Benefits "that gal" Face Brightening Primer

Okay so the other week I was having a bit of a rubbish time so I took to the world wide web and went on a shopping spree, of course was all make up related products I purchased. One of the main things I was excited for was the Benefit "that gal" brightening face primer, having used it years ago in my teens and loved it back then I hoped that the love for this product would still be the same. I wasn't wrong.

Lets start with the packaging shall we?! how cute is it?! Love the pink sky and the small pictures of the buildings with the little trees at the bottom, very sex and the city I think. Then when you open the box the tube has the images from the box also on the label so if you do through away the box at least the tube continues on with the cute packaging. 

The primer its self can be used on make up free days or can be used as a base for make up, I have been using it on both. On my make up free days I feel it just enhances my skin making it look healthier and brighter and on my make up days it defiantly helps my make up stay on for longer. To get the product out you twist the bottom part till you see the product coming out through the little holes on the top. Its light and creamy in consistency, a light pink shade, blends into the skin perfectly. It is a rather expensive product however you only need a little, I tab a bit on my cheeks, forehead, chin and nose, just blending it in with my fingers. My skin feels lovely and soft after applying it. I'm so glad I purchased it again, I think its going to be a primer I will always end up going back to.

Is there any primers out there that you recommend?

Benefit "that gal" brightening face primer £22.50

I hope you guys enjoyed this post, let me know any thoughts or if you just want to say hi that would also be nice.

Thank You

Lots of Lovies
SJ
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Bourjois Bliss

 To start off I just want to apologise that there wasn't a post up yesterday, I hurt my shoulder at work that by the end of the day I was in a lot of pain and just wanted to sleep. Today it has been much better just get a slight niggling pain every now and then, think I pulled something. So lets get right into it.

I'm a little late to the Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation loving group, but I am firmly a member of it now. I have been using it and the Cream Blush in shade Healthy Glow as my lovely little duo recently and I am so happy that I finally caved in and bought it.

I'm going to mention the packaging to start with as I just love it, I love that its a glass bottle which I always find makes a product look more expensive than it is, the cute little pictures of fruit on the label and I love that the pump is in an eye popping red colour. The foundation itself is just perfect to give you that lovely glow, I have mine in shade vanilla. The bottle is a 30ml bottle, as I mentioned it comes with a pump which I only need one pump of the product. Its light in consistency that I just dot it round my face, then using my Real Techniques Buffing Brush I blend and buff it into my skin. The coverage I would say this gives is a light to medium coverage, its great when I'm having a good skin day and don't have many spots or marks. Whenever I use this I get compliments on how good my skin is looking and how healthy I look. The 3 fruit pictures on the label is what really caught my eye about this product as you don't often see tiny fruit on your bottles of foundation do you?! Well they are what makes the foundation Healthy , you have the Apple which is to help our skin looking loverly and youthful, Melon to keep our skin all hydrated and Apricot to enhance your skins radiance. Sounds great right?! Well it really is, I am really impressed with this product.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation £9.99

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in shade Vanilla

Foundation all blended in giving the skin a lovely healthy glow

Now to go along with the foundation I thought I would try out the Cream Blushes that Bourjois also do, I went for the shade Healthy Glow. Got a bit of a healthy theme here. It comes in a lovely little coral coloured pot than when you flip it open you have the product on the base and on the lids side is a little mirror which is perfect for on the go. You only need a little of this product, just swirl your finger in the product and then blend it onto the apples of your cheeks. Healthy Glow is a lovely deep pink coral shade that gives you that lovely pop of colour on the cheeks without you looking that your wearing any blusher at all. I love that its a solid too so you can pop it in your bag without worrying about the product smashing and breaking into tiny pieces. 

Bourjois Cream Blush £7.99

Swatch of the Cream Blusher in shade Healthy Glow

I hope you guys have enjoyed this post, have you tried this founation? did you like it? or have you tried any other of the Bourjois foundations? Would love it if you left a comment, I will reply :)

There wont be a post tomorrow as I'm finally getting to go to the cinema and see Fault In Our Stars and have a meal with my best girl friends!!!

Thanks for reading

Lots of Lovies

SJ

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The Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist

Aloha!!!

So In a previous post I mentioned how I took a little spending stumble into The Body Shop and came out with quite a few treats and some have now become holy grail products and that is the Vitamin E Face Mist.

