Rekindling an old love: Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation, shade 52, Vanilla 

Boujois Healthy Mix was the first foundation I ever used. I went through several bottles before moving on to Revlon Colourstay. Colourstay was a god send, it gave my skin a flawless finish and kept my skin beautifully  matte. At first, I was truly in love. Fast forward 8 months, two bottles of Colourstay later, and I'm getting a bit tired of it. It takes so much work, (you have to give it a thorough old blend to get it to sit nicely) and all of a sudden I just felt like it was too much for my skin everyday. So I picked up a bottle of Healthy Mix and I've fallen straight back in love.

Healthy Mix may not sound like a match made in heaven for oily skin with it's satin/dewy finish, but it's light to medium coverage and weightless feel is what I've been craving. It just looks like skin. Colourstay was so thick and full coverage (not always a bad thing I may add) that I just felt my skin was left looking a little flat. Healthy Mix makes my skin look so much more radiant. I do find that I have to do a bit more covering with the concealer in some places, but for everyday I'm okay with that. I feel fresh with it on.

Given a good powder I'm not left looking like an a greasy chip pan and although the wear time isn't nearly as good as Colourstay that's something I'm willing to compromise. Maybe during the summer it won't be as easy to get away with, but until then I'm loving the lighter coverage. Other positives to Healthy Mix include the soft, fruity smell and the oh so handy pump. Revlon, I'm paying nearly thirteen pounds for your product, please just include a bloody pump.

Don't get me wrong, I still love Colourstay (I still picked up a new bottle of it when I purchased Healthy Mix, not good for the purse..) but I was in to deep with it. We needed some time apart.. For days when my skin is playing up a bit, and for nights out, Colourstay will definitely be making a come back. But until then, Healthy Mix has a firm place in my makeup bag.

Topshop Cream Blush Duo: Up In The Air

I'm not sure the Louise Gray makeup collection for Topshop went down all too well. I think most people were put off by the bright, not entirely wearable colours, and the makeup seemed to float around unwanted for months in store. However I was browsing though a small box of makeup in Topshop, filled mainly with scary red eyeshadows when I saw this little blush duo. Sitting there for £3, when the previous price was £12.50, there was no way I was leaving it there.

These blushes do look a little intimidating, but they apply a lot more muted to the cheeks. The pink is my favourite out of the pair. In the pan it is quite purple, but it gives a natural flush of colour and warmth to the face.The corally orange is nice and subtle, but the pink really steals the show for me. The texture is lovely, they're a dream to apply, blending easily with a nice matte finish. They last well throughout the day and are easy to top up.

I really love the funky packaging, it stands out in my makeup bag which is always a positive! Two shades in one, combined with the massive mirror inside makes this a great travelling product. The only thing I'm slightly concerned about it that the hinge seems a little weak, but fingers crossed it will be fine.

Rimmel Apocalips: Big Bang

I'm sure you've all been waiting for them, this week the Rimmel Apocalips finally hit the shelves. The people at Rimmel clearly know what they're doing, by the time I'd seen several posts by the big beauty bloggers about these I was desperate to get my hands on them.

After trialing the Apocalips for a few days I've decided I love them, but every silver lining has it's cloud so there are some niggles I have with them. There's a lot of points to make so I've compiled them into a nice list for you all (let's face it, we all love a good list). 

The good!

v The colour is absolutely beautiful. It's a classic red which I find suites my skin tone well, and has a gorgeous glossy finish. After an hour or so it does lose the glossy look, and turns into a satin finish. If you so wish, you can easily top it up to get back the glossy gorgeousness.

v They are incredibly easy to apply. Whenever I try and apply any sort of bright or dark colour I end up spending forever putting it on, and then carefully wiping around the edge of my lips with a tissue for the next hour. Due to the smooth formula these glide on so quickly, you really have to try it to believe it. The doe foot applicator has a little well in it which holds a lot of product, so you're not dunking the wand back in the tube every five minutes.

vThe texture. I can't stand anything sticky or suffocating on my lips, which is why I hardly ever use lipglosses. When I first pulled the wand out of the tube I thought it would be a disaster, but once applied there is no stickiness and is very comfortable to wear.

v These have some serious lasting power. Like I said, they stay glossy for about an hour or so, but overall the colour lasts for a good 4 or 5 hours without topping up. When they begin to fade they can tend to go a bit patchy, but it's nothing a quick blend out with your finger can't solve.

