Category Archives: beauty products

Seventeen have a range of bronzing products called ‘Instant Glow’, and the range includes two shades of Shimmer Brick; Gold Bronze and Pink Bronze. The Seventeen Instant Glow Shimmer Bricks are just £4.99 each, and they contain four strips of shimmery colour for creating the perfect bronzey look. The Instant Glow Shimmer Bricks are pretty impressive dupes for the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks, except the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks are £33 each. I do own one of the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks, and it is definitely beautiful but I can’t help but think £33 is quite overpriced especially when there are some budget alternatives such as the Seventeen Instant Glow Shimmer Bricks.

I have the Gold Bronze Shimmer Brick which contains four bronze toned shades; a golden champagne, a taupey brown, a warm gold and a rich chocolate brown. The shades are all very warm in tone, so I can’t use them as as bronzer or highlighter personally, but I imagine they’d look stunning on darker skintones than mine. However I have another fantastic use for the Shimmer Brick, and that is as an eyeshadow quad. All four shades are buttery soft, with intense pigmentation which compliment eachother really well. The shades all work together to create a beautiful bronze smokey eye.

The four shades all apply beautifully without a primer, but with a primer layered underneath, the shades become even more vivid. I’ve also found that they can be used with a damp eyeshadow brush, to create a foiled effect too so it really is a versatile product. I love wearing bronze smokey eyes, but I’m now dying to get my hands on the Pink Bronze Shimmer Brick as I bet the pinky toned shades would also be stunning when worn as eyeshadows. If you’ve been wanting to try the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks, I really do recommend trying the Seventeen Instant Glow Shimmer Bricks as they’re genuinely just as pretty, and pigmented yet £28 cheaper so it’s a no brainer really..

Well this is a red-and-a-half, isn’t it? OPI’s Coca Cola Red from the new Coca Cola collection. What an earth Coca Cola have to do with nail polish, I have no idea, but they seem to be all over the place these days with their “Share a Coke” campaign… This week I asked the lovely Nail Artist Martha to create me a classic red nail look on one of her clients and she sent me this juicy little number! Nails that are square, short and sweet, colour that’s hi-shine and so bright it’s almost neon.

Martha’s tips for painting the perfect red nail are as follows:

1) Wipe the nail first with cotton wool and acetone to remove daily dirt, oil and moisturiser.

2) Always apply a base coat, especially with a strong colour like red. Invest in a good base coat as this will make your manicure last longer. Good preparation and foundation work will make for a smoother, more long-lasting finish.

3) Apply the polish using quick and light movements, being careful not to “flood” the cuticle. You just want to kiss the cuticle, not paint it! (Martha said that this OPI polish was amazing to apply – “a nail tech’s dream” – smooth and light and with an intense colour even after one coat.)

4) Seal the polish in with a top coat.

I love this brighter-than-bright type of red for the summer months. By all means give me that classic, Hollywood red when the weather starts to turn cold – I’ll even plump for one of those rusty or brownish-reds if I’m feeling particularly seasonal – but when it’s hot and my skin is a lovely sunkissed colour, only brights will do!

You can find OPI’s Coca Cola nail lacquer collection at FeelUnique.com – each polish costs £11.95 with free UK delivery. You can follow Martha on Instagram here – thank you for this week’s nail look Martha!

READ MORE NAIL STUFF. 

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Fabulous content provided by Benebabe Nicole AKA StoneColdBetch

So… You just woke up late for work and there’s a good-looking man out cold next to you. You say uh oh, I say – you go, girl! It must have been all those times you batted your perfectly Roller Lash’d lashes at him last night. Or maybe it was from wearing a lipstick called Dare Me…

What’s really important is that you make a getaway plan to get ready and out the door without waking up Mr. Right Now. All you need is a getaway beauty bag with all the essentials to freshen up before your stride of pride! By the way, your hair looks AMAZING – did you do something different with it? 😉

Here’s what I keep in my getaway beauty bag:

• The Porefessional
• Erase Paste
• Girl Meets Pearl
• Dare Me Lipstick (you know, from last night)
• Bright Eyes Palette
• Roller Lash
• Fine One One

Shhh… You don’t want to wake up that hairy sleeping beast. Grab your clothes (where is that earring?), shoes, purse, and tiptoe to the bathroom to perform some Beauty 911 – I mean, Fine One One.

