Fashion Fair Carnival Collection: Review and Swatches

Staring out my window with the sun shining brightly, and despite the rain we have been experiencing recently - I feel inspired to believe that Summer is finally around the corner!

One of the things I love most about Summer is the sunshine which always encourages me to shed the dark colours of autumn/winter and move into more vibrant hues, whilst also allowing my skin to get a beautiful bronzy glow from the sun (with protection of course) 

So when Fashion Fair offered to send me a few samples from their Carnival Collection, It sounded like it would be perfect for summer. Inspired by the sun kissed Caribbean and festivities of the Carnival, the collection is a mix of oranges, metallic gold, bronzes, vibrant pinks and purples.

L - R ( Safari Brown, Sahara Sand)

I was sent a selection of metallic golds and bronzes and starting with the eyeshadows - I just have one word. Gorgeous! Highly pigmented, they are beautiful shades that are highly wearable even during the day and they show up beautifully on darker skin tones.

My favourite is Safari Brown, which is a perfect brown skin nude on my skin tone and I can actually wear it on it's own.

The shadows go on extremely soft and are so easy to blend with other colours. Below is a swatch of the lipsticks and shadows.

L - R (Sepia, Confidence, Safari Brown, Sahara Sand)

The lipsticks I will admit, made me extremely nervous when I first saw them in all their bronze and gold glory, all I could think was circa 90's! But I was pleasantly surprised. 

L - R (Confidence, Sepia)

Confidence is more on the golden side and on its own doesn't work for me, but it can be combined with a darker lip colour to create a nice ombre effect and also worn over a nude lipstick. 

The star of the show however is Sepia lipstick, which completely wowed me - It has a brown/ bronze tone to it which also works as a nice nude colour. It's such a pretty shade and is long wearing and soft on the lips. 

The Carnival Collection is available from selected Debenhams and Boots.

The Review: Clayspray Chococlay Face Mask

 

Face masks are one of my favourite items in my beauty routine, and I tend to use them once or twice a week, picking and choosing a mask according to my skins concerns to either deep cleanse, exfoliate or hydrate my skin.

I was recently sent Clayspray, a Spanish skincare brand to try out and upon seeing the packaging and product, I was intrigued.

The science bit

Clayspray is described as the first emulsified clay in a spray can (first time I have ever seen a face mask spray out of a can), which helps the clay mask last a lot longer than say clays that come in a jar, tube or powder, simply  because once opened they are exposed to air so tend to become hard and dried out.

It is said to "incorporate up to 60-65% of pure clay mineral, spring water and hydrogel in a luxurious texture". Which is extremely high in comparison to normal clay masks, that are said to "only contain 10-15%" in their formulations, so this is one of the highest concentrations I have seen.

The macromolecular hydrogels are meant to retain up to 800 times their weight in water, which in turn is  meant to infuse your skin with moisture as opposed to drying it out, whilst also removing excess oils and impurities.

I tried out the Chococlay - Red Clay and Cacao Mask which aims to nourish, balance, smooth and brighten.

How to use

Like most clay masks, you need to start of with a clean face, then lightly mist your face with the H20 water spray and apply a thin layer of spray to your face.

I have to admit that it applies beautifully - it has a slight liquid type consistency, which makes the application of it so much smoother and easier than any other clay mask I've used previously. If you are a fan of clay masks, you will know what I mean here, they tend to be quite thick and hard to apply.

You then leave the mask on for 15-20 mins, and can spray your face again halfway through with the H20 water to prevent it from becoming too hard and drying. This avoids that tight and horrible I can't speak or move my face experience you sometimes get with a clay mask. (I loved this tip and will be using it for some of my other masks)

Finally, rinse off the mask once the time has elapsed and follow up with another spray of the H20 water and the rest of your usual skincare.

So what did I think?

Let's Get Tarted Up: Review of Tarte Cosmetics Fearless Amazonian Blush and Lights Camera Lashes Mascara

Ok can we just pause … and talk about the beautiful packaging of these Tarte products for a minute

The Fearless Amazonian Clay Blush is housed in pretty packaging that is colour coded to the same shade inside. It also includes an intricate pressed tree pattern that has stayed put even after I’ve used the blush a number of times

The Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara outside shell is just so unique in all its dark purple snake print gorgeousness.

On opening the blush, my initial thought was I don’t think this shade is going to work on my darker skin tone or even show up, but I stand corrected. 

It’s really buildable and applies easily, leaving you with a wash of colour. If you are a lighter skin tone that I am, then you probably won’t have to build up as much as I did to get the colour payoff.

It’s really long lasting with a matte finish, which is perfect if you have any flaws on your cheeks from pigmentation; to open pores and breakouts as a matte shade will avoid drawing attention to the area.

Overall I really like this blush and am keen to investigate more of their shades.

