#BBBDreambox3

#BBBDreambox3

#BBBDreamBox3

So, here we are again! For anyone new to the BBB Dream Boxes with Latest In Beauty, they happen twice a year, with a minimum of 15 full and sample sized products for you to try. Part of the pleasure of being a beauty blogger is that I get to try and test so many products and if I find something I really love, I try and ensure that it’s included in a box so that everyone else can see if they like it as much as I do. The aim of the Dream Boxes is to give the best possible value within the box (it’s over £110 value this time), as well as offers from the brands included, with a mix of luxury and great budget performers. The box is £21.95 including postage. The link is at the bottom of the post.

Last time, the Dream Box crashed my site and then crashed the Latest In Beauty site, so we’re going for an early start on this one and hoping that it might stagger traffic a little.

#BBBDreamBox3

Salon Science Reglosse Smoothing Serum Full Size: When I first tried the Salon Science range last year, I was so impressed with it, I immediately wanted it for the box! I use this serum all the time now for its ability to soften and relax the hair without weighing it down or leaving an oily feel. Value: £18. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 20% off all products with BBB code.

Scottish Fine Soaps Luxury Soap Full Size: I love proper bars of soaps, and these are soft, lathery and gorgeously scented, Portable tins that mean you never need face a bland hotel soap again. And, the 40 year old family run business is from Scotland, like me, so it’s a pleasure to present a quality brand from my home. There are two varieties: Au Lait (a sweet, milky scent) and Sea Kelp (a fresh, green scent). Value: £4.95. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 15% off all products with BBB code.

Vita Liberata Luxury Tan 20ml: This brand is a long-time favourite of mine for self-tanning. In fact, if at all possible, I don’t use anything else. When I first came across it, Vita Liberata wasn’t as readily available as it is now and I used to stalk every single branch of Boots I passed to stock up! It gives a warm, natural looking tan that lasts and lasts (this is the 2-3 week last formula) without drying out the skin. There’s also a mini-mitt included and you can use it on face and body. Value: £9. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 1/3 off the Phenomenal collection with BBB code.

Orelia Gold Tattoos: I absolutely adore gold temporary tattoos and wear them frequently through winter and summer as an accessory (I love bracelet effects best of all). Orelia’s temporary tattoos are reflective of the brand’s jewellery – innovative, beautiful and exciting and it’s a natural fit with Vita Liberata for golden skin with a flash of metallic. There’s a mix of 9 different styles so which one you get will be a surprise. Value: £5. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 20% off everything with the BBB code.

Crabtree & Evelyn Pear & Magnolia Body Lotion 50ml: I love the scent of pears, and in this travel sized body lotion, it’s predominant with a gentle backdrop of magnolia. Once it quickly sinks into the skin, you’re left with instant softness and a gentle trail of fragrance. The body lotion feels far more luxurious than the price would suggest. Value: £5. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 20% off all Crabtree & Evelyn with BBB Code.

BBBDreamBox3

essence Nail Polish Full Size: I’ve got two little essence polishes for this box in two wearable colours (each box contains both), so that you can see how budget nail varnish should be done! The formulas are strong and reliable – even outperforming much, much pricier brands in terms of wear. The shades are split into a nude and a pastel so you can experience different textures for clean, spring looks. Value £3.60.

Ole Henriksen Pure Truth Melting Cleanser 15ml: I can remember being so impressed when I first discovered this product! It’s such an unusual texture, being part gel and part balm, and I used the entire full size pot down to the very last drop. It leaves skin gorgeously soft and properly cleansed. Value £3.05. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: Free African Red Tea Foaming Cleanser with 2 products purchased with code.

Eye Of Horus Charcoal Obsidian Goddess Pencil Full Size: One of the softest, most blendable eye liners I’ve ever discovered – an absolute beauty if you love to smoke up your eyes. I use mine on both inner and outer rims – it’s rather addictive! We have a big split of colours from smoky black to the brightest of blues so that you can start experimenting straight away. Value: £17.99. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 20% off the entire Eye of Horus range with BBB code.

Benefit They’re Real Mascara Remover 7.5ml: This is a miracle formula that makes even tough mascara glide away from your lashes without pulling or tugging. It even works on waterproof mascara and it’s fine for sensitive eyes or contact lense wearers, too. Value: £2.18. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: Free in-store makeup lesson.

