Danielle's Beauty Blog

Monday, 13 February 2017

A Try not to Buy Haul

benefit blusher smashbox my digits charlotte tilbury secret salma pillowtalk review

I’ve been mentioning in different posts and on Instagram about my recent challenge to try not to buy beauty products so I thought I would gather a few of the products I have bought and give a little update as to how I’m getting on! I’ve been calling it a try not to buy as well because the word ban would have the reverse effect on me!

I started this just before Christmas and you will have seen my last big beauty purchase before trying not to buy anything last week with my custom ABH palette! This was a guilt free long time coming purchase as the single eyeshadows had been on my wishlist for the longest time!

Anyway, long story short, aside from being a spendaholic when it comes to beauty products, my hours at work have recently changed so I knew I would need to tighten the purse strings. I had been covering maternity leave for a woman and she came back a couple of weeks ago but wanted to job share so I’m still doing the same job just working part time now instead of full time. I knew it was coming and I’m still getting used to it, having days off is the best but I know I won’t be saying that when I see my pay at the end of the month!

I also started the process of applying for my Canadian visa/work permit late last year and it came through last month so I have a year to move to Canada and I will be spending my spare time researching and planning for that. I’ve always wanted to try living somewhere new and I know I won’t be able to job share forever so it seems like a good time to try it!

Ok, this is turning into more of an update/lifestyle post than I meant it to but basically, every year I am guilty of buying discounted gift sets and products in the sales so I thought late December was a good time to start trying not to buy. While it’s all well and good getting a bargain when you are a beauty addict, with boxes and drawers filled with new, unopened or back up products, buying more is pretty pointless when you are barely getting through what you already have and planning a potential move when you won’t be able to take it with you!

So, instead of snapping up the half price Soap and Glory Christmas sets (not necessary when you still have backups of backups from last year) or spending Boxing Day in the online Lush sale queue, I put my bank card down and man oh man do I feel all the better for it. I give into my greed way too easily; I can’t believe I haven’t taken this approach before. As you will see, I have bought some things but it’s nowhere near as much as usual and I don’t feel guilty for buying them!

smashbox my digits charlotte tilbury secret salma pillowtalk review

Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips Secret Salma

This was my first beauty purchase of 2017. I had a £15 Cult Beauty gift card that I had received in my last GWP and although it wasn’t due to run out to the end of January, I’ll admit, I wanted new makeup to play with! I went with Secret Salma in the end, a Matte Revolution formulation which I hadn’t tried before - a fact made all the sweeter that I didn’t have to part with the full £23 myself (now increased to £24)! I ended up having to pay delivery with this too which I usually refuse to do (I will buy things until I reach the threshold for free delivery!). I’m so glad I have it in my collection now though, it’s a beautiful deep plum/pink shade that is long lasting and though it’s the CT matte formulation, it feels hydrating and doesn’t exaggerate any dry patches I have on my lips!

Smashbox Be Legendary lipstick in My Digits

This lipstick shade had been on my wishlist for the longest time so I had been exercising self-control over this for quite a while already before getting my hands on it! I was planning on waiting for my Boots points to pile up to buy this but my Godson (or more likely my aunt!) got me a Boots gift card for Christmas so after unsuccessfully trying to use it online (who knew they don’t accept them?) I finally got my hands on this when I got to a big Boots. It doesn’t disappoint either - it’s the most perfect pinky/berry toned creamy lipstick that wears off evenly and leaves a gorgeous stain! I had tried the formula before and you can see my review and some more swatches of other shades here!

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution in Pillowtalk

I did cave completely when I saw this and had it ordered as soon as I got the email landed in my inbox but how could I not! Pillowtalk is my favourite lipliner so the matching lipstick had to be mine and the fact its limited edition meant it had to mine right now! Again, it’s the matte revolution formula and it’s a beautiful muted pinky nude with a hint of brown. I’d say the lipliner has a hint more mauve to it but I know I will get so much wear out of this!

smashbox my digits charlotte tilbury secret salma pillowtalk swatches

l-r: Smashbox My Digits, Charlotte Tilbury Secret Salma, Pillowtalk

Large Z Palatte

You might have seen a few posts on my Instagram about me depotting my Benefit blush palette. I never reached for it because the packaging was so bulky so I spent £17.50 (I don’t remember them being so dear!) on a new Z palette to pop them into! I know not everyone is a fan of Z palettes and they definitely are an expensive option for what is basically a card and a magnet but I love that you can see inside them and the sticky metal magnets that come included to stick on pans are so handy for covering the glue that sometimes remains after depotting! Since depotting, despite a few crumbles, I have been getting a lot more use out of the blushers and bronzer in the palette and I ended up depotting a few mini Too Faced bronzers as well !

