Makeup Revolution Primark Dupe!

Brush cleaning day, usually Sunday, is one of those chores that I huff and puff about having to do and a few months ago, I did a blog post on The Real Techniques Brush Cleansing Palette and the Makeup Revolution Pro Cleanse Brush Tool which you can find here.

Anyway, I have found a Makeup Revolution Brush cleaning dupe in Primark for £1.50 and they are so remarkably similar in how they look, how they feel infact looking at them, the only difference is that one is pink (Primark) and one is Purple (Makeup Revolution).

Designed to fit over your fingers, as you can see they have groves and knobbly bits to help clean your brushes. All you need to do is wet your brush, apply your brush shampoo and swipe the brush backwards and forwards along the grooves, as you do so, you can see all the makeup ‘stuff’ that has been lingering on the brushes run off into the sink and within seconds your brush is clean and ready to be left to dry. The Knobbly bits I use for my smaller brushes as I find it helps clean them much better.

So which one works better? The Makeup Revolution material is slightly softer and more pliable when washing the brushes, so instead of being rigid like the Primark one, there is some movement. Other than that, they are absolutely identical - same size, same number of grooves, same number of knobbly bits, same size part for your fingers to fit into. The only difference, other than the colour is that Primark charge £1.50 and Makeup Revolution £4.99.

Kiko Milano Wanderlust Limited Edition Collection

It is not often I see a makeup collection and yearn for it, but with Kiko Milano Wanderlust Limited Edition Collection, I very much wanted it because it is just stunning and I have already shared some of it on my Instagram. The Wanderlust design is just beautiful to look in all its coral gold glory and the collection is pretty impressive with over 15 different products and I was lucky enough to see them all on display in the Covent Garden Kiko Store last week, have a play with them and get advice from on-hand make-up artists about what would and wouldn't work with my own skintone.

In collaboration with Ross Lovegrove, the world reknown futurist designer, the Wanderlust collection is dedicated to people who love travelling and seeking adventure. Using a combination of elegance, sensuality, Femininity, cheerfulness and practicality, the term 'Kikoness' was born. 

The first item which stands out is the clutch bag, it is just beautiful and as I have got three weddings to go to this year, I am sure you will be seeing more of it! Featuring a rigid pochette with embossed KK logo, something you will see right across this range, is also a zipper closure. This clutch bag can be used in a variety of ways depending on what takes your fancy - a make-up bag, to accessorise with an outfit or just a clutch for a night out. It is quite a roomy bag with enough space for your essentials and for me it is the coral-tinged gold surface that stands out with its raised, three-dimensional design. RRP £16.90

The Desert Dunes Baked Bronzer is one of those 'wow' moment products. The compact is again embellished with a digital design, coral-tinged gold colouring and the KK logo on top. There’s a handy internal mirror which fills the entire lid and the powder itself is so silky soft, you literally only need to lightly swipe your brush across the powder to create your look and it is also enriched with jojoba oil and has a very light vanilla scent. Available in two shades, there is Warm Melange and Sienna Melange, of which I have the latter. RRP £22.90

The two foundations within this range are amazing. Sunshine Cream Foundation for Normal to Dry Skin or there is Sunshine Powder Foundation for normal to combination skin and both have SPF20. I have the cream foundation in shade 'Light' and again this is everything you need in a compact. It looks beautiful, it holds a mirror and a make up sponge. The formula is enriched with grape seed and cork oak extracts and literally glides onto the skin giving pretty impressive coverage, it is lightweight and manages to help hide the shine. RRP £15.90

Desert Dunes Baked Blush is an absolute thing of beauty. Once again the compact matches the rest of the collection and features a handy mirror and is very light to hold. The baked blush inside is is enriched with jojoba oil and vitamin E and is available in three different shades. I have Lust Coral and like the baked bronzer, the texture is light and silky and is a case of a little going a long way as it glides onto the skin. RRP £16.90

Endless Eye Volume Effect Mascara uses a formula whose ingredients instantly create a thick sheath that envelops, adds volume and helps to protect the lashes from base to tip. The texture is thick and creamy and it doesn't clump when applied. The Wand consists of a mixture of different fibers and colours the lashes in a brilliant, jet black, the only shade available, and the brush’s fine point even reaches your shortest side lashes. RRP £12.90

In The Shade Eyeshadow and Kajal is a double-ended eye-shadow kajal pencil with is said to give both intense colour and extreme hold. Available in six different shades, I am lucky enough to have two of those - Dark Brown and Gold plus Emerald and Petrol Green. 

If you like a formula which doesn't budge once it is applied, then these are well worth looking into buying because even swatching them, proves hard to remove. RRP £9.90

The lipsticks within this range are the products which caught my attention and I am a huge fan of Kiko lipsticks. The Mirage Lip Stylo is just stunning and I love everything about it from the hourglass shaped casing, the magnetic closure and the colour pay off is superb. There are eight shades to choose from within the collection and I have both Traveller Raspberry and Bohemian Sienna. RRP £9.90

Free Spirit Lips and Cheeks is a product which is not only versatile and multipurpose, but one which is perfect for on the go and has six different shades. The formula is creamy enough that it glides onto the lips, or cheeks and is something which is buildable so you can have as much or as little colour as you are comfortable with. This crayon also comes with a sharpener which is really handy to have. RR £9.90

Heatwave Lip Oil is in keeping with the current trend, I am sure by now most people will have bought, seen, heard about or used a lip oil.  I am a big fan of them and Kiko now have their own nourishing, coloured lip oil with a coconut, vanilla and grapefruit scent that smoothly coats the lips and leaves a glossy but not tacky or sticky finish. The formula is enriched with jojoba oil, shea butter, wild mango butter and vitamin E. They glide onto the lips and work well to moisturise the lips. RRP £10.90

The final item that I have from the collection is the Wanderlust Face Brush. Designed to be the perfect sized for travelling, this Kabuki face brush is ideal for applying and blending all kinds of baked and pressed powders. The fluffy, dense synthetic bristles ensure the powder is dusted on evenly, smoothly and without blotches. RRP £16.90

How beautiful is this collection? Everything about it screams luxury and yet it is priced so competitively you would be hard pushed to just purchase one item from the collection, which is much more vast than this.

