A "meh" product! Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer

It's a common enough occurrence when you try a product that you neither like or dislike, and just think it is very average. This is one of them for me!

I had Debenhams vouchers to spend, and not actually "needing" anything I thought I would wing it and try something new. I had read that Urban Decay had some new "Naked" releases in the form of face products, so I thought I'd give the concealer a whirl. I actually have been trying to find something to brighten up my under-eyes.

Choosing a shade was rather a challenge, and a lesson as to why it's a bad idea to blindly order make up online. I chose "fair neutral" - as I don't believe I have a warm or cool complexion and I thought "fair" would suit my pale (un-tanned) skin. I didn't realise it would look so…. white! If anyone asks, I'm going for the Kardashian make up look!

Shade comparison with my other concealers - 

left to right - Urban Decay Naked Concealer Fair Neutral - Clarins Instant Concealer Shade 01 - Loreal True Match shade Vanilla

I can't explain why I am unimpressed with this concealer. I just feel that it is nothing to write home about. It didn't give me the "wow" factor like the Clarins Instant Concealer .

It blends out so sheer that I really don't feel it does anything for me. I guess it really is weightless then!  It isn't all that creamy and whilst it claims not to crease, I can't confirm or deny that claim since I have natural lines around my eyes, any product is going to crease on me.

If I paid full price for this concealer I would be rather disappointed. I am sure there are many drugstore alternatives which would work just as well. The good thing I can say about the Naked Skin range is the massive shade range (As opposed to only 3 shades available in the Clarins concealer!).

What do you think of this concealer? Have you tried it? Would you be tempted to try it?

A little colour boost! Revlon Nutri Color Creme

I get my hair done every 6 weeks, and because it is such a vibrant colour, it fades fast. In between colours I use this Revlon Nutri Color Creme in the shade 740 (Copper) to give me a little boost!

I have such long hair that I do need quite a large amount, I can't even count how many pumps I use! But basically I just shampoo my hair as normal (with Mane n' Tail Colour Protect) then I will massage this cream all over my hair, from roots to ends. I wrap my hair up in a towel and leave it for at least 15 -20 minutes. On the bottle it says you can rinse it off after 3 minutes, but I feel like I need to keep it on for longer to see any visible results with the colour.

Don't forget to wear gloves!

 Before

After

After I use this colour creme, not only is the colour visibly more vibrant but my hair has never felt better. It is so soft and smooth, it feels wonderful!

Naturally there are different tones in my hair left over from a dip dye/ombre which I had in last year, so you can still see the lighter parts of my hair. But overall the colour has really brightened up and will keep me going until my next trip to the salon!

I order my Revlon Nutri Color Creme from this seller on Amazon, they have other shades too!

Nuxe Reve de Miel Ultra Nourishing Lip Balm - is it worth the hype?

After shelling out £10.00 for this infamous lip balm, I really put it to the test to see if it did live up to the hype. Everywhere I look, and every blog I read seems to praise this lip balm like no other! So I definitely had to give it a go for myself.

It has a very thick consistency, it's almost like the same texture as smooth peanut butter! Sometimes mine has little bits of "grit" in it, I'm not sure if they are all like that or if it's just me. It smooths into your lips well and definitely feels really nourishing. I have to be careful not to apply too much of the lip balm as it can make you look like you have the dreaded concealer lips at times. It has a lovely scent, I have heard some bloggers describe the scent as chocolate orange but honestly I cannot detect any hint of chocolate. To me it smells like a lovely fresh, citrusy scent.

My preferred time to put this on is at night, when I don't care how it looks and I can slather it on to no end! And I have to be totally honest, my lips haven't been in as good condition for a long time. I was having problems with dynes and flakiness but not any more.

So is it worth the hype? Well it certainly sorted out my dry chapped lips - it definitely worked for me. It just kills me to pay this much for a lip balm. I did use up the stick version of the Nuxe lip balm which I liked (and is a bit cheaper) but it didn't nearly give me as good results as this little pot does. My other favourite brand for lip balms is Burts Bees, which I still do love and they are more reasonably priced. So I think I will save this Nuxe pot as more of a treatment lip balm rather than an every day sort of thing!

If you suffer from dry, chapped lips, this will work a treat for you. But it is quite a luxury buy in my opinion, so I don't think it is a "must have" lip balm but if you want to treat yourself to it, do!

MAC Pro Longwear Foundation

I got this foundation a good few weeks ago now, just because I really wanted to try more MAC stuff (I STILL need to get a lipstick!). I have tried the Face & Body foundation and while I liked it at first, I have completely gone off it and really don't like the watery texture of it.

I was ordering this foundation online and MAC foundation shades totally confused me. I blindly chose NW20 and thankfully it is a great shade on me.

It is a really thick, gel-cream like texture and almost feels a little tacky on the skin for a short time after application. This is completely full coverage and literally does not budge throughout the day!