Anyway, hope you didn’t mind that little try not to buy/update from me! Also, don’t be shocked if I cave and make a splurge on Cult Beauty if they do another GWP offer soon, I’m good but I’m not that good! Let me know what you’ve been buying recently or if you are trying to cut down your spending like me!

Danielle xx

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My Custom Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyeshadow Palette

ABH anastasia bevery hills custom neutral eyeshadow palette review

Anastasia Beverly Hills single eyeshadows have been on my radar for the longest time but although most ABH products are available to buy from Cult Beauty and Beauty Bay, unless you wanted a customs charge, the eyeshadows were out of reach for those of us on this side of the Atlantic! That was until shortly before Christmas when the ABH website expanded to include a UK site with eyeshadows ripe for the picking! EDIT: also available (and usualy on offer!) now at Look Fantastic!

The Anastasia pre-made eyeshadow palettes don’t appeal to me (part from the Mario Dedivanovic one which wasn’t sold here!) as they have too many shades I wouldn’t use/are too warm toned (Modern Renaissance I’m looking at you) so I was in my element picking the shades I knew I would get use out of for my custom palette!

After much Google swatch stalking, I started adding to my basket even though I thought £10 was a bit much for a pan. That was until I got to 4 pans and saw the price drop to £30 and the bundle offer pop up - £30 for 4 pans plus an empty palette or £50 for 8 pans and a palette and you can clearly see which offer I went for – it was Christmas after all!

Anastasia Beverly Hills single eyeshadows review 8 pan palette neutral matte

Anyway, here is my run down of the shades I got and swatches! As far as I am aware, the entire single eyeshadow range comes in a variety of finishes – satin, velvet, shimmer, metallic ultra-matte, titanium and duo chrome and being a creature of habit I went for mostly matte shades! I also think this was my last big makeup purchase before my try not to buy started up but more on that next week!

Anastasia Beverly Hills single eyeshadows review neutral matte

Lace

The lightest and I’m sorry to say it - most disappointing shade from the ones I picked – Lace is a light beige with a satin finish (I think!) that just does not show up on my lid at all! I’m pale and this is extremely sheer on me no matter how much I pack on!

Sateen

A gorgeous shimmer champagne frost that is so soft and pigmented and doesn’t give any fall out.

Birkin

A warm beige mauve ultra-matte that definitely stands out as the warmest in this palette and is a gorgeous transition shade.

Chiffon

A warm brown with a metallic finish and almost khaki undertones, like Sateen it’s really smooth to apply and beautifully pigmented.

l-r: Lace, Sateen, Birkin, Chiffon

Stone

An ultra-matte light ash grey neutral taupe that I like to put all over the lid.

Warm Taupe

An ultra-matte soft brown that is also in the Modern Renaissance palette and was one of the only shades I was drawn to! Another one that I either put all over the lid or position more towards my crease.

Ash Brown

An ultra-matte dark cool brown that I use in my outer V and can double up as an eyebrow shade for me.

Smoke

An ultra-matte charcoal brown I use as an eyeliner.

l-r: Stone, Warm Taupe, Ash Brown, Smoke

All the shadows are high quality, pigmented and last well throughout the day (I use a primer). The palette that came in the bundle is such high quality too! It feels sturdy, has a clear lid and the magnets feel strong. I definitely think if you are interested in getting some ABH shadows, wait until you have 4 or 8 you want because it’s a much better deal than buying 1 or 2 at £10 each. I like the shadows and they have a huge range of shades but I definitely don’t think they are worth spending £10 each on! The bundle deal I got puts the shadows at £6.25 each not including the palette which is on a par with Makeup Geek now they have increased their prices and I think that’s where they sit for me although overall I do prefer the Kat Von D matte formula!

Anastasia Beverly Hills single neutral eyeshadows review

In hindsight, I do wish I had picked up a few more shades that weren’t matte but saying that I use mattes daily so I probably wouldn’t be getting as much use out of the palette if I had!