Image Credit - Kiko Milano

YOU Beauty Box: The Cult Beauty Edit: May 2016

This months You Beauty Discovery Box is titled 'The Cult Beauty Edit' and the reason given for the title is that all the products chosen are favourites but less ordinary beauty products on the market. Im not too sure that fits with what I think a 'Cult Beauty' product is, but there are some fabulous brands to choose from. 

As always there are some treats inside this months box and the three this time is a sample size hair tie pack from Popband. Popband is a product ive used before and find quite handy to have. Made from stretchy Elastic, it is designed to leave your hair kink free after wearing. The second is a sachet of Verso Super Facial Serum which contains a high dose of Retinol 8 to encourage healing and strengthening of the skin. Finally there is a £15 Anne Semonin gift card.

This month I did dither a bit between choices, one I had definitely decided I wanted to try and then that left me wanting to try two others and I am still not sure I made the right choice. Anyway, the first choice was SHOW Beauty Pure Treatment Oil - This rejunventaing Pure Treatment elixir restores your hair's luster and shine, leaving it strengthened, deeply nourished and infinitely desirable. Often called ‘liquid gold’ by beauty experts, Argan Oil penetrates the cuticle to strengthen and enhance the elasticity of hair. It can be used daily and is designed to be used on freshly washed hair.

My second choice was between the Revlon Ultra HD Lipstick and the Rodial Stem Cell Cleaner. I chose the Revlon Ultra HD Lipstick and it came in shade Hibiscus - Break free of dull, muted shades and lace your lips in high-definition colour with NEW Revlon Ultra HD™ Lipstick. This advanced new lipstick formulated with Revlon’s wax-free high-definition gel technology allows for true colour clarity in one smooth coat. The secret is in the clear gel base that provides a weightless feel with a smooth, even application. Just one coat of the deliciously scented, silky, moisturising formula and lips are instantly enriched in weightless colour.  Now sadly, this is not a shade that I can pull off, it is too coral for me, beautiful though it is and I am determined to try more shades. RRP £7.99

So those are my selections for May and yet again, You Beauty offers great value for money at £6.95 per box including p&p and the contents of this box have a value of around £58.

Hugo Boss Bottled Unlimited

If you mention the words Hugo Boss and aftershave together I automatically get a shudder down my spine. Not in a good way! Since my first foray into Hugo Boss aftershaves (shudder) with Dark Blue which to be blunt was awful they have actually released a number of good scents for men such as Just Different and Man. Trying to put my prejudices to one side, Rachel (Beautyqueenuk) asked me to get my sniffing tackle around Bottled Unlimited by Hugo Boss.

At £60 for a 100ml bottle this bottle, the fragrance launched in 2014 sits in the medium bracket in terms of affordability so I was expecting good things from this in terms of not just fragrance but also staying power and evolution of the notes.

Without boring you with the marketing blurb I’m going to launch straight in. These are the notes for Hugo Boss Bottled Unlimited:

• Head: Iced Violet Leaves
• Heart: Pineapple
• Dry-down: Sandalwood, musk

From this I would have expected a light floral fragrance with the slight bite of the citrus from the pineapple. To be honest, I can’t recall another fragrance that I’ve tried over the last year with a citrus heart note - just seeing this made me more curious as to what it would smell like, and whether indeed it had the decent base on which to act as a hard-wearing aftershave.

So, on with the sniffing….

Spray one and you think wow, this is strong, and by spray three (I spray quickly) you are thinking “seriously, can an aftershave be this strong”. The strength of the fragrance as it leaves the bottle is like an unexpected slap to the face…..from Floyd Mayweather which makes it pretty hard to bring your senses to bear on it. It took thirty seconds until I had my senses back and could indeed detect a strong floral scent, it wasn’t as subtle as I had expected, this was much stronger and it wasn’t for a good fifteen minutes until this dried down a little and the light citrus from the pineapple came through. It is lovely as it's as though the fragrances melted into each other. 

It takes around an hour until this starts to lighten, it’s really noticeable to me as I move around but it loses some of it’s heavy top notes and becomes slightly lighter, yet with a warm finish on the nose. The sandalwood is light so not to overshadow the floral and citrus and the blend is simply amazing.

This lasts for well over ten hours and I think will appeal to those who light their fragrances light and citrus to those who prefer a heavier and warmer floral. With it being so strong a little really does go a long way with only three sprays needed at the start of the day. It’ll last for ages even when worn for day-wear, nights out or those special occasions. Go on, treat yourself to a bottle of Hugo Boss aftershave (no shudder anymore) and take a closer look at Bottled Unlimited by Hugo Boss.

This post is written by Beautykinguk who also happens to be my Hubby.