How the hell have I coped in life before this stuff came along I honestly have no idea. The Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist £8.00 is a refreshing moisture boost spray for the face. It comes in a handy 100ml spray bottle and has a lovely rose scent to it. Its great as a instant boost I actually took it to the gym the other day and it was perfect for a quick refresh I will definitely be keeping it in my bag. What I have mainly been using this bottle of perfection for is setting my make up. Once I have finished applying my make up for the day I give at least 2 sprays to the face and my make up stays put for the whole day and gives you a lovely finish. This stuff is seriously that good. I have even been reading reviews and apparently its good if you spray it on to make up brushes its great for holding eyeshadow in place so I will need to try that out.

Honestly guys this stuff is pretty awesome if you haven't tried it you must, it will fast become a new favourite. It can even be used on all skin types so why not give it a go.

Hope you enjoyed my rambling 

There wont be a post at the weekend as I'm off to see Katy Perry so will be posting regularly after the weekend. In the mean time have a fab one!!!

Lots of Lovies
SparklySJ
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Soap & Glory Peach Party

Hellooooo!!

How are you guys? Hope your all well and happy 

Now I have gone on and on about my love for Soap & Glory products since I started up this blog and I realise that majority of the products I have are skincare or bodycare. So I took a little dip into the adventurous pool and treated myself to a make up item. 

There is actually quite a bit of make up to choose from this range but I decided to go for a blush as I only really have 1 or 2 and I wanted to add a new one with a bit of a bronze for summer! So with all that in mind I decided to go for Peach Party, a beautiful blush brick with 3 different shades that are bronze, gold and a rosey pink. It looks so pretty I almost don't want to use it. I have been using this for the past few weeks and I love the result it gives on my cheeks. I use my Real Techniques Blush Brush and I only lightly dab it on one side then blend it in the apples of my cheeks. As I have been using this just as a day look I haven't gone wild on the shimmer for highlighting yet but I thought I would show you the results for the look I have been going with it.

Soap and Glory Peach Party Multi-Colour Blush Brick £11.00

It adds a lovely healthy glow to the cheeks, this is becoming quite the staple in my make up bag these days :)

Have you guys tried any of the make up from Soap & Glory? is there any products that you would recommend?

Hope you guys enjoyed this post

Lots of Lovies
SparklySJ
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Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

The other week I was in Boots and I couldn't help myself but to add another brush to my Real Techniques collection. 

The brush I went for was the Expert Face Brush £9.99, I wanted to go for a brush that blends my foundation into my skin really well. I have been finding that some times my foundation has really needed to be worked into my skin for it to be all blended and not looking that it's just sitting on my face. So with this one I take one pump of foundation on the back of my hand and take the brush, just dab a little of foundation onto one side of the brush. Starting from my cheeks I start to blend the foundation outwards then a little on my forehead and chin again working outwards. So far so good, there's no streaky marks from the bristles which by the way are super soft on the skin, it blends in foundation really well and even better my foundation doesn't look like its sitting on my face. I love this brush!!!

Have you guys tried any of the Real Techniques brushes? is there any others that you would recommend.

Hope you guys have enjoyed this post.

Lots of Lovies
SparklySJ
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The Body Shop Eye Definer in Smoky Plum

I was in The Body Shop a few weekends ago and whilst picking up a few of my favourite items I took a wander over to the make up section and decided to go for something a little out of my comfort zone and that is a colour eyeliner.

The Body Shop Carbon Eye Definers £9.00 come in 4 high pigmented shades, I went for a beautiful deep purple. It has a lovely smooth texture it's easy to apply and comes with a built in smudger  at the opposite end of the pencil which is great for doing a smoky eye look. It is also water resistant which is perfect for summer times for me as I can suffer from hayfever pretty bad and get watery eyes, least I know with this on its staying on. Applying this eyeliner it goes on pretty smooth and the staying power of this is really good I have been applying it in the morning gone off out and it has lasted all day, till bed time where I remove my make up using my Body Shop Camomile cleansing butter which removes it like a dream.

I have been using this on my top lash line and loving it, its a subtle hint of colour for the eyes which is great for day to day wear and its a great break from the black.

I also tried it out with a deep purple lipstick and it worked out really well.

Have you guys tried any of these liners? or any colour liners I would love to know what you guys recommend.

Hope you enjoyed this post

Lots of Lovies
SparklySJ
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Avon Calming Effects Loose Powder Foundation

So I'm not sure about you guys but with it coming to the warmer days I don't really like caking my face in a lot of make up, mainly due to the fact it would probably be dripping off my face through out the day. As I work in a place that can be pretty hot I prefer something that's a nice coverage but light to wear. 

With all this in mind I stumbled across this little beauty coming out in the Avon booky. Avon Calming Effects Loose Powder Foundation £10.50, being a fan of their mineral powder foundation I figured I would give this stuff a go. It aims to be blendable and buildable giving you lovlely healthy looking skin with a built in SPF of 15. I figured why not give it a go and went for the shade nude.

