Danielle's Beauty Blog

Monday, 15 February 2016

Wishlist #2

A little palette heavy wishlist today along with a few extras I've been lusting over!

makeup wishlist too faced tarte charlotte tilbury makeup geek

Charlotte Tilbury Kiss Chase lipstick and lip cheat in Pillow Talk - 15% off Charlotte Tilbury for new customers - use code CT-SOCT8QXLOF9

I’m probably in the small minority that don’t see what all the fuss is about with the CT makeup range. Sure the products and packaging look pretty but it’s so expensive! I just don’t know if I could part with my money for it! (I can easily part with my money for other things though so I’m not sure why I feel this way!) Anyway, one thing on my radar is the lip cheat in Pillow Talk which has been around for ages and although I have the much raved about dupe, Rimmel East End Snob, which I love, I can’t help but wonder about this! Another newer addition to her range I like the look of is the lipstick in the shade Kiss Chase. I have seen this popping up everywhere recently and each time I see it I want it a little more!

Tarte Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Paletteand Tarte Tartelette 2 In Bloom Palette

I've recently got a few Tarte products and I love the quality so these two palettes are calling my name! I can’t pick between them so thought I would stick both in this post! I love matte eye shadows and wear them far more than glitter/shimmer shades so the matte palette is looking like a strong contender, however the newer In Bloom palette looks gorgeous too!

Too Faced Love Flush Blush Wardrobe

I got a few of the Love Flush shades in a set of minis at Christmas and I LOVE them! The shades are amazing and the lasting power and pigmentation is brilliant! Blush is one of my biggest weaknesses and I would love to complete the set with this palette! Anyone know when it’s coming to the UK?

Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons Eye Shadow Palette

Another Too Faced product but they are one of my favourite brands! I don’t own any of their Chocolate Bar palettes and would be happy with any of them but this newest one has such a lovely selection of shades! And it smells of chocolate, what’s not to like!

Makeup Geek eyeshadow pan in Latte

This tiny little pan has become the bane of my life as it is forever out of stock on BeautyBay.com! I’ve been waiting for weeks for them to restock and told myself I wasn’t making another order until they had it back but I caved on Friday night and got a few more shades! I know I already probably have a hundred shades like this but I still want it and have saved one slot in my small Z palette of neutral dreams for its matte medium brown goodness! See the start of my Z palette here!

My last makeup wishlist is here!

Anything here that tickles your fancy? Or maybe you have some of it already! Let me know if I really do need it!

Danielle xx

Bloglovin | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest

Monday, 8 February 2016

Beauty Tools and Extras I’d Be Lost Without

Today I thought I’d talk about a few staple tools and products in my beauty collection that I couldn’t be without!

First up is the Tweezerman Slant Tweezers. I got these in Boots last year and before that had been using some from The Body Shop. Tweeezerman slightly edge it for me though! They are so sharp and come in so many different prints and options such as the mini versions and the pointed tweezers! I don’t actually use mine as much as I used to since my beautician told me to stop tweezing between eyebrow threading appointments but sometimes I can’t help myself and these get the job done quickly and pull the hair out from the root first go!

Popbands

I got a few Popbands in a beauty box way last year and haven’t looked back since! They are so comfortable to wear in the hair, don’t snag and don’t hurt to pull out! They come in so many different colours and prints so sorry mine is a boring old black one but sometimes you can’t beat it! Day to day I wear my hair down but I love these for the gym and for throwing my hair up in a bun when I get in from work! They are lovely and stretchy but still hold my hair tight without hurting it and don’t leave a kink when I take it out!

Primark Headband

This one sometimes goes hand in hand with my Popband as I couldn’t be without these two when I’m doing a facemask! The Primark headband keeps any flyaway hairs off my face so they don’t get covered in whatever facemask I’m using!

The Body Shop Double Ended Blackhead Remover

I've had this for absolute years now and it’s amazing! It has two different sized ends depending on the size of blemish or blackhead you want to go to town on (nice) and with a little pressure on the area it extracts any nasties under the skin! Obviously we all know you shouldn’t really squeeze or pick at spots but this is better than using your fingers!

Louise Young LY22 Mascara brush

I got this last year to use as a brow brush and while at first I was a little unsure of it as the handle is so long and slim I've soon come to love it! It works really well to neaten my brows before I use my ABH Dipbrow Pomade or a powder in them and is so easy to clean and dries really quickly as I find a lot of these spoolie brushes can get filled with foundation from round my eyebrows quite quickly! The only negative to this brush in particular would be that because of the length it only just fits into my makeup bag that I take when I’m staying over anywhere. Because of this I did have to do a bit of bending the brush head before taking this photo to straighten it out but it came back into shape quickly and felt sturdy so I wasn’t worried about it snapping! I also sometimes use this brush to comb through my eyelashes if my mascara looks a little clumpy to it’s a great multiuse product!

