Lady Blush

With winter firmly making itself known here my staple summer bronzed look is steadily being replaced in favour of a light sweep of blush (although I have to say New Zealand Winters in the North Island are so much milder than back home so I can't complain too much)

Mac Ladyblush has been in my collection for years, and my love of it is pretty cyclical. I don't think I've used it in maybe a year, but this last week or so it's been making an appearance every, single, day!  It really is just the perfect, natural looking blush, it's not too pink, or too red, or orang, nope, the undertones are super flattering.

I'm not really a huge fan of cream blushes, I always want to love them (I have a weak spot of all cream products I think) but I just find them a pain to apply and blend over a foundation - tell me I'm not the only one that all too often has ended up with patchy foundation because of blending cream blushes! But I've just been dabbing it on with the Real Techniques Stippling blush and blending it out with the buffing brush to get a beautiful, and easy, finish

I kept everything else really simple today, Laura Mercier primer, Lasting Perfection foundation and concealer (a lovely little combo for full coverage), and then my everyday maybelline liner and benefit they're real mascara - I decided to skip eyeshadow since I was in a rush 

Now we get to the real reason for this post, Ladyblush on the lips is amazing. Firstly the colour - stunning, i've actually been wearing it on my lips more than my cheeks recently as its just a gorgeous natural-ish pink-y sort of shade. Not only is the colour amazingly flattering but the finish and texture actually works so well! It's velvety finish that feels amazing on, and I suppose because it's actually a cream blush it doesn't bleed or settle into any lines. 

I've heard a lot about people applying their lipsticks onto their cheeks to get a dewy flush of colour, but putting a cream blush onto the lips is new to me at least. And I can't get over how using one product on the lips and cheeks suddenly makes everything looks so 'put together'!

Today was just a minimal effort day, but Ladyblush really turned it into something pretty! I'm already looking at mac's over cream blushes, as the price is so much easier to justify if you know you can use it as a blush and a lipstick! 

Clearasil Skin Perfecting Wash

I'm going to start of by saying I definitely think that, in general, you get what you pay for with skin care and this is no exception. The quality of the ingredients don't really compare with some of the more luxurious face washes out there. 

But I don't think that means cheaper brands aren't amazing for basics. Clearasil Daily Clear Skin Perfecting Wash is my 'go to' face wash. I don't typically use it every day - purely because I'm a beauty junkie so I'm always trying new things but if my skin is playing up this is always the one I reach for. 

It's very lightly scented - nothing offensive just a soft clean scent. The consistency is very creamy and feels quite moisturising on the skin. However it does have tiny beads for exfoliating which I personally like, the beads don't do any serious exfoliating so you don't need to worry about using this in conjunction with other exfolitators. The beads don't do a great deal of exfoliating. 

As to the claims that it'll magically 'perfect' your skin, well, it won't. It does keep my skin clear without drying it out though which I'm quite happy with. I also want to mention that I don't rate Clearasil as a brand - I find the majority of their products are far too strong but that's why this really is a hidden gem.

So far as price and availability it's really easy to find in Boots and Superdrug for £3.79 . One other feature is the super handy packaging. It's simple with a good pump that doesn't deposit too much product. 

Hope this has been helpful!! x

Mac Stereo Rose

I was lucky enough to get hold of this as its very much a cult mac product and its rather difficult to get hold off, which in turn only seems to increase its popularity. And now I’ve got my hands on it I finally understand why its so talked about! It isn’t however going to be for everyone
It’s a beautiful shimmery deep coral with pretty golden highlights and a slightly rosy undertone. And although I love wearing it it’s not something I’ll reach for every day, and I know a lot of people will be put off by how shimmery it is as I know a fair few of you prefer to add your own highlight.
Aside from the shimmeriness, which is kind of expected with a mac msf, they are pricey, particularly this one as its only repromoted every so often and consequently prices in CCOs rocket, and its also not the easiest to work with as it is very pigmented so you have to be careful to not apply too much. And it's not going to be a universally flattering shade as it is quite coral/red which can something look too much on some skin tones (this looks terrible on my tanned skin however when I'm pale it's beautiful).

I do love it though, not sure I’ll repurchase but I don’t think that’s something I need to worry about as MSFs last years!
Have any of you managed to get your hand on this?
What did you think?

Hope this has been helpful!! x

Semi - Precious

I’ll confess to being something of a MSF(Mineralize Skin Finish) addict. I love how the natural colours instantly warm your complexion and give you a healthy glow all year round – I just can’t resist the finish these give my cheeks!
So the Mac’s recent Semi Precious mineralize collection got my attention straight away as it had 4 MSFs. I had originally intended to get them all, as I really do love them but after reading one or two reviews I plucked for Pearl and Goldmine. I ordered them both online as although I didn’t expect this collection to sell out I didn’t want to take the risk.

