Benefit Operation Pore-Proof £28.50


I don't know about you but my skin is seriously struggling with this hot and humid weather, my trusted regular primers and foundations aren't keeping the oil at bay and for the first time ever I've purchased a setting powder! I'm a huge fan of Benefit's makeup and some of their skincare (It's Potent I'm looking at you) so with their release of this kit promising to smooth pores and control shine it seemed like an answer to my current skin woes. As I haven't struggled as much as current with controlling my shine I'd never considered a few of the older products in this kit such as Dr Feelgood or The POREfessional Agent Shine, I have a few sample sized The POREfessional Primers in my drawer and I was intrigued to try their new Shy Beam and The POREfessional licence to blot. So how did it fare?

So lets start with the one product I know a load of people swear by, The POREfessional pore minimizing balm. When I first tried this primer many years ago I didn't like it, it made my skin feel dry and didn't sit well under my foundation. Fast forward to last year and I received it in a Birchbox, thought I'd give it another shot and really enjoyed it! I don't suffer from overly huge pores but as I mentioned I do get a little oily, unfortunately I don't find this primer helps with either of those issues, it does initially create a smooth matte base but I don't find it lasts past lunch.

Next up we have Dr Feelgood complexion balm - this one I'm still trying to come to grips with as it's a quite firm, waxy type texture. It's designed to work above or under makeup, smoothing pores and fine lines and managing excess oil. I applied it with the accompanying sponge after POREfessional primer, I couldn't really see that it did reduce pores or shine, when I have a day at home I will try it over my foundation, the morning I tried it I had work and didn't want to mess my base up.

Once I'd got my primer and foundation on I decided to try Shy Beam, Benefit's new matte nude pink highlighter (not available on it's own until 2016). I'm a bit puzzled by this one, my skintone is medium at the moment (NC20 if we're talking MAC) and you couldn't see I had it on. It doesn't have any apparent 'highlight' to it, I'm not sure if this is aimed at darker skintones than mine but it just doesn't work on me.

After I'd applied bronzer and blusher I moved on to POREfessional Agent Zero Shine, I really like this powder, it has a kinda mineral powder feeling to it in the respect that it is light and fluffy. The only pain with this sample is the packaging, the instructions advise to tap the pot in to the lid and then swirl product with a brush and apply to your face. How do you tip the product in to the lid without then spilling the powder from the pot as you lift it? I'm guessing the full size product has a better method of application.

Lastly we have POREfessional Licence to blot, I'm sure you can't have missed this one when it launched. Unlike the full size version the sample sized in this kit is small and rounded, much like a lip balm. This is another one I'm trying to get the hang of, I've tried applying it lightly in a blotting motion, to avoid moving the makeup underneath, to areas with shine and I can't see any obvious removal of excess oil. The instructions state to apply the product in short swift strokes, I can't see how this can be done without disturbing your base?

I'm still on the fence with this kit. I think I need to get to grips with a couple of the products before I finally pass the verdict on it. If like me you've not really delved in to Benefit's more core products then this is a great place to start.

Bobbi Brown Brightening Brick | Pastel Peach Review

Bobbi Brown Brightening Brick | Pastel Peach | rrp £34

I have a real love for Bobbi Brown products but when she released her Brightening Bricks I convinced myself for weeks that I had no need to purchase one as I have the majority of her blushers. After reading many posts and seeing swatches I caved a bought the only shade that really caught my eye - Pastel Peach.

Bobbi's Brightening Brick's offer 'your go-to product for a lit-from-within glow, combines the warmth of a bronzer and the soft flush of a blusher with a gorgeous, subtle glow'. First off I was surprised how light it was in person compared to the website picture...

Picture courtesy of bobbibrown.co.uk

You can see there is more depth to each of the shades in the brick on the website photo compared to my own. I thought to myself that's ok, I'm pale (at my most colourful NC15) it will still offer enough pigmentation. It doesn't. Don't get me wrong I love the finish on my cheeks of all of the shades blended together but I do have to reach in to the pan with my brush about 5 or 6 times per cheek to get a decent amount of colour on my face.

