No Money March: The Budget Contouring Palette

I know "strobing" is the latest makeup trend but I still think contouring is the most effective way to chisel out some cheek bones and add dimension to the face. I've seen the more high-end contouring palettes and while they look pretty I just couldn't justify dropping the cash on them since I wasn't sure how much use I'd get out of them. Then I found out NYX had one so I figured I'd have a look at it, and here's what I think.

So the palette is £18 in the UK and it's made up of 8 shades. My breakdown of the functions of those shades breaks down to 3 contouring colours, 1 bronzer, 1 banana-powder type shade, 2 shimmer highlights and 1 matte highlight/light face powder. This is currently available in the UK from Boots, Selfridges, Very.com and FeelUnique.com.

I'm really pale and I find most of these shades workable for my skin. Both of the shimmer highlights are lovely on me, the top left corner "Ice Queen" is a lovely pale pinky shimmer that looks lovely on the cheek bones and "Nectar" (top right) is an orangey peach shimmer that I use as a blush topper but I can see this working well on deeper skin tones as well. The formula on the shimmer highlights is the best in the palette, these are really soft and buttery.

The matte highlight "Soft Light" (second from the left) is slightly more powdery feeling. I use this as an all over face powder but it could work as a highlight on darker skins. "Cream" (the yellow shade) is really interesting because I though it would be too dark to work on my skin but I find it blends out great and really brightens the centre of the face. With it being another matter powder it's not as creamy as the shimmers but it's definitely not what I'd call chalky either.

For the bronze-y shades I find I can only really use the two centre shades. "Tan" (bottom left) is too dark to bronze with and too warm to use as a contour and "Hollow" (bottom right) is just way too dark but the formula is pigmented and blendable on both. "Sculpt" (centre right) is my perfect contour shade and "Toffee" makes a nice pale bronzer.

The packaging isn't the most glam looking and it feels a bit cheap, but it's really functional. It seems to be marketed as a pro product so the clear lid makes sense and the hard plastic is durable so I can see this traveling well. I also like that the pans are removable so if you just wanted to travel with one of two shades you could easily pop them out and put them in another palette.

In terms of bang for your buck, it works out at £2.25 per pan and each of the pans is 2.7g. For value it works out similar to their other bronzing products which run for £8 for 9g. I think these are really reasonably priced for what you get.

I also wanted to make an honourable mention to the Spectrum Collection Tapered Finishing Brush, for budget contouring, this brush is amazing. The pink handle and blue bristles is fun and the tapered cut makes it really easy to apply contour where you want it. It's a lovely soft brush that picks up product well and blends it seamlessly and it's a synthetic brush so its cruelty free.

The Friday Review: Nars One Shocking Moment Blush Palette

For the last few years Nars has released a limited edition blush palette as part of one of their autumn collections, and or the past few years, it sold out before I managed to get my hand on it. This year I signed up to the mailing list and I ordered it the second I got the email and I couldn't have been more pleased when it turned up on my doorstep last week. It's my first experience with Nars' base products and the palette contains a lot of permanent shades so I figured I'd give you the run down.

The packaging for the palette is lovely, nice and sturdy feeling and it has one of those "good click" closes that seems to be all important in the beauty blogging world. The lid of the palette is nicely decorated with a photograph (pictured above) with a text overlay. When you open the palette the lid is a big mirror and there's 7 products inside, four of which are Blush in: "Robotic" (limited edition), "Blasphemy" (limited edition), "Luster" (permanent) and "Dolce Vita" (permanent), there's also the "Paloma" Contour Blush Duo, and a Bronzing Powder in "Laguna" which is twice the size of the other powders in the palette.

In terms of value, I paid £49 for the palette and can't find any information on the value in pounds but Sephora are advertising this at $69 with a $169 value and looking at the amount of product you get in here, I can see that being about right. The blushes are all 3.5g of product (full size are 4.5g so slightly down sized), the contour blush duo is 3.5g each (full size is 2.7g and 5.5g so slightly more highlight and slightly less contour) and the bronzer is 8.5g (full size is 8g so slightly smaller than the palette size)

The two limited edition blush shades "Robotic" and "Blasphemy" are pinky shades with shimmer. "Robotic" is quite a subtle hint of blush that will play nice with a bolder lip look while "Blasphemy" is a slightly bolder blush, it's a mid-tone pink that will give more of a blushed look to the cheeks but it's still very wearable.