The key to faking a fresh face the morning after is a dewy face that looks bright and alive! Swirl on some Porefessional and Erase Paste to hide any hints of last night and top it off with some Girl Meets Pearl to give you a well-rested glow. Then Use Fine One One on cheeks and lips for a fresh flush… kind of like the color you turn thinking about last night.

The Bright Eyes palette is a literal lifesaver – you can use it to create a variety of looks, depending on how you look and feel. It’s an illuminating kit with base, contour, and highlight shadows plus an eye brightener. Swipe on some Roller Lash to force your eyes open – you’ll look alert even if you’re mentally asleep. Trust. This mascara is the key to looking your best even if you feel like a hot mess.

Remember, Benebabes: always put your best foot (and face) forward… Just slick on some lipstick and you’re ready to sneak out the door with no man the wiser! It’s a stride of pride, not a walk of shame. Own it.

xx

StoneColdBetch | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

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When I saw the new Clarins Autumn Makeup Collection 2015 I was instantly excited. It’s quite a small collection to previous seasons, but it’s a real versatile collection that will flatter all skin tones, and I imagine it’s going to one of Clarins‘ most popular collections to date. The collection includes a beautiful palette; the Pretty Day 5 Colour Eyeshadow Palette, which contains five gorgeous neutral shades which I’ll be adding to my collection as soon as the collection launches in August as the pigmentation looks incredible. I have a few products form the collection to show you, and all swatches will be at the bottom of the post…

The Clarins Ombre Matte Eyeshadows are my favourite Clarins makeup product, so I was excited to see that they were releasing two new shades as part of their Autumn Collection. The two new shades are Carbon and Heather, and I have the shade Carbon £19. I’ve already featured a few shades of the Clarins Ombre Matte Eyeshadows here, but they’re an amazing cream to powder eyeshadow formula with super intense pigmentation, and I love them and recommend them to everyone. Carbon is a very dark grey which is bordering on black with silver shimmer particles, and is so buttery and smooth in terms of texture. I think this will be so ideal for Autumnal and Winter smokey eyes, as it’s dark yet sparkly.

The next item from the Clarins Autumn Makeup Collection 2015 that I have, is the Clarins Rouge Eclat Lipstick £19.50 in the shade Red Paprika, but there is another shade called Tawny Rose as part of the Autumn Collection. The Clarins Rouge Eclat Lipsticks offer long-lasting colour with a Nutri-Youth Complex which protects the lips against dehydration and boosts collagen, whilst Vitamin E protects against free radicals and 100% plant waxes provide instant comfort. Firstly, the packaging is gorgeous.. with gold metal casing, and a clear plastic lid which just feels so luxe when you’re applying. Red Paprika is a dark, almost burnt red shade which has a creamy formula like a lip butter except it has the pigmentation of a lipstick. The lipstick has a lovely fruity scent, and it feels so creamy and comfortable on the lips and it’s relatively long lasting considering how smooth and buttery the formula is, with a wear time of around four hours depending on eating/drinking.

The Clarins Autumn Makeup Collection 2015 includes two Crayon Khôl Eyeliner Pencils £17; Carbon Black and True Violet, and I have the True Violet shade which is a metallic deep purple which is just so pretty, and I have been loving wearing it along my lower lashline for a subtle, jewel-toned pop of colour. The formula isn’t the creamiest I’ve ever tried, but it soon warms up once on contact with the skin. The pencil has a natural hair blending brush on the other end of the pencil which is such a great inclusion as it blends the pencil beautifully, which I find prolongs the weartime of the liner too.

