Max Factor CC Concealer Sticks

 I always carry make up with me, whether I’m travelling, at work or out for drinks, it’s always handy to have top up products in your bag. This upcoming release from Max Factor has me quite excited, and with the recent product releases from this brand proving very popular, I’m sure these will also live up to the hype!

The CC concealer sticks come in 5 different correcting tones. Basically they've covered all skin issues you could possibly have including correcting dark spots, correcting dullness, correcting redness, correcting under eye circles and they've even thrown a highlighter stick in for good measure.

 I personally can suffer from all of the above at some point in my weekly routine, so having all these concealer sticks to hand sounds like a fantastic idea to me! They are said to be of a creamy consistency which warms in to the skin, and easily blendable. If that's true, I think these will be our new 'go-to' items! 

This fab new product is due to hit our shelves on April 1st, retailing at £8.99 per stick, and I for one will be first in line to sample them. Not a bad price for a quick touch up I say! Who else is excited for this launch?

First #OOTD - Night at the opera

Last weekend I went to the Gilbert and Sullivan festival in Buxton to watch The Pirates of Penzance. This was a bit of a blast from the past as I used to watch these operas every year with my family, but we haven't been for a long time. Buxton is a truly lovely place, and I always feel so at home there. 

Although we didn't have much time to get ready in the end, and rushed our make up and outfits, I thought I would attempt my first outfit of the day and show you all what I wore to the opera.

Dress - New Look - £19.99

Shoes - Dorothy Perkins - £12.99

Belt - New Look - £6.99

Bag - Michael Kors - £225

Watch - Michael Kors - $274 (bought in America)

We had a fantastic time over the weekend, and will definitely be going to the opera more often from now on. 

Just a quick post today, lots more coming up this week! :)

Marc Jacobs Beauty Line

I have always been a fan of Marc Jacobs as a designer, so when I found out he was releasing a make up line I was very excited to see what it would include. 

Unfortunately for us UK girls, the brand is only going to be released in Sephora. It'll be available in US stores and online from August 9th, then rolled out around Europe throughout 2014.

The packaging of the products themselves look amazing, Marc's done well to keep within the style of his brand. They look classy and sleek with that designer edge, a great edition to anyones makeup kit.

Now for the part that we all grit our teeth about... The price! And I'm actually happy to tell you that the prices seem really reasonable for a premium product. The prices range from between $24 for a lip balm, and $59 for an eye shadow palette containing 7 colours. Not too bad at all I think, quite in line with Mac prices. 

I am really hoping these products eventually become available in the UK. I can't wait to get my hands on them. Although I think like most, the ultimate dream is for Sephora to reopen their UK store. Come on Sephora, come back to us! :)

But for now we'll have to swoon over the pictures and if there's any American beauty bloggers out there who want to do a US/UK Product swap, get in touch, haha. :)

Let me know if you plan to test and review any of these products, I'd love to hear your opinions! :)

Limited Edition Real Techniques Brushes

I simply love all of the brushes that Real Techniques make up guru Samantha Chapman has released, they are such great brushes for such cheap prices!

I hadn’t heard about anymore being released until I saw this set in Boots. I was incredibly excited as I love duo fibre brushes and again, here were 3 for the incredibly cheap price of £23.99!

For base face make up I use nothing else than the buffing, expert face, stippling and powder brushes by Real Techniques. I use them every single day, and have no reason to replace them. I do have other brushes that I use on occasion, but I favour these over most.

This limited edition set includes an all over face brush, a contour brush and an eye shader brush. I love the new sleek, white design of the brushes and my experience using them so far has been positive.

These brushes work perfectly with cream, powder or liquid products, and really do give a gorgeous airbrushed finish which you come to expect from duo fibre brushes.

You don't see many high street duo fibre brushes around, they tend to be from the premium brands, so it's great that these are affordable, work great, 100% cruelty free and are a perfect addition to any brush collection.

Well done Real Techniques, you've got it just right again!

Anyone else tried these brushes? What's your opinion?

Elf Cosmetics Review

I'd heard a lot about Elf products, mostly from our friends overseas in America. I believe in the US most Elf products are $1, which is just amazing value. In the UK our equivalent is MUA, which I'm also a big fan of. 

When Elf launched a UK website I was really excited to try the elusive products and recently have placed a couple of orders with them.

The first thing to say is that the delivery is EXCEPTIONAL! I placed my first order at 9.30pm, the next morning I had an email to say it's been dispatched and my order was with me by 9am the next day! What a fantastic service. I always thought MAC were quick, but Elf are quicker! 

So I ordered a range of products, lip glosses, brushes, concealers, lip liners, eye liners etc. I have to say overall I'm impressed. 