The permanent blush shades are nice as well. "Luster" looked like a shade I didn't think I'd get much use out of but after actually wearing it I can safely say it's my favourite out of all the products in the palette, it's a nice peachy bronze-y shade on the cheeks and is good to warm up a lighter skin tone. "Dolce Vita" is the boldest blush in the palette and will give the cheeks that winter-y "I've just been out in the cold" type flush and used lightly on the skin it's really pretty.

Looking at the shades in the palette to me there's something for every season, "Robotic" will be a spring-time staple, "Luster" will give you that summer time golden goddess look, "Blasphemy" will work well for autumn and then "Dolce Vita" is a nice winter blush pick. My only complaint with the blush shades is that everything's a bit shimmery, if they'd thrown in at least one matte shade I think that would have balanced things out a bit better.

Out of all the products in the palette, the Contour Blush Duo was my least favourite. On me the highlight shade looks like a normal setting powder, but if you're of a medium skin tone the highlight might actually show up on you. The contour shade was also a little out, it's just a bit too warm, even the bronzing shade looks cool toned beside it. I'd rather use "Laguna" lightly to contour and use the contouring shade in place of bronzer. I was a littler worried that "Laguna" would be way too dark on me at first but providing I use a light hand with it I can just about get away with it.

The palette is available now on narscosmetics.com and sephora.com and is also available for pre-order from Space NK.

September Favourites

Another month down and its been a good one this month both for finding new favourites and rediscovering old loves that I'd forgotten about. With it being the end of skint-tember, not everything will be high-street this time around but there's some affordable products in the mix. An honourable mention needs to go to the Fleur De Force Lipglosses, I love these at the moment but haven't had them long enough for them to qualify as a monthly favourite but I didn't want to leave them out.

A couple of products I found when testing affordable products for Skint-tember are the L'Oreal Le Blush and the Maybelline Master Drama Khol Liner. The blush is a nice peachy pink that's easy to apply and just brightens up the complexion and the texture is lovely on the face, I wouldn't necessarily have picked this up if I hadn't been trialling products specifically for the posts for last month (one day I'll show you how the blush drawer has gotten out of hand since the blog) but I'm really glad I did because this was a nice affordable find.

I've been picking up a few pieces from Maybelline's Master range lately and it seems to be a line of on-point releases from what I can see. I discovered the Master Sculpt Contour Palette last month and that went straight into a favourites post and this month I picked up the eye liner from the range and again it's shot straight to the top of my love-list. It's a nice strong black eyeliner that wears well but is creamy to apply.

On the topic of the Maybelline Master Sculpt, I may have been cheating this month. Birchbox sent me a small size of The Balm's Balm Desert Bronzer/Blush and I've been liking this for a contour shade lately. It's a bit deeper than the Maybelline so I do have to be a bit careful but it's been nice for popping in my makeup bag when I'm on the go.

I've also shelved my long-loved L'Oreal Pure Colour Shampoo for a while. I ran out a few weeks back and when I went for a repurchase I couldn't find it in stock anywhere, so after a few moments standing at the display in dismay I decided to try the Ever Strong from the same range. The Pure Colour is marketed for "Flat, Coloured Hair" and the Ever Strong claims to be new and is for "Fine, Flat Hair and Delicate Scalp" and it's still sulphate-free from what I can see so good for the colour too and I think it's my new favourite. It's just so much better for giving texture and volume to the hair and I like it a lot.

I've recently been investing in some nice quality brushes as well. I've been using a set I picked up from Frauline for the last few years and they were a great, affordable starter set for me but they've gotten a bit old and need replacing and I've decided to slowly start switching them out for really nice ones (if anyone wants an update on all of my recent brush buys let me know and I can do a post on that). After finally picking up a MAC 217 I don't know how I've managed without one for so long and I'm tempted to go back and pick up this brush in duplicate. It's makes eyeshadow application so easy and if you don't own this brush and you're into eyeshadow, I'd recommend giving it a go.

