Danielle's Beauty Blog

 

Recently, I received a PR package from Pixi with three On-The-Glow cream blush sticks* (also available on ASOS here). After I got over the cuteness of the box they came in, without even trying them I immediately thought, I am not going to like these. What can I say, I am set in my matte/powder makeup ways but, I am happy to report I could not have been more wrong about these!  

 

Like I said, I was not expecting to like these as I generally stay away from cream products. Some formulas I have tried in the past have really interfered with my foundation and made it look patchy and they haven’t lasted long on my oily skin. At the minute, my skin is still on the more normal side of things since finishing Roaccutane so that could be a reason why I am getting on so famously with these but I will be sure to update if and when my skin gets oilier to see how they fair then!

 

The blush sticks are formulated with Ginseng to revitalise and balance, Aloe Vera to soothe and calm and Fruit Extracts to nourish and renew. They are also able to be used on lips as well as cheeks and feel hydrating while giving a really natural colour to both! They come in three colours – Juicy (a bright coral), Fleur (a baby pink) and Ruby (a dark pink/red). As a fan of pink blush I was sure Fleur was going to be my favourite but Juicy has won my heart! It’s the most gorgeous brightening coral shade and I just love it! So much in fact that I also featured it last week in my Five Things I'm Loving post!

 

unedited swatches l-r: Juicy, Fleur, Ruby

These can be applied to cheeks with fingers however, personally, I prefer using a brush and the Zoeva 128 cream cheek brush is my weapon of choice! This makes it easy for me to build up to the colour I want and ensure the tint is blended easily and I love this duo! The result is the perfect amount of tint and glow which never looks greasy just dewy and healthy! The blush also lasts all day which I really wasn’t expecting but there is minimal fading for me. The stick is easy to use on the lips and again either gives a really subtle, sheer tint to them or is easily buildable if you want more impact. It’s not as long lasting on the lips as the cheeks but super easy to reapply so not an issue for me.

 

They give such a natural healthy looking flush, I honestly can’t recommend these enough if you are already a cream blush lover or you want to try one with a great formula! There is a huge amount of product in the sticks at 19g – I don’t think I will ever be able to fully finish one! The packaging feels sturdy and each blush also has a separate plastic cap on the inside to protect it and keep it from drying out! They cost £18 each but are usually on offer at around £14.40 on ASOS, Sephora UK or Look Fantastic when they have 20% off as well as Boots, Marks & Spencer and Harvey Nichols in the UK and Shoppers Drugmart in Canada! They can also be found on Pixi's website here and Pixi is a cruelty free brand!

 

Have you tried these yet? Let me know what you thought or tell me your favourite cream blush!

 

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me.

All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used.

See my full disclosure here.

 

Danielle xx

 

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It’s been a while since I’ve done a five things I’m loving post so here is one today for your viewing pleasure! A few items have featured recently so I will link to their full review but I haven’t put down these five products over the last month or two so they deserve some spotlight!

 

As a huge fan of the afterglow lip balms, the NARS Soft Matte Tinted lip balm in Unrestricted RRP £23 had been on my radar for a while before I finally saw it with 20% off on Boots and included it in my April Spend Report! I was so glad the shade I wanted was still in stock as annoyingly these are limited edition! I’ve linked to the rest of the shades above as Unrestricted is gone now – I am really hoping they bring this back as a permanent line because the formula is amazing! Like the name suggests, it’s matte but it’s so smooth to apply and comfortable to wear just like the afterglow balms. It applies the most perfect pink nude to my lips and just looks so chic with it being matte! It lasts a decent amount of time on the lips, isn’t drying in the slightest and the packaging is gorgeous! I am in love with this formula – you need to try it! 

 

Sticking with the lip theme, the Fenty Beauty Sheer Shiny Lipstick in Retro Rose RRP £19 is another one that’s been gracing my lips nonstop the last month! I’m working from home now and this and the NARS are just so handy to have on hand to make sure my lips have a bit of a tint before copious zoom calls. Neither of them require a mirror either! This one is obviously a lot shinier but I do have a type –  it’s another dusty pink /my lips but better shade! It’s so moisturising but also buildable if you want a bit more tint and it lasts a good amount of time on my lips too and I love the outer casing! If you are looking for a new lipstick/balm hybrid look no further than these two! Full review here!

 

A more recent addition to my makeup bag is the Pixi On-The-Glow blush stick in Juicy* RRP £18 and one I will be honest, I wasn’t expecting to love as much! Cream blush is not my go to by any means, I am a powder/matte lover but I am so impressed with this formula! It can be used on cheeks and lips and it leaves the most healthy glow and tint of colour! I use a Zoeva cream cheek brush and it adds the perfect amount every time without disturbing my base. I can’t get over how long these last either, I am getting a full 12 hours with very minimal fading though bear in mind that right now my skin is not as oily as it normally would be! On the lips it looks beautiful too though not as long lasting as the NARS or Fenty Beauty! I plan to do a few review and swatches of all three colours in the range soon!

