Revlon’s new Age Defying DNA Advantage Makeup

I’ve been through a lot of foundations in my time. I spent years searching for the perfect foundations and now what I’ve found them, I stick to them. It’s rare that another comes along worthy of joining that line up. Let me tell you Revlon’s new Age Defying with DNA Advantage Cream Makeup is certainly worthy. Foundation is a very individual product – one size doesn’t fit all. I look for creamy texture, medium coverage and a soft, dewy finish and this one has just that, and more!

It combines makeup and powerful anti-aging skincare to help protect skin’s DNA to fight the signs of aging, and it contains SPF 20, winner, winner!

It markets itself as having full coverage, but don’t be put off by this – it’s not thick or cakey and doesn’t look like a mask. It is however rich and creamy and provides a medium coverage with a flawless, moisturised complexion. It’s easy to apply with fingers or a brush and blends out perfectly.

Blended out

The shade is good too. I’m a big fan of Mac foundations because their shades are tailored for both warmer and cooler skin tones. Most other brands adopt a one size fits all approach which usually means they’re too yellowey or too pink. This one seems true to my skin tone. The only criticism would be that it doesn’t cater for darker tones. The range is limited with 8 shades, I’ve got Honey Beige, which is the second darkest shade they offer.

I’m probably a bit younger than this foundations target market, and in truth it’s the fancy bottle with its swirly design that attracted me, but I’m pleased it did because this is a damn good foundation at a very reasonable price, plus you’re never too young to protect the integrity of your skin’s DNA.

Available at both Boots and Superdrug £9.99 for a limited time, RRP £13.99

Be a Style Queen

The release of the Boots’ Christmas catalogue marks the official run up to Christmas. Each week during this run up to Christmas, Boots offers up one of its “star” gifts for half price. This weeks’ is pretty good and guaranteed to cause a stampede….

Frontcover Style Queen Reduced from £35 to £17

Frontcover Style Queen is a bumper beauty collection for eyes, lips and cheeks. It includes all the products, tools and techniques you’ll need to rock a new look and is great for party season.

The Frontcover Style Queen Colour Set includes:

• 6 lip glosses
• 7 dome baked powder eyeshadows
• 6 pressed powder eyeshadows
• 2 fine-line baked powder cheek domes
• Double ended mascara/sealer
• 2 iridescent pigments
• Shadowline
• 6 make-up brushes
• Mini lash curler
• Double pencil sharpener
• A mirror in the lid

All that for just £17! I can personally vouch for their eyeshadows – I picked up a bumper collection during last Christmas’ star gist. See the review here.

Offer ends Thursday 20 October 2011, whilst stocks last, which won’t be long!

LOOK Beauty Collection

Another new kid on the block! LOOK Magazine announced last week that they are launching their first beauty range. I think this is a brilliant idea and I’m surprised someone hasn’t beaten them to it. I picked up a few samples at the show last month and wanted to share my pics, and thoughts.

It’s a pretty comprehensive range with everything you’d expect – foundations, primers, blushers and more. For me the stand out product is the Double Hit Lip – lipstick at one end and gloss at the other. The shade I received is an orangey coral, which looks quite scary but is actually quite sheer.

The texture of the lipstick is nice, more like a balm and the lipgloss smells divine. These were used to achieve the very on trend bold pouts at the recent LOOK catwalk show (see the pics here). I’d be keen to try the red for a buildable crimson pout, with optional gloss finish.

As for the Statement Eyes shadows £4 each, again, not the best shades for me, but the textures are nice. Quite silky and satin-like.

 

I’d like to try their metallic shades – Lame and Luxe were used on the models in the show.

Other stand out products include the Ooomph Lashes mascara £7 and Holiday Glow highlighting Powder £8.

Available exclusively in Superdrug stores later this month. A donation from every product sold goes to cancer support charity Look Good… Feel Better.

Road testing Collection 2000 and The Natural Collection

Of all the budget brands I’ve never tried Collection 2000 or The Natural Collection. If truth be told I probably dismissed them based on the price, but when my little sister picked up these treats at the weekend I was intrigued to test them out.

Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Crimson £1.99

 If I was blind testing this I would never have expected it to be a cheap lipstick. Don’t be fooled by the bland packaging, it’s very creamy and moisturizing – easy to apply straight from the bullet and can be layered up to achieve more intense colour. As for the shade, I struggle with reds – blue based ones don’t suit me much, I tend to go for orange/coral reds or slightly pinker reds. This, I’d describe as a universally flattering cherry red. It didn’t last as long as other red lipsticks I’ve tried, but equally it didn’t stain my lips. Overall I really liked this lipstick and it shows I should be more open minded – cheap doesn’t always equal substandard.