      The not so good...

v Due to the liquid consistency, they can smudge. Unlike a lipstick they don't really set or dry, and although that isn't a problem with a normal lipgloss, these are so intensely pigmented so it can get messy. I also found it does bleed slightly.

v Now this can be seen as both a positive and a negative, but these stain, and they stain bad. Normally this would please me and stain normally equals more longevity, but when they smudge so easily it's not a great combination. You pretty much need to be accurate on first application, which isn't hard due to the wand, but it's nice to be able to wipe away any slips if you need to.

 v The smell isn't great. To me it smells quite sort of like artificial watermelon, but it doesn't bother me too much as once it's on you can't smell it. However if you're one of those people who can't stand anything scented near their face, then you may have a problem. 

Overall I can't deny I love the Apocalips, mainly down to the gorgeous colour and ease of application. I definitely think I'll pick up some other colours, maybe the nuder ones. What are your thoughts on the Apocalips? Did they live up to your expectations? Let me know!

Lush: Let The Good Times Roll

I was pretty excited to get this product. Many people reviewed it over winter, but mentioned it was only for the Christmas collection. This cleanser sounded like heaven, but I didn't want to get attached to a product when it was limited edition. Until the other day my sister came home with a little pot. After sneekily  using it a few times I thought I'd ask the lovely people at Lush what was going on, and it turns out it has been moved into the permanent collection, hurrah! On hearing this I bought my own pot straight away.

I think Lush products are very subjective because of their strong smell, but Let The Good Times Roll is right up my street. It was love from first smell! It's a mixture of popcorn, caramel and general buttery goodness. Yum. It comes in a massive golden yellow blob. You grab a  pinch of the squidgy product and mix into a paste. It says to rub it first in the palm of your hand, but generally I just go straight to my face, going in circular motions. What draws me most to this cleanser (apart from the smell) is the texture. It exfoliates your skin, but ever so gently. The exfoliant keeps your face fresh and clean but is gentle enough to use everyday.

As with all Lush products, the ingredients are oh natural. It has a total of ten ingredients, one of which is popcorn! It seems unusual to have a whole piece of popcorn in a scrub, but there are only a few in there so the texture isn't too chunky. The cleanser doesn't dry my skin out, neither does it make it oily. I can't ask for much more than that!

It is a little bit more expensive than my usual morning cleanser at £5.95, and truth be told I think I will go through it pretty quickly, but all in all it is completely worth it.

MUA Bronzed Perfection

I've mentioned before on my blog that in many ways I am very much a make up newbie. I would definitely describe 2012 as the year I properly 'discovered' make up, so you're all sort of joining me on my make up journey. Okay so that was lame, but moving on!

I don't think there is a massive selection of high street bronzers. I know the Bourjois chocolate bronzer (I don't think anyone calls it by the full name) is a favourite amongst many people, but even though it's pretty affordable at around the £8 mark I still didn't want to pay that much for a product that might not get used. For all I knew I may decide bronzers aren't my thing - thus product and money wasted. I'd seen in one of Fleur De Force's Get Ready With Me videos that she used this MUA bronzer. I'm sure you all know I have a certain soft spot for MUA so I thought I'd give it a go.

I was a little bit scared to use this, I don't want to end up looking like a pumpkin. However I found this it very easy to use. The powder is very soft and so blends well. It suits my skin tone well, even in the depths of winter, and isn't orangey. In the pan it does look a little shimmery, but that disappears completely once applied. I've found I like to use the Real Techniques contour brush to run it under my cheek bones to give some much needed shape to my face. I then use the buffing brush of the same collection to blend it all out nice and softly.  MUA is always good value for money but this is insane. You can see how massive the product is in my hand, you get a whopping 15g of product for £3.

You can pick up Bronzed Perfection from Superdrug, or direct from MUA here.

New Years Resolutions 2013

First and foremost, Happy New Year!