When you lift the lid there's a little mirror built in and a little plastic thingy (cant think what to call it) that when you close the lid it presses down a little section so when you shake the pot some of the loose powder comes through on to the base, you then take a brush swirl it in the base bitty then give the brush a little tap to remove any of the excess powder. I then take the brush and use swirl movements round my face building up a good coverage. I really love this stuff it honestly feels that I'm wearing hardly any foundation. The packaging is lovely and simple, you get a good amount for your money and you wont be needing a lot either so it will last you a good long time.

Below I have taken photos on how I use it with Before and After photos I have even included bare face photo of myself (cringe) and a close up so you guys can see the difference this stuff does.

This is defiantly my new summer favourite product its just perfect with how light it is and the coverage is amazing.

Have you guys tried any loose powder foundation? What was your thoughts on it?

Hope you guys have enjoyed this post, it is good to be back.

Lots of Lovies
SparklySJ
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Whats in my MakeUp Bag!!

I used to store all my make up in a drawer and I would spend ages rummaging around looking for a certain product, so I decided to invest in a good sized organised make up bag and keep in it the products I use all the time. I will be changing it up every now and then but for now I thought I would show you wonderful lot what is in my bag at this current time.

The make up bag zips open all the way round and inside is a organiser clip that holds 2 other little make up bags one is mesh type material and the other is in the same material as the main bag. There is another section on the right which has pockets to hold make up brushes and another big pocket then on the left is one main pocket.

 The pocket on the right is where I am keeping my current favourite eye shadows, my little bottle of Benefit highbeam and a pot of soap and glory lip balm.

 

 

 In the clear mesh material bag I keep my 2 go to foundations which are my No7 Beautifully matte and the Rimmel Match Perfection which I really must do a review on as its so good. I also keep 4 concealers!!! 2 are from the collection lasting perfection range just one lighter shade than the other. I have my No7 one that has been colour matched along with my foundation and Seventeens Phwoarr Paint which is awesome for tired eyes!

 

 

The little material bag is where I keep my eye make up, I have my eye pencil sharpener, 2 mascaras my beloved Avon SuperShock and another one I love for my less make up days the L'Oreal False Lash Flutter. Eyeliner wise I have in pencil form the Benefit BadGAL waterproof pencil in black and the Rimmel Exaggerate eye liner in liquid form also in black. For the brows we have my Rimmel pencil and the Maybelline master shape pencil.

 

 

Finally in the left pocket I am keeping my Oriflame Studio Artist Loose Powder which is a white powder that you place on top of your make up to set your foundation. Avon Calming Effects powder foundation and the Avon Kabuki brush this stuff is my current fave at the moment which I am going to do a review on as its that good!!! For a good pink cheek I have my Maybelline dream mousse blush in dolly pink for a healthy flushed cheek.

 

 

I hope you guys have enjoyed this post, I would love to read your comments and I will reply to them.

 

That's all from me today hope your all well and happy :)

 

Lots of Lovies

SparklySJ

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Avon Lip Crayon! ShowStopper Pink!

Hi Guys!!!

I thought I would share with you lovelies this new lip crayon I got in Avon a few weeks ago in the shade Showstopper Pink! My gosh is it pink!! Its very high pigmented creamy in texture and just overall lovely. When I first got this I wasn't sure on having such a strong bright lip but I will tell you this I love it!!! And it lasts rather a long time. Just make sure to use make up remover at the end of the day to shift it.

It has been known to be rather similar to macs candy yum yum. And also contains Vitamin E and shea butter so your lips stay extra soft throughout the day. It costs around £8.50 but sometimes you can get them on offer too. You can have a look online here to see what other shades are available. I love wearing this with subtle eye look so its a pop of colour.

Hope you guys liked this post, is there any lip products out there that your loving right now?

That's all from me guys wish your all loving life and happy

Lots of Lovies

SparklySJ

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Quick 5 min face!

Alright my beautiful people hope you are well

So have you ever hit snooze and totally slept in then ran around like a mad thing only giving yourself 10 minutes to get ready?! I know I have so I'm going to share with you guys what I use when I'm in a mad dash.

So to start off I use my Garnier BB Cream for Oily Skin in Light £7.49, I only use a little amount and place it on my hand and I use my Real Techniques Stippling Brush £11.99 and I use circular motions blending it into my skin. After that I get my Avon Mineral Powder (I don't know the price or the shade I use as its rubbed off) again I use my stippling brush swirling it round the top area where the powder comes out then I tap it on the edge removing any excess powder and I swirl it around the outer edges off my face. For a little colour on my cheeks I use Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in Dolly Pink and I blend it into the apples of my cheeks. I'm not sure if this exists anymore as I bought this a few years ago but I did find a very similar one on boots website at £6.49. 

