Haul Post: Topshop Makeup

Hi Everyone,

I hope you're all having a great week! Just a quick post today to share with you a couple of new bits and pieces that I picked up recently from Topshop. I have been having a real love affair with Topshop makeup recently and decided to try a couple of products that have been on my wishlist for a while.

First up is the Topshop Bronzer in 'Sandcastle'. This is a lovely, matte bronzer which is perfect to give an everyday glow. It also works really well for contouring and I have been cheating on my previous favourite (the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer) with this new purchase ever since I bought it last weekend. I also really love the packaging of this bronzer- the silver compact is very simple but chic, and I'm sure that this will become a full time handbag favourite of mine. The colour Sandcastle I would say is a good choice for lighter skin tones, but apply sparingly as a little of this product goes a long way.

I also managed to get the Topshop Glow Highlighter in Polish. I have wanted to try this for a while but couldn't seem to find it in my local Topshop store- fortunately the one in Westfields had it in stock. This is a really lovely highlighter product; I have been applying it with my Real Techniques Blusher Brush along the top of my cheekbones to give a subtle glow. For daily use I would apply under foundation, but I'm looking forward to going for a more dramatic look on a night out. I am also desperate to try one of the MAC Mineralise Skin Finishes, so hopefully this will be one of my next purchases!

Finally, I stocked up on my favourite: the Topshop Lip Crayon in Wave Goodbye. I won't bore you by going on about this product yet AGAIN, but it's safe to say that it is a permanent fixture in my makeup bag.

These are the things I picked up recently- have you tried any great Topshop makeup products recently?

Rosie x

Product Review: Revlon Photoready Sculpting Palette in 001 Pink Rose

Left to Right: Blush, Bronze and Highlighter

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all had an amazing Bank Holiday weekend. I spent mine in a wet field at Reading Festival watching Eminem, Chase & Status, Azealia Banks, Disclosure and loads of other amazing acts! I wanted to do a little lifestyle post about it today but unfortunately my phone died early on and I took absolutely no photos, so it probably wouldn't be the most interesting post in the world. Also I was put to shame by all of the trendy outfits that everyone else seemed to be wearing- for me it was a miracle if I could just about find a clean pair of pants in my tent!

Anyway, that was my weekend, now on to today's post: a review of the Revlon Sculpting Blush Palette. I was so excited to get this as it looks like such a useful product; a combination of a highlighter, blusher and bronzer all in one place. This is another sneaky Revlon product that isn't coming out in the UK, but I was lucky enough to pick one up through a friend. 

The first thing that struck me about this product is the size- the palette itself is a good, handbag-ready size but the product isn't. For some reason, Revlon have chosen to make the blush the biggest product in the palette and the bronzer and highlighter both half the size. This for me just makes no sense, as I can barely get my brush into the smaller sections, and I'm far more likely to use the blush more sparingly than the bronzer.

As you can see in the swatches, the blush is quite pigmented but the bronzer is less so, which is another thing that disappointed me about this palette. The colour of the blush and the highlighter are actually both really pretty on the face, although I found it difficult to see any colour from the bronzer at all and I certainly wouldn't use it for contouring. I also found all three products to be really powdery and already the blush has started to crumble after just a few uses. 

All things considered, I think this product is a great idea that unfortunately just hasn't been executed very well. It is nowhere near as good as the Sleek Face Contour Kit (here) but I do really like the fact that Revlon have thrown a blusher into the mix as well. This product could be hugely improved if they rethought the sizes, got rid of the tiny brush that is included as I don't think it's really necessary, and put in a more matte bronze that could actually be used for contouring. All in all a bit of a disappointment for me I'm afraid, although I will continue to use the highlighter and blush from time to time.

Have you tried this product? Let me know whether you agree!

Rosie x

Too Faced- The Bronzed & The Beautiful Palette Review (and some freebies!)

Hi Guys,

How have your weeks been so far? Mine has been busy, lots of dinners and drinks after work, and I've been dying to do a review on my new Too Faced palette all week but just haven't found the time (until now!).

