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

Easter Weekend

Hi Everyone,

I'm lucky enough to have had a fabulous Easter weekend at the seaside in Dorset and thought I would share a little bit of it with you all! It was a wonderful weekend of eating, drinking and hanging out with friends and it was just what I needed after a hectic few weeks.

We drove down on Friday afternoon as a merry group of four, to stay at the home of one of our friend's parents. We managed to avoid the majority of the famous Bank-Holiday traffic apart from around Stonehenge- although at least I managed to catch a glimpse of it for the first time! The house was a beautiful countryside cottage with a wonderful cosy feel to it and we spent many a happy night in with a glass of wine (or two...).

The highlight of the trip was definitely our day at Hive beach, where we visited the amazing Hive Beach Cafe and tucked into delicious fresh lobster and chips! This was followed by a HUGE ice cream sundae and a stroll along the beach... Bliss. We also had some incredible meals out where we were staying in Sherborne, and on Friday went to the lovely restaurant The Green where we sampled such delights as their crab creme brulee (actually delicious) and scallops with black pudding crisps.. yum!

The weather was not great on our last day but we still found time for a cream tea at a local cafe before hitting the road back to London in the pouring rain... A fitting end to the Bank Holiday weekend. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend- was your as food orientated as mine?!

Rosie x

A snap of Stonehenge taken from the car!

March Favourites

Hi Everyone,

I hope you’re all enjoying the weekend and the warmer weather! All this sunshine has put me in a really summery mood and I’ve become one of those Brits that throws on a pair of shorts and flip flops at the first sign of a bit of sun!

Today’s post is about a few new products that I have been enjoying using recently. As you can see from the pic I have a bit of a thing for MAC Mineralize Skinfinishes at the moment and I’ve pretty much tripled the size of my collection in a month! The next one I have my eye on is Lightscapade and I’d be really interested to hear your thoughts if you’ve tried it.

Debenhams have been doing a 10% discount offer lately on their website so I used the opportunity to buy a few bits (as you do!) and picked up the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle, which I’ve had my eye on for a while. This is a beautiful ‘gilded peach bronze’ colour according to MAC and has a good amount of shimmer to it without being overpowering. I have been using this product more sparingly during the day to avoid looking too ‘sparkly’ at work, but can’t wait to try it for a night out!

I also managed to pick up Mineralize Skinfinish in the shade ‘Stereo Rose’ from the MAC website as part of their limited edition Fantasy of Flowers collection. I had read about this first on Lily Pebbles’ blog and having seen a few photos I knew that I had to try it for myself. This has become my go-to blusher of late as it is a perfect rosy-pink colour with just a hint of shimmer. It is buildable and just generally very pretty!

I also bought the Extra Dimension Skinfinish in ‘Fairly Precious’ which is more sparkly than the other two I would say and perfect for creating a fresh, dewy look. I love the light pink colour of this and would also wear it as an eyeshadow, although I would say that it is slightly less versatile than Soft and Gentle as the pink tone can’t be used all over.

Also on my favourites list is a MAC lipstick in the shade Hue. I picked this up in a blog sale a few weeks ago (I think I mentioned this on my blog already) and I’ve basically worn it nearly every day since. It is the easiest colour to wear- a lovely pinky nude that is not too pink nor too brown for my skin tone, and the formula is lovely and creamy and seems to last quite well despite being a ‘glaze’ rather than my usual favourite ‘cremesheen’.

A friend of mine at Revlon recently gave me a little goody bag and in it was this fab brow pencil and gel called ‘brow fantasy’. Unfortunately it is a little light for my natural colouring (I was given the shade Dark Blonde) so I have to use a touch of powder as well to darken my brows up, but I love the idea of this product and the gel works really well to tame any unruly hairs!

For contouring I really love this bronzer by theBalm in Bahama Mama. I read sooo many good reviews of this before purchasing and I can’t disagree with any of them- the colour looks scary in the pan but is more grey-toned than a lot of bronzers so leaves a natural shadow appearance when contouring rather than an orange stripe down your face! A light hand is all that’s needed with this but I really like it and the packing is really cute too.

Finally I picked up this bargain highlighter by Along Came Betty in Tesco for £2 and I really like it! I apply it under or over foundation depending on how strong I want the highlight to be, and it works really well. The colour is a subtle champagne gold (not dissimilar to Benefit’s Watts Up!) and if you wanted to give a stick highlighter a try without spending a fortune then I would definitely recommend it.

That’s it for my favourites this month- as you can see it has been quite highlight-heavy! I’d love to hear what you’ve been loving recently so feel free to leave me a comment below.

Rosie x

Product Review: NARS Travel Set

Hi Everyone,

First of all, I'm sorry for my irregular posting over the past few days! I have been really busy moving house and we are still internet-less at our new place so I am a bit limited in when I can blog... Sooo annoying as I have picked up loads of products recently that I'm dying to review!

Today I thought I would show you one of my favourite newbies to my make-up collection: this gorgeous NARS travel set featuring the famous Laguna bronzer, Orgasm Blush and Albatross Highlighter trio. I was so excited to try all three of these products and can't believe that I managed to snap them all up in one bundle!