For my eye area to tame the brows and fill them in a little I use Maybelline Eye Studio Master Shape Brow in Soft Brown £2.99. As for my lashes I have my Eyeko Eye Lash Curler I got in my Latest in Beauty Glamour Edit box which you can get on feel unique at £12.00 I hold them in place for a few seconds to give them a little curl. For my mascara of course I turn to my favourite Avon SuperShock which I have raved on about before and you can check out here.

And to finish off the look I swipe across my lips Avon Ultra Glazewear lipgloss in Iced Pink, Voila I am ready to go.

 

Hope you guys enjoyed this post, let me know in the comment section if you did or you can say hi I do love to read comments and replying to them.

That's all for me today

Lots of Lovies
SparklySJ
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Maybelline Baby Skin Review!

Hiya fellow bloggers and blog readers :)

Today's post is all about the much raved about Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser!! seeing all the hype over this little tube on my Instagram feeds made me more and more curious to try it out. So I did what needed to be done and bought it!

To start off how adorable is the packaging? I love the colour's they are so eye catching and just looks Oooo exciting! With its baby blue (almost turquoise I find in some light) tube and the name baby skin in a bold pink colour it just looks inviting. It even has Only for Adults at the bottom of the tube!

So the name kind of gives the idea of what this product is aiming for, in giving you smooth soft baby like skin, giving you a matte finish. With its gel texture (thats right gel!)  helping to vanish pores and leave your skin feeling light and looking poreless.

Maybelline Baby Skin gel texture

So having used a few different primers I was very excited to try this one out. In its little 22ml tube costing around £7.99  you only need a little amount so it will last you a long time. I start off by squeezing the clear gel and dotting it on my forehead, cheeks and chin then I smooth it all out and round my face blurring away any sight of my pores leaving me with a smooth soft surface ready to apply my make up. I have found that using this product defiantly helps my make up last longer throughout the day, I cant say its worth repurchasing as I haven't noticed a huge difference using it in comparison to any other primers I have tried. All in all its a lovely packaged product and it does what it says :) it smooths the skin giving you a fab base for make up or even if you wanted a make up free day.

Have you guys tried this out? Whats your thoughts on it?

Lots of Lovies

SparklySJ

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L'oreal Paris True Match Foundation and Powder Review!!

Goooood morning/ afternoon/ evening you lovely lot, hope your week is going good. Mines going pretty quick, cant believe we are almost at the end of January already! Its crazy!

Anyway this post's title pretty much sums up what I'm going to be jabbering on about today and its the L'Oreal True Match Foundation and Powder. 

As I mentioned in my previous post I'm going to try out more make up items this year, see if i can come across any new holy grail products. So I thought I would start with base products like primers, foundations, concealers and powder. 

To start it off we are going with the L'oreal True Match duo. Lets start with the foundation now at £9.99 in such a lovely packaged bottle you be mad to not try this out right? With it claiming to give the best natural, close to skin tone coverage without caking it just sounds too good to be true. Its light texture means you can also build up coverage for a "made to measure finish". Reading all this and hearing such fab reviews it had to be bought to try out. As Im still rather pale I went for shade Golden Ivory.

L'Oreal True Match Foundation in Golden Ivory

Blended in :)

Applying the foundation I found it really light and a bit runny in texture, I tried applying it first with my real techniques foundation brush but it was leaving brush mark strokes so I swapped over to my buffing brush, buffing it into my skin making sure it was all blended in and looking pretty flawless. It did not do this for me at all. I had patches on my face where the foundation almost just sat and wouldn't blend in at all. I tried working it in and tried to build it up a bit. Later at work I noticed that my cheeks and forehead basically looked like I had dry skin that the foundation had just sort of clung too, It looked awful. Luckily work has cleanser where I could remove it. My friend Becky at work (Hiya Bexter if your reading) also mentioned how she had the exact same experience with this foundation. We both have different skin types so I don't think that it could be that, we have wondered if its maybe the fact we do work in a place that can get pretty hot so it might have been to do with the temperature. I am rather stumped on what caused the foundation to go like this. I tried using it for another 3 days trying different attempts from using a different primer to no primer at all and just using moisturiser for my base, tried applying it without a brush and just used my fingers, I even scrubbed the night before in case I had any dry skin patches (which I didn't) but with every attempt it still did the same thing. I am rather disappointed with the result of this foundation as it sounded amazing, I do think it is probably a really good foundation for those that have tried it and loved it however it was not for my skin :(.