As I mentioned in my last post, this palette was a bit of an impulse-buy after drooling over it at my friend's house on Saturday. I am a bit of a bronzer addict to be honest, and despite my best efforts I just haven't managed to find my ultimate bronzer in my quest for the perfect, healthy glow. My recent favourite has been Chanel's Bronze Universel, but I am always on the lookout for a great new product, and after trying this I just had to get it for myself.

I bought this Too Faced palette from ASOS, primarily because I am a regular ASOS shopper and have signed up to their free Next Day Delivery service. It also had the added benefit of offering a 10% student discount off the original price of the palette (£28), so I snatched it up for just £25.20. Given that a full sized bronzer from Too Faced would set you back £25, this palette (containing 5 different products) seemed like a pretty good deal!

This palette is the 'French Riviera edition' so is decorated with lots of 50's style beach scenes, which I love. I think Too Faced package all of their products really well, although the size of this palette does not make it ideal to just slip into your handbag. The products within the palette are: 

- Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer

- Snow Bunny Perfecting Bronze

- Sun Bunny Classic Bronze

- Powdered Sun Highlighter (exclusive to this palette)

- Primed and Poreless Bronze Tint Primer (5g)

The Chocolate Soleil is my current favourite as it really does smell deliciously chocolatey and reminds me of the Bourjois Delice de Poudre. I have been using this shade for contouring and then highlighting my cheekbones with the Powdered Sun, which is a great shade for Summer as it is yellow toned. 

Sun Bunny is one of Too Faced's more popular products, although it is quite shimmery rather than matte and so more of a night time product in my eyes. I like the fact that it is two-toned so can be made as subtle or as defined as you like, and I can't wait to use some of this on my next night out with my Costa Chic lipstick from MAC- such a great summer look! 

The Snow Bunny bronzer on the other hand is described by Too Faced as a Winter bronzer, probably due to the pinker tones in the highlighter, and I really like the idea that this palette will see me through all seasons! I have used some of the highlighter alone on days when I have not been wearing much makeup and it is a great product for lifting the complexion and making skin look a bit brighter.

Top Left: Chocolate Soleil, Top Right: Sun Bunny, Bottom Left: Powdered Sun, Bottom Right: Snow Bunny

I also love that this product comes with a primer. I bought myself a Too Faced primer some time ago and deliberated for ages whether to get the bronzing primer or the normal.. I settled for the normal in the end, so I'm so pleased to have a chance to try this one! This just gives a really subtle, healthy colour to the skin and leaves a really smooth base to apply foundation. I find the Too Faced primers quite silky and not remotely greasy, and I love that they are quite thick so you can really tell the difference after applying.

Finally, also included were some instruction cards on how to create different looks using the palette. This is great for those that are new to contouring and need a bit of help, or just for those that need a bit of inspiration! Personally I have not tried to follow any of the looks given in the instructions yet, but would be interested to try them out at some point.

All in all I think this palette is one of my favourite purchases recently, and one that I will certainly get a lot of use out of. There is not a single product that I'm not sure about or that I won't use, the sign of a good palette, and I can't wait to take it with me when I go to Reading Festival in a few weeks. Have you tried any Too Faced products recently? What is your  current favourite bronzer??

Before I go I also wanted to share with you a couple of the freebies that I've picked up recently! I have been wanting to try out a few different foundations, particularly after reading good reviews, so after work yesterday I nipped to Oxford Street to hit up some of the beauty counters. I didn't buy anything, but picked up foundation samples of Clinique Stay Matte, Estee Lauder Double Wear, Chanel Perfection Lumiere and Kiehl's BB Cream. Samples for me are an absolute lifesaver as I am so indecisive when it comes to foundations and I love to road test any new products before committing to a big purchase. Is that just me, or do you do the same?!

Finally, I also picked up the September issue of Elle magazine and got this Bumble & Bumble Thickening Spray as a free gift! I love B&B products but they are a little pricey, so I can't wait to try this out and let you know what I thought.