So, that’s my 8 pan palette! Let me know if you ordered anything off the site or what your favourite shades are! The singles are also available on Look Fantastic here!

Danielle xx

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Five Things I’m Loving | January 2017

daniellesbeautyblog 5 things im loving nyx vincent longo seventeen laura mercier soap and glory review

I’ve mentioned on Instagram a couple of times recently but I’m currently attempting a ‘try not to buy’ rather than a full spending ban (I’d be sure to cave if that was the case!). With that in mind, I think posts like this will be cropping up a lot more as I get around to actually using the products I already have rather than buying new things I don’t need! It’s pretty makeup heavy this time round but here’s what I’m loving at the minute!

NYX Slide on, Glide on, Stay on and Definitely a Turn on Waterproof Colour Lip Liner in Nude Suede Shoes £5.50

Ridiculously long name aside, this is an amazing lip liner! I first saw it featured on Havanna’s YouTube channel and I ordered it soon after because it looked a lot like Charlotte Tilbury Pillowtalk lipliner to me! While it’s not quite the same, I love this in its own right! Like the full title says, it's creamy, applies easily and sticks around for a decent amount of time! Nude Suede Shoes is a beautiful pinky nude that goes with so many of my lipsticks and I love it with CT Bitch Perfect. The formula is gorgeous and I definitely want to get my hands on a few more of these!

charlotte tilbury pillowtalk nyx nude suede shoes swatch review

Swatches l-r: Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat in Pillowtalk, NYX Nude Suede Shoes

Soap and Glory Archery Brow Tint and Pencil Brownie Points review

Soap and Glory Archery Brow Tint and Pencil in the shade Brownie Points £10

Although the Archery 2 in 1 brush and pencil seems to get most of the attention where S&G brow products are concerned, there is something special about this one that keeps me coming back! It has a fine felt tip end and a screw up pencil on the other. I like to go in first with the felt tip end to build up more colour with some fine strokes then go over my brows with the pencil to add more shape. I always store this in a tub with the tint at the bottom to keep it moist so the colour doesn’t run out as quick! The pencil side is slightly thicker than the Archery 2 in 1 and feels a little waxier so helps to set hairs in place too. Overall, the lasting result is a natural, full brow and it’s made me want to explore brow markers a bit more as I love the result! See my review of some of Soap and Glory’s brow range here!

Soap and Glory Archery Brow Tint and Pencil Brownie Points review swatch

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer

This is the second tube of this I have gone through and it’s such a lovely primer! I got both in beauty boxes ages ago but I’ve only recently opened this up and fallen back in love with it! It has a lightweight gel/cream texture, sinks in quickly, feels hydrating but doesn’t make my oily skin oilier and its smoothing without having a silicone ‘slip’. I did notice with my first tube that the quality of this went downhill the longer I had it open and it does have a 6-month expiry date so I’ll be trying to stick to that because it does such a good job of extending the wear of my foundation and making it look fresher for longer!

vincent longo creme to powder blush swan lake review

Vincent Longo Water Canvas Creme-to-Powder Blush in Swan Lake* RRP £33.50

I have been appreciating this so much more now its Winter and my skin is more dehydrated than usual! This has the most beautiful, unique crème to powder formula and feels amazing on the skin – it’s so cooling and refreshing! I like to use a Zoeva Cream Cheek brush to apply which makes it easy to build up the pigment. Swan Lake is a lovely natural pink shade with a slight silver shimmer and it lasts all day on my combo skin giving a healthy flush of colour! Its oil free, fragrance free, non-comedogenic, hypoallergenic and cruelty free and though its more expensive than my usual blushes (not counting my Hourglass palette!) it’s well worth the money as it’s so long-lasting and I barely have to touch the product to get payoff! I love this on my oily/combo skin so I can imagine those with drier skins would fall in love with it too!

Seventeen Miracle Matte Oil Free Loose Powder £5.49

A few months ago, I went on a powder buying session because my skin was getting too used to my beloved No7 Perfect Light pressed powder and I ended up buying this from their baby sister brand. Now I’m not the biggest fan of loose powder as it’s so much messier but I’m a convert for this stuff! It’s a very lightweight powder that doesn’t add any extra colour to my face, it just makes my makeup look better! I still get a bit of shine round my nose at about lunch time which is common for me but with this I can just add some more powder and it doesn’t look like my foundation is separating or rubbing off! It’s such a great price too and I have a feeling it will last me ages!

