Category: make up

beauty, make up, reviews

Product Review: Make Up Revolution’s Fortune Favours the Brave Palette

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Designed in collaboration with Jane aka British Beauty Blogger, this palette was almost impossible to get hold of. It was available from Superdrug and Make Up Revolution’s website, occasionally.

However, I was browsing palettes recently in Superdrug and it now seems to be readily available.

I’d admired the other Make Up Revolution palettes for a while, especially the Mermaids one but since I am really lazy about remembering to use them, I rarely buy palettes.

Having seen this gorgeous palette all over social media I decided to splash out (it’s a very affordable £10) and treat myself to it.

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The gold embossed packaging is very nice, and as with other Make Up Revolution packaging, it looks more expensive than it was, making it a nice addition to any make up shelf or countertop.

Let’s have a look at the colours within.

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I like the marble glitters, and the range of 30 shades is great, I can definitely see some that’ll get a lot of use.

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Swatch selection

The brush isn’t the best ever, but palette brushes rarely are so I’ll be using my trusty eyeshadow brushes, currently these ones.

The swatches don’t really do the colours justice and while some of the colours aren’t really me, this is a solid collection and worth the investment.

beauty, make up, reviews

Make Up Menu – Revlon Ultra HD Matte Liquid Lipstick

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I like a bold matte lip, gloss just sticks my hair to my mouth and recently I swatched the new Revlon liquid lipsticks (a product I love btw, much easier to apply and slides on easy).

Revlon seems to be reformatting a lot of their products and streamlining their range and I think these beauties are here to stay.

Despite being blonde with very pale skin, I don’t really go for pale lip colours, preferring a bold purple or red, so I made a beeline for the purple hued one, sadly Superdrug were out of stock, but I will return for it.

Instead I went for the deep pink of Obsession (one of my personal bugbears – the terrible names given to make up shades), which, while it could be punchier, is great for every day wear.

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Devotion (top), Obsession (bottom)

In my Glamour Summer Edit from Latest in Beauty there was the nude/pink shade Devotion – which they reckon is the perfect shade for anyone, which I’m not 100% sure about as different skin tones suit different shades, even before you take personality and taste into consideration.

To be honest I don’t think you need to build up the colour as they’re quite pigmented, perhaps if you were using the paler shades you might want to.

It lasted fairly well, although I’m not the best judge as I have a terrible habit of licking and chewing on my bottom lip, having to reapply lip balm all the time, so I probably eat more lip products than anything else. 

If you prefer a glossy lip, slick a clear gloss over the top for added shimmer.

Have you tried Revlon’s new liquid lipsticks? Thoughts? Let me know in the comments.

beauty, beauty boxes, latest in beauty, make up, reviews

Latest in Beauty – The Girls’ Night Out Box

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This box is absolutely heaving with goodies for the ultimate girls’ night out – or in!

🌌Kitsch glitter hair bands
🌌Perfection Fashion Tape (aka tit tape)
🌌Styl London Temporary Tattoos
🌌Styl London Instant Gel Nail Wraps
🌌Fudge Urban Colour Hair Art Coral Crush
🌌Balmi Super Cube Roseberry Lip Balm
🌌Lord & Berry black glitter eyeliner pencil
🌌Model Co Crème Rouge for lips & cheeks
🌌Revlon Ultra HD Lipstick in Gladiolus
🌌Model Co Lip gloss in Fairy Floss
🌌L’Oreal Elnett Satin Hairspray
🌌Rimmel London Nail Polish in Glastonberry
🌌he-shi Quick + Easy Express Liquid Tan
🌌Collection Lengthening Mascara
🌌Narciso Eau De Toilette

£20 + P&P available now.

beauty, beauty boxes, latest in beauty, make up, reviews, skincare

The Glamour Summer Edit – Latest in Beauty

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The newest Glamour edit beauty box has landed at Latest in Beauty and for £20 (inc P&P) you get 8 products to keep you looking fab this summer.

