Category Archives: beauty look

Make Up Geek Warm Toned Eyeshadows Review

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Make Up Geek Warm Toned Eyeshadows

The praise for Make Up Geek Eyeshadows is phenomenal and being the ever doubtful gal that I am, it took my pretty time to both read up on reviews and of course to finally splurge out on a few. I say splurge when really at just £6 a shade they are a complete steal and truly worthy of every word of admiration and then some; to try is to believe the hype but if you need a little further encouragement let me share no less than 21 shades, and of course more than a few thoughts.

Make Up Geek Warm Toned Eyeshadows
Make Up Geek Warm Toned Eyeshadows

To keep the cost low and of course to offer complete flexibility in terms of storage, the Make Up Geek Eyeshadows come presented in the typical re-fill pan style (a la MAC et al), a.k.a the eyeshadow has no additional packaging other than the outer cardboard sleeve so that it can be slotted into any palette or storage system you wish. I personally store my shadows in a large Z Palette (which you can find here) and find it works really well: I can have three rows of seven eyeshadows with space, or around 30 pans if I go for more ad hoc set up – either way it is a great investment and keeps everything safe and secure. On a related note, if you have a few empty spaces within an existing MAC Palette, the Make Up Geek Shadows will comfortably fit into the pre-cut slots – and of course any other magnetic eyeshadow palette you may have.

Make Up Geek Warm Toned Eyeshadows
Make Up Geek Warm Toned Eyeshadows

Before I share swatches and a general run down of the 21 shadows I have collected over the last few months, let’s discuss the formula. The good news is that regardless of what shade you decide to purchase, the Make Up Geek Eyeshadows are consistent: soft, beyond pigmented, easy to blend with moderate fall out – they give brands such as Urban Decay a run for their money. The down side of a soft formulation is that they are prone to easily shattering – take a quick look at my Crème Brulee pan, I accidentally dropped it onto a soft rug, the fall would have been no less than 3ft and it all but exploded all over the floor. Not great, especially if you plan on travelling with the pans – which I actively avoid for said reason. Other than that, I will go on record and say that this is the best eyeshadow formulation that you will find for £6. Continue reading →

Caudalie

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Caudalie Vinoperfect Complexion Correcting Radiance Serum Review

This serum has such an average formulation that the price just seems to be in bad taste. This contains mostly water, slip agents, emollient, thickener, vitamin E, plant extracts, fragrance, and film-forming agent. The small amount of grape extract means that this product likely has minimal antioxidant ability—and what about skin-identical substances, cell-communicating ingredients, or an anti-irritant or two? All of those are hallmarks of state-of-the-art serums, which this product certainly is not.

Note: This serum is dispensed via a dropper applicator. Although not the ideal method to dispense a serum that contains light- and air-sensitive ingredients, sometimes this type of packaging is necessary due to formulary requirements. When that’s the case, the goal is to keep the bottle opening as small as possible, the bottle should be opaque or specially coated to protect the contents from light, and you should use the serum up within three months of opening.

The new Beautypedia Team proudly and unequivocally maintains the commitment to help you find the best products possible for your skin. We do this by relentlessly pursuing and relying on published scientific research so you will have unbiased information on what works and what doesn’t-and the sneaky ways you could be making your skin worse, not better!

Excellent Invention: The Nail Polish Remover for Hands and Feet

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how to remove toenail polish

Thing Of The Week – and yes, I know I’m late to the party – is this very nifty little product from Bourjois, the Magic Nail Polish Remover for Hands and Feet. Their “one second” remover for fingernails is already one of my all-time favourite beauty inventions – you just stick your finger into the pot, and the remover-soaked sponge dissolves your polish in mere seconds. (One second is somewhat optimistic, unless you are able to move your hands at superhuman speeds.) The new version is even more clever than the original:

pedicure products

Take off the lid and you have a neat, stubby sponge – again, pre-soaked in remover – that is perfect for swiping over toenails to remove remnants of old polish, or to give a nice clean base for new polish. Before I actually tried this little toenail-polish-removing sponge, the sceptic inside did whisper, for crying out loud! Can you not just soak a bit of cotton wool? Is that too much effort for you these days?

But I must say that I am a total convert. The remover works so fast that just a quick rub of the sponge does the trick and, if you’ve already done your fingernails (which for me is about 90% of the time – toenails are always an afterthought!) there’s no risk of getting remover on your new manicure and messing it all up. It’s just a brilliant, brilliant idea. And of course you still have the original function – poke your finger into the pot and the sponge will clean your fingernails of polish in less time than it takes to decide which colour you’re going to apply next. No scraps of cotton wool to get rid of, no risk of spillage, just stick the lid back on when you’ve finished and it’s all tidily packed away. Also (and this is a terrible thing to say, especially when you’re making an effort to try and do more exercise), you don’t need to bend down quite so far to touch your toes. The sponge-on-a-lid saves you about an inch and a half’s worth of stretching. Which is a lot when you’re tired/rushing/drunk/in a moving vehicle.

Definitely one to add to your home manicure/pedicure collection – in fact, I’d say that it’s probably the most useful and most-used thing in mine. ASOS have it on sale at the moment – £4.50 – you can add it to your shopping bag here. (ALSO, there’s a 70% sale on. If you didn’t see my post with the small-headed sunglasses, have a read here. They are well worth picking up!)

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YSL Summer Splash 2015

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YSL Summer Splash 2015

I’ve genuinely been a fan of the YSL lip stains since they launched in 2012. Now, for YSL Summer Splash 2015, there’s a third version of them; the YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis A Levres Pop Water (£26). Don’t even try saying it after a gin. I think we can just call them YSL Pop Waters. It’s just a little bit genius that in the creation of Pop Water, the same type of high grade colourants that are used in gummy bears are used in these! They’re far less shiny that the previous versions but, in my view, more stainy, so perfect for a hit of colour without stickiness.

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Shades from bottom to top are: Rouge Splash, Pink Rain, Onde Rose, Wet Nude, Juicy Peach and Dewy Red. They look super shiny in the swatch, but the shine quickly wears away. What I’ve found with all the YSL variants in this category is that they need frequent reapplication. Personally, I love the tactile element of application so it doesn’t bother me at all but if you’re looking for Bobbi Brown type longevity, you won’t find it here.

YSL Summer Splash 2015

And just to prove the point that they are stainy – this is my arm now!

YSL Summer Splash 2015

Le Laque Couture Pop Colours are fun – over washes of colour to wear alone for fresh and bright nails or to transform other shades. They are buildable – in the swatch below I’ve used two coats but bear in mind that they’re over a white nail wheel so will look more vibrant than they actually are. I’m going to experiment using them over white.. I think that could look very pretty.

YSL Summer Splash 2015

Shades that I have are Orange Drop, Rouge Wet and Fuchsia Rain.

YSL Summer Splash 2015

I found there to be almost no difference between Rouge Wet and Fuschia Rain. You can take these up to three coats but you’d need to be sure that your nails aren’t discoloured and have an even edge to them to make these look their best. You will be able to see the nail through the coats. The La Laque Pop Waters are £19 each.

Finally, as part of the collection, there are some eye colours – Full Metal Shadow; glossy splashes of metal colour. I tested them out and found that they didn’t last at all.. there was nothing on my lids at all by the end of the morning, so I’m going to experiment with using them with eye primers before blogging them.

Seventeen Instant Glow Shimmer Brick

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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..