So, there’s my round up of my current favourites! Have you tried any of them? Tell me what you’re loving at the minute!

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me. All opinions are my own.

Danielle xx

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Face and Body Masking with Mint Skin

Before Christmas, I was contacted by the lovely people at Mint Skin - a new skincare brand from Sydney, Australia. In November, they launched their first line of products – MUD – mineral based face and body masks and having tried them over the last month I’m ready to talk about how the products performed on my skin!

I was kindly sent the full range of the Detox Mud mask, Rosa Hydration Mud mask and the applicator brush and all products are produced locally and are cruelty free using fair trade guidelines!

mint skin australia mud detox mask reviews

First up, the Detox Mud* (RRP $21.95AUD/approx. £13.40) and boy was I happy to see this! I ate so much junk over Christmas and drank nowhere near as much water as I normally do so I noticed my skin getting more and more clogged over the two weeks I was off. The Detox Mud is recommended for use with oily, congested and acne prone skin or if you suffer from rashes or cellulite on the body. It’s made up of a mixture of organic Australia clays and they work together to draw out toxins and bacteria from deep within the skin.

mint skin australia mud detox mask review

I used this for the first time a few days before I went back to work. I ran myself a bath and mixed the powder in the sachet up with some water to create the mask then brushed it over my face as well as my chest then the excess over my thighs! I left it the full recommended 15 minutes while it dried and when I rinsed it off my skin felt super soft and so smooth!

I had a patch of spots I could feel coming up on the side of my chin and I think this definitely helped draw them to the surface. This is something I’m always scared of happening when I use new products but after using this, they died down so quickly! It helped balance my oily skin and my complexion looked so much clearer after I used this!

This mask is probably the most satisfying thing to look at once its dried on my face – for me anyway! Seeing all my blackheads sitting on the surface then being wiped out once I rinse it off is the best feeling! My nose can feel bumpy at times with blackheads but this mask worked wonders on them leaving my nose completely smooth!

A full sachet gives quite a lot of product so I’d recommend using half if you only want to cover your face to make it last a little longer, just make sure you keep it sealed air tight! I mixed mine in a small bowl and it washed out easily!

mint skin australia mud rosa hydration mask review

The Rosa Hydration Mud* (RRP $22.95AUD/approx. £14.01) is slightly different in that you don’t have to mix water in to activate it. As well as kaolin clay, this mask includes rose oil, aloe vera and honey to soothe and hydrate the skin and is recommended for use when your skin is feeling dull, dry and in need of some hydration and glow!

The mask feels so cooling on the skin and dries down slowly – it’s not uncomfortable or tight feeling and it has a lovely light rose scent. I keep this on for 20 minutes and my skin feels so hydrated after and looks instantly brighter and clearer as well as feeling softer!

I noticed the aftereffects so much around my nose which although oily is constantly dehydrated and with this mask, my makeup applied so much more evenly and didn’t crack around my nose!

Lastly, the applicator brush* (RRP $19.95AUD/approx. £12.18). I am not a fan of flat brushes for applying foundation and the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind to apply a face mask with one until now – where have I been?! This brush is spa quality and gives such a smooth and even application! Gone are the days under my nails get covered in leftover mask that takes me an age to get out! The bristles in this brush are packed tight and glide over my skin easily to apply the product!

Overall, I love the simplistic packaging and branding of Mint Skin and the ethos behind them! The products are made in small batches and I can’t wait to see what they come up with in the future to add to their product line! The masks are such high quality and work so well on my skin and Mint Skin offer worldwide shipping which is free for those in Australia!

Have you tried anything from Mint Skin before? Tell me what your favourite facemask is!

Updated Jan 2021 - brand no longer exists!

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me. All opinions are my own.

Danielle xx

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Danielle's Beauty Blog

Monday, 13 February 2017

A Try not to Buy Haul

Monday, 6 February 2017

My Custom Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyeshadow Palette

Monday, 30 January 2017

Five Things I’m Loving | January 2017

Monday, 23 January 2017

Face and Body Masking with Mint Skin