjois Cream Blush 03 Rose Tender Swatch

Rose Tender is a dark, dusky pink shot through with little flecks of shimmer in the pan. It applies a little sheerer and therefore lighter than it looks in the packaging, though I have no doubt that you could easily build it up to its true pan colour if you ever wished to do that.
Personally, I prefer to have a lighter flush on the cheeks and that's easily done applying it just with my fingers. The pigmentation is pretty much spot on in my opinion and while it's not ultra-bright and pigmented, that means that it's much easier to apply even for someone who might be a tad heavy-handed.

The blush applies as a cream and then dries down to a powder finish, just as advertised. Thankfully, the bits of shimmer translate into a healthy, flushed glow, rather than into glitter face.
There's just one negative with this blush and that is its staying power. It lasts about 4 hours on my face and then simply melts off and as it's a cream product it's not very convenient to reapply it on the go.

Is it worth the hype then? Yeeee...almost. It ticks pretty much every box apart from longevity, which I feel could be vastly improved. At £7.99 per pot though, I feel like it's a very welcome addition to the high street cream blusher department.

Bourjois Cream Blusher Launch - Are you excited?

I have to admit it's been a while since I got excited about a new product launch, but there's a few summer collections that have got me written all over them.

One of those exciting new things is the Bourjois cream blush. Now, Bourjois blushes have been around for a while - almost 150 years actually. Yeah, 150. One-five-oh. I had to do a double take when I first saw that number. Either way, Bourjois are now bringing out four new cream blushes and I cannot wait to get my mitts on them.

They describe them as a cream-to-powder formula, which is my preferred texture when it comes to blushers and the reason why I'm loving my Topshop blushers so much. Bourjois blushes actually seem to uphold a pretty good reputation in the blogging world, so I'm quite surprised I don't own any more than I do.

The four shades available are:

01 Nude Velvet
02 Healthy Glow
03 Rose Tender
04 Sweet Cherry

I personally can't wait to get my mitts on 03 and 01!
These launch next week on May 15 in Boots, Superdrug and on Asos.com and they seem very reasonably priced at £7.99 each. If you can't wait that long, Selfridges already have them in stock now.

And if you'd like to see some sneaky preview swatches, why not check out this post on Do Not Freeze?

Will you be heading out to pick up a Bourjois cream blush?

Inglot AMC Cream Blush in Shade 90 Review

Apologies for my absence from the blogging world again lately. The reason is not necessarily the usual life mess, but me and my boyfriend have actually moved into our first own flat not too long ago as well as starting new jobs, so we've been kept busy with settling, deep cleaning and buying exciting things like hoovers, washing machines and chopping boards.

A bit more exciting than chopping boards is the product I'd like to talk about today. It was purchased during an unscheduled visit to Poland (don't even ask) and even though I wasn't meant to spend any money I just couldn't help myself when I saw all those Inglot stand-alone stores and Sephoras.

Most of you will probably know Inglot from their affordable and supposedly great quality pick-your-own eye shadow palettes, but I felt like trying something a little different and as my blush selection isn't particularly big (yet!), I opted for a cream blush.

The packaging of the AMC cream blush is nothing special. The flat little pot is light and screws shut tightly, so it's great for travelling or even just carrying in your handbag for little top ups. It looks neither cheap nor luxurious, but it can be a little bit of a pain to unscrew the lid if you've got slippy fingers (for example because you've just applied a moisturiser). The pot looks tiny, but I was told by the sales assistant that it's extremely pigmented, so a little goes a long way.

And I have to admit, when she said it's pigmented, she really meant it! The first time I tried it I used my fingers and thought I applied light pressure onto the cream, yet ended up picking up way too much product and looked like a clown! All the while I had barely made a mark in the actual pot. Using a duo-fibre brush made getting the right amount out much, much easier.

As great as the pigmentation of this blush is, blending is a little bit of a nightmare. Again, a duo-fibre work made things a lot easier and fairly easily manageable, but blending this with bare fingers is nigh on impossible. It doesn't sink into the skin whatsoever, so whichever intensity you get upon first application is going to stay there. It wore for a good 8 hours on average before beginning to fade, but it did so evenly and without leaving any patches.