My only problem is it clings to every dry patch on my face. It doesn't look too bad from a distance but on closer inspection it doesn't look too good! (It's really visible in the photo below). So I am currently focusing on getting my skin back to normal so I can properly wear this foundation.

I really am very impressed with this foundation and definitely understand what the hype is about! I would probably save it for the Autumn/Winter months as I tend to gravitate more towards full coverage bases during that time.

Have you tried this foundation? I'd love to try more MAC products out so please let me know below what I should get next time!

Easter Superdrug Haul!

Happy Easter everyone! Hope you are enjoying your Easter break. I know I am! I am excited to have a nice dinner on Sunday and of course plenty of chocolate!

So I was out shopping recently, and I haven't been in Superdrug in ages so thought I would drop by! They have some great bits in at the minute.

First of all I badly need some kind of strengthener for my nails as they are in such poor condition right now! So I bought the Sally Hensen Complete Care. I haven't read any reviews on it, so I hope it is good and will do the job for me!

I could not resist these cute Easter nails from Elegant Touch! They are adorable and I love the pastel colours, and the wee chick!

And I bought the NYC nail polish "Peach Popsicles" just because it looks like a great Spring colour and NYC polishes are generally brilliant (and so cheap!).

Then I spotted that they had Nip& Fab stuff for half price, and hearing that this is Kylie Jenner's favourite Nip&Fab product I had to check it out for myself. I have already tried this a couple of times. It smells absolutely amazing and feels really nice on the skin. Trouble is, I am a little scared to try it any more because my skin is so dry and after I tried this serum a couple of times I noticed a bit of redness on my cheeks that I didn't have before. So I don't know if it was a reaction to the serum or just a coincidence as my skin has generally been misbehaving lately! I really do want to give this serum a proper test run though!

Dry skin is a terrible affliction!

I always had pretty normal skin but this past Winter I have had the driest, flakiest skin ever! I was totally not prepared for this, but since I have discovered some problems which have really helped me. I still have the dry skin, and it's a constant battle to keep on top of it. I'm hoping when the better weather comes in my skin will improve. Here is what I have been using.

I use the La Roche Posay Ultra Fine Scrub once or twice a week to try and get rid of the old flakey patches! This one is nice because it's not too irritating or abrasive and it's perfect to use on sensitive skin.

I also like to use a face mask at least once a week too, and my favourite is the La Roche Posay Hydraphase. My skin literally eats this up. I put on a nice layer of this on my face and neck and leave it for as long as I can. You will notice the mask will sink it quicker on the driest parts of your face. I then take the excess off with a hot flannel and my face feels really nice and hydrated after use.

When my skin was at it's driest, my favourite moisturiser to use was the La Roche Posay Nutric Intense Riche, an incredibly thick and nourishing cream. This was really helpful at combatting dry skin, particularly across my nose and cheek areas. I have since moved on to La Roche Posay Hydraphase Intense Riche (I love the packaging of this one too, would be great for travel!) which I really like and I have a little mini Nuxe Creme Fraiche which I use in the day time.

I use the Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse as a treatment oil every now and then. I noticed that over-use of this oil really triggered dry skin, so I try to only use it a couple of times a week. It does really help with the dry patches when I use it sparingly. Plus it smells amazing!

For make up, I think the Clarins Extra Comfort foundation and Chanel Vitalumiere (as I reviewed below) have been working the best for me. My usual every day foundation (MAC Face & Body) only aggravated my dry skin and made it look even worse than it was. The Clarins & Chanel foundations really comfort the skin and are designed for dryness. So I have been relying on them a lot to try and conceal the horrible dryness!


Are there any other products I should be looking at to try and help with dry skin? Any help would be much appreciated!

My new make up love! Chanel Vitalumiere Foundation

I was getting a little bored of the foundations I have in my collection. That is partly down to my skin being so dry lately, and none of my foundations were really working for me. I heard that Chanel foundations work quite well with dry skin, and a couple of weeks ago I was passing a Chanel counter so I thought I would check it out.

I was recommended the Vitalumiere foundation, and I got the shade 10 Limpide which I believe is the lightest shade available, however it is a little darker than I would normally wear, but I got this purposefully so as I could wear in the Summer months when I will be tanned.

This foundation is extremely lightweight, as you can see from my swatch above it was running down my hand! Surprisingly the fluid texture works really well on me. The Vitalumiere foundation actually contains moisturiser so it really is perfect for my dry skin! It has a lovely satin finish which completely brightens up my complexion and I don't feel like I am wearing a mask of make up, it looks completely natural!

It has a wonderful scent! It smells so fresh and just reminds me of Summer! I am trying not to use this foundation too much so I can save it for the Summer months and my holidays, but it is hard! I'm just so impressed by this product and have used it non stop.

It cost £36 which is quite expensive for a foundation. Honestly though, it is a seriously good product and as I've been suffering so much with dry skin lately, I have to admit that this foundation is the only one that has not emphasised it in the slightest. It works incredibly well and provides a fresh and radiant finish. I am completely in love with it!