MUA Heaven and Earth Palette

I hardly feel like this palette is worth reviewing as there are sooo many reviews out there, and they all say the same thing. "It's fantastic!" I've been wanting this for a while but my local Superdrug doesn't stock it, so you can imagine how happy I was when I found it . You can buy the palette here for £3! I paid £4 in store, and for ten good sized eye shadows I think that's pretty damn good!

As you can see I've used mine quite a bit already, it's just such an easy palette to default to for both morning and night. You can make a lot of really beautiful looks out of these shadows, the pigmentation is especially good on the darker colours, saying that the highlight colour is really pigmented for a highlight.

 

The only thing that might put some people off is that a lot of the colours are shimmery. I love a little shimmer at night and I think well applied subtle shimmer can look beautiful for day time, so this doesn't bother me personally but I thought I should give you a heads up. 

In conclusion I would without doubt recommend this, it's a really nice range of warm colours that are incredibly flattering and I think I will be trying out some of the other palette's MUA has to offer.

Please do let me know if there are any products you'd like me to review,

This is all,

Gemmm xxx

Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush

I forgot to apologise in my previous post for being MIA for while. I went to Rome during half term, (which was amazing by the way).I did try and do a post the night before I went, but my laptop shut down, literally just as i was about to click publish and lost the whole post. I would normally have re done it but it was the night before flying and I still hadn't packed. So i thought for the lack of posts over the last couple of week I would do a few in a row to make up for it.

 Anyway excuses over, now I will get on with the actual purpose of this post, which is to review Maybelline's Dream Mouse Blush. I had to phych myself up for a while to buy this, and I managed to find it at a discount shop in my town centre for £2.99. For any one who lives in Wigan, I'm talking of the very locally famous Glamour Point.

 You only need a tiny bit of this and it's just a really fun product to apply. I am aware how strange that sounds, but it's not tedious at all, it just applies really pleasantly and easily. I've used it pretty much every day since I bought it. This is also a really pretty colour as you can see in the swatch below. The product just looks so natural on the cheeks and actually lasts through the average college day.

So of course Sods' law dictates that as soon as I finally try this product it gets discontinued! Argh! What are you thinking Maybelline?! This is a wonderful product and ...uh-sad face :( I imagine it will still be available on the interweb and in discount make up stores for a while so I'm going to have to stock up. I would so highly recommend this product and I am completely gutted that it's been discontinued. The only up side to this is that they have been replaced with the Maybelline Cream Soft Blush, which I hope are going to be even better, or else  I don't imagine Maybelline would discontinue such a popular product.

Please do let me know if there are any products you'd like me to review,

This is all,

Gemmm xxx

Collection 2000 Glam Crystals Eyeliner

Well hello there, so I was in Asda the other week and this Eye Liner had been reduced to about £1.50, so seen as I'd seen it recommended in a video I figured it would be foolish of me not to give it a go. They're only £2.99 from boots anyway though, so it's not a monumental loss should it not be to your liking if you paid full price.

Okay, so I will stop babbling and review this product. The lasting power is definitely good, but saying that I don't have a lot of experience with glitter eye liner so I can't really compare this to anything else.

I have to apologise for the shadow on this picture, I've not quite mastered the whole picture talking thing yet. Anyway, as you can see in the swatch above the glitter is really pretty, lots of different colours of flecks that gel really well together when applied and just look really beautiful. It's super easy to apply as well, I'm quite good with gel liner but I've never been good at getting the right control with a liquid liner. ( I am getting slowly but surely better though )

I love this product and would definitely recommend anyone to buy it. The only problem is that it's so hard to find an occasion when glitter eye liner is appropriate, so it's just sitting sadly in my make up drawer feeling forgotten about. Poor eye liner :(

Please do let me know if there are any products you'd like me to review,

This is all,

Gemmm xxx

Ebay 88 Warm Palette Review

If you are interested in the original eBay palette I have done a review of that here.  This is all about the warm palette which is favourite palette out of the two and to be honest out of all the palettes I own. I should point out though that these are the only large palettes I own.

So this is the lovely palette, unfortunately the flash has washed out a lot of the paler colours. But I promise you that there aren't just twenty shades of white. The colours in this palette are so pretty! My friend was getting ready with me once and just gazed in awe as the colours are so nice. They're really flattering colours too that are right up my street. I'm very pale and I don't find that bright colours suit me, but I still adore experimenting with makeup and this palette allows me to do that.

All the colours in the shot are matte, but they're are some shimmery colours and some with a satin finish as well. I cannot recommend this palette enough, I payed about eight pound for this, which makes each eyeshadow nine pence each and I honestly would use every single one of these colours! They're really good quality as well, they last all day and are well pigmented. The only thing I should point out about this palette is that the individual eye shadows are small, about the size of a penny (a British penny that is ).

