Natural Collection Cosmetics

Natural Collection Cosmetics were one of the first brands I ever tried in my teens.  It was the biggest stand in my local Boots Store and the one that always caught my eye.  When this little box of joy landed through my letterbox it made my day, almost like being reunited with an old friend.

Inside the box as well as a sheet to colour in with crayons, something I absolutely love doing and find really relaxing, were these items:

Lash Length Mascara in Black (£1.99) - I absolutely adore mascaras and it is the on item I never leave the house without. This mascara is said to define and extend for visibly longer lashes. Now I have quite long lashes so it is never usually the first thing I notice from a mascara, though with this one there was a subtle difference, but the one thing I did notice was the smaller lashes in the corner of my eyes stood out and this is partly due to the shape of the wand, which is slightly conical making it easy to use and even easier to get to each lash. What I look for in a mascara is something to separate out and define my lashes and this mascara does a pretty good job, it is certainly better than some of the high end ones I have tried. This mascara is an absolute steal for £1.99.

Powder Blush Pink Cloud (£1.99) - I am not usually the biggest fan of blushers, I am a bronzer kind of girl but when I find a blusher I like, I use it. This is a fine, soft powder blush which gives a really light and natural hint of colour to your cheeks and what is more surprising is just how little you need to make an impact.  The shade itself is quite light and is suitable for all skin tones in my opinion.  It is buildable depending on what kind of coverage you prefer.  For me, I use my blusher brush to apply to my cheeks.  Again for £1.99 this is an absolute bargain blusher.

The next two items in the box are for the lips.  Starting with the Lip Liner (£1.99), something I didn't own until this one.  Yes I know, bad blogger, but I just haven't been tempted enough to buy them.  This one is shade plum and it is really easy to apply, much easier than I thought it was going to be and it is one I absolutely love and have been using along with the lipstick which also came within this box and they go pretty well together.

The Berry Sorbet Moisture Shine Lipstick is my favourite item in the box, this is a huge thing for me to admit considering there is a mascara in here!  Now again for £1.99, this is an absolute steal.  There are 19 different shades available in this lipstick and what I love, aside from the colour, is how moisturising it is.  It glides across the lips and leaves behind not only a trail of colour but it feels so hydrating on the lips.  Once applied, the colour lasts for a good few hours before you need to re-apply and again for £1.99 it has grabbed my attention enough to want to check out other shades within the range.

All of these products are absolutely amazing value for money and at just £1.99 each, I am now wanting to go back into Boots and try out more products from the collection.  Whilst the packaging is quite minimalist, it doesn't detract from how good the products really are.

Are you a fan of Natural Collection Cosmetics?

By Terry Light-Expert Click Brush

A few weeks ago, I went to a fab event for the new launches from make-up brand By Terry. The range was created by the amazing Terry de Gunzburg, the woman who created the infamous YSL Touche Éclat, but this event was to celebrate the launch of the Light-Expert Click Brush.  This is my first venture into the world that is By Terry, so I was quite excited.

The Light-Expert Click Brush is totally brilliant. I wasn't too sure whether or not it was going to be my thing until I got the opportunity to test and try it at the event, the second I did that, I loved it and wanted it. The Light-Expert Click brush is one of those clever little items that can do more than one job, it is a proper little multi-tasker and can be used as a foundation, for contouring, for illuminating and to freshen up to your make-up as and when you feel the need! The whole concept is to make the application of make up simple and effective to achieve that radiant and flawless look.

The technology behind Light-Expert called 'Intensive Mimetic Camouflage' and it is used to conceal imperfections and give a flawless base, whilst light prisms give radiance and it is suitable for all skin-types.

The kabuki brush is short, incredibly soft and gives amazing coverage. Designed at an angle, the brush works to adapt to all facial forms and it is also removable to enable washing. One click at the bottom of the brush, very Touche Éclat, and the fluid is released in four dots, this is said to give an ideal measurement for the ultimate application and since using it, I have never had to click more than once to cover the entirety of my face. The fluid itself is really lightweight, so much so you don't even known it is there and it blends so effortlessly and looks so natural, I absolutely love it.

