Mary-Lou Manizer Review

I like a good highlight, I mean I am no strober but I do know my Albatross from my Watts Up.  As you can see Mary-Lou Manizer is beautifully pigmented but blends out to a fine sheen.  The gold undertones work really nicely with my skin tone.  Pink toned gals I personally would go for Ciindy-Lou over this one.  The quality of the product is so much better than I expected to be honest, and unlike some other highend highlighters I very rarely get any fallout from this product. The powder is so finely milled it is so soft to the touch.

The packaging is lovely and very unique.  If you haven't seen any of The Balm products I would suggest you take a browse, its one of the quirkiest out there. The Balm is now really accessible on the highstreet in Debenhams and Superdrug and online at Feel Unique and Amazon. At £17.50 The Balm is that bridge brand that is slightly more expensive than highstreet brands but doesn't quite fit into that highend category either.  However highlighters last such a long time, especially as the Mary-Lou Manizer is so pigmented you hardly need anything, if you were to buy one treat for yourself I would chose this one.  A mini secret Santa to yourself if you will. 

I apply mine to the tops of the cheek bones and the smallest amount on the bridge of my nose.  Sometimes when I'm feeling adventurous I use to highlight under the brow and on my cupids bow. If you are feeling crazy though take whatever is left over and lightly dust above the arch of your brow it gives the most radiant finishes to the skin. 

Kat Von D Shade and Light Contour Palette

Can we take a moment to appreciate the beauty of the shades in this palette.

Kat Von D Shade and Light Contour Palette

With three matte bronzers and three highlight shades this palette has quickly become a beauty cult favourite. One highlight shade is even yellow based, excellent for brightening under the eyes. Kat baby you have created something amazing. The texture of the powders are lovely soft and buttery that blend effortlessly on the skin. I have even used an eyeshadow brush to see if I could blend out a harsh line of contour and it didn't do a bad job. I seriously cannot express my love for this palette. It is beautiful and has quickly become one of my top 5 products ever! WOW I just went there.

The only downside is the packaging itself. Cardboard. Why oh why am I being charged $45 for cardboard packaging. However the massive mirror is one big plus in my book so I guess we can forgive. I also wish you could buy the individual shades, just in case one day I run out and by coincidence I am in America I might want to repurchase just one shade. Chances of it happening? Zero to none!

My personal two favourite shades have to be the two in the center Lyric and Shadowplay.  With this palette I find it so easy to create an effortless, defined base, wearable for day or night. I am so impressed with the quality of this palette that I have been eyeing up the eyeshadow palette as the colours look perfect for me and I want to get my hands on some other products from this range.

Have you tried any Kat Von D products - do you have any recommendations?

Confessions of a Beauty Blogger: Highlight Collection

The UK weather has been teasing us the past week, dipping its toe in and out of 25 degrees.  Summer for me marks various seasonal treats: barbecues, being about to have a cider during the day without people thinking you have a problem, that sort of thing. But also the summer marks that time when highlight becomes my new best friend. I have a mixture of highlighting products and is one part of my makeup collection that I am happy with don't think it too excessive.

Full Collection

Powder Highlights

Acessorize Laguna Bronzer

Sleek Face Contour Kit

NYC Bronze Wheel

ELF Golden Bronzer

Soap and Glory Bronzer

 Favourite Powder Highlights

Accessorize Laguna Bronzer

Sleek Face Contour Kit

Liquid Highlights

No7 Skin Illuminator

Mememe Beat the Blues

L'Oreal Lumi Magique Primer

Colour Works Highlight

Favourite Liquid Highlights

No7 Skin Illuinator

L'Oreal Lumi Magique Primer

I enjoy looking at an overview of other peoples' collections. So if you do too, let me know in the comments below and I will put together some more posts like this.  

Eyeshadow Palette Collection: http://bit.ly/14LqHce

L'Oreal Base Primers - Lumi Magique and Anti-Redness

I have been getting into primers recently, but not just any primers, ones that help illuminate the skin or correct pigmentation.  Both of these I use under my foundation but can be used in other ways.  I would just like to add for me neither of these make my makeup last any longer like a regular primer would so I think of them more as base products rather than primers.

I really like the packaging.  I think these are good for travel as they aren't bulky and I love that they each have a pump.  Not messy and you don't have to try and put product back into the bottle because you've poured too much out.  I particularly like the Lumi Magique packaging colours as I like a bit of rose gold.

As you can see the primers spread so easily and only a little bit is needed to cover the entire face.  Both are lightweight so you can barely feel them on the skin and they don't leave a greasy residue.

L'Oreal Lumi Magique

I use this is various ways, under my foundation, on top of foundation on my cheek bones like a normal highlighter and mixed in with matte foundations to add some glow.

I find my skin looks radiant after using this product and haven't found that I get flashback on photograph or anything.  It can be a bit runny so I shake mine to make sure it is all mixed together before I pump any onto my hand.

L'Oreal Studio Secrets No.2 Anti-Redness

The other primer in this collection is the anti-shine mattifying No.1 that is in a white bottle.  I only tend to get red patches so I use this to correct areas around my nose or cheeks before applying my foundation. I find that I use less foundation and concealer when using this product and so find my makeup looks more natural as it doesn't look as heavy.  I don't use this every time I do my makeup as I do forget about it. 

Each primer retails for around £10 for 20ml which I think is really good as they will last a very long time.  Neither I think are essential products but if you are looking for something like this I would definitely say for you to pop into Boots/Superdrug and check out the L'Oreal stand. When I bought the illuminating primer the girl at the counter applied some to my hand so I could see the difference it made.

MeMeMe... Yes Yes Yes!

As this is a new blog I thought I’d start by sharing a brand that is new to me that I recently stumbled upon.  Mememe cosmetics, yes it did seem familiar but I couldn’t picture any of their products or anything about them so I decided to have a nose around their website.

I was so SHOCKED!  How had I never seen this before?  My first impression was ‘this reminds me of benefit’ by the overall style of everything and as I started looking through products I couldn’t believe it, not did it only have the classiness and packaging like benefit... but it was a fraction of the price!

These are the lovelies that I purchased

I had to double check if this was an online brand or if you could get it in high street shops and that’s when I realised I had seen their products before but mememe must have had a recent makeover because nothing caught my eye as I looked on Superdrug’s site nothing looked the same as it did on the official mememe site... I presume it’s only the packaging they’ve changed not the actual products but I would order from the official website just to be on the safe side.

Anyway back to the review...

I thought I’d start small so only ordered 3 pieces, and the coral blush me! automatically become my everyday blush.. I love it!  The colour pigmentation is lovely and yes I know I keep saying it but to me it is a mixture of benefit’s CORAlista and sugarbomb blushers but cheaper!

The highlight beat the blues in Sunbeam I got as it looks like an exact dupe for yet again another benefit product high beam, and if applied correctly is amazing BUT I find that most of the time it just smudges my makeup and doesn’t leave a nice highlighted finish as I expected.

The long wear satin lip cream in china rose, a nice nude shade, firstly the colour was not what I expected it to look like, however I do like the colour and have the same in an ELF lipstick so it was a bit annoying that I already had it but at least I like it. This is not the most nourishing lipstick in the world but the colour does stay on your lips so I just apply some carmex before and viola your lips but better!

Mememe have recently started a monthly catalogue that offers good deals and discounts, so if you are a fan then remember to sign up!