Makeup Revolution: Swatches/Review.

THEY CAME!

If you read my last post, you'll know I ordered a few bits from Makeup Revolution, and I am pleased to say that they came, and I LOVE them!

I've been using them over the past few days and they did not disappoint. All of the packaging looks so much more expensive than what they actually are, I am so impressed by it.

First up:

Ultra Contour Palette.
This palette is beautiful! It is so pigmented and the powders are so creamy. I have been using it everyday since I got it. My only point would be, the top highlighter has a few chunky glitter bits in it.

Without Flash:

With Flash:

Swatches:

Radiance Lights Palette in Radiant.
I am a big fan of highlighters and this palette does not disappoint. The colours are pure shimmer and are not chunky or chalky in the slightest.

Without Flash:

With Flash:

Swatches:

Lip liner -Vamp.
This was probably my least favourite. Maybe because I expected it to be a little more red/purple, rather than straight up purple, but for the price, it isn't too bad. It does go a little patchy when applied all over the lip, but its easy to make it work.

PRO F103 Pro Stippling Brush.
Now, I am a big fan of my MAC stippling brush, and although I must admit, this one isn't as good, but it definitely is close. The one thing I think I prefer about my MAC one is that it is larger, I just prefer a larger brush, but this one definitely is good. Its soft and I have hardly experience any shedding.

Overall, I love this brand and I will definitely be ordering more products very soon!

Have you tried Makeup Revolution? What did you think?

Jess x

Makeup Revolution.

Before you get excited, this is not a review.

I have finally done it, after months of telling myself "You do not need anything." I finally gave in and placed an order with Makeup Revolution(and may I add, I restrained myself very well).

This makeup brand has taken the 'Drugstore' makeup world by storm and is very talked about in the blogging/youtube world. I just thought I'd do a small blog post to let you all know what I ordered. (Review to come)

The one I was most excited about...

Ultra Contour Palette.

Highlighter Palette: Radiance.

Amazing Lipliner: Vamp.

Pro F103 Stippling Brush.

I can't wait to receive these, I am SO excited. I shall do a full review when I have tried them out a few times.

Have any of you tried anything from this brand?


Jess x

Review: Maybelline - Dream Flawless Nude Foundation.

Still on the hunt for my perfect foundation and this one has taken prize as my favourite everyday one.

It's Maybelline's 'Dream Flawless Nude Foundation' and it is the most lightweight thing I have ever had the pleasure of putting on my face.

What they say:


"Concentrated pigments give a flawless coverage yet its texture is 12x finer* for a perfectly nude finish and feel!

*12x finer than Maybelline's #1 liquid foundation Dream Satin Liquid. Available in 7 shades

100% second skin perfection."

They say to apply with your fingers, but I don't. I use my 'Real Techniques Buffing Brush' and I find this applies it really well. The foundation is smooth and silky and gives me the perfect amount of coverage. It lasts pretty well too I would say, probably around 6 hours without powder or touch ups.

Here is the foundation alone:

It looks relatively shiny on this photo, but once it settles and you finish all your make up, it really isn't as noticeable. Mine is in the shade 'Ivory' which I believe is the lightest shade they offer, and it isn't really THAT light, but I think I get away with it.

I really do recommend this product, I think with a good moisturiser under, it would be fine for dry skin and it works really well on my oily skin.

I urge you to try this if you haven't and hope you like it as much as I do.

Jess x

Review: Sleek - Eyebrow kit.

Let's talk about eyebrows...

Eyebrows are definitely a 'thing' at the minute and there seems to be so many products out there to fill them in with, so I decided to share my favourite with you.

It is the sleek eyebrow kit, what they say:



'Frame your face, whilst giving the eye area an instant lift with our Brow Kit.

This set includes:

Pigmented wax for shaping
Powder for setting
Mini tweezers
Mini angled brush

Mini blending brush
Mirror'

I personally love this kit.  I use the wax first and then go over and set it with the powder. You can get it in 4 different shades: Light, Dark, Extra Dark and Black. I change my hair quite a lot, so I have two of these colours, the dark and light.

Here is a before of my eyebrows:

Here is an example of the light shade:

And here is an example of the dark shade:

These pictures make it look a little bit like they are the same colour, but they really aren't. I do find the light she to be quite warm in colour, but I don't really mind that.

The kit retails at about £8.50, which isn't a bad price at all, and mine has lasted me about 6/7 months.

Let me know what you think if you try these out.

Jess x

Dupe: Chanel - Coco Mademoiselle Perfume.

This is going to be a short and sweet post (hopefully) because talking about perfume is pretty difficult because you can't exactly smell it through a screen.

