Review | Garnier Summerbody Moisturising Lotion Deep Sun-Kissed Look

Hello lovelies, hope you're all having a good week! Today I have a review of the Garnier Summerbody Moisturising Lotion Deep Sun-Kissed Look - what a bloody mouthful! 

I usually steer clear of fake tan ; any pale girls like me will know that fake tan can be a slightly dodgy issue on our skin since the colour just doesn't look natural at all. On the rare occasions that I do use fake tan, I like to use an instant one because at least you know what colour you'll be right away. I have far too many memories of using gradual tanner a few years ago when I went to bed looking like Snow White & woke up the next morning thinking "Oh my god, Willy Wonka is going to be round any minute to recruit me to work in his factory with all of the other oompa loompas." 

Aaaanyways, this product has totally changed my views on gradual tanners & fake tan in general!

Garnier Summerbody Moisturising Lotion Deep Sun-Kissed Look | £2.68 (normally £5.36) | Available here

This product comes in two shades: light & medium. I of course went for light. It claims to be specially formulated for lighter skin tones to build up a natural looking tan. 

I'll start off by saying that this lotion smells AMAZING. It has apricot extracts in it which make it smell absolutely gorgeous & it doesn't leave the horrible biscuity smell the next day. It's not sticky, dries fairly quickly & leaves the skin feeling lovely & moisturised all day. 

When it comes to tanning it's where this product really impresses me! It's so gradual that it makes it look really natural. After the first application, your skin doesn't necessarily look tanned but it has a "glow". You then need to build it up over a few more applications until you get to a colour that you're happy with. For me, I needed about 4 applications before I would say I looked properly tanned. I really liked the very gradual aspect of this lotion because it meant that there were no horrible streaky disasters & no waking up the next morning looking 8 shades darker than you naturally are. After each application the colour just became ever so slightly deeper until it looked gorgeously tanned. It was a really nice colour as well, not orange but just a really nice sun-kissed colour as if I'd been on holiday for a couple of weeks. It may not be for you if you need a tan to work quickly but if you just replace your usual moisturiser with this then you're guaranteed to have a really natural looking tan within a few days. 

I'm extremely happy with this product & could not recommend the light colour enough if you're pale skinned & want a natural looking tan. I haven't tried any other gradual tanning lotions specifically for pale skin so I can't really compare the Garnier version with any other products but this has worked so well that I wouldn't even consider trying anything else! PLUS - it's only £2.68 in Boots (usually £5.36) so if you're considering buying it do it now! 

Have you tried this product? Or anything similar? What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

Jen x

Review | Soap & Glory Supercat Eyeliner Pen

Hello lovelies. I'm actually writing this on Tuesday night & scheduling it to post now as I'm in uni early on Wednesday (today) & will probably be snoring & drooling in a lecture as you read this. Attractive, I know. Now, let's get that beautiful image of me out of your head...

I picked up the Soap & Glory Supercat Eyeliner Pen a couple of weeks ago as I decided that my main goal in life was to master the cat eye effect eyeliner. Uni work could wait, this was an important mission. I hadn't heard anything about this eyeliner pen actually & simply bought it because it was the same one that my sister had. However, I'm extremely happy I bought this on impulse.

Soap & Glory Supercat Eyeliner Pen | £6 | Available here

Now I haven't mastered liquid eyeliner yet but I also haven't blinded myself, so I'm taking that as a win. 

The packaging of this eyeliner is really sturdy & also very luxurious looking in my opinion. This eyeliner pen itself is amazing as it's thin at the top but has a thicker edge so you can make the line as thin or thick as you like, making it idiot-proof for the likes of me, yay!

It's also very pigmented - one swipe is all you need. Some eyeliners I tried years ago honestly needed about three coats before the colour was dense enough but with this eyeliner one coat is all you need for complete opaque coverage which doesn't transfer on to the lids. 