#BBBDreambox3

Roger & Gallet Fleur de Figuier 1.5ml: Fleur de Figuier is the freshest burst of summer, full of fruity notes in a light juice that instantly gives your senses a lift. This fragrance range has a special place in my heart (and has been in previous BBB Boxes) – behind the brand is an amazing team who truly have a passion for what they create. Value: £1.26

Bourjois Rouge Velvet Full Size : These beautiful velvet textured lip shades are such a deserved success for Bourjois. They’re easily outperforming luxury competitors by giving strong pigment and last with a soft finish every single time. We have two stunning shades; Nude-ist or Don’t Pink Of It, for nude lips with attitude! Value: £8.99.

Deciem Hand Chemistry 30ml: If you’re a regular reader of BBB, you’ll know this is my favourite ever hand cream. Put it to the ten day test and see the results for yourself – Hand Chemistry has put its money where its mouth is using a high percentage of active ingredients, and the formulation is transformational for needy hands. Deciem is brand to keep your eyes on – they’re adventurous, exciting and deliver on claims. Value: £8. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 20% off Hand Chemistry lines with BBB code.

Nuxe Masque Crème Fraiche Full Size: Nuxe is the most requested product for my beauty boxes from BBB readers, and at last, it’s here! This is a wonderfully soothing and rehydrating mask that left my skin looking more vibrant and much smoother. It’s an absolute skin treat that I’m so happy to be able to share with you. Value: £18.50. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 15% off your first order with BBB code.

Dr Organic Lip Balm Full Size: I was so taken with these balms when I tested them out earlier in the year that I knew I had to include them in the next box! We’ve got three variants; Cherry, Mint and Argan, each with SPF15, for smooth and noticeably softer lips. Value: £3.40.

MakeUp Revolution The One Fluid Blush: I’ve included this lightweight and fluid textured blush because it’s really one to try for the beautiful, real-skin sheerness that it gives. If you haven’t used a fluid blush before (there aren’t many around), my advice is to put a couple of drops into the palm of your hand, swirl a brush over it and blend over the cheeks until it’s seamless. Makeup Revolution is storming the budget beauty market with their affordable and quality products. Value: £3. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 25% off all MUR with BBB code.

Is The Dupe & Copycat Beauty Market Waning? Are We Over Cheaper Copies Of Firm Favourites?

For the best part of the past five years, we’ve been collectively obsessed with the dupe. Us beauty bloggers have undoubtedly been fueling the trend, promising readers that the latest eyeshadow palette to land on our doorstep is a brilliant copy of something four times the price, but the market has also been driven by technological improvements that allow us to buy into the same quality for a fraction of the previous cost. When I was growing up the only ‘budget’ beauty brands were Collection 2000 and Boots 17, both offering a plethora of products to get experimental with but the quality wasn’t there; as soon as we could upgrade to something a touch more glamorous, we would. Skip forward a few decades and those (rebranded) names are not only offering far superior quality and in some instances competing with some of the most luxury cosmetics available, but our high streets have been somewhat revolutionised. Names including MUA, Makeup Revolution, Lottie London, NYX, Freedom, GOSH, Miss Sporty, Model’s Own and Sleek are proving that you don’t have to spend a fortune to fill your makeup bag with greatness – but they’re also collectively providing us with dupes of everything from Urban Decay Naked palettes and Kylie liquid lipsticks, to NARS blushers and Bobbi Brown highlighters. For a moment there we got a bit excited, but are we over it? Is 2017 the year that we’re finally bored of the dupe and we start trading up for something we can treasure?

In my opinion the growth of our dupe fascination came with the rise in popularity of throwaway fashion and being able to snap up something on-trend for the price of your morning coffee. Primark allowed us to update last year’s jumper with the help of a £2.50 statement necklace, or pick up a pair of pumps for £4.00 during our lunchbreak; we became obsessed with buying all the fashion and always having something new to adorn our bodies with, as for the first time ever fashion became insanely affordable. It became the norm to buy a new outfit for every night out, because we didn’t have to break our backs to do so; it became pretty standardised to pick up a Mulberry or Chloe copy from New Look or Topshop as the high street tried to capture our attention in new and exciting ways. Unsurprisingly this filtered pretty quickly into the beauty industry, with consumers always wanting to hunt down that must-have product without having to fork out the full price.

Some brands have built their entire business models off the back of dupes, even taking the time to ensure their packaging is ‘inspired’ by their more expensive counterparts. Makeup Revolution, Barry M, Sleek, W7 and The Balm are some of the worst (or best) culprits, being able to turn around a new product and offer up a dupe sometimes within a few months of the original hitting shelves. Others take a softer approach, preferring to identify trends (nude eyeshadow palettes, liquid lipsticks and finely milled pigmented blushers) and create their own take without stepping on any toes. Up until this point they’ve benefited from a huge surge in consumer interest (fueled by bloggers knowing that anything considered a dupe will bring in those much needed hits!) but my gut feeling is that this is coming to an end. Although picking up a cut price item of makeup will give us a buzz, if it just doesn’t perform or feel like the original would we be better off saving our pennies and splurging on products we know we’ll thoroughly enjoy from beginning to end?

I love brands like Makeup Revolution, but I can’t help but feel like they need to step out of the dupe arena and create something new. Endless tweaks on the same product get a little dull, while a stand full of copycats makes me feel like they lack the creativity consumers are beginning to expect. Just as I’ve moved away from fast fashion, I’m also moving away from fast beauty; I would far prefer to spend £20.00 on something I know produces the results I need than impulsively chuck a few pounds on something ten times over that never gets used. Although the quality of affordable makeup is so much better than it ever has been, I do feel that as a society we’re moving towards more considered purchasing and are starting to make wise investments less often – rather than feeling the need to snap up anything and everything because it’s cheap.

Personally I adore affordable beauty and I know you do too; I know you love to find out what’s exciting and what bargain buys are worth snapping up, but it’s all about balance. I know you also want to know what’s worth spending your money on and making informed decisions about those purchases. Although I don’t think these affordable brands are going anywhere, I do feel that this year there will be a move away from creating copies and dupes – towards real innovation that stands on its own two feet. Brands including Kiko, NYX and Bourjois are creating covetable pieces (at affordable prices) without feeling the need to copy or imitate, to the point where they’re sure to become cult classics themselves; with the technological advances and birth of the internet allowing practically anyone to set up shop and ship worldwide, there’s no excuse to remain stagnant or just copy what everyone else is doing. Us consumers demand more, but brands are you listening?

What do you think about dupes and copycat brands? Do you love them and can’t get enough, or are you moving towards more considered investment purchases? Or are you just torn?

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The Big Pavlova Disaster

how to make pavlova

Sorry, we’ve had a mixed bag of posts this week what with egg separation and arm pits, I promise we’ll be back to beauty soon. I just need to be able to get through the door of the beauty room and I can get started with some photography and makeup tinkering. Mr AMR may well have to use a battering ram to get me in, as a pile of something heavy (possibly candles) seems to have avalanched from the shelves, jamming the door firmly shut!

Anyway, from eggs to arm pits to pavlova. This pavlova malarkey has been something of an ongoing saga – I was intending to make Nigella’s Prodigious Pavlova for Christmas Day but things just kept happening that should, by all accounts, have given me a little inkling that perhaps the pavlova wasn’t meant to be. Firstly I couldn’t find a baking sheet to fit the oven, so off Mr AMR went to get one from Tesco. Then I didn’t have any caster sugar, at which point Mr AMR gently suggested that maybe a Pavlova Postponement (PP) was prudent, especially as he had been back and forth to the shops in excess of five times already, collecting important things that I had forgotten for the Christmas period. (Bread, milk, potatoes, butter, the list goes on.)

After the three-day Pavolva Postponement, I decided to try again but my fruit had gone off and so had the cream. It was as though the pav was never meant to be!

A week later, and armed with fresh ingredients, I began to make my meringue base. All went well, thanks to the ready-separated egg whites (see here) and the handy meringue-making tips on Google (make sure you have a clean glass bowl, add the caster sugar a little bit at a time). By 10pm, I had produced the most perfect, peaky, glossy white meringue. All ready to be piled up with folds of luscious cream and tart globs of passion fruit. (If you want the recipe, it’s easy to find on Google – it’s from Nigella’s Christmas book, circa 2004.)