I've never really been that into making New Years Resolutions, but after watching a few videos (Fleurdeforce's and BertiebertG's) and a few blog posts (Sprinkleofglitter) I've been inspired to do my own. I have a good feeling about 2013, and while I'm in this good mood I thought I'd jot down a few of my own. Who knows, maybe I'll review them at the end of 2013! (unless I fail at all at them, then I'll probably delete the post in shame ;)

Numero uno!

Put more effort into college: This is definitely the one to focus on. After I left school with some reasonable GCSE's, I (very stupidly) thought A-Levels would be a doddle. I thought I could breeze through two years, come out with 4 A's, and then travel on through to a top university. Ha. Ha ha ha. I hadn't prepared  myself for how bloody hard they would be. And to be quite frank, it's panicking me a bit. So I need to up my game. My main target is to get up off my arse and do some work! Being a massive 'goody goody' I've never not handed in work, but I consistenly leave it till the last minute. As hard as it is, I need to stop scrolling through tumblr, and get on with work when I get it, instead of leaving it till a Sunday night. The other part is to do some extra work. Every time I have a test I spend the weekend before manically making flash cards. If I revise as I go along, one, I'll make my life a lot easier, and two, I'll probably do far better. Also, I need to set aside more time for making sure I fully understand each topic, in maths and biology in particular, seeing as I'm a tiny bit... rubbish at those subjects!

Tone up!: It really is such a cliché, but this year I have some serious motivation. In July, I'm going on a college trip to Arizona (whoop whoop!). I'm massively excited, but it's going to probably involve spending a lot of time in the hotel pool. I'd like to feel semi confident in a swimming costume for once, so I can enjoy my time instead of worrying what people are thinking of me. A specific area to work on, is definitely my arms. I can deal with a jelly belly and thunder thighs, but for once I would like to be able to wear vests and sleeveless dresses. I think when making resolutions it's important to know how you're going to change, so for me, my methods of weight loss will be going to the gym and cutting down on the junk food. My college has a free gym, so I really have no excuse. My free periods Mondays and Fridays will now be spent sweating it out (literally) at the gym. Also from now on, no more naughty (but nice) food between Monday and Thursday. I pay the vending machines far too many visits, so it's time to cut down.

Last but not least;

Organise my blog: You all know it, I'm a terribly infrequent blogger. Now pretty much the main reason for this, is that I don't organise taking my photos. I can't stand having bad quality photos, but taking good ones with lots of light is often difficult. During these darker months I need to make sure I'm taking them when the light is right. The second part of this is redesign my blog. Considering I have no artistic talent I don't think I've done too badly, but I don't feel that my design really reflects me, as lame as that sounds. I have a graphic designer for a sister, so I should really ask her for some help so my blog can be the best it can be.

There we go, I've written them down now so I have to stick to them!

Now that's all out the way, I really want to just take the time to get a bit slushy gushy and say thank you to anyone who has taken the time to read my blog. I had a lot of doubts about starting this blog, but now I'm so glad I did. To a lot a people, 41 followers isn't a lot, but I'm just pleased that even that many of you have followed me. Okay I'm going to wrap this up now before the violins start playing, but here's to a year of many more (infrequent) blog posts! *cringe*

Christmas NOTD

Barry M - Raspberry / Rimmel - Black Out / Avon - Starry Sky

It's christmas eve! Whoever said you get less excited over christmas with age was clearly a liar, I'm feeling as excited as ever! Today my whole family has had a massive christmas clean out, because nothing says festive like a good dusting session. The final touch to get me ready for tomorrow has been painting my nails. I previously had a silver and green stripe combo going on, which to be honest looked more like Slytherin nails than anything festive themed, so I felt I was in need of a change.

I was inspired by the lovely Lily Pebbles to do these nails. Her design was lovely, and didn't require too much effort (it's been a long day). Check out the tutorial here. To make my little silver dots I used a bobby pin. I often think I should invest in some real nail tools but cocktail sticks and hair pins work so well!

To everyone, have an absolutely lovely christmas and I'll speak to you all soon!

Merry Christmas!

Love Abbie <3