I own Bobbi Brown's mono blusher 'Pastel Peach' and I really feel the Brightening Brick doesn't offer me anything I couldn't have achieved wearing said blusher with a powder highlighter over the top. I haven't tried the other shades in the line so I can't comment on those but if your any darker toned than me then (and this pains me to say) I would give this a miss.

Most Worn | This Weeks Makeup Bag

After an 8 day week at work last week I was left needing as much help to fake the glow of 8 hours sleep as I could get and although I felt like the walking dead inside these little treasures ensured it didn't show on the outside!

MAC Strobe Cream | RRP £24.50 50ml

This product is my ultimate quick fix for tired skin, it's loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, green tea and iridescent particles to enhance the effects of light on the skin under all lighting conditions. I like to apply a small amount after moisturising and it really leaves my skin with a glow.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Blush | Santa Rose | RRP £3.99

I love it when you discover a fantastic product from an old brand, this blusher is just that. I will admit that in the last couple of years I have got swept up in the media hype of high-end products and have dismissed a lot of the drugstore brand releases, how wrong have I been?! Whilst browsing the aisles of my local Boots this little gem really jumped out at me, it's the perfect combination of peach and pink that goes with everything and leaves cheeks with a healthy flush of colour.

Bobbi Brown Corrector | Porcelain Bisque | RRP £19

This is my wonder product for tired eyes. I'm quite pale so I use the fairest shade Porcelain Bisque, I'm yet to discover another product that rivals the ability of this one to lighten and brighten the eye area. 

Makeup Revolution Radiant Light | Exhale | RRP £5

Out of all of the powder highlighters I own, including some high-end brands like MAC and Urban Decay, this highlighter is my all-time favourite! The formula is so finely milled that your skin is left with the perfect amount of glow and not looking like a disco-ball!

Lancome Hypnose Mascara | RRP £22.50

Since purchasing this mascara I have been completely converted from my usual brand and won't consider anything else! This mascara does an amazing job of separating and lengthening lashes and doesn't dry and flake like some brands.

No7 Blush & Glow Collection

I'm a little bit late with this post and I apologise if this set is no longer available as I purchased it just after Christmas but today's post is on Boots No7 Blush and Glow Collection rrp £15. Each of the products are available for individual purchase but at only £15 and with the products collectively costing £39 it's a real steal!

I already own the Instant Radiance Highlighter which is absolutely gorgeous and I own another of their Pop and Glow Cream Blush Stick's in the shade Mango Sorbet which I also love so the shade in this set Rose Blossom is a very welcome edition to my collection. What attracted me most to this set was the Instant Radiance Bronzing Highlighter and let me tell you paired with bronzer it really is something special!

You can apply each of the products straight to your face from the stick however I find I get a more natural and even finish when swiping my buffing brush over the stick and then buffing into the skin. When I swatched the Bronzing Highlighter I initially thought it was way too golden and dark for my pale skin, however it looks gorgeous just above your cheekbones when wearing bronzer. Rose Blossom is a gorgeous healthy pink shade for your cheeks. I find all of the products to last all day and give an all round healthy look to my skin.

Again I apologise if the set is no longer available however individually they are part of No7's permanent makeup range and even without the offer price of the set they are so worth the money!

Benefit Girl Meets Pearl Highlighter Swatch and Review

I've got a little bit of a thang for highlighter's and after lusting over Benefit's Girl Meets Pearl rrp £24.50 for a while I decided to take the plunge and purchase it, read on to hear my thoughts on it...

Like a lot of Benefit's products the packaging is super cute and the titles are product specific.

In my opinion the way the product is dispensed could have been designed way better, the applicator dispenses way more product than is needed so it ends up being wasteful and you have to be super cautious when twisting for more product.