Now I know that what you are about to see looks like some kind of brain operation being performed on a sheep, or perhaps a post-mortem being carried out on The Snowman‘s head, but I want you to know that when I finished the pavlova it actually looked rather impressive. It was only when I realised that things had gone drastically wrong that I decided to do a photo, and by then I couldn’t be arsed to make it look nice. I had also battered it with a spoon in a temper and the side had collapsed:

pavlova disaster

Ha! What went wrong? You may well ask. It all looked perfect, and I was about to pour on my homemade raspberry sauce, when Mr AMR (who was busy licking the spoons and whisk beaters and so on) said, “is the cream supposed to taste this weird?” The cream was completely off! I mean disgustingly off! (PS Sainsbury’s, you owe me big time – the use-by date wasn’t even close and I am mentally scarred by the whole saga.) So, the whole pavlova went into the bin.

I realise that I may have bored some of you to tears with this post, I just needed to get the whole thing off my chest. Usually I’d make my Mum listen but she was busy moving an apple tree in the garden and didn’t have time for the whole, unabridged story. Back to beauty tomorrow – I’m never attempting a pavlova ever again!

The post The Big Pavlova Disaster appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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Pure Retinol Instant Treatment Eye Masks / Mr AMR’s New Undereye.

Shiseido Benefiance Pure Retinol Instant Treatment Eye Mask

There was a genuine “hallelujah” moment when Mr AMR and I removed our Express Smoothing Eye Masks. Or I should say mask, singular. We only had one on each, because a) we both wanted to have a comparison “control” eye and b), these Shiseido masks are bloody expensive and I was feeling in a stingy mood!

Anyway, back to the hallelujah: never has an eye mask worked so well. On my eye (left one), all fine lines were totally smoothed out and the undereye area looked tighter and brighter, but didn’t have that horrible stretched feeling that some masks give you. As though you’ve applied washing-up liquid and left it to dry. Ugh, none of that. Great results.

But not as great as the difference on Mr AMR’s eye (right one, not that it matters), that quite literally looked as though it belonged to a different person! Mr AMR has a little tiny bit of creasey-ruggedness going on around the eyes, and I’m sure he won’t mind me mentioning that so long as I say that it’s the very Hollywoodhandsome kind of creasey-ruggedness. Anyway, he does, and the Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle-Resist 24 Pure Retinol Express Smoothing Eye Mask (longest product name ever? Probably not) gave him a completely different eye. Almost totally smooth, very de-puffed and with a significant decrease in – er – crease. We were both quite wowed.

Shiseido Benefiance Pure Retinol Instant Treatment Eye Mask

I hadn’t really heard of these masks before – though I have tried many versions of the eye patch, see here – and so I went straight onto Google to see whether or not I was alone in my findings. Cue rave reviews on Makeup Alley, which only reaffirmed my belief that these Smoothing Eye Masks are the absolute bees knees. Terribly pricey, and the effects don’t really last more than a day (this is by no means a long-term anti-wrinkle solution!) but great if you have something important and jazzy to go to. (We were just off to Tesco, but still: you never know who you might meet. Shame that we only had one eye “done” each – next time I’ll push the boat out and give both a treat.)

More eye masks tried and tested…

Has anyone else tried these? I’d love to know how you got on. Unfortunately, the price of the Instant Treatment Masks is pretty prohibitive, really – I can never understand why beauty brands (and not just Shiseido, nearly all of them!) whack such enormous price tags on these eye patch/mask things. I think that all of the brands are missing a massive trick, because they could use the eye masks to win customers over to their everyday eye-care products – if you’re really impressed with an eye mask, wouldn’t you be tempted to try out the eye cream or serum from the same range? But the masks are just so expensive and I can’t imagine that a lot of people can justify splashing out on what amounts to so little, in terms of product quantity. Perhaps they are very costly to produce? I do wonder…

Anyway, mini-rant over: you can get 12 pairs of Shiseido masks for £59, making them around a fiver per pair. Find them here at House of Fraser. If you were looking for some pre-party quick-fixers, then these could be worth a go. I can imagine that makeup artists absolutely love them for pepping up tired models backstage and on photoshoots.