Now Coco Mademoiselle is my all time favourite perfume, in my opinion it smells like heaven, but it is slightly pricey at £67.50 for 30ml and £95.50 for 100ml, I buy it anyway because you have to treat yourself every now and again, and it really is my favourite.

With a price tag like that it isn't really an everyday perfume (in my opinion) I tend to wear it when I'm going out or on a special occasion.

Anyway, onto what I think it a pretty good dupe for this perfume...

I was wandering around New Look a few weeks ago and noticed they had some perfumes near the counter, I had a good sniff of all of them but one really caught my attention and as soon as I smelt it I knew instantly what it reminded me of - Chanel.

The perfume is called 'Pure Blush' and it retails for £7.99.. Yep, £7.99.
I wore it to work one day and my friend even commented, saying 'Are you wearing Chanel for work?' I let her in on my little secret and she is now addicted. Obviously it doesn't last on you quite as long as the Chanel one, but for that price you could carry it in your bag and keep topping up! I feel it smells super similar, just not as 'expensive' smelling, if that makes sense? It really is a beautiful perfume and I do urge anyone who loves the Chanel one to give this a try.

Let me know if any of you do decide to try this!

Jess x

Review: Benefit - Hello flawless oxygen wow foundation.

My mission at the minute is to find my perfect foundation.

A few weeks ago I picked up The Benefit 'hello flawless oxygen wow!' foundation, and as I've been wearing it for a while now, I thought I'd share my thoughts.

What they say:

"Hello...it's flawless time! Our new oil-free brightening liquid foundation builds from light to medium coverage for a natural complexion you can believe in. It's you...just more luminous & healthy looking. "

I've said before, I have oily skin, and this stating it is 'brightening' and 'luminous' made it sound like it really wouldn't be the foundation for me, but actually, after a few weeks of wearing it, I actually really like it!
They state that it is a light to medium coverage, which I find is true, but it definitely is buildable. I like a full coverage foundation usually, but this one makes my skin look great and I find it hides just enough. I applied it with my real techniques buffing brush, and I think they worked pretty well together.

Heres how it looked on:

I think I noticed it braking down a little after around 6/7 hours wear, which for an oily girl, I found this pretty damn good.

Mine is in the colour 'Ivory' which I think is the lightest shade that is available. There really isn't that many shades to choose from, which I think they should work on!

I believe this retails at round £25.50, which is around average for a high end foundation I would say.

Jess x

Loreal Casting Sunkiss Jelly: Day 2.

Loreal Casting Sunkiss Jelly: Intro Post - Here

Loreal Casting Sunkiss Jelly: Day 1 Post - Here

Above are my 2 previous posts on this product. I did say this would be an ongoing experiment so here is the third part.

The results after the first attempt were seriously noticeable and I'd hoped it would keep on being as noticeable, and although you can see that the hair has changed, it hasn't quite changed as much as I'd of hoped.

Left picture: After 1st application/ Right picture: After 2nd application.

It looks a little patchy on the picture, but that must just be the lighting as it doesn't look like that in person. You can see it has got lighter and I took it a little higher up, which I think is noticeable. 

Were going to keep at it and I'm hoping it will continue to lighten. I am impressed with this product, especially for the price and if you're wanting a quick and easy change to your hair.

Jess x

Review: Scott Cornwall - Decolour Hair Colour Remover.

Once again I'm messing about with my hair... Shocker!

If you read my blog you'll know that I've tried a few hair 'stripper' type products before, my most recent being 'Superdrug Colour Rewind' Review: Here.  Now as much as I loved the superdrug one, I found that after the first time I washed it, it seemed to really oxidise and go back really dark! They say this only happens if you didn't rinse for long enough, but I doubled the time of rinsing to make sure... so I really don't think thats the case.

After that happened, I was a little let down, but I refused to be defeated, so thought I'd try again. I did a little research on some colour removing products and settled on the 'Scott Cornwall Decolour Hair Colour Remover' - It is a little pricier than the other ones, retailing at £12.99, but my thought process was 'if its more expensive, it must work better'.

When I went into boots I had a hard time finding the product as they have changed the packaging.

What they say:

"Decolour Hair Colour Remover is a safe way to remove all types of permanent and semi-permanent hair colour without lightening or changing your natural hair colour.

• No ammonia, bleach or peroxide.

• Simply apply, develop and in less than an hour rinse away any unwanted colour or reverse the effect of build-up resulting from frequent colouring

• Decolour Remover uses the latest technology to safely and effectively 'shatter' the colour molecule rather than just ‘shrink’ it. Hair requires minimal rinsing and has a reduced risk of re-oxidisation

• Removes artificial colour pigments without changing the underlying natural hair colour.
• Works for all types of colour removal from incorrect tone to heavy black colour build up.