Shiseido Eyelash Curlers

I upgraded to these when my usual No7 pair were feeling a bit loose after years of abuse and if I’m completely honest I saw the “s” and though I was buying the infamous Shu Uemura eyelash curlers! All was not lost though as these are pretty good in their own right! I obviously can’t compare to the Shu Uemura ones everyone raves about but these give me lots of curl and volume ready for my mascara. I will sometimes blast them quickly with my hairdryer if I want even more of a curl but I usually just start at the base of my eyelashes and squeeze then move to the middle, squeeze again and do a final squeeze at the tips of my eyelashes! No wonder my old ones got loose!

Lush Lip Scrub

I don’t know where I’d be without this little pot of goodness! I have the driest lips ever and a stick of lip balm is never far away when I’m about! I do still get dry skin on my lips though and using this scrub every morning gets rid of any flakes and gives me a great base to apply lipstick on smooth lips! The pot looks tiny but you only need a little bit so it lasts for ages! I also won another pot in the lovely Velvet Blush’s giveaway a few months back so I’m sorted for a good while with one of my favourite products!

Have you got any of these products? Tell me what beauty tools and products you’d be lost without!

Danielle xx

Bloglovin | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest

Monday, 1 February 2016

Zoeva Rose Golden Vol. 2 Complete Eye Brush Set Review

Zoeva Rose Golden Vol. 2 complete eye set review

I needed these like a hole in the head but welcome to my Zoeva brush family the Rose Golden Vol. 2 eye set! I ordered these just before Christmas when I was doing my Makeup Geek order because obviously I needed new eye brushes to go with it and just look how pretty they are! Hard to resist or what?

The set includes twelve eye brushes in a limited edition (although still available) nude and rose gold handled set. Zoeva do not test any of their products on animals and this brush set is made up of brushes with both natural and synthetic bristles. As with all their other sets, the brushes are super soft and wash really well! So, onto the brushes!

Zoeva Rose Golden Vol. 2 eye set review 142 325 227 322

142 Concealer Buffer

First up, this is actually the third copy I now have of this brush (also in the Rose Gold Set and Bamboo Vol. 2 set I have!) and I don’t like it so I sold it on Ebay! I found with the others it just moved my concealer round and I ended up with no coverage and I just prefer using my fingers to pat it in! If you have any other uses for this brush do let me know as I have two sitting unloved in my brush pot!

325 Luxe Brow Light

I usually use a much smaller and more flexible brush to apply highlight to my brow but I have been enjoying using this as it has such a light touch! It’s a bit too big to use in the inner corner of my eye though!

227 Luxe Soft Definer

I’m always happy to have another blending brush in my life and this one does a great job!

322 Brow Line

I usually use a Zoeva Wing Liner brush to do my brows if I’m using powder or something like ABH Dipbrow Pomade and from pictures I had seen of this before I got it I thought it was going to be as thin as the wing liner but shorter. It’s actually a lot thicker than I thought but still works really well at giving a precise line and doesn’t look too overdone so I’m really happy with it!

Zoeva Rose Golden Vol. 2 complete eye set review 232 235 231 221

232 Luxe Classic Shader

Another standard brush to pack on shadow with! I actually prefer the Real Techniques base shadow brush when I’m using matte shadows all over as these Zoeva brushes can be a lot stiffer and I can sometimes go overboard but they are great when using glitters as they really press it on!

235 Contour Shade

I was really hoping this would be like the Real Techniques angled shadow brush as it’s my favourite for blending but it’s not as thick and fluffy so I haven’t been using this as often as I would have liked!

231 Luxe Petite Crease Brush

This is another one of my favourite brushes and I use my original Zoeva Rose Golden version every day when putting a darker eyeshadow shade through my crease and in my outer corner! I forgot how stiff it was when I first got it but I like to wash it a few times to separate the bristles a bit so it’s softer for me to use!

221 Luxe Soft Crease Brush and 228 Crease Brush

These are two lovely tapered fluffy brushes great for blending or adding a transition shade through the crease!

Zoeva Rose Golden Vol. 2 complete eye set brush review 228 230 238 310

230 Luxe Pencil

I have wanted one of these brushes for the longest time! This is great when doing a smoky eye and adding a little shadow on the bottom lash line!

238 Luxe Precise Shader

This reaches places my Luxe Brow Light brush doesn’t so is great for inner corner highlight!

310 Spot Liner

This brush is super small but not small enough for my hooded lids! I tried it with gel eyeliner and it was just a little too thick for me but if you don’t have hooded lids or can get away with thicker eyeliner then I’m sure it would be great! Or if you have more makeup skills ha!