There are six shades currently available with No.1 Rosy Light being the lightest and No.11 Amber brown being the darkest shade. I was one of the lightest called Apricot Light and it is a perfect match for my skin tone.

Aside from the texture, which I absolutely love and how easy it is to use, blend and wear, I love how much coverage it gives with minimal effort. I have redness on both cheeks, it tends to flare up when I am stressed (regularly) and whilst it doesn't hurt and isn't itchy, it does make me self-conscious at times, Light-Expert does an amazing job at covering it over so that I forget about it which therefore makes it amazing and I can imagine it will become a very popular item to have. 

It has just launched at SpaceNK and for the 19.5ml it costs £48 which I would be more than happy to pay when mine runs out. For me, this is a handbag keeper!

Makeup Revolution Ultra Base Corrector

I am a big fan of Makeup Revolution, they have literally set the world of Makeup on fire and whenever there is a new product on the horizon, the hype and excitement is just amazing and I am yet to hear or read about a disappointing product.

On Friday morning, this surprise delivery of the Makeup Revolution Ultra Base Corrector Palette landed on my doorstep and having seen a few sneak previews of it during the week, knew it was something I wanted to try. Every shade on this palette has a job to do, whether that is to balance out discolouration, neutralise redness or just brighten, it is one of those products everyone will want and need to try.

The palette itself is actually really well made. Inside an accompanying cardboard box, which duly tells you what is inside and gives a sneak preview of the contents, the palette is black, sleek and super shiny with the brand name and product name clearly visible. Each of the 8 pans are really large, so there is enough room to swish that brush around or even your fingers, depending on your preference and perhaps most helpful of all is the mirror which fills the entire top section of the palette.

Described as being a corrector palette containing 8 creamy, blendable colour correction creams, they are designed for use under foundation. Now the eight shades, as I have said, all have a job to do and this is what they are:

Pink - Brightens
Lavender - neutralises yellow tones
Green - neutralises redness
Orange - neutralises blue tones
Peach - helps to balance out slight discolouration
White - adds natural highlight and brightens
Cream - neutralises purple and covers dark areas
Brown - balances ashiness in medium to dark tones

When it comes to their texture, they are smooth and they are creamy and my one piece of advice is to not get too brush happy because you only need a small amount which you can build on should the coverage not be quite what you had hoped for, it is always better to remember that sometime less is more in that it is easier to add more, but harder to remove that which you do not want.

So my skin has a slight redness to it, so I am always going to opt for the green to start with as it should neutralise it and unsurprisingly it does do just that. The other shades I have used are the pink, white and cream for under my eyes and in the tear duct and also on my cheek bones too. The brown which is for medium to dark tones I didn't expect to have much use for, but it works really well as a light bronzer for me and ive been using it very slightly as I like a light cover.

As you can see from the photo above, to the left is without any product on my face at all, so there is some slight redness on my cheek. The photo to the right shows my Makeup Revolution Face Base Primer which I reviewed HERE and then using just the green shade and my Eco tools foundation brush, I have applied just one covering and the redness is almost entirely disappeared. So you can just imagine how impressed I am right now with this palette! To purchase, it costs just £6 and it is available right now!

What do you think?

Beautiful Bronze Highlighter - A Boots No.7 Dupe?

I am a huge fan of the Boots No.7 Instant Radiance Highlighter and have reviewed it HERE. It costs just £9.95 and has an amazing formula which dried incredibly quickly and creates an amazing highlighting effect.

I love highlighters in general and have a growing collection of them, so whilst in Primark, I came across the Beautiful Bronze range by Sunkissed, which looks amazing. The one product which caught my eye from the range was the Glow Stick Highlighter which is paraben and alcohol free and contains Vitamin E and costs just £3, so it quickly went into my basket.

It looks absolutely stunning and when I swatched it, I was shocked to find it is the perfect dupe for my favourite Boots No.7 highlighter. Infact it isn't just the colour which is a perfect dupe, but the formula is also very very similar which you can see below.

I am absolutely delighted to have found a dupe for my beloved highlighter and at a saving of almost £7 I am definitely going to check out the rest of the range.

Have you tried anything from this range?

bagsy - Meet your handbag's new best friends!