• Unique formula protects hair lipid levels and retains hair condition.

• Will not lighten hairbase shade."

It's pretty standard in terms on what you get inside, 2 bottles to mix together, one you use for when its time to rinse, instructions and gloves (which are terrible).  What is different about this one is the 3rd step is usually a buffer, which is a shampoo type product, whereas this one has whats called a balm, which is a lot more like conditioner and leaves your hair super smooth!

SC says that this product is different from a normal remover as it doesn't only shrink the colour molecules, it apparently shatters them... which sounds a little scary, but I went ahead anyway!

I smothered it on my head, it was super easy to apply. I then waited the recommended amount and of time and rinsed. Its worth noting that this product requires no where near the amount of rising time that the usual removers do!

I was so pleased with the results, but didn't want to get my hopes up as I know what these kind of products are like for oxidising, but here we are, a week and 2 washes later and the colour has remained exactly the same!

This is the best colour removing product I have ever used, and that is no exaggeration! I am absolutely thrilled with the results. (Yes, I know what you're probably thinking) It is a very warm shade, but being a lover of ginger hair, I am absolutely okay with that.

I think I am going to use one more box of this, to see if it can get me back any lighter, I'll update you on my results.

Have you tried this? Or anything similar?

Jess x

Loreal Casting Sunkiss Jelly: Day 1.

If you read my previous post, which you can find: Here, You'll know I bought the new Loreal casting sunkiss jelly, which claims it will lighten your hair with each use.

Now as I explained, I'm using this on my sister as she has mostly natural hair and is looking to extend her ombre. It retails at £5.99 and comes with instructions, a pair of gloves and the jelly itself. I didn't use the gloves as I felt it just wasn't necessary as I washed my hands straight after and it takes a matter of seconds to apply. It says you can apply to either dry or damp hair, so we decided that she would freshly wash her hair, towel dry it and then apply. You can use heat to help intensify the lightening to once applied she just dried her hair as usual.

All I did was run the product through her damp hair up until around half way up, and here is the before and after results after only one use:

We were genuinely shocked at how well this worked after just one use! You can clearly see the difference and it seems to have blended with her existing colour really well. We're going to keep at it a few more times and I shall update you on the progress.

Have any of you tried this product and had good, or bad results?


Jess x

Review: Nars - All day luminous weightless foundation.

Why is it that when I claim to have no money I go ahead and spend £32 on a foundation that I actually don't need? I'm unbelievable.

I've tried sheer glow and didn't have a great experience with it as my skin is oily/combo, it broke down after a few hours wear and moved all over the place, even when set with powder. I was so disappointed as I know so many people that love this foundation and it looks amazing on them, but for me it obviously wasn't meant to be.

So, when I heard NARS were bringing out an oil free foundation that is meant to be full coverage and long wearing I knew I had to try it... so I did.

What they say:

"The answer to all your foundation needs, Nars have masterfully created an oil-free blend that provides full natural-looking coverage with an unexpected weightlessness. The highly-pigmented formula delivers up to 16 hours of flawless looking skin."

The packaging is BEAUTIFUL! It comes in a frosted glass bottle and a black matte-type lip and a PUMP! Finally. Thank you, Nars.

I applied to this to my face at about 7AM, I moisturised and primed as usual and heres how it looked (Please excuse the gormless expression, it was early) :

Now, it looks alright... for £32 I expected a little more though. I blended relatively easy and did look a little 'luminous' but I wasn't that impressed. It made my pores really noticeable and clung to any area at all that was even slightly dry (and I have oily skin!)
I have heard people say that it looks better the longer you wear it, so I trooped on.

After a few hours I noticed it had started to crease and sink into any lines it could. It creased in my smile lines, my forehead and very badly under my eyes. Not impressed.

So, here I am, a measly 5 hours later and it looks TERRIBLE! It claims to last around 16 hours, which I found it clearly did not. Heres how it looks now, after only 5 hours wear.

I don't know how well it shows on the picture but It has broken down all over, not just in my T-Zone, but all over! It has gone extremely patchy and seems to have oxidised a fair bit. As you can see, it isn't an exact match to my neck (Which it was when I first applied it) and this is the lightest shade they offer 'Siberia'.

Overall, I'm really not that impressed. I wanted to love this foundation so bad, but sadly, it just didn't work for me.

Have any of you tried this foundation and experienced the same thing? Or do any of you love it?

Jess x

Loreal Casting Sunkiss Jelly: Intro

Another hair product again... but this time not for myself! 

My younger sister has the best hair in our family, its a fact and I envy her slightly for it. Its naturally pretty straight with no frizz and is a gorgeous Auburn colour.