The formula is quite sticky and thick for a liquid highlighter and I found it hard to blend over makeup without disturbing my foundation underneath but the colour is a gorgeous golden-pink that does give a lovely iridescent glow.

Over all a bit disappointing. I would have been happier with the product being dispensed from a tube or a bottle like their other highlighters and the formula feels more like a balm than the fluid it should be.

Makeup Revolution Ultra Bronze Palette

I'm quite excited to be reviewing this little gem from Makeup Revolution as it has the perfect variety of shades in it for us pale gals whether it be for bronzing or contouring.

The palette includes 4 matte shades, 2 shimmer shades and 2 merged baked highlighting shades, each of which work incredibly well on my pale (NC15) skin tone.

The formula is silky, pigmented and each blend very well. I can see this palette getting a lot of use as it has the perfect range of fair to medium shades to carry me from winter through to summer. The palette has a great sized mirror in it and the product itself is housed in a sturdy plastic case.

The Ultra Bronze palette is a mere £6 which is amazingly great value for the amount and quality of product you receive!

Makeup Revolution Radiant Light Highlighters in Breathe and Exhale

Following on from Friday's post on my recent Makeup Revolution haul I bring to you today their new Radiant Light highlighter's in the shades Breathe and Exhale. These new baked highlighters are absolutely beautiful, the formula is smooth and incredibly finely milled leaving skin looking radiant and glowing.

The shade Breathe is a touch too dark and golden for my skin tone at this time of the year, dark was probably the wrong word to use, it just blends in with my colouring more than highlighting it but it gives a lovely natural sheen to my skin.

Exhale is the fairest highlighter in their range and is a gorgeous neutral, leaning on the pink side, coloured highlighter that just looks gorgeous on. I find this shade really lifts my complexion and isn't really obvious that I'm wearing it.

L Exhale
R Breathe

Both of these shades come with a good sized mirror in the compact and are surprisingly large for the mere £5 price tag. I hate to say it as an Urban Decay lover but I actually prefer these highlighters over  my Naked Illuminated highlighter as these don't have the large glittery particles in that Urban Decay's does.

Urban Decay Naked Illuminated Aura

I've wanted Naked Illuminated highlighting powder from Urban Decay ever since it was released and with all of the pre Christmas deals going on I decided to purchase it with some of my Christmas cash.

I was quite surprised by the size of it, it's huge and the packaging is just gorgeous, the whole thing is wrapped in a shimmering fabric that really sets the theme for the product itself.

I chose the shade Aura which is a gorgeous soft peachy pink highlighter with gold threaded through it, I know a lot of more tanned ladies have opted for this shade but it still works beautifully on my fair (NC15) skin.

There's a decent sized mirror and a handy little brush for application in a separate compartment, hallelujah! 

It's really hard to photograph just how beautiful this highlighter is. In the pan it looks like a disco ball, really glittery, but on your skin it gives the most beautiful glow with shimmers of gold, peach and pink.

Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot Box O'Blushes Set

It is with much excitement and delight, being the blusher addict that I am, that I bring to you today Benefit's Cheeky Sweet Spot Box O'Blushes Set. As soon as I saw this set when Christmas shopping last week I hastily threw it in to my basket...as a treat for myself of course!

This set includes 6 of Benefit's most popular box blushers and Watt's Up highlighter combined for the first time in a set, all in a cute vintage looking tin.

The set includes-

Dandelion 4g - Full size 7g

Bella Bama 5g - Full size 8g

Rockateur 5g - Full size 5g

Hoola 5g - Full size 8g

CORALista 5g - Full size 8g

Sugarbomb 6g - Full size 8g

Watt;s Up 1.5g - Full Size 9.4g

The individual product size in this set makes it incredible value for money and a great opportunity to try more of Benefit's blushers without splurging out a small fortune on all of them individually. The set also includes a pretty little guide on how to apply the different blushers to make the most of your features. 

