Monday, 29 February 2016

Vichy Dermablend Fluid Corrective Foundation and Setting Powder Review*

Vichy Dermablend 05 Porcelain 15 Opal foundation setting powder review

I was recently very generously sent two shades of the Vichy Dermablend Fluid Corrective Foundation* (RRP £18) as well as the Vichy Dermablend Setting Powder* (RRP £16) to try so thought after a few weeks of testing them out I was ready to share my opinion!

I used to swear by the Vichy Dermablend concealer years ago when it was in the white packaging and I had really bad acne but along with the change in packaging came a change in colour and the shade I used to use no longer suited me. So, you can imagine how excited I was to see how the new Porcelain shade in the Corrective Fluid Foundation fared on my non tanned skin as well as Opal for when I have tan on! Vichy have also added two darker shades to the line-up and I’m loving the sleek black packaging and how easy it is to control how much foundation you are distributing.

Vichy Dermablend 05 Porcelain 15 Opal foundation swatches
l-r: Vichy Dermablend 05 Porcelain and 15 Opal Corrective Fluid foundation swatches

Full coverage foundation it my thing and the high concentration of pigments within the Fluid Corrective Foundation certainly provide just that. Crucially though, the foundation is not mask like at all and I’ve found that if I use my Beauty Blender I get a lovely natural but flawless result that covers redness around my nose and some acne scarring I still have. The Dermablend foundation is a lot thicker than my other foundations so I wasn’t sure how well it would work using my fingers to apply but again it gave a lovely finish. However, when I used my Zoeva Silk Finish I ended up having to cleanse it off straight away as I couldn’t get it worked into my skin at all and it looked so thick and cakey! I hardly ever use my Silk Finish brush to apply foundation anyway so this didn’t bother me as I loved the finish with the other methods I used to apply it!

Vichy Dermablend loose setting powder transparent

I’m having a bit of a love/hate relationship with the setting powder at the minute as loose powder is not my favourite thing in the world. I find it a little messy at the best of times and this is no different. After finding I wasn’t getting enough powder on the puff that was included I decided to screw the lid back on and give it a tiny little shake to get a bit more powder out to use with a brush. Big mistake. I've been dusting a little onto the brush then getting rid of the excess inside the lid before applying over the foundation.

Vichy Dermablend setting powder

What I do like about the powder however is that it’s lightweight, transparent and undetectable once it’s on the skin. I find the pairing doesn’t completely live up to its 16 hour claim and keep shine at bay so by lunchtime I’m having to top up but I do have an oil slick for face so this is something I have to do quite often anyway and the powder is so light it doesn’t move the foundation about when I reapply. This could work well for those with drier skin though!

Overall this is a lovely high coverage foundation that doesn’t cling to dry patches, look cakey or transfer. If you have any skin concerns it could be a real contender for you as the coverage is amazing but it still looks natural and spreads evenly over the skin. It’s also hypoallergenic, non-comedogenic, tested on sensitive skin and paraben free! It does have SPF 35 which is another plus but also means it may come up a bit pale on camera so wouldn’t be my first choice for any photo opportunities but the shade Porcelain is perfect for when I have no tan on and Opal is great for when I do have some on!

Vichy Dermablend 05 Porcelain 15 Opal foundation swatches NARS Revlon Estee Lauder

The price point is mid-range, so a little dearer than standard drugstore foundations but a lot cheaper than the likes of NARS and Estee Lauder who also offer high coverage options and I've included some swatches against some of my other most used foundations so you can get a better idea of the Vichy Dermablend shades against them! The Vichy Dermablend range can be found at Boots, Escentual, Feel Unique and Look Fantastic as well as other leading and independent pharmacies!

Have you tried anything from the Vichy Dermablend range before? What did you think?

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me. All opinions are my own.

Danielle xx



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Monday, 22 February 2016

Shower Gels on Rotation

I thought for today's post I’d take you through my current shower gel rotation that features an old favourite, a limited edition scent and a newbie!

shower gel soap and glory clean on me lush snow fairy nivea indulging moisture cocoa review

This is Soap and Glory’s signature scent Original Pink which you have probably heard me ramble on about before along with Mist you Madly as I absolutely love both scents! No Sugar Crush for me please! When I use this I love to follow up with the matching Righteous Butter moisturiser and the Original Pink perfume to make sure the light musky scent lasts all day! It has a built in body lotion and the creamy gel keeps moisture locked in. Clean on Me comes in a huge 500ml bottle with a pump and at only £6.50 and usually on offer too it's such great value for money!

This is probably one of Lush’s most famous products and one that only sticks around for a few months before disappearing until next Christmas! I stocked up on this along with a few of the smaller bottles in the sale as I usually find Lush way overpriced – I think this was around £12 before the sale! I love the sweet as candy scent and although it contains shimmer, it’s not too obvious and won’t make you look like a disco ball. This is one I look forward to every year and I find the scent so addictive, I miss it when I don’t have it!

