Avon introduces True Colour Technology

Avon is a brand I have a lot of fond memories with. My mum and my aunt were both Avon ladies and my first makeup was all Avon. In fact I pretty much hijacked the little suitcase filled with mini lipstick samples, gloss and eyeshadow that she was meant to use to help clients decide what to buy.

It’s been a few years since I’ve used their makeup so when I was invited along to see the new offerings from the brand I was excited to see what had changed.

Mix and match — peach lips

Just a quickie post today after I discovered this new lip combo. I tend to not use my brighter coloured lipsticks on a daily basis, but playing around today I decided to combine L’Oreal’s glam shine in aqua mandarin (which is not much better than a clear lipgloss) with Sleek’s "barely there” which is a bright peach colour with a hint of pink. The result was a subtle peach, which looked particularly pretty in natural daylight. 

I used a trick I picked up a while ago, which was to apply a lip gloss before lipstick for a more modern look. By applying this way I found I could control the colour intensity much more than had I applied lipstick first. Another bonus of applying lipstick in this way is that you are less likely to highlight dry lips! 

I plan on mixing up a lot more of my lip colours now, especially the ones that I have neglected. Do you have any suggestions for lip colour combos?

Sleek pout polishes

I wanted to swatch the latest limited Sleek pout polishes from the Mediterranean and Caribbean collections. Monte carlo is a sheer pink shade and Bonaire an orange. Both appear far brighter in the pot than on the lips but that being said the colour pay off is greater than that of more expensive glosses I have. 

I can see myself making a collection of all the limited editions which are released, I love the packaging and the image on the front of the tin which is something I think should have been carried over on the eyeshadow palettes. 

Monte Carlo

Bonaire

I see myself reaching for the pink shade more than the orange, which is a little brighter than the image shows, although with a light hand I think this could look very pretty.

I prefer to apply both of these with a brush to get the best colour pay off and allows you control the amount of colour. I plan on taking these glosses on holiday with me later this year. Not only are the colours great for the sunshine but I love the moisturising properties.

Which shade do you prefer?

Quick Review - L’Oreal Glam Shine

The first of the things I brought in my latest shopping trip, after seeing J.Lo in the latest L’Oreal I wanted the lip gloss she was wearing. I loved the colour even though it looks like a really bright orange in the tube. 

The shade is Aqua Mandarin (orange). I chose the fresh option, which is not shimmery although there is a shimmer version available. I really like the shape of the applicator which makes it really easy to apply and picks up the right amount of product.

A little disappointingly the gloss is a lot sheerer than I imagined. In most lighting conditions it looks much more like a clear gloss but I found when outside more of an orange tint could be seen. I was hoping for a little more colour pay off considering how bright it looks in the tube but it has made me a little braver about possibly picking up an orange or coral colour lipstick. It has a lovely sweet and fruit scent and is not too sticky. It feels hydrating on the lips and is as long wearing as any other gloss.

At £4.99 on promotion from Superdrug it’s not something I would rush out for but if you have it on your mind to purchase it is worth picking up now. 

GOSH light and shine

I received this item after winning a blog competition by Skin Deep beauty blogger, she has a great blog and I encourage all to check it out. So a huge thank you to her for the competition, it’s taken me a lot longer than it should have to write up this post.

The product I won was the GOSH light and shine lip gloss. The main feature of this product is the mirror and light built in which mean that you can apply your lip gloss in any circumstance. I love this type of gadget product so I was extra glad to win this.

The shade I received a lilac/purple (I am not sure of the official name) and has shimmers and initially I was worried it would be something I couldn’t wear. The gloss is quite thick but not as sticky as I would have expected which is a good thing. The smell is beautiful and sweet which I love. As you wear it, it feels very moisturising, also another bonus.

Although there is a hint of purple and shimmer the colour on the lips, the shade is completely wearable and I love how it looks, unfortunately photographing it is difficult, so I don’t have an image to do it justice, but hopefully you can see the subtle flecks of shimmer. I haven’t had a chance to test the durability of this yet, but I have never had high expectations of lip gloss, and this is just too pretty and fun for me to be disappointed with! These cost around £8.50 and I think considering the light element that is not pricey at all.

So a big thank you again to Skin Deep and of course GOSH too!

