Review | Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look in a Palette and Legendary Lashes

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I was so excited when I heard that Charlotte Tilbury would be releasing a look in a palette. I love all of her products so having something more travel friendly that I could take away with me is perfect. I went straight on the website and pre-ordered the palette straight away. If you pre-ordered the palette you also received a mini size of the new Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Lashes Mascara, so I will do a quick review of this before we get into the palette. Sorry about the lighting in the picture, I found it difficult to get a good shot of the gold packaging.

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I already enjoy using the Charlotte Tilbury Full Fat Lashes Mascara so I was looking forward to trying out her new formula. Legendary Lashes promises to extend lashes with its elastic formula whilst also separating lashes for a red carpet ready fluttery voluminous look. As with the Full Fat Lashes Mascara the Legendary Lashes Mascara has a bristle style wand which is definitely my preference when it comes to mascara wands. The size of the brush is also my preference, it’s not to fat and not to thin. I find using mascaras with fat wands really difficult as I do not have a lot of eye space so end up with it all over my lid and mascara wands that are too thin do not seem to give enough volume. I have only tested the formula on my top lashes as I always use a water-resistant mascara on my bottom lashes so it does not smear. Two coats of mascara gives my lashes the perfect amount of volume and really does make them look fluttery. If I am honest, I have not noticed much of a difference between the two mascaras except the wands are different shapes. They both provide good volume and separation and both wear similarly throughout the day. Overall I prefer the Legendary Lashes Mascara as the wand shape if better suited to my eye shape so I will be purchasing this when I run out. The Legendary Lashes will retail for £25 and will be released on 6th May.

Now onto the Instant Look in a Palette.

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I will start with the packaging. It feels sturdy enough to stop the products from breaking whilst it is in your makeup bag but it is also sleek and light weight – definitely a contender for my new favourite travel palette. The Instant Look in a Palette contains the famous Bronze and Glow shades which, for me, are the perfect colours to add shape and dimension to my face. I feel the highlight shade is actually more finely milled in this palette so it looks even more natural on the skin. Also for the face there are two shades of blush, a more natural shade to be applied over the apples and swept back to along the cheekbones and a brighter shade for a pop of colour on the apples. The final three products in the palette are for the eyes; a very pale matte pink, a champagne shimmer and a mid-tone neutral matte brown. All three shades are beautifully pigmented and when applied to the lids they last all day. The Instant Look in a Palette provides a natural, yet well put together and polished look. It is perfect for everyday, first dates or I even think this would be a great palette for brides who want a simple elegant look on their special day.

Overall I am really pleased I purchased this palette and have been enjoying using it most days. The Instant Look in a Palette retails for £49 and is available here.

Review | L’Oreal Infallible Fixing Mist

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After my terrible experience with the Maybelline Super Stay 24h Makeup-Locking Setting Spray (review here) I did not have high hopes for the L’Oreal Infallible Fixing Mist. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I used this for the first time.

First off, like the Maybelline setting spray, this needs a good shake before you spray it as the product separates when not in use. Now let me warn you the spray on this product is quite powerful, you only need to spray it a couple of times and it will spritz your whole face nicely. I tend to fan my face after spraying it to stop it dripping down my face or leaving droplet marks on my face but it does dry pretty quickly, I do this with all my setting sprays though. I use this after I have applied my foundation and then again after I have finished my makeup. It does a great job of keeping shine at bay and helping my makeup stay in place all day too. In fact I think this does just as good of a job as the Urban Decay setting sprays for a fraction of the price. I love this setting spray so much that I already have a back up waiting for when I finish my current bottle.

The L’Oreal Infallible Fixing Mist retails for £7.99 and is available here.

Review | Make Up Gallery Colour Story Eyeshadow in Cappuccino

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I had never really looked at the makeup in Poundland until one of the ladies in a beauty group I am a member of mentioned that one of their eyeshadows is perfect for contouring for people with a fairer complexion. That eyeshadow is the Make Up Gallery Colour Story Eyeshadow in Cappuccino. As someone with fair skin it can be difficult to find reasonably priced contour products that do not come off too dark when applied to the skin. So, the next time I was in Poundland I had a look for this eyeshadow and found the last one in my local branch! I was excited to get it home as soon as possible to try it out.