Nivea Indulging Moisture Cocoa Caring Shower Cream*
Finally, the newbie scent to my stash. I’m a big fan of Nivea as you will have seen from posts here and here so was excited to try out this new scented shower cream! It has an uplifting sweet cocoa scent and contains cocoa butter which helps nourish and moisturise leaving my skin feeling soft and supple. While it doesn’t quite beat the original Nivea scent for me, it’s been a lovely change and at only £1.99 this is the most purse friendly option without compromising any of the quality! It’s available at Sainsbury’s now and will be available at Asda and Superdrug from the end of February!

Have you tried any of these shower gels? What are your favourites?

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me. All opinions are my own

Danielle xx


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Monday, 15 February 2016

Wishlist #2

A little palette heavy wishlist today along with a few extras I've been lusting over!

makeup wishlist too faced tarte charlotte tilbury makeup geek

I’m probably in the small minority that don’t see what all the fuss is about with the CT makeup range. Sure the products and packaging look pretty but it’s so expensive! I just don’t know if I could part with my money for it! (I can easily part with my money for other things though so I’m not sure why I feel this way!) Anyway, one thing on my radar is the lip cheat in Pillow Talk which has been around for ages and although I have the much raved about dupe, Rimmel East End Snob, which I love, I can’t help but wonder about this! Another newer addition to her range I like the look of is the lipstick in the shade Kiss Chase. I have seen this popping up everywhere recently and each time I see it I want it a little more!

I've recently got a few Tarte products and I love the quality so these two palettes are calling my name! I can’t pick between them so thought I would stick both in this post! I love matte eye shadows and wear them far more than glitter/shimmer shades so the matte palette is looking like a strong contender, however the newer In Bloom palette looks gorgeous too!

I got a few of the Love Flush shades in a set of minis at Christmas and I LOVE them! The shades are amazing and the lasting power and pigmentation is brilliant! Blush is one of my biggest weaknesses and I would love to complete the set with this palette! Anyone know when it’s coming to the UK?
  
Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons Eye Shadow Palette
Another Too Faced product but they are one of my favourite brands! I don’t own any of their Chocolate Bar palettes and would be happy with any of them but this newest one has such a lovely selection of shades! And it smells of chocolate, what’s not to like!

Makeup Geek eyeshadow pan in Latte
This tiny little pan has become the bane of my life as it is forever out of stock on BeautyBay.com! I’ve been waiting for weeks for them to restock and told myself I wasn’t making another order until they had it back but I caved on Friday night and got a few more shades! I know I already probably have a hundred shades like this but I still want it and have saved one slot in my small Z palette of neutral dreams for its matte medium brown goodness! See the start of my Z palette here!

My last makeup wishlist is here! 

Anything here that tickles your fancy? Or maybe you have some of it already! Let me know if I really do need it!

 Danielle xx



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Monday, 8 February 2016

Beauty Tools and Extras I’d Be Lost Without

Today I thought I’d talk about a few staple tools and products in my beauty collection that I couldn’t be without!

beauty tools i can't live without popbands tweezerman shiseido lush lip scrub blackhead remover

First up is the Tweezerman Slant Tweezers. I got these in Boots last year and before that had been using some from The Body Shop. Tweeezerman slightly edge it for me though! They are so sharp and come in so many different prints and options such as the mini versions and the pointed tweezers! I don’t actually use mine as much as I used to since my beautician told me to stop tweezing between eyebrow threading appointments but sometimes I can’t help myself and these get the job done quickly and pull the hair out from the root first go!

I got a few Popbands in a beauty box way last year and haven’t looked back since! They are so comfortable to wear in the hair, don’t snag and don’t hurt to pull out! They come in so many different colours and prints so sorry mine is a boring old black one but sometimes you can’t beat it! Day to day I wear my hair down but I love these for the gym and for throwing my hair up in a bun when I get in from work! They are lovely and stretchy but still hold my hair tight without hurting it and don’t leave a kink when I take it out!

Primark Headband
This one sometimes goes hand in hand with my Popband as I couldn’t be without these two when I’m doing a facemask! The Primark headband keeps any flyaway hairs off my face so they don’t get covered in whatever facemask I’m using!

I've had this for absolute years now and it’s amazing! It has two different sized ends depending on the size of blemish or blackhead you want to go to town on (nice) and with a little pressure on the area it extracts any nasties under the skin! Obviously we all know you shouldn’t really squeeze or pick at spots but this is better than using your fingers!

Louise Young LY22 Mascara brush
I got this last year to use as a brow brush and while at first I was a little unsure of it as the handle is so long and slim I've soon come to love it! It works really well to neaten my brows before I use my ABH Dipbrow Pomade or a powder in them and is so easy to clean and dries really quickly as I find a lot of these spoolie brushes can get filled with foundation from round my eyebrows quite quickly! The only negative to this brush in particular would be that because of the length it only just fits into my makeup bag that I take when I’m staying over anywhere. Because of this I did have to do a bit of bending the brush head before taking this photo to straighten it out but it came back into shape quickly and felt sturdy so I wasn’t worried about it snapping! I also sometimes use this brush to comb through my eyelashes if my mascara looks a little clumpy to it’s a great multiuse product!