 

Unedited swatches l-r: NARS Unrestricted, Fenty Beauty Retro Rose, Pixi Beauty Juicy

 

Next up, some skincare picks and I do have a full review of these two here but as I am almost finished them I wanted to shout them out again! The Inkey list Fulvic Acid Brightening Cleanser* RRP £10.99 is currently my go to morning and second cleanse. It very lightly exfoliates and boosts radiance, and leaves my skin feeling smooth and looking more even. It doesn’t leave it feeling dry or tight and it’s a generous 150ml size too! Along with that, the 15% Vitamin C and EGF Serum* RRP £14.99 is one of my most reached for serums at the minute! I just love the non-oily/greasy, lightweight formula that sinks in quickly. Only recently, I found out you are meant to wait 10 minutes before applying other skincare products on top to allow skin cells to respond to the EGF (which supports skin health and elasticity). I use this mostly in the morning where it works perfectly in my routine and under makeup too – I am working on leaving it as long as 10 minutes before continuing my skincare routine! My skin looks brighter, more even and feels plumper! The Vitamin C in this isn’t as potent as some but with this I have found a great formula which I struggle with in Vitamin C serums so the trade-off works for me! 

 

Have you tried any of these products? Let me know what you thought of them or what you are currently loving!

 

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me.

All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used.

See my full disclosure here.

 

Danielle xx

 

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Two blogposts in one week, what is going on! I actually used to blog twice a week back in the day but one is much more manageable for me now. I do, however, have a few extra posts I want to get up over the next few months and summer is pretty quiet for me at work so I hope to hit publish on a few more posts this summer! The first of which is a review of this beautiful package Pixi* sent a couple of months ago! Inside the cutest green backpack (which I still can’t get over!) were three Pixi Rose Bodytreats to nourish skin from top to toe. This range aims to hydrate, brighten and exfoliate giving you silky skin. 

 

The Rose Body Cleanser* RRP £18 contains rose flower to moisturise and restore and rosehip oil to smooth and condition. This is quite a different consistency to what I am used to in the shower as it doesn’t lather, instead it really does feel like you are rubbing the balm in and I sometimes get a bit of a “squeaky” feeling! Once you get over that though, it’s a lovely product that leaves my skin feeling well moisturised and never dry or tight. The light scent doesn’t linger and I really like the squeeze bottle in this instance as the formula is a bit thicker than a standard shower gel so I have more control over how much I am squeezing out. I’ve been using this almost daily since I got it and I’m shocked at how much is still in there!

 

Next up, the Rose Body Polish* RRP £24 which is a sugar scrub containing lactic acid and fruit extracts to smooth, exfoliate and brighten. Initially I was disappointed with this. I was applying in the shower and it really wasn’t spreading well or exfoliating. I then read the instructions on the back of it and realised this is meant to be used before the shower or bath as more of a treatment. Now, I massage it into my skin and leave it on for a couple of minutes before showering off and my skin is so soft afterwards! Rubbing it in warms it up so it spreads much more easily over my skin and the oils feel so luxurious along with the sugar! It does a good job of getting the bulk of my fake tan off but I do go over rougher bits like my elbows with an exfoliating mitt after. In this case though, I hate the packaging (all three have the same size “nozzle” and work well for the cleanser and balm) – the polish is very fine so I thought it would be easy to get out but it really isn’t and I have to squeeze so tightly to get even the tiniest bit out so I would prefer a bigger nozzle on this! I’m glad I took my pictures before I had used it as the packaging looks a lot more battered now from me squeezing it! 

 

Finally, the Rose Body Balm* RRP £24 is my favourite of the three products! Like the body cleanser, it contains rose flower and rosehip oil as well as shea butter to nourish and lock in hydration. The formula is super lightweight and sinks in quickly which is perfect now especially as its getting hotter. It also has a really subtle fresh, citrusy scent rather than rose I personally think but it doesn’t really linger which for me is fine as I spray perfume anyway however, if I was using this before a night out for example I would want something longer lasting! My skin feels well moisturised all day with this and again I am impressed with the size as I still have loads left! 

 

l-r - body polish, body cleanser, body balm

Pixi is a cruelty free brand and the Pixi Bodytreats collection is available from Pixi Beauty and Look Fantastic (who always have a 20% off code kicking around ;)!

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me.

All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used.

See my full disclosure here.

 

Danielle xx

 

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Well, I only thought last month was bad in terms of my spending on beauty but I guess May has knocked it off the top spot - two bank holidays will do that! I got sucked into a few really good deals and also picked up some things I’d had my eye on for a while so here is the breakdown! As usual, I haven’t got round to trying everything properly just yet so this isn’t a review of anything just a spending diary!