This set I don't think is available anymore as I have been scouring the NARS website for it with no joy. I picked it up in a blog sale for just £16 over at the lovely Lipstick Fridays (she still has loads of amazing stuff for sale if you fancy a look!) and I couldn't be happier. The bronzer looks to me to be pretty much full sized and the products had only been lightly swatched so I definitely feel like I got good value for money there.

So what's the product like? Well, one of the major plus points for me HAS to be the packaging. I mentioned that it's a travel set and it is genuinely one of the most travel-friendly products that I own- perfect for throwing in your handbag for an afternoon touch up. Yes, the Albatross pan is a little on the skinny side (which is a shame as I think it may be my favourite of the 3!) but all in all it is a really handy set to have around.

All three of these products have something of a cult following so I won't bang on for hours, but they are all beautiful shades that I'd imagine would compliment many skin tones. The Laguna bronzer I had heard was great for contouring and so far it hasn't disappointed- although I did notice that it is not quite as matte as some of my other contouring products. It is less orangey than some other bronzer shades though and really pigmented so very easy to contour with.

The Orgasm blush I was really keen to try having been given the shade Super Orgasm (oo er!) by my boyfriend a while ago. Orgasm is less sparkly than Super Orgasm and slightly more red-dy and gold-toned which I really like as it gives the cheeks a really healthy, natural flush.

Finally the beautiful highlighter Albatross, which looks so scarily white in the pan but on the skin transforms into a beautiful yellow-tone highlight! I LOVE this product and have been using it every day on my cheekbones and brow arch to provide a subtle highlight. Fortunately a little goes a long way with this product and I have barely scratched the surface.

Overall I'm delighted with this purchase (as you can probably tell from my lengthy review!). I should also mention that the case is really sturdy and has a huge mirror which makes touching-up on the go an absolute breeze.

Have you tried any of these products? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Rosie x

PS. there is still time to enter my MAC Giveaway! Just click here

500 Follower Giveaway!!

Hi Everyone,

Today I'm delighted to announce that I am doing another giveaway! This one is to celebrate reaching 500 followers, which is truly an amazing milestone in my eyes. I am so grateful for every reader and every comment on my blog and so this is just my little way of saying 'thank you'!

The prize is a MAC lipstick of your choice, so long as it is from the permanent collection. I know that this is not the most imaginative prize going but I have seen it on other blogs in the past and I just think you can't go wrong with a good lippy! All I ask is that you make sure that you are following my blog on Bloglovin and that you leave me a comment below to let me know what shade of lipstick you would like. Good luck everyone! Now onto the boring stuff...

Rules:

• This is a UK only giveaway I'm afraid. I apologise to any international readers that may be disappointed, I would love to do an international giveaway soon.
• I will check all entries so please make sure that you follow my blog and leave me a comment!
• I will post the winner on my blog and on Twitter, and will basically try my best to contact you in any way I can! If I don't hear anything back within 3 days then I will select an alternative winner.
• The giveaway is via Rafflecopter and winners are chosen entirely at random.
• The prize is bought with my own money and I will post it to you via First Class. I will get proof of postage but cannot be held responsible for items getting lost.
• The giveaway will close on 7th March 2014.

Thank you to everyone who enters, you have all been so encouraging since I started blogging and I hope you enjoy reading my posts as much as I enjoy writing them!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please note the image used is not my own.

Rosie x

FOTD - Bronze Smokey Eye

Hi Everyone,

Today's FOTD post features one of my favourite looks- the bronze smokey eye. I must admit that I am not the most adventurous with my eye make-up on a day to day basis but I am getting better after following some absolutely amazing MUAs on Instagram. This one is pretty quick and easy and is just about subtle enough for everyday wear, although I did use false eyelashes today which definitely is not something I have time for every day!

Prep:

Ultima II Procollagen Extrema Day Lotion (I love this moisturiser and it is sparkly too!)

Revlon Photoready Perfecting Primer

Face:

MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NW20

Benefit Erase Paste in Medium

Clinique Even Better Concealer in Chamois

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium

Brows:

GOSH Eye Brow Kit (colours light and medium)

Cheeks:

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer (to contour)

Estee Lauder Ideal Light Brush-On Illuminator in Light (to highlight)

M&S Limited Collection Highlighter Drum

MAC Powder Blush in Melba

Eyes:

No.7 Stay Perfect Amazing Eyes Pencil in Black

Estee Lauder Doublewear Stay-in-Place Gel Eyeliner in Stay Onyx

Eylure Naturalites Natural Volume False Lashes

From the Urban Decay NAKED palette: 

-Shade 'Naked' on lid

-Shade 'Virgin' on browbone

-Shade 'Creep' along lower lash line

-Shades 'Darkhorse' and 'Smog' along upper lash line

-Shade 'Half Baked' on lid

Estee Lauder Doublewear Zero Smudge Lengthening Mascara in Black

Lips:

YSL Rouge Volupte Lipstick in Nude Beige

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis a Levres in No.19

Phew, that was a lot of products! I hope you enjoyed my face of the day and I'd love to know what your favourite make-up looks are.. Maybe I'll try them next time!

Rosie x