Sleek Avoir la peche pout polish

I mentioned in my last post that I didn’t find the pout polish for the collection at my local Superdrug store, having popped into another store I was lucky enough to find it. Again like the eyeshadows, I have not tried their pout polishes. They are described as a tinted lip conditioning balm and contain a number of natural oils in order to lock in moisture. They also contain SPF 15 which I think is a great bonus. Having worn it all day I am surprised how conditioning it is, and would opt to use this over a tinted lip balm.

The colour is Sugar May and is a beautiful light peach shade. As you can hopefully see from the swatches above, only when you apply a thicker layer of polish do you see the colour through, with a thinner layer it does end up looking more like a lip gloss particularly over my lips. I apply with a brush since the consistency is half way between that of a lip balm and a lipstick. It is not particularly long lasting either but overall I am not disappointed since it is so moisturising.

Soap and Glory Bundle - The Order

I caved! I told myself that I would use up what I have before I make any more beauty purchases for the sake of trying new products I was even going to start a project 10 pan and save to try out the ‘All good things’ skin care range I had seen in Boots. However, when this offer appeared in my inbox I had to go for it. I have never tried Soap and Glory before but I have always wanted to and missed out on the Christmas bundles. There are 3 different bundles on offer and I chose this one since there are 2 products targeting pores! Essentially for the cost of 4, I get an additional 6 to try.

Soap & Glory Enormous Beauty Bundle (only £40!)
• Wash Almighty Body Cleansing Gel 500 ml
• Clean Mary Cleansing Milk 180 ml
• Return to Slender Body Contouring Gel 200 ml (The Firminator)
• Slimwear Peptide Balm 190 ml
• No Clogs Allowed 50 ml
• The Fab Pore Facial Peel 50ml
• Mighty Mouth Gorgeous Lips Kit 2 x 4g, 9 ml
• Marvelips Colour, Shine & Shaping Crayon 4.5g
• Wizard of Flaws Line Filling Luminizer & Concealer 7 ml
• Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Plumping Gloss in Plum 7 ml

I should receive the bundle by the middle of next week so expect a post and of course reviews of the products once I have had a chance to test them out. If you were interested in purchasing I would order online or get to a large Boots store sooner rather than later since these are only while stocks last.

ELF Lip Products Review

In ELFs recent facebook promotion I decided I would pick out a few of their lip products I have been wanting to try. Luckily the face Mist and Set was thrown in as a freebie which was an added bonus since this had been on my wish list since it came out, once I have tested this fully I will do a review on this separately.

Here is my small haul;

For starters, I love ELF. Their studio line products feature in my daily face and I have never been disappointed. That being said I haven’t actually ever purchased eye shadows or lip products from them, not for lack of want, but more never being able to decide what colours to go for.

I brought two new shades of the £1.50 lip glosses, in maltshake and pink kiss. Maltshake came out a lot darker than I expected but is still a nice colour, it is more a brown than the I was expecting. I really like these though so a big thumbs up for these two.

I also decided to go for the Baby Lips lipstick also from the £1.50 range. It is more like a gloss than a lipstick to me and with the pigmentation of my natural lips this added little colour. Although I do really like the combination of my Rimmel Lipliner (pink) all over my lips with this on top.

From the studio line I wanted to go for a lip-stain and thought I was getting a nice peach colour with first date. However, this was a lot brighter than I expected though and I can’t see myself wearing this, unless I find something to mix it with. I don’t think I will repurchase any of these as from what I have tested the product doesn’t act as a lip stain. As you can see in the image below, once you reapply the gloss it dilutes the colour lip stain which is not what you would expect.

I finally brought one mineral lipstick in bare brown. A much darker brown that I was expecting so I was worried initially to wear it as I thought it may be too dark for my skin tone but it is a really lovely colour. I will definitely be repurchasing these as they are so creamy and lovely to wear. On the negative side they aren’t very long lasting. This also looks lovely with the maltshake gloss on top to darken it a bit or candlelight (not shown) to lighten it.

My only complaint from this whole purchase has been that the website colours/pictures are terrible at giving an accurate representation. In this instance I was lucky that I liked most of the colours and they suited me, but that could have easily not been the case. I think ELF would benefit from a brief description of the colour on the website to help. Otherwise I still love the brand and I look forward to adding more of their products to my collection.

Thanks for reading!

Please see my YouTube video for more ramblings!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7k5TXY9Fc4