I think for £6 this eyeliner is very good value for money & I'm really happy I bought it. I would definitely recommend it to any liquid eyeliner fanatics on the lookout for a new one. As for me, the quest to create perfect flicked eyeliner continues... 

What do you think of this product? Have you tried it?

Jen x

Review | MAC Chatterbox Lipstick

Hello lovelies! Hope you're having a great week so far, I'm back at uni for a week & am having a bit of a freakout about how much work I have to do at the moment, so naturally I thought I'd sit & write a blog post... 

You may have seen in a haul post a I wrote a while ago that I bought a new MAC lipstick in the shade Chatterbox. I needed a lipstick to go with the dress I'm wearing to my cousin's wedding (which is this Saturday, eeeeh!) & after showing one of the mua's my dress, she chose this shade to match. I bought it & then brought it home where it sat forgotten in my room for almost two weeks as although it was a nice colour, it wasn't a shade that would normally be on my wishlist (I'm into bright lipsticks) & I just needed something to go with the dress. I then decided just to try it on one day & oh my goodness I absolutely adore it! I honestly feel like I should apologise to it for leaving it unused for so long. 

Mac Chatterbox | £15 | Available here

Apologies for the disaster that is my face (although you can't see too much of it thankfully). I took these pics after a full day of uni so my face is rather shiny & I was too darn lazy to powder before I took the pics.

Moving on, how gorgeous is this lipstick?! It's one of MAC's amplified creme finishes which means it's gorgeously creamy as well as being amazingly pigmented - what more could a girl want?

The formula is fab for girls like me who have really dry lips as it just glides on & feels really moisturising. It also lasts bloody ages before I need to top it up. I'd assume a lipstick as creamy as this would need topped up every 1-2 hours but this can honestly last around 5 hours on my lips without any need for a touch up, & if it does fade it does so in a natural & even way. 

I absolutely love the colour of this lipstick & think it's the perfect Spring shade for me. It's just a gorgeous everyday pink (MAC describe it as a bright red-pink) which is so easy to wear & it suits my pale skin tone really well. It looks amazing with some pink blush (I wear it with NARS Orgasm from my blush palette - review here) & simple eye makeup; I'm just using a wash of the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On & On Bronze all over my lids at the moment. 

If you're on the lookout for a gorgeous Spring lipstick I'd definitely advise you to give this a try as it's the only lipstick I've been wearing for the past week & a half! What do you think of this colour?

Jen x

Review | Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer

Hello lovelies! I have a quick review for you all today as I was out in town last night & although I'm past the "I hate myself" stage of my hangover I'm still not feeling all that great & could absolutely murder a Big Mac. 

Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer | £10.99 | Available here

This primer claims to extend the wear of foundation (which is the least I'd expect), mattify skin & control excess oil. It costs £10.99 for 30ml of product which I found good value for money compared to other primers I've used such as the No7 Stay Perfect Primer which costs £12.50 for only 20ml of product.

I've used this for most of this week so think I've had it long enough to tell you my thoughts. I found one pump of this primer was enough to cover my face. As you can see from the picture, the formula is white but it applies clear. I found this product to work really well & agree with all of Max Factor's claims. It definitely mattifiys my skin & controls oil. It also doesn't have that silicone-y feeling that most primers have which is a plus. My makeup definitely applies much smoother than usual & lasts a lot longer during the day before needing a powder touch up when I use this primer. It definitely extends the wear of my foundation as well; my makeup looks exactly the same at night as it does when I put it on in the morning which is amazing as my oily/combination skin means that foundation slides off my face to a ridiculous degree - I usually look like a melting waxwork by the end of the day. The one gripe I have about this primer is that if I apply it over slightly dry patches on my face then my foundation cakes quite a lot over these areas even though I apply moisturiser before. I've learned when using this primer to just avoid dry areas completely & focus mainly on my T zone. 

Overall this is a fab primer if you have oily or oily/combo skin; it mattifys & controls excess oil really well but I'd steer clear if you have dry skin because it really did cause my foundation to cake over drier patches. What do you think? Have you tried this primer? 