Eyebrow fans will be pleased to hear that the collection includes three shades of Eyebrow Pencil £17; Dark Brown, Light Brown and Soft Blonde. I have the lightest shade from the trio which is Soft Blonde, which isn’t too pale surprisingly as you can see from the swatches below. My brows are naturally dark, but I can still manage to pull off this shade on the days where I want a more natural brow. The pencil has the perfect consistency in that it’s quite hard, but it’s soft enough that you can draw individual brow-like strokes through your brows to build up intensity, and it’s not too waxy that you wipe your whole brow off should you accidentally touch them (we’ve all been there). It also has an handy spoolie on the opposite end for blending the pencil, and styling your brows which I love and as far as spoolies go, this is a really good one as it’s nice and firm.

So there are a few of the gems from the Clarins Autumn Makeup Collection 2015, I’d love to know which is your favourite product from the collection? Will you be making a purchase once the collection launches in August?

*This post contains a PR Sample or gifted item.

The post Clarins Autumn Makeup Collection 2015 appeared first on Miss Makeup Magpie.

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You may have gathered, from seeing the odd flash of house in the backgrounds of my videos and photographs, that my taste in interiors is – what would be traditionally considered to be – rather masculine. I tend to favour warm woods and clean lines and darker colours over anything that could be considered pretty. Rosewood, leather, slate; smoked glass and tinted mirror; textured walls, simple, modern bed linen. I see interiors online that I love – bright white spaces with airy curtains billowing in the breeze – but no matter how hard I try to be a bit less…Tom Ford with things, we still end up with most of our rooms looking as though they’ve been lifted from a book on mid century interiors. Which is fitting, I suppose, in a mid century house…

Anyway, to cut a long and rambling monologue short: in a moment of desperate need for some pretty, feminine things in my life, I started rummaging about collecting nice trinkets and beautiful bits and bobs from my beauty stash. And then I realised that it was going to be Valentine’s Day so I arranged them with some love-themed stuff for good measure.

As you do.

I found it all very therapeutic, really. Until the dog wandered over and – literally – belched over my still life set-up. On Thursday he came into the house carrying a whole dead bird so I suppose I have to be grateful that nothing fell out of his mouth, but still. I need an undisturbed weekend in a frou-frou hotel suite with a bright bathroom, sans pets and…male things. The baby can come, she’s a total doll.

Anyway, my girly stuff. I’ve been sniffing the new Roger & Gallet Rose Balm (above) all weekend and the clean, minimalist Rose de Grasse range from Aerin is just amazing. One of those scents that makes everything seem right with the world. The Rose Mask from Fresh is a slightly odd one; a cool gel mask with pure rosewater that tones and hydrates. I’ve been using it for months and still sitting on the fence – I love the feel of it and it would be amazing as a post-beach treatment, but it’s so different to other masks I’ve used I find it difficult to come to any real conclusions on its effectiveness! I shall attempt to jot down some notes this week in my Love Love Love notebook!

And here’s minimalist gold and beige edit: I found this one particularly satisfying to photograph. Lots of bright white, very cleansing for the brain, I find. I had just tidied the bedroom so I think that this picture reflects my state of mind. The Cosmic Love card is £2.50 from Ohh Deer. Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum, which seems to be a favourite with almost everyone I know: £49 House of Fraser. If you’re a Mademoiselle fan then there is something incredibly delicious coming out in a couple of weeks – I’ll update you. The Star Charm Necklace was a very kind gift from a client a year or so ago, you can find it at Luis Miguel Howard if it tickles your fancy.

I’m off to enjoy the day of lurve. Actually, it’s my Mum’s birthday, so I’m off to eat cake, but kind of the same thing. Bisous!

The post Sunday Tittle Tattle: Masculine Houses and Lovely Little Treasures appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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