Illamasqua cream foundation review

First of all I would like to apologise for my rubbish photography here as this was super hard to photograph. The packaging is super shiny and reflective.

I bought this illamasqua cream foundation in a recent secret illamasqua online sale. At only £7.50 with free postage I couldn't really say no as it's usually £23.
I got shade 133 which is for light to medium skin and I find that's it's a near perfect match for me. My first impression is that it was bigger than I thought and I like how you get a branded illamasqua sponge with it.
I don't like the smell of this foundation as it smells a bit like plastic and I didn't like it on my skin. I am a bit dissa in this product as for a high end brand this foundation didn't settle nice on my skin and enhanced any dry patches and basically looked flakey and awful. I don't have dry skin but this made it look like I did and it looked terribly cakey even with only a bit on. I tried to build up the coverage hoping it would leave a flawless top layer but it didn't.

I have not given up on this product just yet as I used it without a primer and I hope to buy a decent primer soon maybe the Smashbox one and I will try this out on top of it to see if it works with that.

Have any of you tried this product and did it work any better for you?
Jodie x

My Lipstick Wish List

I started putting together a make up wishlist and I realised that it was all mostly lipsticks so u decided to just so a lipstick one. Lipsticks are currently my favorite thing and there are so many that I want greedy me but I've narrowed it down for this list. I'm so bored of ready about how everyone needs to wear Mac Rebel now it's Autumn yawn! But I refuse as I don't like plum lipsticks as even though I love Vampires I don't want to look like one. I still favor nice peaches, corals and pinks for every season so I hope you like my current picks.

I will do this in the order of which I want the most so here we go -

Lime Crime - Babette $16
This looks like a stunning nude colour but abit more interesting. These lipsticks look very opaque and this looks brighter than most neutral nudes that I see. This seems impossible to get hold of in the UK so if you know where I can get it please link me in the comments. So far it looks like I will have to get it directly from Lime Crime in the USA. Also it has a unicorn on the packaging = me instantly won over.

Lime Crime - Geranium £11.50
Omg how fab does this pink look! I'm not really one for bright lipsticks but there is something about this that is seriously beautiful. Thankfully some UK websites stock this so it seems easier to get hold of than the elusive Babette. I was in the market for another nude and pink shade and I was swaying towards Mac Creamy Cup and Pink Nouveau which are both still on my wishlist but these two Lime Crime lipsticks took the lead.

YSL Rouge Volupte - Peach Passion £23.50
This will continue to be on my wishlist until I purchase it as it looks stunning and I know how much I love YSL lipsticks. This one is now discontinued so i need to get it before its gone. If it does sadly fall off the face of the earth my back up will be YSL Rouge Pur Couture - 51 Corail Urbain. This is a nice day time peach colour that looks stunning.

YSL Rouge Volupte Shine - Orange Impertinent £24
This looks similar to the Corail In Touch that I already have but a brighter and deeper shade. This looks gorgeous and I would be so happy to add this to my collection. It is part of the rouge volupte shine family so they aren't that opaque so the colour won't be too scary. This is something that I like about these lipsticks so if you do want a bright orange coral opaque shade I wouldn't recommend this lipstick.

Hourglass Opaque Liquid Lipstick £23
These look really interesting and and I've never had anything by Hourglass before but I know that they get lots of good bloggers reviews. I like the idea of the packaging and would love to try it out for myself. I'm still uncertain on which shade I would get I'm thinking either rose or raven.

So that's it my lipstick wishlist they all seem to be high end so I'd better get saving up and hope Father Christmas might bring me one. Have you ever tried the Lime Crime or Hourglass lipsticks and what do you think?
Jodie x

Bobbi Brown Pink Coral Blush Review

This blusher is from this season and is part of the Rich Chocolate range.
It comes in matte or shimmer but I went for matte as I'm not a shimmer kinda gal.

I am so glad that I made the splurge on this blusher as it is my new favourite! It is gorgeous. I love anything coral but this colour is on the pink side of coral rather than the peachy side like everything else.

I think that's why I love it so much as I have nothing like it. It isn't too pigmented and it is a very build able shade. As it is quite a light pink coral shade I'm not sure if it would show up on darker skin tones but for any light-medium skintone this colourful would give you gorgeous natural looking flushed cheeks.
The packaging is nice and sleek and black and even though it's plastic it doesn't feel cheap.

I now want more shades of Bobbi 's blushes and I'm eyeing up nectar for my next purchase and I wouldn't mind making my own 4 pan palette. Oh dear I fear a obsession is in the making with these blushes.
Have you tried anything from the new rich chocolate range? 

Buy here £19 for 3.7g
Jodie x

My top 3 favourite blushers

Here are my top 3 favourite blushers that I am currently reaching for -

3. Benefit Hervana £23.50 for 8g
I love this blusher as it is perfumed it smells gorgeous, it also comes with a handy angled good quality brush and mirror. I love how all the colours are swirled together to give this soft light pink colour. Also if you wanted to you could use the colours individually as eyeshadows. It does take a bit of building up to get a decent amount of colour but I'm definitely enjoying using this blusher.

2. The Balm Instain - Swiss Dot £18 for 5.5g
This is the most pigmented blush that I've ever had. I apply it with a stipple brush as it picks up a minimal amount of product which is enough. I love how so little of this goes along way. It is a gorgeous peach colour and it lasts all day. Even though it's a powder blush it is a stain and even after a long day I need some good make up remover to make it budge.