Natural Collection Pressed Powder £1.99

I couldn’t fully road test this as the shade is too pale for me, but my sister liked it and said it doesn’t what it says on the tin – reduces shine and gives a matte finish where it’s needed. She wore it all day and it didn’t go patchy pr dry the skin out. It’s a light, soft powder, which used sparingly can control shine, or used all over can give a matte finish. My only criticism would be the lack of shades. There’s only three, and this was the darkest, which is still quite light.

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry Shimmy Shake £1.79 8ml

This is spectacular – I can’t believe the price tag! She opted for Shimmy Shake – a sparkly yellowy gold. I’m dubious when it comes to glitter polishes, they’re often too sheer and can take many layers to achieve the bottle colour. This one applied like a dream. I loved the formula – not too runny, not too glupey. It dried really fast and needed just two coats and unlike the natural collection, came in a vast range of shades.

Right now Boots have a 3 for 2 mix and match offer on, meaning all these goodies together cost just £3.98!

Beauty Waitlist… VIVO Make up at Tesco

Tesco, is there anything they don’t sell? Ok I know they already do make up in the form of Barbara Daly, but I’m sorry it’s a bit dull and does anyone actually buy it? Their new and exclusive make up range VIVO  celebrates being “Alive with Colour” and looks set to rival other budget brands like MUA and Sleek, who give us great, on-trend products at affordable prices.

The VIVO range will start at a very affordable £1.50 offering the staples – foundation, mascara and lipgloss etc, as well as bronzer/highlighter duos, brow kits and false eye lashes.  There are also some gorgeous eye and cheek palettes containing domed and marble affect blushers and eyeshadows set to retail around £6!

To be honest I don’t think I need anymore distractions when I’m trying to do my weekly shop, I already spend half an hour in the magazine aisle and have to be dragged away from F&F and now, like a bee to honey  I’ll be drawn, actually sucked in, to the make up isle.

 

I might as well just transfer all my wages to Terry Tesco.

VIVO coming soon (End of September) to an oversized Tesco near you!

Something for the Weekend – M&S Beauty Sale

We get the emails, we see the posters – everywhere we go it’s SALE, SALE, SALE! Although it’s mainly fashion, there are beauty bargains to be had so don’t forget to look beyond the clothes rails. M&S for one are having a final summer clearance, instore and online, and there’s some delicious beauty bargains, like this eye palette for just £2!

And Nail Colours and lipglosses from £1.00!

There’s also lipsticks, blushers and eye shadows – selected colours only of course.

Be quick, things don’t hang around in marksies for very long do they. Check out the online beauty bargains.

17 All About Nude Palette

If you’ve been in Boots anytime in the last week or so this summer palette might just have caught your eye. Unfortunately the limited edition palette is not for individual sale, instead it’s a free gift when you purchase any two 17 products. I ordered mine online as the shops had sold out, and now I see why. The palette is really good quality and wouldn’t be out of place alongside premium palettes from the likes of Benefit and Stila. It contains two eye shadows (top row), a multi purpose cheek blush/highlighter (bottom left) and a lipgloss (bottom right).

The golden coloured eyeshadow is divine – buttery texture, highly pigmented and metallic finish. The cheek product reminds me of a pigmented highlighter, think Nars’ Multiples or Topshop’s Cheek and the lip square is rosey glossy lipstick.

l-r pink eye shadow, golden eye shadow, blush and lips

 So which two 17 products did I choose to go with the new palette? Well, I opted for a mirror shine lipstick in Peace that I’ve had my eye on for a while and a practical, but slightly boring pencil sharpener (£1.99).

Mirror Shine Lipstick – Peace £2.59 (online, £4.59 in store)

If you fancy one of these lipsticks, order online. Boots have £2 off the Mirror Shine range, for some reason they’re still full price in store. As the title suggests, this is a shiny, glossy lipstick. It looks like a lipstick but feels like a balm. It’s shiny like a lipgloss but not at all sticky. Peace looks like a bright coral, but on the lips, it’s more of a hot pink – either way it’s a nice summer shade and super shiny.

All three products cost less than five pounds, a pretty savvy haul I’d say!

What’s in August’s Glossybox?

August’s Glossybox is here… and it’s looking like a good un! Can it be a month already? In case you’ve been living on the moon and don’t know what Glossybox is all about, read this. I guess so. The theme is Wash and Glow and this is what I’ve got…

MURAD Time Release Blemish Cleanser 30ml

I’m quite excited about this one, I’m prone to the odd spot or five and Murad products are normally pretty effective.

AHAVA Mineral Body Lotion 40ml

Tested a little on my hand, it feels quite rich and intensely moisturising – beware, it’s highly perfumed though.

DANIEL SANDLER Baby Jet Mascara

I’m SUPER excited about this one! Could it be the perfect partner to 17’s Falsifeye Mascara? The tiny wand means it can get in all those little nooks and crannies.

KMS CALIFORNIA HAIRSTAY Style Boost 200ml

I’ve known and loved many KMS products in the past, so I’ve got high hopes for this.

REBEL NAILS Nail Wrap (for TOES)

Um, toe wraps, What now? Finger wraps, maybe, but toe wraps, not so much! We’ll see, maybe one for my little sister.

First impressions are pretty positive this month! There’s some full size products again, I’m pleased to receive an actual make up product and I think I’ll use 4 out of the 5!

I’ll be back with full product reviews once I’ve given them the third degree.

Let me know what you got and what you think of August’s Glossybox.

Sick Note!

Hello my regular blog visitors, you might have noticed I’ve been a little MIA these last few days, this is because I’m sick – some virus and throat infection thing – it’s “summer” people, this shouldn’t be happening! I barely managed to muster together a blog post yesterday – so in the interest of quality, not quantity, I’m giving myself a few days off.

I’m also cold turkey with the make up – 5 days clean, it’s killing me, but should be doing my skin the world of good, plus my trusted Eight Hour Cream is helping with the sore nose and lips.

I have my survival kit and hopefully I’ll be back up and running in a few days.

In the mean time to keep all you make up addicts going here’s a few of my favourite posts you might not have caught first time around…

Check out my Holiday Essentials, Probably the World’s best Bronzer and my all time favourite Blusher.

Now, it’s back to copious amounts of magazines, slushy movies and vintage O.C.

Packed To Go?

Leaving on a jet plane? Not before you’ve checked out MAC’s new limited edition travel collection – Packed To Go!

The collection contains everything you should need to fill your chic travel make up bag. Featuring gorgeous face kits, eye, cheek and lip trios and brush bags – perfect for those all important touch ups on the go.

It’s a while since I’ve been super excited by one of Mac’s collections, but this one’s ticking all the boxes. Look in a Box kits are pretty genius and as the name suggests contains everything you need to create a gorgeous themed look… in one box. The eyes, the lips, the cheeks – it’s all taken care of, everything except the foundation and at £36.50, they’re pretty good value.

• Girl Next Door – 2 Eye Shadows in Grand Entrance and Smoke & Diamonds, Iridescent Powder in Belightful, Cremesheen Glass in Deelight and Zoom Lash Mascara in Zoom Black
• A Very Stylish Girl – 2 Eye Shadow in Dreammaker and Glamour Check, Bronzing Powder in Golden, Cremesheen Glass in Looks Like Sin and Zoom Lash Mascara in Zoomblack
• Rocker Chick – 2 Eye Shadow in Electra and Black Tied, Lipstick in Hue, Lipglass in Oyster Girl, Eye Kohl in Smolder and Dazzle Lash Mascara in Black Dazzle

Packed to go Eye products

• Packed to Go: Assorted Black Eyeliners – Power Point Eye Pencil in Engraved, Kohl Power Eye Pencil in Feline and Penultimate Eye Liner in Rapidblack £27.50
• Packed to Go: 6 Warm Smoky Eyeshadows – Shroom, Naked Lunch, Greensmoke, Tempting, Showstopper and Stormy Love £29.50
• Packed to Go: 6 Cool Smoky Eyeshadows – Satin Taupe, Beauty Marked, Carbon, Seedy Pearl, Tendersmoke and A Brown Suit £29.50

Packed to go Lip products

• Packed to Go: Lipstick in Pretty Please, Plumful and Hug Me £28.5o
• MAC Packed to Go: Cremesheens in Boy Bait, Over Indulgence and Double Dare £32.50
• MAC Packed to Go: Lipglasses in C-Thru, Lust and Cultured £27.50

 

 

MAC Packed to Go: 4 Lips & Pressed Powder – contains Lipglosses in Poetic License, Rosehips, Riviera Ready and Quick Change along with Iridescent Powder in Belightful £29.50

Brushes

• Packed to Go: 5 Define & Blend Brushes – 129SE Powder/Blush Brush, 190SE Foundation Brush, 224 SE Tapered Blending Brush, 242SE Shader Brush and the 266 SE Small Angle Brush £39.50
• Packed to Go: 5 Shape & Perfect Brush Bag – 168SE Large Angled Contour Brush, 187SE Duo Fibre Brush, 212SE Flat Definer Brush and 275SE Medium Angled Shading Brush £39.50

And even if you’re not travelling, in fact, especially if you’re not travelling you deserve a little treat and some of these sets are really good value.  Available online.