Lancome Summer 2014 Collection - Golden Summer

I absolutely love seeing new releases for Summer, it sounds to strange but for me a beautiful piece of make up could make me feel like I am far away, on a tropical island! The Clarins Colours of Brazil collection took my breath away. Then along come Lancome with their Golden Summer collection. Lancome never fail to disappoint me, actually! The beautiful press images got me so excited for summer (and holidays!). I was very kindly sent two items from the Golden Summer collection to review.

The Star Bronzer brush is just phenomenal. I do not have a decent bronzer brush in my collection, actually. Up until now I had been using my Real Techniques powder brush, but there is absolutely no comparison here! The Lancome Star Bronzer brush is so big and fluffy. The bristles are so soft and feels divine on the face. It is tapered at one side and is absolutely perfect at dispersing the right amount of product on the face. I don't think I have ever felt a brush as soft as this! So beautiful.

This is the nail polish in "Golden Riviera". It is a very soft gold, almost a pewter colour. You can see there is a small amount of shimmer in there. When I applied this, I was stunned by the finish of this polish. It dried exceptionally fast, and when dry I realised that this is a matte polish, with shimmer. I know, that doesn't even make sense! But it feels so smooth on the nail, and not like a regular glossy type polish. It looks so unusual! This polish is gorgeous for summer, and would look amazing with a tan!

Also in the collection is this fabulous bronzer and beautiful blue nail polishes, which I think will be highly sought after. They will be available from July 2nd, definitely a collection to watch out for!

ELF Mini Haul!

Taking advantage of their recent 50% off code, I thought I would pick up a few things from ELF. I have never tried this brand before so I didn't want to go too overboard buying stuff incase I didn't like it. Here's what I got...

Jumbo Lip Gloss Sticks in (L-R) Tiki Torches, Flirty & Girly, Movie Star -
The only one of these I have used so far is Movie Star. I have to say the MUA Power Pouts are much better than these. They are not really that pigmented and they wear off in a very patchy fashion which is not a good look. I didn't realise Tiki Torches & Flirty and Girly were so shimmery. I'm not sure how I feel about wearing shimmery, glittery things on my lips but sure I will give it a go and see how I like it.

 elf Studio Translucent Powder - I am really impressed with the packaging of this. It is quite sturdy with a brilliant size mirror. I will definitely carry this one in my handbag for touch-ups on the go. I haven't used this yet so cannot comment on the actual product!

Total Face Brush and Kabuki Face Brush - Two things that I didn't have in my collection, a decent sized powder brush and a kabuki brush so I can use with bronzer and the likes. The Total Face Brush bristles are very rough and aren't too pleasant to use on your face. The kabuki brush on the other hand is so super soft and I love using it! It doesn't hold too much product which is good as I can build up my bronzer to my liking.

elf Nail block - This is kind of a random purchase but it's something I have been meaning to get for a while as my nails are in kind of bad condition. I just used this once lastnight and I cannot believe the difference! My nails are now super smooth with no more nasty ridges!


Overall I am happy with my purchases. I am disappointed with the lip gloss sticks though, their quality just is not as good as I expected. But they didn't exactly break the bank and I am glad I availed of the 50% offer to try a little bit of elf. I definitely would buy more of their products!

Did anyone else make any elf purchases?

Real Techniques Stippling Brush

I have never owned a really good make up brush. All my eyeshadow brushes are Superdrug's own brand or cheaper brands out of the chemist. I have been using just a paddle brush for my foundation and it's got quite old, I thought it was time to replace it! But I wanted to get a really good one. I am such a fan of the Pixiwoo girls and was always looking out for these Real Techniques brushes, since I had heard so much about them. I finally saw them in Superdrug and picked up this stippling brush for £10.99. Not even that expensive!

I love the size and the shape of the brush, the design is great. It is just wonderful for applying my foundation. The difference between this and my last foundation brush is just unreal! I looked at the tutorials for these brushes on the Real Techniques site, and Samantha Chapman recommended this brush for a more lighter coverage. For me, it is just perfect and I like pretty much a full coverage.

Although I only have one Real Techniques brush, I am just loving it and will never use anything else now! I actually hope to get more of these each time I go shopping, and hopefully collect them all. They are great and very reasonably priced!