L'Oreal True Match Review...

 (foundation is rose beige, concealer in natural beige)

I don't know why it's taken me so long to blog about this foundation as I absolutely love it! I had heard so many people compare this to the Armani Luminous Silk offering, which people raveee about but I've never had enough pennies to try out, and so this seemed like the perfect alternative to me. The foundation comes in a good range of colours but is a bit stark on the paler side, but I managed to find one after a lot a lot of swatching that matched my skin. It also really helps that this foundation adapts, and it really really does. It completely sinks into the skin as it is so thin and liquidy, if that makes sense, and does so really fast (although this means you have to blend it super-quick) matching the texture of skin perfectly so that you can hardly tell it's there. But the biggie that makes it stand out for me is the coverage. With the rise of the BB and CC and all the ABC's we've all become accustomed to skin-like products, but this one managed medium coverage too. Once builded, I admit it can begin to look cakey so not good for heavier coverage by layering, but for day to day this-is-my-own-skin skin it's perfect. Plus it lasts, so not much need for re-applying!

The concealer is also nice, but not so impressive. As you can see it's really yellow compared to its matching foundation, which means its good for tackling eye-bags, but it's thin so not so good for blemishes. A nice buy, but not one I'm in rush to stock up on. 

The foundation is only £9.99 and concealer £6.99, plus Boots has a 3 for 2 going at the mo which means you can get another little something for free, or if you don't find your shade you could always pick up two (or a summer one for spring!).

I really recommend getting out and trying this for yourself as neither this review or pictures will do it justice. I can't comment on how close it is to luminous silk, but it's pretty darn fab!

Lots of Love,

Charlotte

xxx

illamasqua picks!

Last week I guest posted on the lovely Hannah's ADayInTheLifeOfANorthernGirl and first of all I'd like to say a huge thanks to her, her blog is fab you need to check it out if you haven't already!

I also thought I'd post it here incase you haven't see it yet :)

 I've only ever really dipped into the brand in a nail polish and testing other products in store, but my friend raves about them so I wanted to try. It's definitely not cheap, but in the sale I managed to get all four of these products for £20. Bargain!

Firstly I went for one of their Cream Foundations, down from £23.00 to just £5! As I had to guess online after looking at a million swatches I settled for 210, which is a tad darker than I am but I wanted this for a more heavy coverage for nights out, when I am usually fake-tanned up, so it turned out okay. As you can see from the finger dent in it though, it takes a lot a lot of work to actually get it out of the pan and really warming to make it blendable. After a good dig in with a foundation brush I managed to get this onto my face, with really nice natural but full coverage, but it took too much work in my opinion (maybe I'm just lazy). Nice for £5, but I won't repurchase this at full price.

I also went for the concealer in the same colour, 210, as I've never had a concealer that matches a foundation perfectly and at £5 from £13 it was really cheap too! As you can see from the swatch it really does cover everything, and is super super creamy and blendable. I do find this means it slips about a bit, so a setting powder is a must! It is very similar to the foundation however ( but less hard to use) so perhaps you wouldn't need it with the high coverage the cream foundation gives if you bought that. As you can probably see too, both products are very messy and a couple of uses to test them out seem to have got product all over the very pretty packaging, boo!

Next was a product I've been lusting after for a really really long time. I've tried all sorts of powders for contour, but I found the normal Illamasqua one too orange and the contouring palette recently brought out was just so tiny for the price! At £24 I had already nearly bought this, so when it went down to £5 it was straight into that imaginary shopping bag! Although it's technically a powder foundation it works just like any other powder, and as it's foundation it has much less orangey tones than most bronzers. It's so subtle too- a sweep of this under the cheekbones and you'll be looking perfectly and naturally chiseled. A must for any contour addicts like me!

Lastly I couldn't resist ANOTHER eye pencil, I must have hundreds by now. Illamasqua are known for their dramatic stage and party makeup though and so I thought I'd test that with their eyeliner in Fidelity, also £5. It's a really dark grey brown as you can see, but is really creamy so when smudged under the eye I found it faded into smokeyness really well. There was quite a few colours in the sale both online and in-store and I recommend trying them too if you're an eyeliner-kinda-gal.

Here's the swatches on my hand (Cream Foundation, Concealer, Powder Foundation, Eyeliner). Apologies for the awful light it seems to be constant night-time outside here in Leeds.