I was nervous when I first opened it as I thought it looked too cool for me. Even though I have fair skin I am warm toned (yellow based) as opposed to cool toned (pink), so I have to be careful when contouring not to use a product that has too much of a cool grey colour to it as it looks awful. I was pleasantly surprised when I swatched Cappuccino to find that there was a reasonable amount of pigment to the eyeshadow and the colour looked to be pretty good. I applied the product under my cheek bones, on my temples and under my chin and was very pleased with how it looked. Cappuccino is a great colour for me and I believe it would suit those with fair to light complexions with either cool or warm undertones. The product is buildable so you can either achieve a lightly contoured look, or go a bit heavier if that is your preference. Cappuccino sits well over the top of liquid or powder foundation and blends nicely with other products on the face. It has good staying powder, though it does fade ever so slightly, and is still visible at the end of the day.

Overall I am so pleased I have found an affordable contour product and would highly recommend you purchasing this if you are in the market for this type of product – and you can’t go wrong for £1.

The Make Up Gallery Colour Story Eyeshadow in Cappuccino retails for £1 and is available in Poundland stores.

Review | Boots No7 Youthful Eye Serum

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I have used an eye cream in the morning and evening for years now but I had never heard of an eye serum prior to a sample of this product popping out of the No7 advent calendar last year. I suffer from dryness around my eye area and dark circles under my eyes and while eye cream does help this I was hoping that the No7 Youthful Eye Serum would be the extra help my eye area needed.

This serum is packed full of anti-aging ingredients; such as Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin C and Vitamin A, that work together to smooth and brighten the eye area whilst also firming the skin, reducing puffiness and the appearance of dark circles – it sounds like a wonder product doesn’t it. For the best results, the instructions advise to apply the serum morning and night either alone or under an eye cream. I have found that I prefer to use the Youthful Eye Serum under an eye cream to ensure that my eye area has an extra shot of moisture, but it also works well on its own. The serum has a very light weight texture to it, so even with applying two products to my under eye area it does not feel heavy or weighed down like I have applied too much product. I have used this under a few different eye creams now and find that it works well under all of them.

Now, does it do what it says on the tin – or tube, rather. I can wholeheartedly say that yes it does do what it claims too. I have been using this product since the beginning of January and my eye area feels and looks more hydrated, it is less puffy and more importantly my dark circles have reduced so dramatically I now only need a light concealer as opposed to a heavy high coverage one. Not only that, I have found that makeup applies much more evenly and smoothly to my under eye area and I have less trouble with it creasing too. I love this product so much that before my sample ran out (sometime in mid March) I made sure I had a back up so I was never left without it. I believe the sample I had was around 5ml which lasted me nearly 3 months of using it day and night. The full size is 15ml so it should last me at least around 9 months which I feel is great value for money.

I would highly recommend giving this a try if eye cream alone just isn’t cutting it for you. It may feel like an unnecessary step, but let me tell you, once you give it a try you will wonder how you ever did without it.

The Boots No7 Youthful Eye Serum retails for £19.50 and is available here.

Review | Maybelline Super Stay 24h Makeup-Locking Setting Spray

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I love using a setting spray on a daily basis. I find that not only does it help set my makeup and keep it in place, it also takes away that powdery look that can cause makeup to look cakey. I am forever looking for a cheaper alternative to the Urban Decay or Skindinavia setting sprays, so when I saw that Maybelline had released a setting spray I picked up a bottle to try.

The Maybelline Super Stay 24h Makeup-Locking Setting Spray claims to extend the longevity of makeup and keep it looking fresh throughout the day. When I first sprayed it I found out quickly that the spray was vicious! I ended up with a soaked face so had to quickly fan my face dry before my makeup ran everywhere. The other thing I noticed was that when the spray dried I ended up with white dots all over my face. I thought maybe that I had not shook the bottle enough before spraying it on my face, so the next time I used it I made sure to shake the bottle well, however the same thing happened to me again. I had no idea why this was happening so decided to spray it away from my face first and then spray it on my face, this time there were no white dots. Doing this was the only way to avoid ending up looking like I had paint all over my face, which led me to waste a lot of product in the process.

Once I had established how to use the product without soaking my face or ending up with white dots on my face I was pretty pleased with the results. The setting spray took away the powdery look from my makeup and did help to keep my makeup in place for most of the day but not as well as my Skindinavia one does.

I do not like being so negative about a product but I am really disappointed in this setting spray from Maybelline. It takes far too much effort and uses way too much product to get it to work well. This is not something I would recommend or purchase again. My search for a good drugstore setting spray continues.