Inglot AMC Cream Blush in 90 swatch in day light

Inglot AMC Cream Blush in 90 swatch with flash

The shade I picked is called 90 - such a shame that Inglot couldn't come up with something slightly more imaginative. It's a mid-toned dusky pink which I would imagine would suit a wide variety of skin tones. Paler types like me just need to make sure to go easy on it and not layer it up too much. The colour reminds me a lot of a stronger version of one of my all-time favourite MAC blushers, Mocha.

At £9.00 a pop, these blushers are a steal for a good quality product which is long-wearing and insanely pigmented. I wish Inglot were a little easier to get hold of in the UK and their blusher colour selection is nowhere near as impressive as that of their eye shadows. If, however, I found a shade that really caught my eye and that I was desperate to get, I wouldn't rule out another sneaky little purchase.

Have you tried any Inglot products yet?

Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Lover Review

You know those times when you're looking for something for ages and as soon as you find it it seems to pop up everywhere? This is one of those times. I was looking for a matte apricot blush and found it in this beautiful offering by Illamasqua. As soon as I bought it I seemed to spot them everywhere, but I guess that's just life.

Kennt Ihr auch diese Vorfälle, wo man ewig nach etwas sucht und sobald man es findet taucht es plötzlich überall auf? Darum geht es hier. Ich habe ein mattes, Apricot-farbenes Rouge gesucht und in diesem wunderschönen Produkt von Illamasqua gefunden. Sobald ich es gekauft hatte, sah ich plötzlich überall ähnliche Produkte, aber so ist manchmal das Leben.

A word on the packaging first: The blush is housed in a sturdy black plastic case with a transparent window which will make it easy to find the shade you're looking for if you're in a hurry. Some people may prefer a mirror in the lid, though for me that's not an issue. The pointy corners make for a unique design which certainly isn't going to get lost in your stash, though I found it often difficult to open and if you have weak finger nails like me, beware, as you may lose one or two in the process.

Erst einmal zur Verpackung: Das Rouge sitzt in einem stablien schwarzen Plastikgehäuse mit einem durchsichtigen Fenster, welches es ganz einfach macht, die richtige Farbe zu finden, sollte man es einmal eilig haben. Manche Leute bevorzugen einen Spiegel in der Verpackung, aber für mich spielt das keine Rolle. Die spitzen Ecken sorgen für ein individuelles Design, das in euren Sammlungen mit Sicherheit hervorsticht, doch leider fand ich es oft schwierig, das Gehäuse zu öffnen. Wenn ihr auch so dünne Fingernägel habt wie ich, dann seid vorsichtig, denn ihr könnet leicht einen oder zwei bei einem Öffnungsversuch verlieren.

The compact houses 4.5g of product which is generous and will last for a long time.

Innen drin befinden sich 4.5g vom Produkt. Für ein Rouge ist das großzügig und wird lange reichen.

The blush itself is a warm apricot which leans orange in some lights. The texture is buttery soft and very pigmented, so you'll need to use a light hand when applying this! On the skin it has a velvety finish and can be layered up without caking or settling into pores or lines.

Der Blusher selbst ist warm und aprikosig und hat bei mancher Beleuchtung einen Orange-Stich. Von der Konsistenz her ist er butterweich und sehr pigmentiert, muss also leichthändig aufgetragen werden! Auf der Haut liefert er ein samtiges Finish und kann ganz leicht aufgebaut werden, ohne dass Flecken entstehen oder dass etwas sich in Poren oder Fältchen einnistet.

This colour would look stunning with a tan or on naturally darker or warmer skin tones. Of course there's no reason paler skins couldn't wear this either, though I personally found that it really emphasised my freckles, so I'll be laying this off until I get a bit of a tan in the summer months!

Diese Farbe würde bezaubernd aussehen auf gebräunter oder von Natur aus dunkler Haut. Natürlich gibt es keinen Grund, warum auch hellere Hauttypen dieses Rouge nicht tragen könnten. Für mich persönlich hat sich herausgestellt, dass es meine Sommersprossen sehr stark betont hat, also lasse ich es lieber bis zu den Sommermonaten liegen!

Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Lover - swatched in natural light

Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Lover - swatched with flash

This blusher retails for £16.50 and for the formula and pigmentation I definitely recommend it. It's just a shame that after so much searching for this particular shade it ended up not suiting me after all!

