New Blush Love

Things have been pretty hectic lately hence the lack of posts - I'm hoping to catch up on posting and following all your blogs.

Northern Ireland has been hit by the snow and winter chills. My partner took a picture of me doing the morning round at the birds' feeding station - here's a sneaky peek at my usual morning hair do:)

Now onto the main focus of my post - I've discovered a new blush that I'm absolutely and utterly in love with.
It's the No7 Cheek Tint in Peach Silk. 

No7's cheek tints are available in three shades - peach, rose and maple. Being crazy about peachy shades it's only obvious that it was my pick of the bunch. Whenever I swatched peach silk it was love at first sight and I bought it straight away without any hesitation.

It's a bright matte orange/peach colour which when blended out looks very natural on the cheeks. It is like a creamy version of MAC's Peaches or Illamasqua's Lover blush.
Creamy blushes are great for the winter season as they tend to add a bit of dewiness to the skin whereas powders can dry it out even more.
The colour of this blush is very buildable so you can achieve a natural looking flush or more of an intense colour pop - it doubles up as a lip colour too!
I'm wearing it here on both my cheeks and lips:

It's best to apply it with your finger tips as the heat from your fingers will help warm the product up and make it easier to blend out. I have also used a foundation brush for application and it worked a treat as well.
I have normal/dry skin and have found the lasting power of this blush to be pretty good on me. When applied in the morning time, I've found that I only need to re-apply around 5pm.
I apply it after I've applied my foundation and set with just a tiny sweep of loose translucent powder.

I'm so thrilled with this new find and will always repurchase this stunning creamy peach blush...might just need to grab myself a back-up...

Do you like creamy blushes?

Bioderma Sensibo H20 cleanser

Used by celebs, models and make-up artists worldwide, Bioderma's Sensibo H20 cleanser has definitely got a lot of beauty junkies stamp of approval.

And now it's got mine!

After hearing the fabulous mua Lisa Eldridge rave about it, I knew that this cleanser absolutely had to find its way into my life. Getting your hands on it here in the UK is a little difficult though and you'll only be able to purchase online.

I did a bit of internet searching and also learnt that this cleanser was available in quite a lot of pharmacies in Poland. Just my luck as my partner happened to be visiting his family there at the time of my "hunting down Bioderma" quest.

Onto Skype I went and provided him with all the relevant details and pictures of the product. A couple of hours later he e-mailed me a photo of it saying that it had been bought and was already packed away in his suitcase - now all I had to do was wait another couple of days to start using it. The people at the pharmacy had also told him that it was great stuff and sold like hot cakes.

I've been using it daily now for over a month and can't imagine life without it. Any friends going to France or Poland will hopefully now be doing me a little favour and bringing back a bottle or two back for me - fingers crossed.

The cleanser is odourless, fragrance and alcohol free and resembles water. It kind of feels like you're using a toner so it's also great for using it in the mornings for freshening up your face.
I remove make-up using cotton buds drenched in the solution. It's very gentle on the eyes and skin, leaving the skin feeling clean and not stripped.

If I'm tired and in a rush, I'll just remove all my make-up using this cleanser alone - it does a great and quick job of it - I love a time saving product!
If I have a bit of time on my hands then I'll usually use it for removing my eye make-up and follow up with another cleanser of choice, using Bioderma as a toner.

All I can say is that this one's for keeps and I'll always be sure to have it in my bathroom and kit.

Have you guys tried it yet?

Cute Earrings

What do you guys think of these earrings which I got the other day from Freedom at Topshop?

I find them to be quite adorable -

Cute little lacy vintage looking bows which my partner reckons bare a resemblance to granny knickers:)
I guess he's kind of right but who cares...I still love them:)

...and then these adorable owls - (hopefully they'll make me appear smarter:))

Have you picked up any interesting accessories lately?