Have you picked up any good freebies lately?

Anyway, that's all from me today, night night all!

Rosie x

Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan Review

Hi Beauty Lovers,

I hope you are all enjoying your weekends! I just can't get enough of the weather at the moment and have pretty much been spending every hour of daylight outside. The parks in London are so beautiful and the perfect setting for a picnic and a few ciders! But, with sunshine inevitably comes shorts and flip flops, and with that comes the need for perfectly bronzed legs...

Today I am reviewing Cocoa Brown's 1 Hour Tan Mousse, another product that I'd seen floating around on various other beauty blogs and decided I had to try. For those that don't know, the Cocoa Brown products were created by Marissa Carter, the owner of Carter Beauty Blackrock and a well-known beauty expert in Ireland apparently. The Cocoa Brown range has been available in Ireland for quite some time but has only recently hit the UK, and I tracked down the 1 Hour Tan Mousse in my local Primark for £6! Now, I'm not usually one for a bargain fake tan as I am under the (often misguided) impression that high cost leads to high quality, but I am so glad that I tried this product as I was so impressed with the results!

The tan comes in a bright pink bottle with a typical mousse-dispenser top. There are two products in the range; the 1 Hour Tan Mousse and the Night and Day Tan Mousse (which comes in a pink and white can). I would have really loved to try the Night and Day tan as it is designed to give you a perfect tan for a night out, and leave you with a nice, golden glow after showering the next day. Unfortunately the Primark I visited didn't stock this tan, but you can pick it up for £7.99 here. This will probably be my next fake tan purchase once the 1 Hour Tan runs out.

Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan Mousse

Straight out of the bottle the mousse is a very pale brown colour which develops quite quickly. Cocoa Brown's fake tans have a Tahitian Gardinia scent which is quite subtly floral and definitely not too overpowering. It's quite hard to describe exactly what it smells like but I would liken it to a floral shampoo and quite pleasant. Once the tan was applied I could barely smell anything at all.

The tanning mousse immediately out of the bottle

I applied the Cocoa Brown tan immediately after showering to clean, dry skin. I also exfoliated beforehand to try and avoid any patchiness. I found the tan to be quite easy to apply; not too messy although you need to be careful around the feet, knees, elbows etc as the mousse is light in colour and it would be easy to over-apply without realising.

Post shower- I'd applied the tan to my right leg only at this point

Once applying to both legs I did not see much of an immediate colour difference. I have been away on holiday recently anyway so my legs were not very pale to begin with, and I felt the colour was more of a subtle enhancement than a full on fake tan. After 1 hour I saw some development but not as much as I expected, although personally I quite liked the subtlety of the colour for an everyday look.



Immediately after application on both legs

The tan after 1 hour






















 

The next day was when I really saw a big colour difference, and I woke up to beautifully bronzed pins! In my opinion the end result was very natural, as though I'd just come back from some exotic destination, and the tan was even with no streaks or fake-tan biscuit smell.

The next morning, after developing overnight

Even after showering the tan largely stayed put, and that is a big plus for me as I am lazy and prefer not to have to tan every day. I went out that evening and received loads of compliments from friends saying how tanned I was and asking if it was natural. This for me is the ultimate test of any fake tan, as being orange is a big no-no for me and I want my faking it to look at real as possible!

After showering the next morning

All in all, I was really impressed with this product and I would definitely buy it again, especially given the bargain price tag. I have tried so many fake tanners over the years and I'm gradually starting to realise that cost does not always equal quality, and this is one of the best tans that I've tried in a while (I am normally a slave to Fake Bake's Beyond Bronze Instant Tan). The nice thing about the Cocoa Brown tan is that it is not messy in the slightest and won't stain your clothes or dribble down your arms if it rains! It has far exceeded my expectations and I'm so pleased that I read about it as I don't think I ever would have trusted a fake tan from Primark before.

Have you tried any products from the Cocoa Brown range? Are there any other bargain tanners you think that I should try?

Rosie x