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 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 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.

Day 1 of my #100HappyDays

Now I'm in no way materialistic (ok, maybe a touch when it comes to beauty products!) but it's the little things in life that make me happy, like sleepily coming round with a cuppa in the morning and hearing the postie dropping some lovely things through my letter box.

Day 1 of my #100HappyDays began with the postie delivering my new YSL Touché Éclat Highlighter...of which I could greatly use at the moment (I'm blessed with hereditary dark-circles). I will post up some swatches in a separate post, but we all know this cult-classic is a make-up bag must-have!

Have a great, happy day!

Jodie

xoxo

Astalift Light Analyzing Moisture Foundation Review and Swatches

Let me start off by saying this foundation is INCREDIBLE! I can't believe how few reviews I could find on the internet about it.

I had been recommended this foundation by another blogger after saying I was still searching for my holy grail foundation, I wanted something with medium-full coverage but a dewy, luminous finish...Light Analyzing Moisture Foundation by Astalift delivers just this.

A couple of weeks ago I contacted Astalift to request some samples of their foundation to match my colour perfectly before committing to purchasing a full size. They sent me samples of the shades Sand and Caramel, I didn't even attempt the Caramel shade as Sand was way too dark for me...but I fell in love with the coverage and finish. I contacted them again and they said the only paler shade sample they had in stock was Ivory, the colour wasn't a bad match but I have quite yellow undertones in my skin so it wasn't the best match. Earlier this week I spotted that their foundation was half price so I decided to take the plunge and purchase the shade Sunny Beige and I'm pleased to say it is a perfect match!!

Light Analyzing Foundation in Sunny Beige

Sunny Beige blended

Sunny Beige is suitable for paler skin with yellow undertones, I would say this shade is very similar to my MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC15. 

By applying the science of light and colour, Astalift has designed a patented foundation that leaves skin radiant in any light. It's light analyzing powder mimics the way light is absorbed and reflected. Tones within light are absorbed and reflected to create a flawless complexion that's radiant from morning to night. The technology within this foundation reflects skin coloured light to reduce shadows and the appearance of wrinkles in daylight, office lighting or harsh fluorescent lights. On top of all that this foundation contains anti-againg technology caring for skin, collagen to help retain moisture and stimulate collagen production and a powerful antioxidant called Astaxanthin which is unto 1000 times more powerful than Co Q-10 which controls sebum for amazing coverage all day long.

What ever it's got in it I think it's incredible! Anyone that reads my blog knows that I suffer from hormonal breakouts of acne so I have quite a few scars around my mouth and jawline...one layer of this foundation applied with my RT Expert Face Brush completely evens out the redness in my skin, covering any scars or blemishes and leaves a totally flawless, radiant finish...I'm in love! In this photo I am just wearing the foundation, eyeshadow, mascara and a little blush...no highlighting products required as this foundation gives you a gorgeous glow all by itself. 

If you fancy giving it a go this foundation is currently 50% off on their website, only £14.50 for 30ml.

Jodie

xoxo

MAC Prep+Prime Natural Radiance Primer in Radiant Yellow Review

I've been dying to get my hands on this primer since it came out...anything that claims to have radiance inducing properties has to be mine!

MAC Prep+Prime Radiance Primer is priced at £29 which I think is totally worth it, for a few reasons...I use MAC's Prep+Prime Skin which is priced at £20.50 for 30ml, whereas Prep+Prime Natural Radiance is a generous sized 50ml bottle. Much like the Prep+Prime Skin this has a gel-like formula that glides onto skin so just one pump will do my entire face...my 30ml bottle of Prep+Prime Skin has been going strong for around six months now...with daily use!

I went for the Radiant Yellow as I have quite alot of red on my face so I thought this would double up as a primer to counteract that issue. MAC claim that this primer is especially effective on fair skin tones as the formula disappears upon application, resulting in a beautiful glow...I couldn't have said it better myself! I use MAC'S Studio Fix Fluid Foundation which isn't a completely matte finish but wearing this primer underneath gives me a gorgeous dewy glow, like skin only healthier!

As well as aiding an easy application of your foundation and a luminous finish this primer has vitamins E and C as well as caffeine to calm skin. Prep+Prep Natural Radiance has definitely won me over from my current Prep+Prime Skin...I'm hooked!

Jodie

xoxo