When I first saw the mascara wand, I wasn’t too sure. It just looked a bit blah but again I stand corrected. The wand completely coats every single lash when you run it through.

It’s a much wetter formula than I usually use, but it sets beautifully with no smearing or flaking. It also helped to lengthen and curl my lashes upwards

One coat gave me a nice full and open look. Layered on with 2-3 coats, the final effect was a dramatic, I have lashes and I’m not afraid to flutter them effect.

Have you tried the Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian blushers or the Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara?

Did you love it or hate it? And are there other products you would recommend?

Let me know in the comments below

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3 Lip balms to Weather Proof Your Lips

Don’t you just hate it when you pop your lipstick or gloss on and it just emphasises how dry your lips are?

I’m a bit of a lip balm obsessive, particularly in winter when the heating and frosty air just seems to draw all the moisture away from your lips.

Here are my 3 current favourite industrial style hydrating lip balms to give cracked, painful and chapped lips the heave ho.

Yu-Be Moisturising Skin Cream £13.50

Developed in 1957, this lovely moisturising skin cream is one of Japan's best selling vitamin-enriched skincare creams. With a rich glycerine formula, it goes on like a cream but immediately sinks in as you rub it in. It’s the lightest of the 3 and has a nice matt finish so is great for applying your lipstick afterwards.

It does have a bit of a camphor fragrance when you apply it, but this fades away quite quickly afterwards. It’s also multipurpose, so can be used anywhere else that feels a little dry.

Lanolips 101 Ointment - £10.99

I had heard so much about this, but had resisted until recently when I was out and had forgotten my makeup bag at home. Don’t ask! Anyway the freezing cold air was seriously drying out my lips and I could feel those little painful cracks starting to appear! So what was a girl to do? I leapt into my closest Boots and picked one up. All I can say is I finally understand what the fuss is all about.

This little tube completely soothed my dry and somewhat painful lip and applying another layer before bed, I woke up with soft, smooth lips.

It’s made out of 100% Ultra Medical Grade Lanolin and its extremely thick so you might need to build some arm muscles to get it out of the tube if you leave it out in the cold, but once on it melts into a smooth un-fragranced and nourishing balm.

Max Factor Creme Puff Blushes on Dark Skin: Review, Pictures and Swatches

How gorgeous are these blushes?

I'm a big fan of the Milani Baked Blushers, which sadly is only available in the states. You can however sometimes find it online. I had also heard that these are a great drugstore dupe for the Hourglass Ambient Light blushes, which I'm yet to try.

So when I spotted these little beauties, I couldn't wait to try them out.

Max factor launched these Creme Puff Blushes in six shades. and although they all seem pretty, when I swatched them in Boots, these two were the only ones that I thought worked on darker skin. All the other shades were either a little too light, shimmery or pink (but think baby pink). 

They have a beautiful marbled effect of colours and because they are baked they go on incredibly soft and merge the two different tones with a slight shimmer effect.

I just love the soft focus of the blush and how it provides a glow, making you look like you are lit from within.

The two shades I picked up are

25 - Alluring Rose - which is a brown, rose gold and peachy shade. This has more shimmer in in and is still a little light in my skin tone so I much prefer to either wear it as a highlighter or to layer it on top of another blush. If you have any spots or open pores which I do, I would recommend using a light hand with this blush, as shimmer can highlight any areas you are trying to hide.

30 - Gorgeous Berries - is a berry and pink shade and is my favourite. It's the darkest shade of the line and is a soft and pretty tone on my skin tone.


These are them swatched on my skin and a few images of me wearing them.  I actually layered them on top of each other. (I'm trying to start taking more pictures of myself and seriously struggled with the camera so if anyone has any tips on how to take selfies with your dslr camera, please please share) 

These blushes are available from both boots and super drug and retail for £8.99

Have you tried any of them and will you be picking it up?

Have a lovely weekend

Xx

Combat the shine: Fashion Fair Oil Control Powder

Ah the great British Weather! The last couple of weeks have been completely boiling in the UK, with temperatures reaching 30 degrees! Now whilst I absolutely love the warmth of the sun dancing across my skin, sadly my makeup does not! And I have been forced to bring out all the big guns for fear of my makeup (on days when I wear it) sliding off my face.

Enter in my current oil control hero in the form of Fashion Fair Oil Control Pressed Powder in Sugar – A bit of a mouthful, but all is forgiven due to its efficiency.

Described as

“A translucent silky, pressed setting powder that is oil – absorbent and eliminates shine”

I love the packaging; its design is sleek and discreet enough to happily touch up on the go, even on the tube!

I decided to try it out during one of the hottest weeks of the year so far and did the test using my normal moisturiser (not oil free) and minus a primer, just to see how it would perform.

The results? It really does what it says on the tin

It mattifies and controls my shine throughout the day without leaving me looking grey or like I’m applying for a role in a Marie Antoinette film.