Please do let me know if there are any products you'd like me to review,

This is all,

Gemmm xxx

ELF Powder Brush Review

Like more or less everyone else I find that ELF products can be very much hit or miss, so I always like to read reviews before I buy anything from ELF. More so the studio line as although the products are cheap, it's really easy to get carried away and spend a lot of money, especially when you live in the UK and have to rely purely on the website.

So this is what the brush looks like, it's from the studio line so was only £3.50. I'd heard a lot of good things about this brush which is why I bought it. When i first got this brush it did shed quite a few hairs, but now I've pulled the loose hairs out it no longer sheds, even after being washed. 

The brush actually wasn't properly round when I got it, so I washed it to reshape it and as you can see it's pretty spot on. I really like this brush, it's so wonderfully soft on your skin. A lot of people like to use this for foundation, but I tried it out and I didn't like the whole stippling thing, I prefer using a regular foundation brush. This is however wonderful for powder, I've used it for bronzer, blusher and loose powder and in regards to application I cannot fault it.

Obviously the fact the brush shedded put me off it at first, but I'm glad I waited a couple of weeks before I did a review as now it's done shedding I really love this brush, and at £3.50 it's worth every penny.

Please do let me know if there are any products you'd like me to review,

This is all,

Gemmm xxx

Rimmel Lasting Finish Blushers

Bonjour people, so in my last post I promised to review some of the products that I have managed to snap up for a really cheap price. These Rimmel Blushers ( £5.19 in Boots ) were just a pound each from Poundworld! ( I think that's correct, but it may be Poundland, it's difficult to differentiate). I may be overly kind in this review as I'm so impressed with the price, but I will do my best to be impartial.

 I got two colours, I would have gotten all four but sadly they only had two. The colour above is 'Winter Glow', which isn't a great name in my opinion as I think this is definitely more of a summer blush. In fact the other blush I have from this range is called summer freeze and is more of a winter colour. 

Anyway, onto this blush. The blush is nice, I like that there are three sections, only one of which is shimmery. This means you can chose to embrace or avoid shimmery cheeks. The brush that come with these blushes are pretty poor as for me they are too dense and apply the blush too heavily, but I never expect the freebie brushes to be great anyway.

This is the colour Summer Fever and is my least favourite of the two. It's a good quality blush, as is the other one. However for me this a little to brown toned, I tend to like pinker or coral colours. This would look amazing on darker skin tones though. Also these blushes will last most of the day, they're still just about visible when I get back from a day of college, which is over 7 hours of wear.

To sum up, these are without a doubt worth a pound, there were a lot left in the Poundland near me too, so if you hurry you should be able to snap one up. I think these blushes are worth the full price, but I would resent having to pay £4.19 more for the exact same product.

Please do let me know if there are any products you'd like me to review,

This is all,

Gemmm xxx

The best places to buy makeup

Well hello :)

I though I would share with you a few of my favourite makeup stores. These shops have well priced makeup, nail varnish and other beauty products for prices that aren't going to make you purse cry. Basically I'm talking about the 'cheapo' shops. Things line BnM bargains, Poundland, Poundworld are like treasure troves for amazingly priced, genuine makeup. Not only this, but they have some makeup stock that has been discontinued, which means I've been able to be reunited with some old favourites.

I thought I'd give you a quick round up of a few products I've bought, I'll review each item separately, this is just a round up of what you can expect to find.

NYC Chroma Blusher

Poundworld £1

Discontinued

Revlon Matte Nail Polish

Poundland £1

RRP £6.49

Rimmel Last Finish Blusher

Poundworld £1

RRP £5.19

*Review*

Bourjois Clubbing Mascara

Poundworld £1

RRP £7.99

Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation

BnM Bargains £2.99

RRP £6.99

*Review*

There are of course more, and I will be letting you know about what i get and if the products are any good. I apologise for the absence of any pictures in this post, so i used so colours to make up for it. So yeah, basically get yourself down to Poundland/Poundworld/BnM!

Please do let me know if there are any products you'd like me to review,

This is all,

Gemmm xxx

Jelly Pong Pong Lip Frosting

If you read my previous post you will know that I got a goodie bag at The Clothes Show Live from Jelly Pong Pong. This is going to be quite a quick, very positive post on the Lip Frosting. This retails at £10.00 which is a little steep, but there is a massive 14g of product in the tube and you don't need very much.

I love, love, love this product! It's quite unusual, it's like it was the best parts of a balm and a gloss combined. It feels lovely on your lips and is really moisturising yet is still lovely and glossy. It also smells great, like ice cream, which is always good! It's a very pink shade, which would normally put me off but it's very wearable. 

Please do let me know if there are any products you'd like me to review,

This is all,

Gemmm xxx

Jelly Pong Pong Wide Awake Palette Review

At The Clothes Show Live this year they were selling Jelly Pong Pong goodie bags, it wasn't a brand that I had ever tried before so I was curios and decided to buy one, I was really happy with all of the products that I got in the bags, one of which was this palette.