The post Pure Retinol Instant Treatment Eye Masks / Mr AMR’s New Undereye. appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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Louise Young Makeup Brushes

Louise Young Makeup Brushes Review

I own a pretty large makeup brush collection, and love discovering new brush brands. My newest makeup brush discovery is the Louise Young range of brushes, after I fell in love with the Louise Young Superfine Liner Brush LY24A which is the most incredible eyeliner brush. After being so wowed by my first Louise Young brush, I was dying to try more brushes from the range. The Louise Young Makeup Brush range is very extensive with over 60 brushes within the collection so you really are spoilt for choice. I have been trialing a few more of the Louise Young Eye Brushes, as well as a couple of the Face Brushes and I am seriously impressed…

Louise Young Makeup Brushes Review

Louise Young LY48 Mini Super Foundation Brush £19

This is a mini version of the Louise Young Super Foundation Brush, and is said to be perfect for the application of cream and liquid foundations. It can also be used for contouring with cream products, as well as cream blush application. I personally enjoy using this brush to blend in my concealer under my eyes, as the tapered shape is perfect for blending the concealer into the contours of the eyes. It’s a nice stiff brush so it’s dense enough to blend, but the tapered point offers precision for concealing or contouring.

Louise Young Makeup Brushes Review

Louise Young LY51 Small Powder and Buffing Brush £20

This brush is now one of my all time favourites.. it’s amazing. The bristles are shaped into almost a square shape with rounded corners and it’s just so incredibly versatile as it can be used with powder, cream or liquid. The brush can be used for blusher, bronzer, contouring, concealing, powdering or even foundation at a push. It’s such a lovely brush, with very soft bristles and it’s such a fantastic multi-tasker.

Louise Young Makeup Brushes Review

Louise Young LY38A Tapered Shadow Brush £17

This natural haired eyeshadow brush is a thin, and narrow tapered brush which is absolutely perfect for creating definition within the crease. It’s small enough to be super precise, but it makes light work of blending, and I particularly like using it for blending shadow along my lower lashlines as it’s so tapered and small. If you’re an eyeshadow novice, this is the blending brush for you as it does all of the hard work for you – it’s a real must have.

Louise Young Makeup Brushes Review

Louise Young LY31 Angled Brow Sable £13

I’ve seen this brush mentioned on so many YouTube makeup tutorials as the perfect brow brush, and they weren’t wrong. This angled, natural haired brush is thin and very small so you can create thin strokes throughout your brows with powder, gel or cream depending on your preference, but it also works amazingly at lining the eyes with gel liner, or even powder shadow. I really like that the bristles have a little flexibility to them for a more natural effect, as I’ve found denser angled brushes can make my brows look a little too harsh for my liking.

Louise Young Makeup Brushes Review

Louise Young LY23 Eyeliner Filbert Sable £9

I already own the LY24A which is a superfine liner brush, but this is a little more tapered in it’s shape with the bristles tapering off to a precise point which is fantastic for creating eyeliner flicks. This brush can be used to apply powder, liquid, gel or cake eyeliner.

Louise Young Makeup Brushes Review

Louise Young LY24B Ultrafine Liner Brush £9

I honestly thought the LY24A was the smallest eyeliner brush you could get, but how wrong was I. This LY24B is even smaller. and is super thin for creating the most precise and perfectly even liner and fits nicely between the lashes for added definition. Just like the LY24A, the LY24B is ideal for applying products like the Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade as it creates small and delicate hair-like strokes throughout the brow which looks so natural, which is exactly how I like my brows to look.

As you can guess, I’ve been blown away by my new Louise Young Makeup Brushes, and I honestly couldn’t recommend them enough. Each brush is impeccably made, and I’ve never experienced any shedding whatsoever with any of the brushes. They are definitely some of the best brushes I’ve ever tried, and I cannot wait to try more brushes from the range especially some from their Eyeshadow range.

*This post contains a PR Sample or gifted item.

The post Louise Young Makeup Brushes appeared first on Miss Makeup Magpie.

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