Since buying this lot another 10% discount has been added to the Illamasqua sale, plus it's always free delivery, so I'd get there quick if I was you! The foundations and concealers in the sale were limited to certain colours, but even if you dont find a match in the sale I've hopefully given you some food for thought on the products on the whole. I definitely think I'll  be back to Illamasqua for their powder and eye products, but I'll stick to my usual base products for now as for the usual expensive prices I just wasn't blown away!

Finally just another huge thanks to Hannah and thanks to you for reading!

Check me out at www.gagaaboutbeauty.blospot.co.uk if you want to read more and leave a comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences...

Bourjois Magic Nail Remover vs Nails Inc Express Nail Polish Remover : Two Holy Grails...

Why has no-nails february turned into all-about-nails blog month? Maybe my way of dealing with no spending on nails is talking about them as much as possible. Or maybe I just have too much. Here we have two of my favourite nail products ever created, and for once its not polish but remover!

Most of you will have heard of the Bourjous Magic 1 Seconde Pot, but not many people seem to be familiar with the Nails Inc alternative.

Both go by the same concept: stick your finger in, give it a twist and voila! nail polish no more. And yes, they really are as good as they sound. I didn't believe it at first but was converted after one use! They don't irritate your fingers either, they feel a little drying for a second but that soon goes away, and if you doo have dry hands it's nothing drastic that a little hand cream wont sort out straight after. They both smell delicious too! Just one word of warning - don't use these with glitter - it won't work and you'll end up with a glittery finger every time you use it after that.

Now for the comparison. Both are the same size and retail for around £5-6 depending where you buy, although the nails inc is generally a couple of pound more expensive unless you get a good offer, and you can often get the borjouis on 3 for 2 in Boots or Superdrug. In terms of packaging, which doesn't reeeeaaalllly matter, the nails inc is much nicer (the borjouis somehow turns white as you can see). Most importantly, on terms of which is better at removal, I have to hand it to nails inc. It's softer, smoother, lasts longer and generally feels nicer to use. I actually enjoy it! I feel like a bit of a wierdo now. It doesn't get less effective over time as quickly or noticeably as the borjouis does and seems to remove tougher nail polish with much more ease. Saying that, I had the borjouis for a long time before I was given the nails inc and I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread until then! 

Whichever you might choose, you HAVE to try these. Trust me, your life might just change. Well slightly at least. Now I have these I'll never turn back to cotton wool again for my fingers, but these won't work unless you have crazy toes that are as long as fingers. On the plus side, there is news of borjouis releasing a toe version soon which I am very excited about!!

Enjoy!!!

Lots of love,

Charlotte

xxx

models own haul!

Red Lustre, Cerise Shine, Naked Glow, White Lights, Apple Pie

Now before you jump to conclusions, nope, I haven't fallen off the no nails february wagon, I actually ordered these in the Models Own sale last week while it was still January. Everything was half price which was amaaazing so I couldn't help having a little splurge. The swatches really speak for themselves, but here's a little run down of what I got and my thoughts. 

First I picked up four of the new HyperGel range (if you're a regular reader you'll know I'm a sucker for gel polish) and I have to say I absolutely love them. They're much better than Barry M Gelly's and for £5 full price they're equally as bargainous. Plus the colour range is gorgeous, and a little different from your regular lines, in true Models Own Style. The swatches above were achieved with just one coat and no top coat, and are so so glossy with just that. I'm especially impressed with the white as it's so opaque, I recommend it even if you aren't looking for a glossy nail in particular but just a good white. Once February is over I can see myself expanding my HyperGel collection to all ten pretty quickly!

Next I picked up one of the Fruit Pastel range which smell on your nails! I'm not a huge pastel fan however I do love mint green so this was right up my street and really does smell delicious like apple sweets or appleade. Although I must say that the smell only lasts on the nail for a couple of hours, but hey ho, I didn't really buy it for the scent anyway. This one took two coats, but after all it is a pastel, which are notorious for this!

I also picked up a fast dry ointment thingy to make my nails dry super fast but I haven't had a proper test of this yet.

As with all Models Own these polishes are super lovely to apply and really long lasting, the gel ones even more so than usual. I really can't get over how glossy they are either, its amazing. 

The sale is now over but at £5 I still think these are fab purchases and well worth trying out!

Lots of love,

Charlotte

xxx

Liebster Nomination!

I am so so happy to have been nominated for a Liebster Award by Ally from AllyMarieCatherine (if you haven't read before check her out). For anyone that doesn't know the Liebster award is given to up and coming bloggers who have 200 followers or less...