Quite a few years ago we ombre'ed her hair and have been topping it up ever since. We haven't done it in a while so it has grown out a fair bit and her hair has gotten pretty long. Since its got quite long she didn't really wanna bleach the ends again to keep up with the ombre, so we went on a search for something a bit more gentle.

We had a browse around and saw Loreal casting sunkiss jelly:

"Get the sunkissed look with Casting Sunkiss Jelly. The fragrant and nourishing jelly is enriched with Camellia Oil, for an oh-so-sweet soft sunkissed look. Its delicate fragrance makes application a true pleasurable experience. The soft translucent leave-in jelly gradually lightens and is designed to create a long-lasting soft sunkissed look. All this, and no ammonia."

We got the 'Light brown - Dark blonde' one as her hair is red, which is really stubborn when it comes to colouring. It says you can use it on damp or dry hair and you just pop it in a leave it in, extra heat can be used to try and intensify lightening.

We haven't used it yet, so this will be an on going series, heres a picture of what her hair looks like now (I tried to get the best lighting possible)

I'll take pictures after every time we use it and post them in a follow up. I bought this for £5.99 from boots, which is a bargain if it does what it claims. I shall keep you updated! Were hoping this is as good as it sounds, have any of you ever tried this out? What did you think?

Jess x

Dupe: Benefit - They're real mascara.

One thing I seriously couldn't live without is mascara, because my lashes are naturally blonde, so without it, they're pretty much none existent!

Everyone knows about Benefit's famous 'They're real mascara' - This product isn't a dupe as such, as you can tell they haven't tried to make the product exactly the same, but in terms of results I would say they are very similar.

The product is Collection: No Clumps Mascara.
What they say:

"COLLECTION No Clumps Mascara gives clump free beautifully defined lashes.
No Clumps allowed! Use No Clumps Mascara to achieve clump free lashes."

As you can see it is a plastic wand, which is the same as the benefit mascara. It doesn't have the extra spiky bits on the end, but I never really use them anyway. Anyway, I'll stop rambling and actually show you my results. (Excuse my eyebrows)

The results are quite as good as the Benefit mascara, but what you have to bare in mind is that this one is only £2.99! Which I think is an absolute bargain! My only downside is that you do get a little bit of fall out, but I can deal with that.

Have any of you tried any other good drugstore mascaras? I am always on the hunt!

Jess x

Review: Superdrug Colour Rewind.

Its been quite  a while since I last posted and I have no excuse for that. I think I lost inspiration for a while, but now I'm back and hoping to be better then ever. (fingers crossed)

 So to kick start things again I thought I'd start off with a review of Superdrug's own version of Colour B4. Its basically a hair colour stripper, heres what they say:

"Superdrug Colour Rewind Hair Colour Remover has an extra strength formula and helps to remove unwanted permanent and semi-permanent dark hair colours.

Contains ammonia or bleach."

Now I'll give you a little background on my hair as I haven't posted in a while. Around last June I got a full head of highlights put in over dark hair, and this is how it turned out:

Don't get me wrong, I liked it and I kept it up until about a month ago. I was scrolling through some old photos of myself and stumbled across some with dark hair and then I was toying with the idea of going back dark, and I did, I went DARK.

I loved it at first and I was super happy with it until the dreaded roots started to grow through. Now being a natural blonde my roots aren't usually an issue with most colours, but when you go as dark as I did they seriously stand out. So, me being me and being bored of the upkeep already, I decided to strip out the dark brown. 

I popped into superdrug and was intending on buying Colour B4 as I have used it before and had good results, but then I noticed Colour Rewind was on offer for around £4.99 or something close to that, and because I cant resist a good bargain I snapped it up!

Inside you get three bottles, you mx one and two together and the 3rd is the buffer for when you're ready to rinse. Now as most other people say, it does smell pretty bag, a little like gone off eggs that have been set on fire, nice. You apply it all over your head and then wait 60 minutes. I covered my head with a bag to keep the heat in and blasted it with a hair dryer as it helps it activate. When you first see it after the 60 minutes your hair will probably look a gorgeous shade of neon orange, mine did but it does darken slightly when you're rinsing it out. The rinsing process is a bit of a pain, it takes forever and you feel like a wrinkled prune by the time you get out of the shower.

So, my results? I actually quite like it, it came out a ginger/auburn shade, which is the colour I want to try going next anyway. I couldn't get a great picture as my hair is naturally a bit wavy and I'm trying not to use hot tools on it for a while, but you can sort of see the difference. Its a lot redder in person, which I personally don't mind. I was really impressed with this product and I would recommend it to anyone!

Jess x