Major Excitement! Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit has arrived!

Hi Everyone,

This week I finally got my hands on a product that has been on the top of my lust list for a looong time: the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit. This nifty little kit from the Queen of Brows Anastasia Soare has been out of stock and virtually impossible to get hold of for months, so I was absolutely delighted when I got an email from Cult Beauty (http://www.cultbeauty.co.uk) to say that it was back in stock. Needless to say I didn't hesitate to grab one for myself!

The kit arrived yesterday and my first impressions of it was that the packaging was sturdier than I was expecting, with a cardboard case that would be perfect for travelling. Inside the kit there are three highlighter shades (from left to right Vanilla, Banana, Sand) and three contour shades (Java, Fawn and Havana). All the shades are matte with the exception of the Sand highlighter, which has a slight shimmer without being glittery. 

I could hardly wait to experiment with this kit when I got home and I instantly fell in love with the Fawn contour shade, perfect for my skintone, and the Banana yellow-tone highlighter for the under-eye area. The surprise hit for me though with this kit was the Sand highlighter! I have an abundance of highlighters and wasn't all that excited about the Sand shade at first, but on application I really loved the way it looks. Unlike my usual go-to highlighter (Soft and Gentle by MAC) Sand is not glittery and gives a very subtle, dewy look without you looking like you're wearing anything at all. It genuinely looks so natural, as though your face is bathed in natural light, and I am sure this will become a firm favourite of mine the more I use it,

I can't wait to try this kit before a night out for a more dramatic contouring look. At £39.00 I think the price is pretty reasonable for six shades, although I do feel like Havana may be a little on the orange side for me so may not get that much use.

Have you tried the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit? Snap one up now at Cult Beauty while stocks last!

Rosie x 

First Impressions: Fairydrops Mascara

Hi Everyone,

I recently invested in the Fairdrops Mascara having heard about it first on Vivianna's blog. I am fortunate enough to have quite long eyelashes, but the problem I have is that they are dead straight, and so this mascara really appealed to me as it promises to lift and separate lashes (like a bra for your eyes!).

This is a Japanese mascara originally designed by Japanese celeb Aya Yasuda, and as such it is not the easiest to track down in the UK. I managed to find it in stock in the Topshop flagship store in Oxford Street in their new Beautymart section which is filled with lots of exciting makeup products from overseas!

First impressions of this mascara is that the packaging is really cute, yet feels quite luxurious. The gold mascara tube reminds me of high end mascaras like YSL Babydoll, but at £18.50 the Fairydrops mascara is a little easier on the pocket. The wand itself is separated into three thick 'bulbs' and is slightly bent which makes application nice and smooth. The above photo is taken without using eyelash curlers and I was quite impressed with the level of curl I achieved- I have since used the mascara with eyelash curlers and was even happier with the results.

The problems I've encountered with this mascara so far is that it is not 100% waterproof and does have a tendency to run slightly, although it is stubborn and is not the easiest to remove at the end of the day. I also find that the solution is quite thick and makes my lashes a bit gloopy looking, although I have managed to reduce this by using less product.

I feel the price is a little steep for what it is (the tube was a bit smaller than I expected) but then I am not a fan of spending a lot of money on mascara generally as I find it quite an unexciting product to splash out on!

Overall I like this mascara for the much needed curl that it gives my poker straight lashes and for its staying power. It will probably become my go-to daily mascara, although for nights out I'm not sure it will give me the volume and waterproofness (if that's a word!?) that I'm looking for.

Have you tried Fairydrops? Let me know what you thought of it!

Rosie x

First Impressions: bareMinerals bareSkin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation

Hi Everyone,

Today I wanted to do a quick 'first impressions' post for the new (and first!) liquid foundation from bareMinerals. They say that it helps you to achieve 'full coverage with a natural finish', and of course being bareMinerals its full of lovely natural ingredients.

My first thought was that I was impressed with how full the coverage was with this foundation- with a name like 'bareSkin' I was expecting little more than a tinted moisturiser. However, the bareSkin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation (try saying THAT three times fast!) is actually a nice, medium-to-full coverage foundation.

I did find the formula to be quite oily which is probably down to the serum element and I also found it really tough to blend. I was using my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush but found that it left visible brush strokes even after quite a lot of blending. bareMinerals have released a new brush to go with this foundation which maybe does the job better, but as I only have a sample I haven't tried it. 

Overall I have my doubts about how this foundation would fare over several hours due to the oily feel, but I really liked the fresh, almost-dewy finish and I will definitely be trialing it in more detail over the next few days!

Pros:

- Good Coverage

- Natural Ingredients

- Feels Light on the Skin

- Nice Finish

Cons:

- Not Very Blendable

- Oily Consistency

- May Not Be Very Long-Lasting

I hope you found my first impressions helpful! Have you tried this foundation yet?

Rosie x

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation... First Impressions

Hi Everyone,

I know I'm a bit late to the party with this one but today I purchased Revlon's Nearly Naked Foundation for the first time after reading about it on Lily Pebbles' blog. Normally I am a Medium-to-Full coverage kind of girl, but recently I've found myself favouring a lighter coverage more and more. Honestly, I've never had particularly bad skin but I do worry about redness, and I am a bit of a concealer obsessive.

I bought Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation in the shade 'Shell' which I think should be a good colour for me as we head into Autumn/Winter. It is quite yellowy at first swatch but does have pinker tones in natural sunlight. Personally I prefer a yellow-tone foundation to counteract the redness I mentioned earlier so this shade suits me fine.

The bottle, as many before me have already noted, is a bit annoying. There is no pump which I don't normally mind or expect from a drugstore brand, but with the Nearly Naked foundation it is particularly annoying as the foundation itself is very liquidy and the mouth of the bottle is quite wide, basically making it impossible to pour out a sensible amount!

Once applied though, this foundation seems to come into its own. I like the coverage and the way that it feels on my skin, and think this could be a great everyday foundation for me. As this is a First Impressions post and I only bought this today it's a bit early for me to make a firm decision on it just yet, but I'm looking forward to putting it to the test and seeing how it looks after an 8-hour day at the office!

Have you tried Nearly Naked? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Rosie x