Dieses Rouge kostet 19.73€ und für die Konsistenz und Pigmentation würde ich es auf jeden Fall weiterempfehlen. Schade nur, dass sich nach all dem Suchen nach dieser besonderen Farbe herausgestellt hat, dass sie mir überhaupt nicht steht!

Available online from Illamasqua.com here.

Beauty Haul

I spent almost all of yesterday out and about in town and treated myself to quite a few beauty purchases, so here's a haul video featuring all the lovely items I came back home with. I hope you enjoy!

Haul Alert! Westfield Stratford Shopping City

This is a bit of a belated haul post - I wanted to do it for ages, but just couldn't get around to it, so apologies for the delay. My boyfriend had to go to an exhibition for work and asked if I wanted to come down to London with him for a couple of days and as I had a bit of time off I said yes. It turned out that our hotel was a Premier Inn right on top of the new Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, so I made the most of my day alone and went on a bit of a spending spree.

First up is this dress I picked up from New Look. It's not actually by New Look but by a label called Mela Loves London, which had its own little section upstairs in the stores. I desperately need some more "smart" clothes that I can wear to the office and I totally fell in love with the cute polka dot print and the soft wool material. The cowl neck is also incredibly flattering. At £25 it was also a bargain!

I also picked up this ring while I was there, which was on sale for £1! I don't really know why it was in the sale section, as they also had loads of these rings for the full price and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it.

Next I popped into Forever21 where I just couldn't resist this sweater. It's got Beagle puppies on it (*excited squeal*)! They had these with all sorts of animals, but the Beagles have got to be by far the cutest. It's one of those things that's so cheesy it's great again and will make a lovely cover up for cosy, lazy weekends. I think this was about £15, but I don't really remember anymore.

I also went into a shop called Beauty Base which mainly sold cheap perfumes - not as in awful crappy perfumes, but normal perfumes for less money - and cheap makeup - as in awful crappy makeup. I picked up a pack of five mini nail varnishes by L.A. Colors, as I loved the shades in the pack. I haven't tried any of these yet, so I can't comment on their colour density or staying power, but seeing as it cost me a pound or so for five nail polishes I won't be overly sad if they turn out to be rubbish.

I also got this bath and shower gel as I was running out and this smells absolutely gorgeous. It's a very strong fruity and refreshing scent, which might not be for everybody, but it's something I really love under the shower as it always manages to wake me up, even on the bleakest of mornings. Again, at round about two pounds for a 500ml bottle this is a complete bargain.

I also had to keep myself entertained, so I popped down to WHSmith and bought two books which were on a "buy-one-get-one-for-£1" offer. I already finished reading "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" and it has already become one of my favourite books ever, I really can't recommend it enough.

I bought this blusher from Topshop after I read loads and loads of positive reviews about their blushes. As you can see I've already been using it quite a bit. This is a cream formula in "Pinch", a gorgeous deep pink / fuchsia colour. The colour payoff of this product is absolutely amazing (see swatches below), it looks exactly like it does in the pot which is so rare. It's a creamy formula that dries into a powder on your skin, so you've got to blend it quickly before it dries. It's easy to overdo it with this blusher as it's just so colour intense, so it's better to just carefully dab it on rather than swirling your fingers around the pan and then to build it up on your cheeks as you go along.
It makes my face look really fresh and glowing, as if I'd just come back from a winter walk in the snow, which was exactly what I was looking for, so I'm extremely pleased with this product.

As I went through my lipsticks the other day I noticed that I always buy pretty much the same shade: a slightly greyish nude pink. In all seriousness, all my lipsticks are pretty much the same and only differ in finishes - some are glittery, some are sheer and some are matte. So I decided it's about time I got something a bit more brave, especially as there tends to be a recurring trend for strong lips every winter.
I went for this super intense fire engine red by Dior. It's actually called "Rouge Dolce Vita" from the Diorific line. How amazing is the packaging? It's a long lasting formula, so it's a good idea to apply lip balm beforehand, though it's still relatively creamy compared to other long lasting lipsticks I've tried. Oh, and when I say long lasting I mean long lasting. This stayed on my lips for hours, despite several drinks and a two course meal. You'd still need to touch it up from time to time, as it lost its sheen after a while, but I sure won't mind to pull this beauty out of my handbag any time soon.

Top: Diorific lipstick in Rouge Dolce Vita
Bottom: Topshop blush in Pinch