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Grounded Chocolate Orange Scrub – natural coffee granule body scrub that leaves a chocolate orange scent and exfoliate to baby soft skin.

Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lipcolour in Devotion – I love these lip colours, they apply beautifully and don’t run or crack. This nude pink shade isn’t one I would necessarily pick, I prefer a stronger colour but it’s a great colour for most skin tones.

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Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray – handbag sized for styling in the office loos before heading out for post-work fun, this adds texture and volume.

St Tropez Self Tan Classic Bronzing Mist – apparently this is foolproof but we’ll see. The mist should leave a streak-free golden colour.

Ladival Sun Protection Spray SPF30 – spray on sunscreen, protecting you from UVA, UVA and infrared A rays too.

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Aurelia Miracle Cleanser and Bamboo Muslin Cloth – a creamy cleanser with a super soft cloth perfect for a weekend away.

Nuxe Prodigieux Shower Oil – with orange blossom, vanilla and magnolia this smells delicious and leaves skin soft.

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Wow Mask Luxury Facial Mask – a collagen boosting sheet mask to plump and firm your face. 

These boxes are always absolutely packed with great products curated by Glamour’s Beauty Director, and I love everything in this box, certainly I’ll be giving it all a whirl.

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beauty, beauty boxes, make up, reviews, skincare

Look Incredible – pick a box

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Look Incredible does two different beauty boxes – their standard costs £18.95 and is usually worth approximately £70-80, the deluxe box costs £35 with approximately £100 worth of products. But which one is the best purchase.

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This month I ordered both to do a comparison.

The standard box contained 5 items worth £76.50 in total. All items are full sized.

Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer (RRP £16) – a shimmery summery liquid designed to give you a lovely glow. Most likely this will be used as a liquid highlighter for those days I need a bit more shine.

Velvet 59 Matte to the Max Liquid Lipstick in Pink Cadillac (RRP £17) – I quite like liquid lipsticks but this baby pink shade isn’t for me.

Ciate Manicure Set (RRP £16) – this set comes with polish, foil fix glue and metallic colourfoil sheets for a glam, shiny finish. I will definitely be giving this a whirl.

No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara (RRP £11.50) – as regular readers will know I can’t stand getting mascaras in beauty boxes, it feels lazy and I’m fussy. However, my mum is a huge No7 fan and will be thrilled that she still doesn’t have to buy any mascara!

The Body Shop Moroccan Rhassoul Body Clay (RRP £16) – this is a clay mask for your body, Rhassoul clay is famed for its skin firming powers, and I will be busting it out to get my milk white pins looking summer ready.

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The Deluxe box contains four items, all full size and worth £112.

Nars Audacious Mascara (RRP £21) – another beauty box, another mascara. This is a fancier one with a heftier price tag and a friend of mine swears by this one.

Tarte MultiEye Primer (RRP £20) – lash primers seem to be a big new thing this year, I don’t really get it to be completely honest. This one makes lots of claims to condition, nourish and lengthen lashes before you apply your mascara.

BareMinerals Marvellous Moxie Lip gloss in Hypnotist (RRP £16) – not a huge lip gloss fan, my hair sticks to it and it doesn’t always suit me, but I do quite like this one. It’s full of natural ingredients and the colour isn’t too glittery.

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BareMinerals 3 Piece Champagne Crystal Collection (RRP £55) – a chunky make up case, complete with a brush and shimmer powder – this screams Christmas gift set to me. Which might be a bit harsh but I honestly don’t think it’s worth the hefty price tag for one product and a brush.

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The verdict – personally I think the mix of products and value of the standard box outweighs the deluxe box. It might seem more a bargain, but considering one item was more empty space than beauty product it just doesn’t seem so deluxe and I would have liked it if all the items were from different brands.

beauty boxes, make up, reviews, skincare

Beauty box round up

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You may have noticed a slight lull in May’s beauty box breakdowns. To be honest May, as Shania Twain once sang ‘that don’t impress me much’. It was pretty underwhelming.