This set is the perfect gift for any beauty lover (or for yourself!) and I predict this set will sell out fast so get your hands on it quick!

My Little Box Parisienne

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last couple of months you can't have missed My Little Box launching in the UK. My Little Box doesn't just contain must-have beauty products, it also contains at least one beauty product from their in-house beauty range, fashion and lifestyle products all wrapped up in a beautifully illustrated box by their designer Kanako. So take a peek at what I excitedly received in my first ever box...

Each month you receive a beautiful inspirational quote in-keeping with the theme of the box, as you may have guessed this months Parisienne box was Paris themed!

Next up is a cute little post card with some gorgeous stickers that you could either stick on to the card itself or on your laptop or phone, the possibilities are endless...

Next we have an A5 notebook which includes more information on My Little Box in the first few pages...

Now comes the good stuff for us beauty lovers...a gorgeous little re-usable fabric bag containing 3 beauty products...

I was delighted to find a very generous 30ml sample of my favorite Primer by Laura Mercier, a sample of Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse oil and an in-house pen style illuminator.

Lastly we have a laptop sleeve and I'm thrilled to say it fits my MacBook Pro perfectly!

Last month I decided to cancel my Birchbox and Pink Parcel subscriptions, Birchbox because I was just getting a little fed up with receiving skincare samples month after month and Pink Parcel as I have got an overflow of tampax in my bathroom! My Little Box is a subscription I will definitely be sticking with, it has the perfect balance of beauty and lifestyle products all wrapped up in gorgeously themed boxes. If you fancy subscribing to this fabulous concept it's only £14.95 per month (inc p&p) or £13.95 (inc p&p) if you have it delivered to your work place (don't ask me why?!).

Urban Decay Naked Flushed Compact - Streak

Ok so it's probably not the right time of the year to be buying bronzers but as I'm a sucker for Urban Decay and a good old sale I just couldn't resist! I picked up the Naked Flushed Compact by Urban Decay last week from Feel Unique for a bargain price of £16 and my purchase definitely feels justified as this palette is just as impressive as their eyeshadows.

There are four palettes to choose from in this range, I decided to go for Streak as it has the lightest, more olive toned bronzer out of them all and the blush is a very wearable coral/pink. Streak leans more toward peachy/coral hues and would be suitable for fair/medium skin tones, although Urban Decay claim each is versatile for any skin tone I feel Strip (which is on the mauve side) would be too dark. The matte bronzer is the perfect shade to apply all over for a healthy glow with just a touch of the coral toned blusher needed on cheeks to give a healthy glow. The highlighter is rose toned and looks more natural in my opinion than your regular yellow/white toned ones.

Urban Decay Naked Flushed in Streak

This gorgeous trio is are just as pigmented as Urban Decay's cult eyeshadows. The texture is feathery-light and you only need the smallest amount for great colour pay-off. This compact is everything you need to take with you on your travels or even just as a space saving product in you make-up bag. You get a whopping 14g of product and a very generous sized mirror inside the case, making it an even more fantastic space saver. 

There may not be much of the summer left but I will be using this product as long as I can get away with it for. The great thing about this product is you can use the bronzer, highlighter or blusher individually or you can swirl together for just the right effect. Even at the full retail price of £22 this compact is incredible value and really does not disappoint.

Makeup Revolution Ultra Bronze, Shimmer and Highlight

I've done a few separate posts about my most recent Makeup Revolution haul, the final product from that haul I've been wanting to write a post on is the Ultra Bronze, Shimmer and Highlight. What attracted me most to this product was the fact you can either use the shades separately or swirl together to achieve the look you want. Any space saving products are welcome in my make-up bag in the summer months, although I try to keep my makeup minimal you do seem to need more products just to achieve that natural look!