E.L.F. Studio Line HD Powder

I hardly ever use powder for setting my own make-up as I have normal/dry skin and find that powders only make it look more dull and dehydrated.
Nonetheless, I was very keen on giving E.L.F.'s High Definition powder a go having heard many good things about it - and disappointed I'm not!

The powder is white, fine and feels light and silky. A word of caution - do not apply it with the powder puff included as you'll end up applying way too much product which will leave a white residue on the skin. I like to apply it with either a powder or kabuki brush, buffing it gently into the skin.

I use it to set my foundation, undereye concealer and cream blush. The powder blends well, disappearing into the skin and evening out the skin texture. It doesn't look cakey nor heavy.

I've been reaching for it on a daily basis and have incorporated it into my make-up routine as I find that it makes my skin look soft and fresh. It really does give a smooth and flawless finish to the skin. I've noticed that my face still looks "polished" at the end of the day and I reckon that it's down to the powder.

Have you tried it and what are your thoughts?

Illamasqua Lover Blush

I'm still very much feeding my obsession of all things peach and apricot. A few weeks back I finally got my hands on Illamasqua's Lover blush which I had been drooling over for quite some time now.

Lover is a light pastel peach/apricot with a matte finish. The texture is neither chalky or powdery as can sometimes be the case with a matte blush. Blendability is superb and the end result leaves you looking fresh-faced and youthful.

Here's a comparison of Lover and Peaches from MAC: 

 

Swatches: Peaches (top), Lover (bottom)

Peaches is more of a true peach where-as Lover has a tiny hint of pink. Lover is also stronger and more vibrant of the two and needs to be applied with a light hand in order to achieve a subtle looking flush.

Love both these shades equally and would recommend them for everyone's make-up kits and complexions. 

What is your staple peach/apricot blush?

FOTD - a little bright

The other day I watched a video demonstration in which make-up artist Andrew Gallimore created two looks using No7's Colour Rebellion Palette.
I've had this palette for a while now and only ever reach for two of the colours - Purple Haze and Red Lead as I find them to be the "safest" of the bunch.
One of the looks which Andrew demonstrated was using the blue shade along with the purple - the result looked stunning on the model.
I couldn't wait to try it on myself and decided to go for it today as I'm going to be home bound all day long - just as well cause the weather's horrid.
In addition to this, I'm not really sure as to whether or not I'd be brave enough to actually leave the house wearing blue eyeshadow...it's not my usual shade of choice.

Anyway, here's how it turned out:

Here's a breakdown of the products I used:

Face:

• Leichner Foundation in Blend of Beige
• Garnier 2 in 1 Tinted Eye Roll-on on under eye area
• Chanel Cream Bronzer as blush

Eyes: 

• No7 Colour Rebellion Palette - Indigo Blue all over lid up to the crease; Purple Haze along upper and lower lash line
• Avon Sonic Boost mascara

Lips: 

• E.l.f. mineral lipstick in Runway Pink (adore it!) 

 What are your thoughts - do I manage to pull off wearing blue eyeshadow?

Nail polish, art and wraps

I am currently training to become a nail technician and absolutely loving my course. This has led me to become a little obsessed about "all things nails". I received three £5 vouchers to use on any of Boots' No 7 products and  used all of them on nail polishes instead of make-up (shock, horror...):)

The colours I got are (from left to right): 

 No7 Stay Perfect nail colour in Milan, Spun Sugar, Totally Teal

Please pardon the state of my nails in the following pictures as my acrylic nails are in desperate need of infills which I will hopefully be getting done tomorrow. 

Milan (love, love, love this one!)

 

Spun Sugar

Totally Teal

I also popped into Sally's and got these nail art stickers which I can't wait to try:

...and Trendy Nail Wraps in Born To Be Wild:

I'll definitely post pictures and do a review of the nail wraps as soon as I've had a chance to try them out. I plan on applying them to both my finger nails and toes. Apparently they're meant to last between one and two weeks on hands and up to four weeks on toes.

Have you given nail wraps a go yet?