Glossybox was frustrating as usual – so much potential, so much empty box space and ‘meh’ products.

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The highlight of the box for me was the random nail repair gel, my brittle nails need it. The Mr ate the popcorn and my mum made off with the hand cream.

Birchbox wasn’t a great deal better, the ladies of the WhatsApp swap group did quite well out of my lack of love.

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The sachet of coconut oil was the biggest ‘why?’ of the box. Seemed like an unnecessary addition and the promo card with it was about three times the sample’s size.

I did like the My Little Box offering this month, but mostly for the lifestyle items, a shiny ring is almost guaranteed to catch my magpie eye. I can’t remember what the beauty items even were, a definite sign of ‘eh’ as a reaction.

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I was happier with the one-off and quarterly boxes this month.

The Vegan Kind‘s beauty box had a hairmask that smelt like pancakes and a yummy lip scrub. You’re welcome to pop round any time TVK.

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Latest in Beauty scored another sparkler in collaboration with the lovely Jane of British Beauty Blogger fame in their Precious Petals box with products from the L’Occitane family. Very Spring.

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Powder launched their second beauty drawer, hope they do a third. Brilliant products, even if they did forget two of mine (sent separately with a gift card as an apology).

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I think part of the problem for monthly boxes is that they run out of steam some months and just can’t get it together. What’s worrying (for them) is that much smaller groups, like the lovely ladies behind The Blogger Beauty Box, are doing it better than these big name brands with all the contacts, firms and knowledge at their disposal.

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I’ve skipped over the worst boxes (You Beauty and Look Incredible) and of the monthly ones, Look Fantastic did a reasonable job, but still a little weak (yet another hairbrush that is defeated by the stubborn hair on my head).

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So, June has now arrived. And with it a fresh crop of boxes is due to arrive. Fingers crossed I like them a wee bit more.

beauty, beauty boxes, make up, reviews, skincare

Little Known Box

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This is a new subscription beauty box aiming to showcase (as the name suggests) lesser known brands.

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Just launched, their first box contains five products, four of which are fullsize.

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Flint + Flint Moisturiser 3x – this is a rich cream filled with good things for your skin to repair and regenerate your skin.

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The Vintage Cosmetic Company rose gold eyelash curlers – these are pretty self explanatory, they’re eyelash curlers!

Medusa’s Make-up lip gloss in Space Invader – this cruelty-free US import is a pinky red with a hint of glitter.

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Dirtea Exfoliating Coconut Scrub – this is the only sample sized product in the box, and at first I thought it was a teabag! It’s a body scrub made with black tea extract, coconut oil and and Himalayan pink salt. It also comes in Peppermint and Diamond, all designed to target different skin complaints.

Thumbs Up Nail Wraps – marble accented wraps designed to decorate your nails without damaging them. 

There are discounts available for every brand in the box, perfect if you find something you love and want more of.

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beauty boxes, make up, reviews

Look Incredible box – May

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To be honest I’m not 100% excited by this box, and I’m not entirely sure whether it’s worth the £35 price tag, it’s a bit mixed. Look Incredible, much like Cohorted boxes, specialise in high end make up and skincare, and although this isn’t the Deluxe box (at the same price) you expect things you wouldn’t necessarily pick up because of their price or availability.

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Let’s start with the most disappointing item – three sparkly nail polishes from Claire’s Accessories – somewhere I don’t think I’ve shopped since I was a teenager and moved away from their cheap glittery hair bands. These nail polishes don’t seem particularly great to use – the multi colour glitter in particular went on poorly.

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Korres Anti-aging Eye Primer – a light peachy toned primer with a doe foot applicator, designed to slick on your lids before adding colour. I can see this being really good if you were wearing loose powder shadow or something like Barry M’s Dazzle Dust, which needs a bit of help staying put.

