Illamasqua Bronzing Duo!

A little bit of sun yesterday got me thinking about the warmer months that we hopefully have ahead of us, so I thought it only right that I should show you this Bronzing Duo from Illamasqua that I've had ever since the Liverpool store launch last year.

The duo comprises of a lighter and darker bronzing shade, that are SO soft, buttery soft and so silky on the skin, I think this is partly because the shimmer is very fine, it's not at all gritty or glittery which is a bit more complementary to the skin, and stops you looking like you've been sprinkled with fairy dust (or doing art with a 5 year old)! I find my skin looks radiant when I use this set, I use it sparingly as it is VERY pigmented, so a light hand is recommended.

Top, flash. Bottom, No flash.

The swatches do make it look slightly orange, more so than it does in real life and whilst I wouldn't use this as an all over bronzer, it's perfectly lovely to highlight and contour (to some degree, bare in mind that it isn't matte)! I really like this, it's a perfectly lovely set that I think most people could make use of - even using them as blusher.

Top, flash. Bottom, No flash.

Illamasqua's tagline 'Make-up for your alter ego', and the fact that their make-up artistry (courtesy of the fabulous, and utterly lovely, Alex Box) and subsequent collection images are always quite out there, could make some people think that all their make-up is completely unwearable for people who weren't into such looks, but they'd be wrong.

They actually have a great deal of products, in various colours that can be used as subtly or as wildly as you desire. I love that most of their products are multi-use, generally very pigmented and also long lasting whilst also being very reasonably priced. If you haven't tried any of their products before, or have been wary about their colours/products, and live near to one of their stores, or concession stands then I really urge you to pop there and have a look for yourself.

Top, flash. Bottom, No flash (but it was near a light).

The Bronzing Duo is £20.50, and is available online from Illamasqua.com. I can't wait for summer to come so that I can get even more use out of it.

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

Miners 'The Cheek of it' Face Sticks!

These new Face Sticks from Miners are a snip at just £3.99 each, and they actually perform surprisingly well. Because they're in stick form, they're easy to handle when using, although I still find it a bit more precise to use my fingers to apply and then blend, since you'd need to use them to blend it out after using the stick anyway.

There are 3 sticks in the range, a pink blush stick, a bronze stick and a highlighter stick - so that's the basics covered. It would be nice to see more shades in the range; especially blush shades, since pink tones don't suit all skintones - especially if you already have pink-toned skin. I'm hoping that they will add on more to the range in the near future. I love the highlighter stick, it's got a golden sheen to it that will look amazing with a tan - can't wait to use this one when (if?) summer comes.

Highlighter - Not Blended!

Highlighter - Blended.

When you first apply them using the stick, they look pretty scary - as you can see in my pre-blended photographs, especially the bronzer (I apologise, they're not up to my usual standards as I've had a hell of a week, consisting of vet visits with Chloe, a broken boiler (&the tidy up that followed) and my mums birthday, which means I've had to rush these pictures through just to get this post up) but once you blend them out, they're much more subtle.

Top Blusher, Bottom Bronzer  - Unblended!

Top Blusher, Bottom Bronzer - Blended!

I like the finish of the sticks on the skin, because they're of a cream consistency they don't look cakey which is great for all skin types, especially dry skin as they're not prone to being cakey - although you should be aware not to use them over powder products as the overall effect may not be so great (you can use a powder to set them after, though). Pigmentation wise, they're fine, not overly pigmented and certainly not compared to the likes of Illamasqua/NARS etc (the swatches show a good few 'swipes'), but they seem to last fairly well on the skin, especially the pink blush stick. 

Unfortunately for me, they smell of rose, or at least they do to my nose - I can handle it though as they're not being used right near my nose, and the scent isn't overpowering so this isn't a deal breaker.


Quite a bargain, I'd say and my favourite out of the bunch is the highlighting stick!

Available from the Miners website!


PR Samples - My views are unchanged by this.

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

Benefit Hoola!

Benefit Hoola is a product that has been out for a very long time now, but I wanted to swatch it anyway for you. My swatches show 2 fairly light swipes of product – a lot heavier than I would wear it but I wanted to show you just how pigmented it is.

All with flash, in different lights:

The colour is neither warm nor cool; it’s the perfect shade for a bronzer in my opinion (although I'm not sure my camera was 100% accurate, hence why I've shown a few different photo's) as I find that some tend to lean towards orange, which isn’t really a look that I want to be rocking. Hoola is also a great powder to use when contouring as it’s matte and when using at least a half decent brush (I’ll explain more about that in a minute) it creates a very natural looking contour.

No flash (on a very dull day):

I’ve had my box of Hoola for a long time now and it’s probably my favourite bronzer... now that I’ve learned the best way for me to use it. You see I bought it after having it used on me by a sales assistant on a benefit counter, however when I got it home I found that I could never get it to apply quite as well as it is quite pigmented, and whilst I’m not as pale as say Nicola Roberts, I’m certainly not anywhere near the same shade as the Hoola itself.

My first problem seemed to be that I was too heavy handed in application, I quickly learned that less is more where Hoola is concerned – this is probably due to the fact that I was used to using lesser pigmented bronzers prior to Hoola. My other problem was that I was using the wrong brushes; I (stupidly) tried using the brush that came with it but very quickly learned that this was no good at all and only achieved an uneven, striped effect on my face – not a good look.

I then used an ordinary (and cheap) powder brush that was too hard, even when I used the product sparingly I found that it placed the powder too heavily in one area which I had to work hard to try to blend on my face – it was actually around this time that I started to invest a little more in brushes, realising that they actually made a difference to how my makeup applied. I bought a set of Smashbox brushes and have used the powder brush ever since as it’s soft, but not overly so which helps me to apply Hoola with a lot more ease, and better results.

It’s available for around £23.50, but for that you get a huge amount of product that will last an age – especially if you are like me and use it sparingly for a more natural finish.