 

Look Fantastic has great deals on all the time but really ramped it up on the bank holiday so I took the opportunity to pick up the NuFACE Mini Facial Toning Device which I have wanted for a while now. Instead of being £167, I got this for £112.19 and in the same order I repurchased the ColorWow Dream Cocktail Kale Infused for Breakage which is normally £23 but I got it for £15.52 – full review here! We won’t mention that I then saw the NuFACE for £105 on the second bank holiday lol sigh. 

 

Later in the month, I saw the Look Fantastic x Ameliorate Starter Kit which is a brand I have heard so many good things about but have never tried so took the opportunity to pick this set up which was crazy good value – it’s worth over £108 and I got for £30 – it was meant to be £35 but I think their system glitched as I used a code I didn’t think would work but it did! 

 

Then I picked myself up the NYX Banana powder as I like to use a yellow based powder under my eyes and my current one is panned – this is £9 but I got for £7.12. I also grabbed a couple cheaper conducting gel alternatives for my NuFace as the branded one is expensive so chose the Holika Holika Aloe 99% Soothing Gel (£3.15 instead of £3.95) and the Jason Aloe Vera 98% Moisturising Gel Tube (£2.40 instead of £3.99). I’ve been looking to get a new brush for a while too so decided on the Wet Brush Pro Flex Dry (£12.01 instead of £14.99) and finally to get free delivery I added the Holika Holika Mugwort essence sheet mask to my basket which was £1.55 instead of £1.95! Overall this was £26.23 instead of £30.76.

 

Finally (on Look Fantastic at least) I got sucked in again and made my fourth order of the month which included the new Bondi Sands Pure range – the tanning sleep mask (£8.53 instead of £14.99) and gradual tanning milk (£7.39 instead of £12.99). I also needed a new mascara so got the Maybelline Volum’ Express The Falsies (£7.07 instead of £8.99) and the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum (£47.52 instead of £60) which I have wanted forever and I also got a 4 well ABH palette (£4) for my single I got last month! This total was £74.51 instead of £100.97. 

 

Every month ASOS release a beauty box for £12 and every month I miss it as it sells out so quickly. Last month, they released two hair themed boxes and by sheer luck I managed to grab them both before they sold out! The Hair Repair Box had a 69% saving and the Textured Hair Must Haves had a 79% saving. I won’t go through every single product included here but the main reason I picked them up were for the full size Olaplex No.3 (worth £26 alone) and the Frank caffeinated scalp scrub. See how much I love Olaplex here!

 

Another “device” I have been eyeing up this year is the Revlon Salon One Step Volumizer which I got on Amazon for £39.99 (RRP £59.99). I have used this maybe 3 or 4 times now and to be honest I think it’s a bit wasted on me. I can see how it might work on thicker hair but for me with fine and long hair, I am not getting a lot of volume and as the brush blows out air I am getting a lot more frizz on the top section of my hair that I wouldn’t otherwise. It’s also taking much longer to dry and due to the frizz I am still running the straighteners over it! I think this will be heading to my hair tool graveyard soon unfortunately! 

 

I was hoping this month SpaceNK would do their £15 off a £60 spend but unfortunately they did £20 off a £100 spend which doesn’t work out as well. I had a £5 Ndulge reward to use and the expiration was coming up soon so I grabbed a couple things I had wanted for a while – the Medik8 Crystal Retinal 6 and Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless setting spray and decided to add the Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Butter hair repair treatment to make my basket up to £100. With the discount and my reward this came to £75 altogether. 

 

For the second bank holiday, Escentual did 25% off everything so I took the opportunity to get my favourite serum back in my routine – the NIOD Copper Amino Isolate Serum which is usually £60 but I got it for £45 with the discount – Deciem don’t even have that much off it when they do their Christmas offer, it was 22% last year I think so I would always wait for a deal like this as it’s pricey! Read more about how much I love it here!

 

And so concludes my beauty spend in May. Yikes. My total this month was an eye watering £442.44 :| I haven’t fully worked out the value but I think its £600+ so I definitely got some good deals and instant gratification but I am ready for a slow couple of months shopping my stash for sure! Not every month is like this for me and I will say that I also started my new job this month so was very much in treat yo self/congratulations to me mode. I hope to go on a “try not to buy” now for the rest of summer at least – calling it a full ban would make it too difficult!

 

I picked up a lot of things I had been eyeing up for quite some time so don’t have a lot on my wishlist right now apart from the Anastasia Brow Freeze and the Alpha H Liquid Gold Midnight Reboot serum so if you have either of those do tell me if I need to break my low buy for them! Let me know if there is anything in particular you want to see a review of and I will get working on it! See January, February and April instalments of this series – March was a no buy so it can be done!

 

All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used.

See my full disclosure here.

 

Danielle xx

 

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