Bare Minerals Ready Blush in French Kiss – in the pot this is a really bright pink, and would probably look amazing on darker skin, luckily if you apply it gently enough and only with one swipe, even ghost skinned girls like me can wear it. Just remember to blend.

MAC Lipstick Crayon in Clever – I’m pretty sure I’ve had this in a previous box, but it’s a nice pinky coloured crayon, although you need to layer it up slightly to get much colour going.

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Swatches – Top: Eye Primer, Middle: MAC crayon, Bottom: Blush

Bellapierre Kabuki Brush – super soft brush (something I think I already have), perfect for blending or applying powder.

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Blush, lip crayon, primer, brush

Bit of a mixed bag this month, the MAC crayon and brush are definitely heading into the stash but the nail polishes, not so much.

beauty, beauty boxes, haircare, make up, nail polish, perfume, reviews, skincare

M&S Best of British Beauty Box

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Good ol’ M&S jumping on the beauty box wagon with their Best of British box. It’s priced at £120, which is a lot but Sparks card holders can get it for £25 delivered free to your nearest store. Check out the Sparks app or the website for details.

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I had a gift voucher to use and since I only really buy underwear and Club sandwiches (except when my local shop stops stocking them :'() in M&S it seemed worth spending it on this box rather than more pants.

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The box has 13 products from British brands, and seems to have been launched to celebrate the new M&S beauty halls, stocking brands like Pixi, REN and Nuxe.

🌹M&S Pure Super Grape Day Cream

🌹Leighton Denny Britz & Glitz Nail Colour

🌹Pixi LipLift Glossy Lip Plumper

🌹Eyeko Black Magic Mini Mascara

🌹REN Wake Wonderful Night time Facial

🌹Percy & Reed Perfectly Perfecting Wonder Balm

🌹M&S Rosie for Autograph Amazing Radiance Cream

🌹M&S Rosie for Autograph Nuit Parfum Eau de Parfum

🌹Joan Collins Timeless Beauty Class Act Lash Growth Treatment

🌹Rodial Stemcell Super Food Cleanser

🌹Look Good Feel Better Eye Shading Brush

🌹Nails Inc 45 Second Top Coat with Kensington Caviar

🌹Studio 10 Age Reverse Perfecting Lipliner

There’s a great assortment of products from haircare to nails, skincare to make up. It’s a rather packed box, but I don’t know if it’s worth the full £120. Most of the products are full size, which is nice as so many boxes have the tiniest possible sachets, which aren’t exactly worth getting a lot of the time.

Will you be indulging yourself in M&S Best of British beauty box?

beauty, beauty boxes, latest in beauty, make up, reviews, skincare

Latest in Beauty Clinique British Beauty Blogger Edit II

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Jane aka British Beauty Blogger is back with her second Clinique edit for Latest in Beauty, following the success of last year’s box.

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This may already have sold out – so keep an eye out for a restock. It costs £17 with free P&P.

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There are eight Clinique products in the box. Two are full size.

💋Clinique Take The Day Off makeup remover for lids, lashes & lips.

💋Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion +

💋Liquid Facial Soap (mild)

💋Superprimer Universal Face Primer

💋Aromatics in Black or White (I got Black)

💋For Men Face Scrub

💋Chubby Lash Fattening Mascara in Jumbo Jet (full size)

💋Sweet Pots Sugar Scrub & Lip Balm in Red Velvet (full size)

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Also in the box – £10 discount voucher for clinique.co.uk, voucher for complimentary consultation and mini pot for sample of 5 day foundation that matches your skin tone.

The sweet pot was a surprise, this is Clinique’s new product and often beauty brands don’t want to give their best goodies away, especially at a reduction.

I also really like the little extra of the empty pot to get a free sample at a Clinique counter in the right shade, instead of the pot luck of some beauty boxes.

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The Mr was also included, with the face scrub, something I added to the bathroom counter for him to use. Not that he’s noticed yet!

The perfume is right up my alley too, no alcoholic tang but a rich, dark floral punch. Might have to splurge on a bottle with my £10 off.