Now we are on to the powder, this little gem is £8.19 and is in such a handy little compact style where you flip the lid open and the powder sits on a base and there's an underneath compartment that holds a little sponge so its perfect for you to pop in your bag. I also got this in the same shade as the foundation to be all matchy matchy, As I wasn't having such a time with the foundation I applied this on top one day and it made no difference what so ever. However I have used this on days where I have just used a bit of bb cream or another foundation I applied a light dusting of it with my real techniques powder brush and it gave me such a lovely finish and  it doesn't look at all caked on. 

Love the handiness of this product (excuse the chipped nail polish hehe)

The shade of the powder in Golden Ivory

Unfortunatly the foundation just wasn't for me which is a shame, however I am enjoying the powder. So with every negative there is a positive :) 

Hope you guys have enjoyed this post, I have just been honest in my experience with these products. I wouldn't try to tell anyone to not try out any of these products as I have heard such amazing reviews about it. We just weren't ment to be.

Lots of lovies

SparklySJ

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Make Up Make Up Everywhere!!

Hello you beautiful bunch!

So in my Favorites of 2013 post I mentioned how I plan on being a bit more adventurous and try out different things make up wise. As much as I do love skincare I do also love make up, however I tend to just stick to the same brand and stick to the same routine. Well that's us now into the month of January and so far I have bought I few new items to try out. I have stuck to high street shop items to start with.

Here they are ready and waiting to be tried out.

So to start I thought I would try out a few different foundations, I do still love my No7 Beautifully Matte foundation but I figured I am now a blogger why not have a few different ones in your make up drawer that you can pick from. So I picked up the L'oreal True Match Foundation £9.99 in shade Golden Ivory, this foundation is aiming to give the most natural looking skin that's true to your skin tone that you can achieve a fab coverage without caking. Sounds great I thought why not get the True Match powder £8.19 in the same shade as well, it will be great for setting the foundation or even if I fancy a day off from wearing lots of make up I can just sweep a bit of this powder on and get on with my day.

Now we are on to Concealer, I have seen a few bloggers mention that the Seventeen Range in Boots had a bit of a makeover and released some awesome new concealers so I thought I had better get down there and try one. Phwoarr Paint has been described as the dupe of Benefits Boi-ing and at £5.49 you would be mad to not give it a go. Its a cute little pot that's lid flips open that on the other side of the lid is a little compact mirror and the base holds the concealer. Its got a rich creamy texture to it, I got mine in the shade fair for me pale skin. This will be fab for late nights and early mornings to hide those pesky under the eye bags. Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer £4.19 was in Tanya Burrs favorite things in 2013 vlog, now if this is Tanya's favorite concealer than that's it already sold for me. Its supposed to give fab coverage to imperfections and blemishes, also with any redness and can last all day without needing to re touch it.

Another item mentioned in Miss Tanya Burrs Favorites from last year was the Rimmel Match Perfect Foundation £6.99 mentioning how it gives fab coverage, nice healthy glow, easy to blend I could not not give this bad boy ago. I have recently seen it on a few other blogs mentioning how amazing it is, it had to be bought. Also reading up on it mentions how it has advanced smart tone technology aiming to give you a flawless look in any light. Sounds perfect!!

For a new primer I heard someone in Boots mention how they found the new Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser £7.99 very similar to Benefits Porefessional I was rather intrigued to try it. Having tried the Benefit Porefessional comparing Baby skin to it is a big compliment. It has a clear gel texture to it where the Porefessional did have a slight tint to it all its aims are very similar to vanish pores giving a smooth soft surface to the skin, a perfect base for foundation perhaps?! 

Lastly we have the Maybelline Eye Studio Master Shape Brow £2.99. I had mentioned in my favorites post that I am starting to get the hang of filling in the brows. I have been using the HD Brows palette which I received in a beauty box for about £16 which was filled with treats the HD Brows palette being one of them. The palette retails at about £20 so I am going to try and let it last me a very long time. So for days when I feel a little lazy I thought this nifty pencil should do the job just fine.   

So that's the start of my new things to try out, as you can see I'm starting just with base make up first. I have linked all the items mentioned with a website (Boots) you can go on, to either buy or get a bit more information on, they are all linked at their prices. I plan on reviewing all of the items so keep your eyes peeled out for those.

Have you tried any of these or is there something you would recommend? I want to try out some new looks for eyes and lips.

Lovies
SparklySJ
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