I usually recoil at the thought of using a shimmery bronzer, I'm very much stuck in my ways with bronzer...I like a matte bronzer and applying highlighter where needed over the top. Anyway, much to my delight this bronzer isn't as shimmery as I expected, however neither is the highlighter. The highlighter would only be any good to medium/dark skin tones in my opinion, it's far to dark to use on my fair (NC15) skin.

On my skin I find the centre colour perfect, maybe a little too red toned, for an all-over bronzer and the darker shade for contouring. All of the shades blend very well, the formula is a silky powder and wears very well. As with most of Makeup Revolutions products that I have tried you get an incredible amount of product for your money. At only £4 this is a bargain beauty product every girl should try for the summer.

Makeup Revolution Baked Highlighter - Swatches And Review

Earlier last week I had a little Makeup Revolution haul, the products I've been most excited about trying are their Vivid Baked Highlighters. I decided to purchase the two most wearable shades Golden Lights and Peach Lights. Both of the products contain an incredible amount of product for the mere £3 price tag.

Peach Lights leans more on the pink side, perfect for wearing over the top of blusher or used lightly for highlighting on fair/medium skin tones. Golden Lights is a subtle gold toned highlighter that would suit any skin tone. The picture of the highlighters above were quite heavily swatched to demonstrate the colour, when applied lightly they result in a gorgeous, subtle glow. Neither of these highlighters are at all glittery, they are finely milled so when applied lightly they blend perfectly with your skin.

These great value highlighters are something I would definitely recommend to anyone, the formula and size definitely challenges some of my high-end highlighters.

Makeup Revolution Candy Queen Of Hearts Swatches & Review

I purchased this lovely baked blusher from Makeup Revolution a couple of weeks ago...I know my review is really late as there have been swatches and reviews flying all around the blogisphere but here goes...

Candy Queen Of Hearts

This blush is the perfect combination of colours to either wear blended together or alone. You've probably seen the Sweethearts Blusher by Too Faced, well Candy Queen Of Hearts is a complete dupe for Something About Berry by Too Faced. This baked blusher really does give you a sweet flush with just the right amount of shimmer for a younger, healthier looking complexion.

Top - all shades blended
Bottom - individual shades

At the moment I'm loving the middle peach-toned shade swiped over my bronzer for a nice healthy glow. This baked blusher is an absolute bargain (at £4.99) for the quality and size of the product and I'll probably collect the whole collection!

Jodie

xoxo

Benefit Fine One One Review

This week to feed my blusher addiction I purchased Fine One One by Benefit. I have been eyeing up this cream blusher for a while as it has a gorgeous coral colour in it and the added benefit of a highlighter.

For some reason I thought the product would be bigger, photo's of it on the website kind of gave me that impression. Anyway the product itself comes in Benefit's usual quirky and standout packaging and the twist stick form makes it really easy to use and great to pop in your handbag for touch-up's.

When blended in the coral orange isn't so prominent, it really just gives you a fresh flush of colour. The only thing I will say is that when swiped straight across the cheeks if you wear a good layer of foundation it can take some of it off. Most days I wear a quite heavy layer of MAC Studio Fix Fluid and when I applied Fine One One for the first time it swiped most of the foundation from my cheeks. I have found a better method is to apply strategically to my fingers first, transfer that onto my cheeks and then blend with my RT Buffing brush.

The colour is quite sheer, its more of a wash of colour, I found I had to apply a couple of layers to get any colour pay-off. I have tried it on my lips, it's quite tricky to get just the shade you want to wear applied so I found it a lot easier to apply with a lip brush.

I must admit I expected a little more from this product. There were a couple of things that really cheapened the product in my opinion, the label wasn't applied properly and the leaflet inside the box was folded over as if the blusher itself had been shoved into the box. Luckily my Birchbox points paid for the majority of the cost of Fine One One so I don't feel too aggrieved that it wasn't as great as I pictured it to be. If it was just a bit bigger and the colour a bit more pigmented it would be perfect!