FOTD... Featuring YSL, RMK, Rouge Bunny Rouge and Illamasqua...

I finally decided it was time to have a play with the YSL palette I recently hauled - which you can see in my vid here - Here is the look I came up with...

Ok, so products used;

Face;
RMK Creamy foundation, applied and blended with Illamasqua foundation brush.
Illamasqua loose powder LP115, applied with Illamasqua powder brush
Illamasqua Bronzing duo applied with MAC109 brush
Illamasqua powder blush in Lover, applied with MAC109 brush.

I adore the RMK foundation - I find the whole concept of holy grail products debatable, as there are always new things to try etc, but its safe to say, this is a staple for me.
I'm also definitely finding that Illamasaqua's powder blush in Lover is definitely getting more than its fair share of use - so versatile. It can be dusted on lightly as done here for a natural look, or built up for drama, and it seems to go well with a lot of different looks too.


Eyes;
MAC paintpot in painterly applied with ring fingers as base.
YSL 5 Colour harmony eye palette number 7 applied with various brushes...
NARS Himalayas single shadow as highlighter.
Clarins brow palette for brows
The Body Shop metallic eye definer pencil in Bronze applied to waterline.
Urban decay 24/7 eye definer in black to tightline.
L'Oreal Telescopic mascara in Carbon black

I'm pretty impressed with the palette too - the colours are well put together and the liner shadow is easy to use. They stayed the distance too, lasting through a full days shopping and coffee meet up with my darling mummy.

I broke out the L'Oreal telescopic mascara as a bit of a change from Rimmel Sexy Curves - first impressions are good - its a ery lengthening rather than volumising mascara, and very impressed with the lack of clumping.

The Body Shop eye liner is a lovely shade and definitely looks metallic - wore reasonably well, about 3-4 hours before a touch up was required.

The Clarins brow palette is very good, and I think worthy of its own review!

Lips;
Rouge Bunny Rouge sheer lipstick in Fluttering Sighs.

I LOVE this lipstick - the whole RBR range is expensive yet, but do you know what? I really think it's worth every penny. I'm really pleased that Zuneta are increasing the numbers of shades they are carrying from this range.

Hope you liked my FOTD, and mini-reviews along the way!

MizzWorthy xxx

Five Great.... Drugstore Mascaras.

Hmmm... Mascara - such a divisive subject in the beauty world. There is definitely a place in my heart for high end mascara (I will always love YSL Faux Cils dearly - it was the first one I ever tried that made me realise the power of a fluttering lash!), and yet given the fact that macara has to be replaced so regularly for hygiene reasons, it makes sense to make the most of drugstore gems too!

So my current fave drugstore mascara's, in no particular order (that would be impossible! I usually have about three on the go anyway!)....

Rimmel Sexy Curves
This one seems to be something of a "marmite" mascara (you either love it or you hate it...). I personally love it - gives volumised long fluttery lashes and builds well. Some people find the wand too floppy and flexible, but personally I've never had this issue. The bizarrely shaped wand works well to get product onto the lashes, as well as lengthening and building volume. Can clump if you use tonnes of coats, but some people like that too.

Max Factor False Lash Effect

This is marketed as Covergirl LashBlast in the US, and is apparently a best seller over there - a status which it fully deserves in my humble opinion. This has a MASSIVE applicator - one unlike any I've seen before. Basically a large barrelled plastic cone with teeth.... The product itself is also a great formulation - not too thick, not too thin, so it dries quick enough not to smudge, but slow enough to allow you to build your coats up. For me, this gives lovely long, thick and dramatic looking lashes. A fellow makeup addict at work, regularly asks me what mascara I'm wearing when I have this on...

Maybelline Colossal Volume

First off, lets talk about the packaging - I hate it! But this just proves you should never judge a book by its cover... and I suppose it makes it easy to find! This is great for building drama in a flash. I actually recieved this at a blogger event, and possibly would never have picked it up if I hadn't (due to the radioactive packaging), and hence I tried it with some trepidation. However
I was surprised - builds extremely thick lashes with little clumping - this is a great one for a smoky eye, as it gives very thick and intense black lashes.

Barry M 3-in-1 Mascara

Again, I recived this at a blogger event, and I have to say, the makeup snob in me really expected this to be absolute rubbish. One of those occasions where I am so so pleased to be proved totally and utterly wrong. In short - this product costs less than a fiver, promises to curl, lengthen and volumise, and it actually lives up to those claims completely. If you haven't tried this one, I urge you to get to your nearest Barry M counter and be amazed.

Max Factor 2000 Calorie

This is one of those mascara's I keep going back to over and over - like a pair of comfortable shoes, I know exactly where I stand with this one. Gives reliable results and never lets me down. An oldie but a goodie. Coats lashes with minimal clumping and always looks great. A coat or two is great for the day, but extra coats can be added for nocturnal activities!

It has to be said though, for every great drugstore mascara out there, there are some absolute humdingers... some of my most recent let-downs include;

L'oreal Telescopic Explosion - Its difficult to express how much I dislike this mascara, but if you want to spend about 15 minutes faffing about with an applicator that looks like a torture impliment getting the outer corner lashes to look great, only to move towards the inner lashes and have the useless wand clump the outer lashes, then this will be perfect for you. Gawd I hate this one - did not work for me in any way shape or form.

Maybelline Lash Stiletto - Made big promises of long glossy lashes, and failed to deliver on either front. I just found this very average.

L'Oreal Volume Collagen - Looked so promising - huge brush and promises of long volumised fluttery boy-bait style lashes. Achieved this for the first use, however dried up within about ten minutes of opening the tube and promptly clumped horrendously on each following application. Currently trying out the "plus" version to see if it is more successful... will keep you posted!

Any other recommendations? I don't like to miss out on good lashes!

MizzWorthy xxx

Garnier Bloggers Event!

I was amongst the lucky peeps who got invited to the L'oreal headquarters down in London last night for the Garnier event.

Obviously prior to this a little look round the shops was in order! I was pleased to meet up with Janaka (JJ26) Rebecca (Panda), Cat (Swirled Peacat), Olivia (OliviaCosmetics), and Amy (Lipgloss86), and we were also joined later by Mushine (Bubblegarm). I FINALLY got to have a look round the Beauty Meccca that is Selfridges beauty hall - fab! Although, I have to say I was disappointed by NARS usual problem of never having stuff in! I also called at the Kheils counter too to ask about moisturiser, and was majorly annoyed by the "Can't be bothered" attitude of the staff who tried to get me to buy a whole skincare regime. I left without anything from them lol! Obviously a little call into the Illamasqua counter was mandatory for me - will post about that separately though!

The actual building the event was held in - L'Oreal HQ - was really lovely - one of those modern, clean and miminalist glass sided buildings... We met up with lots of other bloggers including Kelly (Kelanjo) and Laura (Tallulahbella) who very kindly also offered to rescue me from wondering round London all day too! All the PR people at the event seemed really lovely - They made the effort to come and speak to each of us in person. We also had an AMAZING buffet laid on, which was extremely welcome at the end of a day wandering around London in the heat! I am happy to report that M&S Percy Pig sweets were on the table - my fave indulgence lol!

I was also really pleased to finally meet Natalie, who works for the PR company that organised the event - she was really helpful in the run up to this (and past events), in answering all my schtoopid questions anout booking train tickets etc, so I was really pleased to meet her, and say thank you in person.

After food, we sat down for a presentation re the company, and a breakdown of their products. The speakers all seemed very knowledgeable about the products and were also passionate about the way the company uses science in order to "extract the best bits of nature" - this means that the products are affordable, and natural, but also hopefully effective!

After the presentation we had a little mingle and a chance to have a look at the ranges and talk to the product managers about the ranges...

We also recieved a HUGE bag of stuffies to try and review. The main product we were all introduced to during the event was the new PureActive range. This is targeted at "Problem skin", and the products claim to tackle blemishes and red marks (which is a first!), and also promise to give results from the first day of use! The range includes a roll on "On the Spot" treatment (if you have the caffeine eye roll on from the nutritionist range then this is packaged in the same way - very handy for throwing in your handbag). There is also a Deep Pore Unclogging Wash, a Blackhead Clearing Scrub, a Spot Purifying Toner and a Spot Fighting 24-Hr Moisturiser. I have enlisted the help of my lovely BF Phil in testing this range as well as trying them out myself - he has acne prone skin, and I have issues with hormonal breakouts from time to time, so it will be interesting to see what he makes of it... He did have a little try of the scrub and the moisturiser this morning and said he thought it was "Good", and felt "a bit tingly" - which he feels is an auspicious start lol. Will keep you all posted on that one!

We also got a few other bits of skincare to try as you can see - a "Clean Detox" exfoliating wash, a Nutritionist Caffeine eye roll-on and a Pro X anti-ageing moisturiser.

I'm also super pleased that we got some Ambre Solaire sunscreen products. My pale sickly looking skin is NOT made to deal with the sun, and I always wear the highest factor I can get lol! Clear protect, which is my all time fave suscreen - feels totally not sticky, even in high factors. We also got a bottle of the new "Light and Silky" lotion to try out, and I got a couple of lovely bottles of spray on factor 50 (Or liquid lead as my lovely BF calls it - I used this last year on holiday, and it worked very well - I was pleased to come back just as pale as when I went - proof that it works lol - After all suntanned skin is damaged skin etc!).

To combat the paleness, we also got a can of no streaks bronzer in "Light Glow" - I'm going to be testing this out his week too! Also a bottle of my HG everyday body lotion - HydraLock - which I blogged about a couple of weeks ago - LOVE the stuff! We also got some Body Tonic Sugar scrub to try - I haven't ever tried this one before...

As L'Oreal are also involved with the Maybelline range - we got a few goodies from them thrown in too - lots of mascaras to try. Can you believe, I have NEVER tried Great Lash before! Can't wait to try these two hair dyes too - Herbashine apparently works in 10 minutes.

Ok - if you have made it this far well done! I just wanted do a few mini-reviews of the stuff I've tried so far and love.

First up - HydraLock Body Lotion - I have really dry legs and they itch like mad some times - this is the only product I've found that stops this! A bargain too - the 250ml bottle is only around £2.99.

Clean Sensitive Moisture Infusion Cleansing Water - If you are a fan of the Body Shop Camomile eye makeup remover, then I'd reccommend trying this one out - it feels like water and you swipe it over the face on cotton-wool. It removed my makeup well, without making my skin feel irritated, which is a rarity for me with drugstore ranges. I would never have bought this to try, but I'm really glad I got one - def repurchase for me!

Caffeine Eye Roll-On - I really like this, especially in this hot weather. It feels so refreshing and cool, and seems to give a nice temporary lifting and tightening effect - I'm not sure about long term effects, but this is a lovely thing to have in your handbag to perk up your skin when you feel a bit tired mid-afternoon...

PureActive On The Spot Roll on - same packaging as the caffeine roll on. This contains 2% Salycilic acid, which is apparently the highest concentration available over the counter. This promises to dry op spots and reduce red marks (you know those really annoying residual marks after a spot...) from the first day of use. Well, I've been dabbing this on my breakout today, and I've already noticed a reduction in redness - I'll keep you all posted on this one too!

Anyone tried any of these products? Any other recommendations?

MizzWorthy x

187 Brush - First Impressions, and review of L'oreal Collagene Mascara

Ok, so I used my 187 brush for the first time today, to see if it in any way lived up to the hype. I'm normally a mineral foundation girl, I use bare minerals and everyday minerals for basic daytime look. I only have a couple of liquid foundations - MAC's mineralize satinfinish and clinique supermoisture. The reason that I went off them on a daily basis was cos I felt like they were too heavy and like my face couldn't 'breathe' if you know what I mean...

But lets just say that this brush might just help me fall in love with my liquids all over again. You need hardly any product for one thing, so the brush helps you get more value for money from the foundations. Because you use less, the foundation feels less heavy too, obviously. And it does indeed give the foundation that lovely 'airbrushed' look...

Like I said though, I've heard other reviews of the 109 brush, which is apparently even better (Gasp! How can such a thing be possible lol). Hoping to do a comparison of the two in the future, when I get my hot little hands on one in the new year... Anyone else have this brush? Is it as good as they say?

Also wanted to do a quick review of the L'oreal volume collagene mascara. I bought this as part of my quest to find a cheaper alternative to YSL Effet Faux Cils mascara, which I luuurrrve, but sadly didn't have the funds for at the moment. So when I first opened this, I have to say I was impressed. Nice big brush, and the mascara looked lovely on too. Unfortunately, after about a week of use I found that it had gone really thick and gloopy. Any attempt to use more than one coat resulted in horrible spider leg eye lashes. So NOT a good look!

So the search for the perfect lower priced mascara continues.... Currently testing Max Factor, Masterpiece Max... Will review when I've tested thoroughly. If that one doesn't work out, planning to test 2000 calorie after that - an oldie but a goodie!

xxx