A re-discovery this month has been the Aromatherapy Associates Bath & Shower Oils, I particularly like the "Relax" and "De-Stress" sub-ranges and will more than likely be picking up a full size of some of these soon. I've been saving these oils for special occasions but I've decided I need to just get using them because they're lovely. I like the miniatures set because I think it contains a mini of all the ones in the range and you can sample which ones you like best before you buy. And if you have a small bath like me you can get 2-3 baths out of each bottle. They're also a great size for travel.

And finally, I wanted to throw in a random favourite this month. My boyfriend and I have made our way through a marathon of most TV series' by now and we decided we wanted something new to do together and decided on getting an xbox game to play. He's really into gaming and I've been known to have a dabble at things here and there. So after much deliberation, we decided that the Lego Games range would be a nice way to introduce me to gaming as they're aimed for a younger audience and generally a bit easy. We picked up Lego Jurassic World a few weeks back and it's been great, the two player is good and there's lots to do so you get a lot of game time for you're money, we've also recently picked up Lego Star Wars so we've got some variation and hopefully I'll pick up some Xbox skills and we'll be able to get something more difficult next time but we're really enjoying it so far. If anyone has any game recommendations for next time we're all ears.

High Street Hero's - The Make-up Edition

In a bid to write posts that were maybe a little more budget-friendly, I've lined up what I'm calling "High Street Hero's" for this week, which is going to be a series of 3 posts that are basically a "15 under 15" type post. I wanted to put a price limit on it because I've been noticing recently things I like in Boots that are high-street brands are creeping up in price ever so slightly, and now L'Oreal eye-creams are on par price-wise with brands like Kheil's and I didn't see the point in recommending products like these as "budget" offerings.

So to kick things off we'll start with the Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Sticks, particularly in the shades "Nudist" and "Plum Jam". These are the perfect no-fuss lip colours that you can generally apply without the need for a mirror. They're sheer and super glossy which makes them a good comfortable lip colour and while they don't hang around too long they are pretty much my make-up jogging-bottoms equivalent.

One that everyone and their nan will have mentioned on blogs and YouTube channels a like is the Rimmel Scandaleyes Eyeliner Pencils. If the colour selection for these was as good as the range of Urban Decay 24/7 Liners, I'd have given up on buying UD liners long ago because they are pretty much just as good. The Rimmel ones come in a decent array of colours and my picks from the range are the nude, the taupe and the bright blue.

A product that I've harped on and on about on this blog is the Maxfactor 2000 Calorie Curved Brush Mascara. It's just a brilliant mascara for length but it still gives a little bit of volume and (most importantly) makes my limp lashes hold a curl without the need to go waterproof.

A couple of Soap & Glory base products that you'll have also heard me mention on multiple occasions are their Solar Powder and their One Heck of a Blot Powder. The solar-powder is a blogger-rated bronzer and it's lovey. As a pale-complexion girl I often struggle to find bronzers that work for me but as this one has the 2 shades in 1 I've really been enjoying using it. The one-heck-of-a-blot is now my go-to setting powder, have recently repurchased for the 3rd time!

The L'Oreal True Match Foundation is an oldie but a goodie. I've been using this on-and-off for years now and I always come back to it. The shade selection is brilliant and it's one of the few high-street foundations that is a perfect skin tone match for me. Super pale girls might want to give this one a try.

Another foundation I've been really enjoying lately is the Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation. While their lightest shade is definitely more my summer colour I find that mixed with moisturiser it gives a nice coverage that isn't too obviously dark on my complexion. I've been loving it now the wether in England has finally started to brighten up as it's giving my skin that slightly sun-kissed glow that we all crave this time of year.

My Holy-Grail brow product is the Soap & Glory Archery Brow Pencil. While the shade selection leaves much to be desired I find that the shade "Hot Chocolate" works well for me. I love the thin-nibbed pencil and the spooly brush on the other end of the product is a very nice one. I do mix it up with brows quite frequently lately but I'm finding that I keep coming back to this one.

So for a while I didn'y bother with high-street eyeshadows as they generally only came in singles, so when you could buy a high-end palette where for £36 you got 12 shades and it worked out at £3 a shade, it made very little sense to me to be paying £5-£8 for drugstore single shadows. Then the L'Oreal La Palette Nude (Blush) hit the high-street and I found myself getting excited about high-street eyeshadows for the first time. Okay, so the pigmentation and blendability isn't as good as my much-loved Urban Decay shadows, but for what you pay, it's a beaut.