1. Bobbi Brown - Pink Coral 31 £19 for 3.7g 
This is from the Bobbi Brown chocolate collection and it is the most gorgeous blusher colour ever. I am coral obsessed at the moment but I love how this is more on the pink side of coral it is just what I've been looking for. This is the matte version as I believe it also comes in shimmer but matte is more to my taste.

So that's my top 3 blushers for the moment. I use my Elf Stipple brush or my Real Techniques blusher brush to apply them depending on how pigmented I want them.
What do you think of my picks and do we share any of the same favourites?

Swatch picture from left to right is: Bobbi Brown Pink Coral, Benefit Hervana and then The Balm Instain Swiss Dot.

Jodie x

My September Favourites

So that's another month over nearly and here is what I have been reaching for most over this past month.

Bioderma Sensibio Eye
I have been using this eye cream morning and night for the past couple of months and I really like it. It feels nice and gentle on the eye and is more soothing than my other loved eye cream which is Benefits It's Potent. I will definitely be repurchasing this when it's empty.

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser SPF 20
I bought this in the travel size to test it out. I'm not sure if nude is the right colour for me as I was shocked initially at how yellow it was. Either way bit does blend out nice and leaves a more natural colour. I do like this but I would like to get a proper colour match. This for me is so much better than a bb cream and if I'm not wearing foundation then I use this. It blends out flawlessly with the Real Techniques buffing brush and has medium coverage.

Bobbi Brown Corrector
I got colour matched for this as I was struggling to cover my dark circles. This is seriously my new holy grail product even if I change concealers I can see myself still using this underneath. This neutralises dark circles under my eyes so my concealer works better. Before without the darkness undertones still showed through my concealer this but this stops that.

Bobbi Brown Concealer Duo
The same as above I got colour matched for this as I was wearing the wrong shade of concealer. The quality of this is definitely the best that I've used and I've tried a few high end concealers. I like this duo as you get setting powder with it to which prevents creasing. Also unlike a lot of other high end concealers this has lots of different shades.

Mac Pro Longwear Lipcream - To The Future
This is my ultimate nude lip shade and due to the Longwear formula this is perfect for work. I find myself wearing this most days. It also feels very creamy and moisturising on the lips so it is so comfortable to wear.

NYX Lipliner 858 Nude Pink
This is a good quality Lipliner that matches my Mac To The Future nude lipstick very well. It isn't as creamy as I'd like but it is very cheap to buy.

So these are my favourite products that I've been using most the past month. Most not them are new discoveries for me that I will continue to enjoy.
Have you ever tried any of my picks and do you share any of the same favourites as me?
Jodie x

Meet my favourite foundation

This foundation is the reason why I fell in love with Lancome. It isn't the of cheapest out there at £28 but it is everything that I have always wanted in a foundation.

Why I like it:
* It has great coverage
* it's comfortable to wear
* it looks natural on the skin
* it smells really nice
* it's long wearing
* it isn't shiny
* it doesn't cake
* it has lots of shades and mine matches my skin perfectly
* it blends seamlessly
* it has a pump

Anything I don't like?
* the bottle is glass which makes it heavy
* it's expensive

So there you go the above reasons list why I love it so much and I recommend that you go try it as you might just find a new favourite.
Let me know if you have tried this and what you thought.

Jodie x

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer Review in Chantilly

I read a lot of blogs and one concealer kept constantly popping up and it was this the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer everyone raved about how good it was so I decided to try it for myself.

I ordered it from Space NK as they recently had a free delivery offer on. I have got shade Chantilly which is the lightest that they do. I have noticed this shade is no longer available on the Nars website so I'm worried that maybe it is being discontinued.

So this is my first Nars product and I really like the sleek packaging and the rubber tip which I wasn't expecting I expected it to just be plastic but it's a nice touch.
The wand applicator feels very good quality and the fact that not too much product comes out of the tube.

When I first applied this I panicked oh no its too light my heart dank I'd got the wrong shade but once it was blended it settled and it wasn't such a shock. The shade was perfect phew. This is a great concealer and I would say that it is noticeably better than my current favourite of Benefits Boi-ing concealer. I hope I continue to love this as if I find out that it has been discontinued I will have to stock up.

Have you ever tried this concealer and what did you think? It is my new favourite.

Jodie x

Bioderma personalised skincare regime prize video introduction

So you might have seen in a previous post that I won a twitter competition for a Bioderma personalised skincare regime.
I went into more detail in my last post about it so I won't repeat myself.

Here you can see the 5 items that I got as my prize and what I thought about them.

Jodie x

Benefit They're Real mascara V's Benefit Bad Gal Lash mascara

These Benefit mascaras are both pretty popular and 'high end' beauty products, but if you want to part with the best part of £20 you will want to know which is best.
The brushes for the mascaras are very different the brush for the They're Real is made of rubber and has lots of small bristles to comb through the lashes covering a bigger surface area of lashes. Where as the brush for the Bad Gal Lash has more traditional thicker bristles so I personally don't think it combs through the lashes as good. This leaves it more susceptible to clumping.
Overall my favorite is the They're Real!
Please check out my youtube video of me testing them both out.