Overall, this is a great set if like me you are looking to expand your eye brush collection! I was tempted by the mixed eye and face set but I’m really happy with the face brushes I have so was glad to expand my eye collection! It’s a totally unnecessary set if you’re not into eye makeup but even though I’m not that experimental with it, I do wear eyeshadow every day! It’s such a luxurious set from the colour scheme to the detailing on the zip and I’m glad to have it in my collection!

I got mine from the BeautyBay website for £56.95! If you like this post you might like my favourite brushes post here or my review of the Zoeva Bamboo Vol. 2 set here! Have you got this or any other Zoeva brush sets? What do you think of them?

Danielle xx

Bloglovin | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest

Monday, 25 January 2016

Five things I’m Loving | January 2016

Some of these are new to me, some I have been using for years but I've been getting a lot of use out of them this month so though I would do a quick roundup!

Rimmel Lasting Finish Primer

I actually bought this way back last year and it featured in my first ever post (lol) here! At the time I still had a few other primers to finish up but I can’t resist a Boots offer so in my basket it went. I used to love the Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation but haven’t used it in about six months as I’ve gone off it so wasn’t expecting much from this primer. How wrong I was! This does such a great job at helping my makeup last all day and reduce shine and is a bargain at £6.99! It’s quite a thick white cream but it spreads easily over my face and feels nicely hydrating too! This and the Nivea Shave Balm are my two favourite primers available for under £10!

L’Oreal Infallible Fixing Mist

Towards the end of summer last year I took my first foray into the world of setting sprays and was left disappointed by the much raved about Urban Decay De-Slick! It did nothing for my oily skin and left me having to top up my powder at lunchtime as usual so when I spotted this L’Oreal Fixing Mist for £7.99 on Boots.com I thought I’d see if it would fare any better and in short, yes it does! Although it comes out as more of a thick spray than a fine mist it dries in quickly and does wonders for my oily skin all while making my makeup last longer! So impressed with this!

Cult 51 Night Cream*

This is a more recent discovery for me and one I’ve been so happy to add into my nightly routine! Since turning 25 a few months ago, fine lines and wrinkles are something I’m starting to worry about and I figured prevention is better than cure with the introduction of this into my skincare stash! It’s a thick cream that sinks in quickly to the skin and actually feels like it would be a good day cream/makeup base too. There is a whole scientific explanation for why this stuff works which you can read about here in an interview with the founder Richard Mears as science is not my strong point! In a nutshell, the ingredients in the cream raise ATP levels and increase oxygen exchange in the skin while working with the skins metabolism to make it look great! I’ve noticed my skin looks plumper, fresher and brighter in the morning after I've used this and just better all round. The one downside to this is perhaps the fact it’s billed as “the world’s most expensive anti-aging cream” therefore costs £125 for the full size 50ml pot. So, unless I win the lottery or get a better paying job it won’t be one I’m able to run out to repurchase just yet! Available at Cult 51, Cult Beauty and Look Fantastic!

Smashbox #SHAPEMATTERS 3 in 1 Contouring Palette

I ended up buying this when Boots had it as their first star gift in the run up to Christmas back in October and I have been using it solidly ever since! I actually did take photos back when I first got it but never got round to posting, then it was sold out so I didn’t bother! Anyway I thought it was about time I gave it some love on the blog and while I love the eyeshadows and brow powders, it’s the contour powder I want to talk about because it’s perfect! It’s just the right amount of pigmentation, so finely milled and the perfect shade of cool toned brown! I choose this probably 9 times out of 10 when I go to contour and was so happy to get it for half price!

Eucerin Dry Skin Intensive Lotion

Another old favourite of mine that I don’t think I’ve mentioned before but that I absolutely swear by! About two years ago I started getting random eczema patches on my legs and arms for the first time that would leave me scratching all night. I tried every cream under the sun including doctor prescribed moisturisers and steroids to no avail. I think it was my mum who had a sample of this and it worked so well I've never looked back! It’s quite a runny white cream that doesn’t have the nicest smell in the world but once it dries in there is no scent! It sorted my skin out completely and I hardly ever have to use it anymore apart from the odd time like over Christmas when a few patches cropped up on my legs but a few nights with this and they were away again! As I said, I don’t have severe eczema so I’m not sure how it would work on that but if you get patches regularly and haven’t found anything that’s helped then try this, it’s amazing! And it’s usually on offer as it’s included in the French pharmacy promotions most online stores do! I've linked a few here, here and here!

Have you tried any of the products I’ve mentioned? What did you think of them?

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

Danielle xx

Bloglovin | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest