Beauty Steal – Lily Pebbles

THE £3 SMOKEY EYE

lily — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 07:00:00 +0000

On a recent pre-Ghana trip to Superdrug with Anna we of course found ourselves browsing the beauty isles. I love looking for the gems that go unnoticed, but this one was completely down to Anna. She came skipping down the isle with this little palette in her head, chucked it in my basket and said “that’s right up your street”. She was right. Of course.

For £2.99 I thought, what the heck, I’ll give it a go and I’m so happy I did. I have had many chalky situations with cheap eyeshadow palettes, but I’ve never tried any from NYC so I had no expectations really. The ‘Best of Broadway’ palette comes with four wearable shades. The pale champagne is great to highlight the inner corners and it really brightens up the eye. The pale barley shade is gorgeous for all over the lid and actually unlike anything else I own. It’s quite cool toned and looks beautiful just by itself on the lid. Above that is a chocolate brown with fine silver shimmer that blends really nicely into the lighter shade. The final colour is a rich, dark brown that can either be used to blend into the corners and smoke up the look or as a liner with a small angled brush.

I was really impressed with the pigmentation, how easily they blended into each other and how the shadows lasted well without any creasing. It’s the perfect collection of shades and I can’t believe it’s only £2.99! Madness! Whether you’re just getting into makeup or have drawers full of eyeshadow palettes, I’d definitely recommend picking this up. When I go on these drugstore hunts a lot of the the things I buy get passed onto friends after testing and being disappointed, but this one now has it’s own place in my daily makeup stash and I’ve been loving using it!

THE BUDGET CLEANSING BALM

lily — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 07:00:00 +0000

Budget face masks? Check. Affordable moisturisers? Yeah, I can sort you out. The one skincare question I’ve always struggled to answer though is “What is a good, affordable cleanser?”.

Finally the search is over because I’ve found the most amazing cleansing balm and it’s only £14.50. Compared to the £34 Emma Hardie cleansing balm or the £40 Sarah Chapman Cleansing Balm the Merumaya Melting Cleansing Balm is an absolute steal and as much as I do love my high end versions, this one is just as effective. I first heard about this cleanser from Caroline Hirons, so I knew it was worth a try.

You massage the balm onto the skin before removing it with a cloth and I noticed it’s not as thick as the others I’ve tried. It also emulsifies when mixed with water and turns into more of a milk so it’s easy to spread around the face. The sweet almond oil helps with moisture whilst the Echium oil helps with fine lines, wrinkles and the skin’s elasticity. I’ve really been enjoying using it in the evening to remove my makeup and I love the fresh laundry scent is has.

So there it is, an affordable, effective cleansing balm and it’s available from John Lewis and Debenhams. For a full list of ingredients and a much more extensive review, check Caroline’s post here.

SHOP THE POST

RIMMEL EXAGGERATE UNDERCOVER SHADOW PRIMER

lily — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 07:00:00 +0000

I use an eyeshadow primer almost everyday. Even if you’re not piling on the shadows, primers work great to even out the skin tone on your eyelids and help make eyeshadows and liners last much longer throughout the day. In the past I’ve raved about the Urban Decay Primer Potion, the Bobbi Brown long-Wear Eye Base and the Clinique All About Shadow primer but what do these all have in common? They’re all high end. It’s proved pretty difficult to find a good hight street eyeshadow primer, but finally I think I’ve found one.

The Rimmel Exaggerate Undercover Shadow Primer is only £4.99 and compared to the £15+ price tags of the others, it’s a bargain! It comes with a doe-foot applicator making it easy to apply straight onto the lid which can then be blended out using your finger. Although I don’t actually own it, I have tried the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow base and the formula of the Rimmel one seems really similar. It’s a light-weight silicone formula that appears clear but primes the eyelid really well. I found my eyeshadows didn’t crease when I used this and they felt easy to blend on top of it. I haven’t got oily lids so I can’t comment for those who do, but my eyeshadow lasted all day when I used it. If you prefer thicker, creamy primers then this one won’t be for you, but if you like the silicone feeling then you’ll love it.

If you’re not sure whether you need a primer or only want to use one for nights out when you use lots of shadow, then this is a great one to try out. It’s so affordable that you can’t really go wrong. Have you tried the Undercover Shadow Primer yet?

NEW Rimmel Moisture Renew lipstick

lily — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 05:00:00 +0000

Rimmel are launching quite a few new products for Autumn/Winter but the launch that really got my attention were the Moisture Renew lipsticks. I already fell in love with Notting Hill Nude, remember this post, and now the lipsticks have been reformulated and 10 new Autumn shades have been added to the collection.

The new formula feels a lot more like a traditional lipstick compared to the sheer, lip balm texture of the old ones. The colour pigmentation is really strong and they apply nicely and feel really moisturising on the lips. I did feel like I had to blot the lips with tissue after application, but once I did the colour set into place and lasted well. They’re not quite as moisturising as the old formula and they did cling to any dry patches, but they’re the sort of lipsticks that can easily be layered so it’s easy to work with.

My two favourite picks are ‘Lets Get Naked’ and ‘In Love with Ginger’. They’re out now and are around £6.49. Have you tried any yet?

BOURJOIS COLOUR EDITION 24 HOUR CREAM EYESHADOWS

lily — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 05:00:00 +0000

Is it too early to be getting excited for Winter launches? Definitely not. I love the warm, rich tones of winter makeup and I enjoy amping up the depth of my makeup looks in the colder months.

For their Christmas 2013 collection, Bourjois are releasing their new Colour Edition 24 hour cream to powder shadows. There are six shades; silver, metallic gold, soft pink, metallic khaki, brown plum and dark blue.

I’m personally more of a fan of cream shadows that apply as a cream, just because powder shadows already do what they need to for me. These do have amazing pigmentation though, so the colours are really intense. There’s also a really good, wearable shade selection although they are slightly more shimmery than I would have preferred.

Because of the cream to powder formula, I find these apply best with your finger but then require blending out with a brush. In terms of longevity, I’m not sure why the 24 hour title was needed, my eyeshadows need to last around 12 hours max and that’s when I’m out all day and all night! They do last well though which makes them great as an eyeshadow base as well as worn on their own.

I really like the shades I tried which were 02, 04 and 05 and I think they’ll look really pretty for an evening winter makeup look. They are £6.99 each and will be filtering into stores this month! Will you be picking one up?

PHYSICIANS FORMULA COMING TO THE UK

lily — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 05:00:00 +0000

One of the brands I always look at when I’m in a US drugstore is Physicians Formula. I always thought it was the strangest name for a brand but the more I hear it the less I notice. Anyway, that’s irrelevant. The good news is the brand is finally making it’s way over the pond and landing on UK soil!

I was recently contacted by the brand in the US and although they can’t confirm where and when it will be available they are currently in talks and will definitely be bringing the brand over.

In terms of packaging it seems like quite a cheap, affordable brand and I’d compare it to ones we have here like 17 and Barry M. I’ve always found the quality of Physicians Formula to be really good though and similar to some of the higher end drugstore brands like Soap & Glory and Revlon.

Their Nude eyeshadow palette is something people go crazy over and I can understand why, it has an amazing shade selection. I also really like their eyeliners and their Fake Out mascara. They have a great selection of bronzers and blush that usually have a really pretty embossing on.

So I’m personally excited for the brand to come over to the UK, let’s just hope a $10 palette isn’t £10 here. Have you tried anything from Physicians Formula?