The packaging of all of the Jelly Pong Pong products is really pretty, especially this palette. It retails at £15.00, but is currently out of stock on the website. I like this palette and use it a lot when I'm going out. The only reason I don't use it on a day-to-day basis is because they are hard to get hold of and I don't want to run out to quickly. 

The palette looks like this and also came with a pair of decent tweezers and a pretty cheap brush that I don't think I will use very much. The star of this palette for me is definitely the highlighting cream, I love the gorgeous glow it gives when applied. I'm not sure what the illuminating cream is for, but i use it as a highlighter also. I use the highlighter on my cheek bones and the illuminate on my cupids bow and under my eyes ( before concealer). 

The palette's downfall is the eyebrow sculpture, there's nothing wrong with the quality, the pigmentation is great, as is the lasting power. But the colours aren't quite right. The darker colour is fine if you have darker eyebrows but the lighter colours are a little orangey when applied.

Please do let me know if there are any products you'd like me to review,

This is all,

Gemmm xxx

Free 17 Blush and Glow at Boots

So I was at boots yesterday and when I checked the offer on my boots card I was pleasantly surprised to find that this wonderful freebie deal. When you buy any ( yes, any!) product from the 17 line you get this a free 'Blush and Glow' worth £3.69. The great thing about this it's literally anything from the line, so the product you buy can be cheaper than the free product you're being given. Amazed by the offer, I hurried to print the voucher off the boots card machine

When I first went to the counter there were none of these left (presumabley because of this amazing deal!), but I asked the nice lady who worked there got me a new shiny one from the draw. The only shade they had left was Peaches and Cream, but looking at the other colour on line i would have chosen this anyway.I wasn't sure what to buy, but before I decided my Mum, who I was shopping with, decided to buy the new Miracle Matte foundation anyway, so I just got the freebie and saved my cash.  

Onto the product now. Both the blush side and the highlighter side are lovely products in their own right. The blush has a tiny bit of shimmer, but it comes across more satin and dewy. I only have on highlighter other than this so I'm not the best person to review it, however I do really like this, it definitely highlights but in a subtle way so it can be worn everyday. The only thing i dislike about this is that it's hard to get at either side easily with a brush, so I have to use one of my smaller brushes. 

Please do let me know if there are any products you'd like me to review,

This is all,

Gemmm xxx

Ebay 88 Pallete Review

Most of you will have heard of the Coastal Scents or BH Cosmetics palettes, there is a lot of love for them out there as the variety of colours is so large and the quality is supposedly great. I opted for the cheaper version and bought two palettes off eBay, the original and the warm palette. This is a review of the original palette.

You can see for yourself just how good the colour selection is of this. If you search "88 Palette" on eBay and arrange the results by cheapest first, you can usually snatch on of these up for less than a tenner. I was lucky and managed to get mine for about £7, which works out at less than 8 pence per eyeshadow. They pigmentation and just general quality of these shadows will shock you! They're incredible, in addition to that they have a great lasting power!

The only real downside to this palette is that the shadows themselves are quite small, about the size of a penny, but this can only really be expected when there are so many of them for such a good price. The other thing is that I've heard of people finding the casing very poor. I don't know if I have just been lucky, but I've had no problems with mine as of yet. This palette is perfect for anybody just starting out in makeup who can't afford to be buying new eye shadows for every new look they want. For me though although I love the quality of this palette and there are a lot of great colours, there are probably about ten or more shades in this I will probably never use, such as the red and bright pinks.

Let me know if there are any products you'd like me to review,

This is all,

Gemmm xxx

Models Own Eyeshadow Dusts

Every Decemember I attend The Clothes Show Live, this year I bought the Models Own giftbag and recieved 15 items for just £10! In the gift were these three of the Models Own answers to a dazzle dust.

The shades unfortunatley don't have a names but I have a quite bright red colour, a shimmery, light pink and a shimmery charcoal grey, as swatched below.

The pink shade is beautiful when applied, however it would definatley require some form of cream base as there tends to be a lot of fallout when applied to a dry lid. The Charcoal shade has tiny specks of grey glitter in and looks gorgeous with a smokey eye. This colour is the highest quality of the three by far as the pigmentation is great and the fallout is more minimal ( I would still recomend a base/primer though).

That just leaves the red, 

A red eyeshadow was never going to a favourite for me regardless of the quality, I find red shadows look lovely on people who can pull them off, but can be very unflattering of those of us that can't. But if you are looking for a red shadow, I would recomend steering clear of this particular one, you can see from the swatches how poor the pigmentation is and there is an awful lots of fallout aswell. As much as I like the other sahdes I have, the red was a real miss for me.

Let me know if there are any products you'd like me to review,

This is all,

Gemmm xxx