The only problem with ordering online is can’t pick your own, and with mineralize products each one is slightly different. Some will have a bigger centre, others will have more gold than pink etc. but both are exactly what I would have picked (very lucky!)
Anyway onto Pearl… The outside is a warm champagne highlight with some golden reflexes while the centre is full of golden bronzes, plums and some white sections. Together the outside and the inside create a beautiful coral which doubles as a highlight.
(if you don’t like shimmery blush this may be one to avoid)
And Goldmine... This was maybe the one I was more excited about, although I think I love them both equally now, as it’s a warm golden highlight surrounded by a bronze tan shade which I know I’m going to get a ton of wear out of in summer to deepen my colour and to just give me that healthy radiant look.

Do I recommend? If you love your MSFs then definitely! I am completely in love. The size reduction is annoying, these are only 0.22g instead of the usual 0.35g, but even with that in mind baked products like this never seem to go down and last forever.

Have you picked up anything from the Semi-Precious collection?
Hope you’ve enjoyed!! x

P.S I know 3 reviews in a row is a little much but I was just so excited to talk about these I couldn’t wait. NOTD coming up next though!

BodyShop face masks.

I own three BodyShop masks and I seriously love them!
All the masks are between £8 and £11 for which you get a tub of 100ml which, although sounds a little pricey, you easily get 20 applications (I normally get about 30ish) which leaves those £1 masks looking surprisingly expensive!
The BodyShop currently has 7 different masks meaning there really is something for every skin type.

Seaweed Ionic clarifying mask
The seaweed range is designed for oily/combination skin, so, since my skin is normal, this is perfect for clearing up any break outs and controlling oil if for some reason my skin is playing up.
This particular mask is also incredibly cooling with a really distinct scent.
(I’ve actually repurchased this mask which just goes to show how much I love it!)

TeaTree face mask
This particular mask is meant for blemish skin however I don’t find this does anything to any blemishes, rather it’s just very soothing, calming and always just balances my skin out. It also doesn’t become hard when it dries like the seaweed mask
(which is a shame as I actually quite like the feeling of the mask drying, pulling out impurities)
This is defiantly the classic bright green, slightly scary, mask! The scent was at first a little overpowering however I quickly got used to it and I actually really like the scent.

Nutriganics smoothing mask
This is my least used, not because I don’t like it, but because I only need this in winter when my skin becomes a little dry. It’s targeted at people with the first skins of aging which doesn’t include me, however I still love this for lightly hydrating my skin.
I’d recommend this to anyone more mature or with sensitive or dry skin as this always works a treat for me when my skin is a bit under the weather!

Hope you’ve enjoyed!! x
(You can always ask for a sample in store if you just want to try out a mask and see how it works!)

Trilogy?

I’ve been using these two products every single day for the past five weeks (any skincare products I review I always use for a minimum of 3 weeks constantly) and I’ve got to say I’m impressed :)
I’m going to review the two products separately but I do think a big part of why I’ve had such good results is because in conjunction they seem to work better than paired with other branded products.(I have started introducing other branded products recently and they do work well but I think together you get the best out of the products)

Trilogy energising face lotion
This is my favourite product out of the two, partly because the packaging reflects the price with a chic glass bottle and simple informative labels which reflect the natural image of Trilogy but also because despite of this not being the cheapest lotion it is amazing value!
I love how this feels on my skin, it really is lightweight and soothing while delivering just the right amount of hydration! I do prefer to use this in the mornings as although I can’t pinpoint why this is ‘energising’ I always feel my skin looks refreshed after use.

One pump and you get the perfect about for your whole face. I normally have to use double this amount of most of my moisturisers but I’ve found this to be the perfect amount to hydrate my skin even when it’s been dry because of harsh weather.

Trilogy balancing gel cleanser
I’m always a little wary of ‘gel’ cleansers as I’ve found in the past they can dry or irritate my skin but this one does exactly what it says – it balances out any dry or oily patches I have ready for the lotion.
This comes as a very pale light white gel and the amount on my hand it probably enough for two uses! As similar to the lotion you really only need a tiny bit of the product. This is the sort of face wash I can imagine coming back to time and time again as it’s a great staple cleanser that is gentle enough to use on a daily basis but still makes your skin feel clean!

I just want to mention, both products have the very distinctive Trilogy scent which at first I wasn’t overly keen on (It’s quite herbal and I’d say its relatively strong for facial skin care...) But since using these two products for the past several weeks the scent has really grown on me and unlike a lot of scented skin care the smell doesn’t linger on your skin- which is definitely good.
Trilogy products aren’t the easiest to get hold of however certain boots stores do stock them and you can buy online at boots but the easiest place to get hold of them iss on there own website which tells you quite a bit about the products themselves. Trilogy products also seem to be featured on numerous discounted websites as they are relatively high end– but then you get what you pay for with most skin care and their ingredients are great quality with all sorts of plant extracts such as, rosehip oil, cucumer, elderberry and comfrey!

Overall I’m definitely going to be repurchasing the energising face lotion – you get so much in a bottle and you only need to use a little bit though so it might be while until I have to get another one! And the balancing gel cleanser is the sort of product I’ll probably always go back to when my skin is playing up because this a really lovely staple cleanser that I don’t think you can go wrong with!

P.S Both of these are full of natural ingredients which are normally great for people with sensitive or irritable skin, since I have neither I let my mum try these 0ut as she has very sensitive skin. She actually liked them enough to go out and buy her own cleanser and lotion from Trilogy!