I upgraded to these when my usual No7 pair were feeling a bit loose after years of abuse and if I’m completely honest I saw the “s” and though I was buying the infamous Shu Uemura eyelash curlers! All was not lost though as these are pretty good in their own right! I obviously can’t compare to the Shu Uemura ones everyone raves about but these give me lots of curl and volume ready for my mascara. I will sometimes blast them quickly with my hairdryer if I want even more of a curl but I usually just start at the base of my eyelashes and squeeze then move to the middle, squeeze again and do a final squeeze at the tips of my eyelashes! No wonder my old ones got loose!

lush lip scrub review bubblegum

I don’t know where I’d be without this little pot of goodness! I have the driest lips ever and a stick of lip balm is never far away when I’m about! I do still get dry skin on my lips though and using this scrub every morning gets rid of any flakes and gives me a great base to apply lipstick on smooth lips! The pot looks tiny but you only need a little bit so it lasts for ages! I also won another pot in the lovely Velvet Blush’s giveaway a few months back so I’m sorted for a good while with one of my favourite products!

Have you got any of these products? Tell me what beauty tools and products you’d be lost without!

Danielle xx





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Monday, 1 February 2016

Zoeva Rose Golden Vol. 2 Complete Eye Brush Set Review

Zoeva Rose Golden Vol. 2 complete eye set review

I needed these like a hole in the head but welcome to my Zoeva brush family the Rose Golden Vol. 2 eye set! I ordered these just before Christmas when I was doing my Makeup Geek order because obviously I needed new eye brushes to go with it and just look how pretty they are! Hard to resist or what?

The set includes twelve eye brushes in a limited edition (although still available) nude and rose gold handled set. Zoeva do not test any of their products on animals and this brush set is made up of brushes with both natural and synthetic bristles. As with all their other sets, the brushes are super soft and wash really well! So, onto the brushes!

Zoeva Rose Golden Vol. 2 eye set review 142 325 227 322

142 Concealer Buffer
First up, this is actually the third copy I now have of this brush (also in the Rose Gold Set and Bamboo Vol. 2 set I have!) and I don’t like it so I sold it on Ebay! I found with the others it just moved my concealer round and I ended up with no coverage and I just prefer using my fingers to pat it in! If you have any other uses for this brush do let me know as I have two sitting unloved in my brush pot!

325 Luxe Brow Light
I usually use a much smaller and more flexible brush to apply highlight to my brow but I have been enjoying using this as it has such a light touch! It’s a bit too big to use in the inner corner of my eye though!

227 Luxe Soft Definer
I’m always happy to have another blending brush in my life and this one does a great job!

322 Brow Line
I usually use a Zoeva Wing Liner brush to do my brows if I’m using powder or something like ABH Dipbrow Pomade and from pictures I had seen of this before I got it I thought it was going to be as thin as the wing liner but shorter. It’s actually a lot thicker than I thought but still works really well at giving a precise line and doesn’t look too overdone so I’m really happy with it!

Zoeva Rose Golden Vol. 2 complete eye set review 232 235 231 221

232 Luxe Classic Shader
Another standard brush to pack on shadow with! I actually prefer the Real Techniques base shadow brush when I’m using matte shadows all over as these Zoeva brushes can be a lot stiffer and I can sometimes go overboard but they are great when using glitters as they really press it on!

235 Contour Shade
I was really hoping this would be like the Real Techniques angled shadow brush as it’s my favourite for blending but it’s not as thick and fluffy so I haven’t been using this as often as I would have liked!

231 Luxe Petite Crease Brush
This is another one of my favourite brushes and I use my original Zoeva Rose Golden version every day when putting a darker eyeshadow shade through my crease and in my outer corner! I forgot how stiff it was when I first got it but I like to wash it a few times to separate the bristles a bit so it’s softer for me to use!

221 Luxe Soft Crease Brush and 228 Crease Brush
These are two lovely tapered fluffy brushes great for blending or adding a transition shade through the crease!

Zoeva Rose Golden Vol. 2 complete eye set brush review 228 230 238 310

230 Luxe Pencil
I have wanted one of these brushes for the longest time! This is great when doing a smoky eye and adding a little shadow on the bottom lash line!

238 Luxe Precise Shader
This reaches places my Luxe Brow Light brush doesn’t so is great for inner corner highlight!

310 Spot Liner
This brush is super small but not small enough for my hooded lids! I tried it with gel eyeliner and it was just a little too thick for me but if you don’t have hooded lids or can get away with thicker eyeliner then I’m sure it would be great! Or if you have more makeup skills ha!

Overall, this is a great set if like me you are looking to expand your eye brush collection! I was tempted by the mixed eye and face set but I’m really happy with the face brushes I have so was glad to expand my eye collection! It’s a totally unnecessary set if you’re not into eye makeup but even though I’m not that experimental with it, I do wear eyeshadow every day! It’s such a luxurious set from the colour scheme to the detailing on the zip and I’m glad to have it in my collection!

I got mine from the BeautyBay website here for £56.95! If you like this post you might like my favourite brushes post here or my review of the Zoeva Bamboo Vol. 2 set here! Have you got this or any other Zoeva brush sets? What do you think of them?

Danielle xx



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