Today I am introducing bagsy to you, a new beauty collection of multi-tasking must-haves for the handbag. If you are anything like me then the make-up bag you carry around is probably full to the point of seam ripping because you need and want so many products with you on the go. Well bagsy is a British born collection of easy to use beauty essentials which let you be prepared for any event with their new collection.

The one thing that stands out to me with bagsy is the packaging, yes really. I was lucky enough to to go a preview event to see the collection for myself and it is stunning. Someone has clearly put a lot of thought and effort into making these items look aesthetically delightful, making you want them before you even know what it is. Created by a team of people who have for years worked alongside some of the worlds biggest brands, they have come together to launch their own collection, using their expert knowledge of formulas, shapes, shades, colours and popular selling products and this is what they have:

Wonder Wand - I absolutely loved this product from the first swatch. It is one pencil which doubles up to be a highlighting and concealing crayon (how clever is that!). This little 2-in-1 product is great for highlighting and concealing on the go, so whether it is blemishes or undereye circles - voila, toodle pip Wonder Wand has it dealt with. (£18).

Pretty Cheeks - The little blush is dome shaped and has a formula that looks like a cream, feels like a cream but it isn't a cream, it acts like a powder. The dome shape allows you to use it on those cheeks bones and then effortlessly blend it in, using your fingers or a brush with no effort at all. It is available in two shades - Velvet Rose and Velvet Coral and even I loved the look of Coral on my swatch. (£16)

Ray on Sunshine - This matte-finish bronzer is delightful. The packaging is slim rather than bulky and it has a mirror. It is engraved with "Sunshine is my favourite accessory" to make it even more amazing and it is sold in two shades - Light medium and Medium Dark which sounds a tad daunting, but the light medium works really well with my skin tone because again it is an effortless blender. (£18)

There are three types of lip products which are called Lip Velvet, Wow Lips and Lip Cocoon and all three are again items I feel like I need in my life.

Lip Velvet is a matte liquid lipstick which is lightweight, soft, hydrating and amazingly pigmented. Once applied it lasts for a good 4-5 hours before you need to re-apply it but as it does fade, it leave behind a lovely tint on the lips, which can be brightened with a bit of clear gloss. 

It is available in four different shades - No Frills, Spilling Plates, Rush Hour and Living the Dream. What I love about these is the packaging, some people on Instagram have compared them to the Opaque Rogue sticks from Hourglass, but you can judge for yourself what you think. The shade swatched below is Spilling Plates (£12)

Lip Cocoon - This is another product I loved as soon as I saw it. It is a lip balm but not just any lip balm, it is one of the prettiest designed lip balms I have come across. 

Available in Lemon and Raspberry, they are scented and smell like fresh Lemons and Raspberries and give a very subtle hint of colour. They glide onto the lips and are super hydrating. (£7)

Wow Lips is a chubby stick, something most people love, have and use. There are four different shades available - Killer Heels, Happy Days, Ready to Wear and Cocktail Hour and they are not only glossy but also again very pigmented. (£12)

The final piece of make-up is for the eyes and is called Beautiful Eyes. This lightweight eyeshader is easily blended and the feathery texture stays put throughout the day no matter what’s thrown at you. Available in Pearly Bird, Caffeine Fix, The Big Smoke and Take The Plunge.  The shade swatched below is Caffeine Switch.

Hair Wonder - (£5.00) An instant refresh for hair, this subtly scented dry shampoo mist volumises roots and absorbs oil with a blend of rice and tapioca. It smells absolutely amazing and in my view, you can never ever have too much dry shampoo at home because you never know when you might need it!

Heavenly Hands - (£6.00) Made with a blend of natural essential minerals of zinc, magnesium, iron and silicon, this soft-whipped cream leaves hands silky soft but never greasy.  Again, this is another definite handbag must for me and the cream for this is divine.

Make Up Bag - (£15.00) For all your bagsy treats, this amazing Flamingo designed pouch is roomy, it looks amazing, it is very cute and it looks amazing in any handbag.

So there you have it, bagsy!  A range which is beautifully packaged and one that has excited me enough to want to know what they have planned next!

The bagsy collection is launching on Monday 15th June on Feelunique.

What are your impressions of bagsy?