One that I've mentioned before but not for a while now is the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvets, AKA my favourite high-street lip products ever. I have the shades "Hot Pepper" and "Frambourjois" but I'm also eyeing up "Olé Flamingo" at the moment. They're just a great long-lasting matte lip that's comfortable and easy to apply. That being said, avoid the shade "Grand Cru", have read many a duff review on that shade and it seems to really let the line down, hopefully they'll reformulate that shade eventually.

Another budget eyeshadow find for me was the Soap & Glory Lid Stuff palette. This palette does come in a few different shade ranges but I like the one with the more neutral shade selection just because those are the types of shades I reach for most often. Not as god a deal as the L'Oreal as you get 4 shades for around £10 but the shade selection and the quality of these for me is what sells it.

When it comes to blush, Maxfactor have got it down. I've got a couple of their cheek products and I think both are brilliant. For the powder-blush lover their Creme Puff Blushes are lovely, lots of bloggers compare them to the Hourglass Ambient Light Blushes but since I don't currently have one of those I couldn't validate that claim, my faouvirte shade from the range is "Nude Mauve". And for the cream blush wearer? Their Miracle Touch Creamy Blush, particularly in the shade "Soft Pink" is delightful. Blends nicely and gives just the right amount of colour, I like to apply this one with a Rela Techniques Expert Face Brush.

Another Maxfactor base product that I've been loving is their FaceFinity Primer. It's basically suerglue for your foundation and it also has SPF 20 so if you like your make-up to have some SPF to it, this is probably something you'd like. It glides on the skin like a moisturiser and dries down under foundation for a super long-lasting base.

And finally a fairly recent find of mine, the Soap & Glory Hocus Focus Highlight, this to me is very much like Benefit High Beam. It's a liquid highlight that can be applied before foundation, on top of foundation light a targeted highlight or, my personal favourite, mixed into your foundation for a subtle all-over glow.

June Favourites

So it's favourites time again and I really can't believe how quickly this year is flying by. I've been trying a lot of new things this month but only a small selection have found a spot in my weekly rotations so I thought I'd let you in on what I've been loving this month.

I have quite a few make-up favourites this month and one that I've already mentioned in a post this week is the L'Oreal Infallable 24 Hours Matte Foundation, which I picked up as it seems to be warming up a little bit in England now and I've been wanting to try some more long-lasting foundations in an attempt to mark 2015 as the year I finally escaped the shiny-nose-syndrome that I've suffered every summer since birth. While it hasn't quite managed to keep me 100% all day long it's definitely the best foundation for oil control I've tried to date from the high street.

Another product type that I don't always gravitate to but I reach for a lot in the summer is bronzer, and the one I've been reaching for this month is the Bourjois Maxi Delight Bronzer. This thing is massive so I can imagine it'll be in my collection for quite some time as I only use a little bit in the place of blush to warm up my complexion a bit for the summer months.

My final make-up favourite for the month is my No7 Stay Perfect Shade and Define in the shade "Cool Mink". This isn't my favourite texture for a creamy eyeshadow stick (I much prefer the By Terry Ombre Blackstars but trés expensive) but the colour of this is a lovely everyday neutral that you can just smudge on and go. I would still use an eyeshadow primer with this product just because it can get a little crease-y after a long day without one.

Now for some skincare, a product I've reviewed on here recently that I've been using like crazy this month is the Clarins Lotus Face Treatment Oil which is an oil that is specifically targeted toward those of us who have a combination/oily skin. I've been using this most days in the place of a morning moisturiser as it's hydrating enough for m skin but sits really nicely under make-up and seems to help with oil control throughout the day. Love.

A skincare favourite that I can't believe hasn't made it into a favourites post before is the No7 Beautiful Skin Overnight Revitalising Eye Balm. I did post a dedicated review post for this a while back but I've been loving it for a while now and looking back through my favourites posts I can't find it so it seems to have slipped under my radar. It's a lovely eye cream tat I use pretty much every night that it moisturising but not too heavy.