  

I bought a range of Elf brushes. The basic brushes are £1.50. I purchased the Blending Eye Brush, the Eye Crease Brush and the Lip Defining Brush. I was bit disappointed that upon arrival the head had come off the Lip Defining Brush, but then again, for that price, you can't complain! I also bought the Eyeshadow "C" Brush from Elf's Studio collection. This brush was £3.75 (still amazing) and much better quality than the others. I have been using this brush as my main eyeshadow brush for a while now to test it out and I really like it. It picks up any eyeshadow so easily and you can really build up the colour with this brush. The blending and crease brushes are also good, but I don't think I'll ever been converted from my Mac 217 blending brush. :)

On my first order with Elf I ordered the Plumping Lip Glaze in Fuchsia Fanatic, I liked this product so much that on my second order I bought two more! One side is a very sheer white colour which when applied feels really tingly and minty on your lips, then you apply the colour which is super glossy. After application I really felt like the product does what it says on the tin; 'plumps' my lips! They looked fuller and these glosses come in really lovely colours! All in all, for £1.50, these lip glazes are great products!

Top to Bottom: Fire Coral, Wink Pink and Fuchsia Fanatic

I also ordered 3 of the Shimmer Eye Pencils, these were also £1.50 each. I am so surprised how soft and pigmented these pencils are. They glide on gorgeously! I've only swatched these so far, but the colours are lovely and I'm sure they're going to look great when creating a bright eye look. I seriously cannot wait to try these out.

Top to Bottom: Plum Passion, Twinkle Teal and Blissful Blush

R - L: Plum Passion, Twinkle Teal and Blissful Blush

I also thought I'd try Elf's Complete Coverage Concealer palette which was £3.75. I got the Medium coloured palette which contains four colours ranging from medium tones to darker tones. When i first opened it, I was worried that the two darker tones may be a little too dark even for me, but when applied then do actually look lighter and they'll be perfect for holidays when I have a tan.

I also bought a couple of misc items to try. One of the Soothing Lip Balms in Blackcurrant (smells amazing and glides and moisturises like a dream), a double pencil sharpener, and a lip liner in Natural Blush. 

I can honestly say, for a low budget cosmetic brand, Elf are top dog! I love the products I have from them so far, but they have so many products to choose from I cannot wait to try more! So check out Elf's Website for some great products, with low prices and quick shipping! 

Have you tried Elf, and are you a massive fan like me?

Illamasqua Sale

I'm a BIIIG fan of Illamasqua, so was very excited when I got an email to say there was a sale on with up to 60% off products! Wow! There were products starting from just £5, then ranging upwards. After a looong time browsing all the make up, then adding, removing, then re-adding several items from my basket, I finally made my purchase. 

I bought 2 sheer lipglosses, a lipstick and a pencil. Illamasqua also sent me a sample of their perfume 'Freak' which I thought was a nice touch as you don't often get that with an order. I have to also give some praise; I had to get in touch with Illamasqua customer service before my delivery arrived and they were amazing, incredibly helpful. Just what you want from a beauty brand. I was also lucky enough to be given a £5 voucher off Illamasqua for entering a Glossybox competition, so all in all, very impressed with the website service. I normally purchase Illamasqua products from department stores. 

Left to Right, Sheer Lipgloss in Rouse and Electrify, Lipstick in Wanton and Fat Pencil in Perverse

 As you can probably see, I'm a fan of my 'pinky' colours and that's the theme I went with for this particular order. The lipglosses are incredibly sheer but do give a lovely tint of colour, perfect for day wear, over a lipstick or just when you want that very natural glossy look. I wore the lipstick while wearing MAC's Star Violet eyeshadow as the main colour on my eyes and got a lot of people saying they really complimented each other. I bought the pencil mainly to use on the eye, even though Illamasqua do say you can use it as a highlighter as well, I'm yet to try this product but I LOVE the colour. 

Left to Right, Sheer Lipgloss in Rouse and Electrify, Lipstick in Wanton

So all in all, very happy with my mini Illamasqua sale purchase. As I say, I don't normally purchase a lot of make up online as the colours never look the same, but I love the colours I bought. Are you a fan of Illamasqua? Let me know your favourite products! :)

Newbie Beauty Blogger

Hellooo...

Is anyone out there? Probably not considering this is my first blog post and I have no followers as yet!!

Just a bit of background on me! I currently work for an electronics company dealing with their technical documentation. However, make up and beauty products are my real passion, and possibly what I spend a huge majority of my wage on! :/

I have decided to start this blog after being asked a lot of beauty questions by various friends. I also read a lot of blogs and find they are an essential part in choosing which products to buy and try.

So bare with me, I have lots to blog about, and hopefully some may find it helpful!

Bye for now!