Jen x

Review | NARSissist Cheek Kit

Hello lovelies!

If you saw my haul post the other day then you'll have seen that I picked up the NARSissist cheek kit, my first NARS product! I'm now going to spend the next few minutes trying to justify to you, & myself, why I spent £35 on blusher. 

R to L: Devotee, Orgasm, Laguna

Orgasm & Devotee applied

NARSissist cheek kit available here 

As you can see, this palette contains three blushes: Devotee (a new highlighting blush) & then NARS's cult favourites: Orgasm & Laguna. There are a few reasons why I bought this palette. I only own one blush (yes, seriously) & it meant I could try two cult favourites without having to spent £22 - £27 each on them as well as a new highlighter. I already have MAC Soft & Gentle but I really liked the look of this highlighter. The palette also comes with a brush which I was pleased with. Also, I've just finished all my uni exams/ coursework & I've been working really really hard! I practically deserved it! Not really, anything to make myself feel better about this splurge...

I first need to tell you that this palette is T I N Y. I always read reviews before I buy anything this expensive, & I'm so glad I did. I read a review by the lovely Sophs from The Sopho Diaries which meant I wasn't as shocked by the size of the palette as I would have been. I feel like the  pictures on the NARS website can be a bit deceiving sometimes when it comes to the size of the products. If any of you have an iPhone, this palette is exactly the size of the screen of an iPhone. Tiny, I know. If I'm being honest, I do think NARS could have made the palette slightly bigger. 

As I said, the palette comes with a brush & it's just as well it does as there's NO way my Real Techniques blush bush would fit in one of the blush shades alone. The NARS brush just fits into one blush shade & no more so I need to be careful that the shades don't run into each other. The brush itself is really well made with lovely soft bristles & because it's smaller than my other brushes it's perfect for travel. I find that my Real Techniques contour brush is the perfect size for the highlight & contour shades. 

Onto the blush shades. As I said, the palette contains a highlight, blush & a contour. Devotee is a shade exclusive to this palette & I really like it! I'm not sure if you can see but I'm wearing it across the tops of my cheekbones in the picture above. I'd describe it as a pale pink/ beige toned shimmery highlight. It's a gorgeous subtle highlight & perfect for during the day. As I said, I have MAC Soft & Gentle highlighter which I do really like but I think Devotee is a perfect highlight for during the day as it's not too shimmery & just gives some subtle definition. I really do wish they'd sell it seperately as I would definitely buy it! Orgasm is of course a cult favourite amongst beauty bloggers & after trying it I really do love it! NARS decribe is as "peachy pink with a golden shimmer" which I totally agree with. It gives such a gorgeous flush of colour across the cheeks & after trying it I'll definitely buy it once it runs out in this palette. Laguna again is a cult favourite. NARS describe it as "diffused brown powder with a golden shimmmer" which again, I completely agree with. This really is the ultimate pale girl contour shade but I've also been using it just to warm up my face. Again, I'm almost 100% I'll repurchase this once it runs out in the palette. 

Overall, I'm really happy that I bought this palette! As I'd never tried Orgasm or Laguna before, it was the perfect way to try them as well as having a gorgeous highlighter included which I couldn't have tried otherwise. I'm really happy with every shade in the palette & will definitely repurchase their full size versions when I'm finished with the palette. I'm going on holiday in September & will definitely be packing this as it's all the cheek products I need in one palette. In terms of value for money, I'm really undecided to be honest. I know there's a brush thrown in with the palette but in my opinion the blushes really should be bigger. I'm obviously not expecting three full-sized blushes in one palette but would expect something slightly bigger than what NARS are offering. 

I would reccomend this palette if you don't already own Orgasm & Laguna but if you do own these products it may be a bit pointless, unless of course you want to try the highlighter or fancy a travel friendly blush kit!

Have you tried this kit? What do you think?

Jen x 

Review: Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow

Hi lovelies,

I have my first review for you guys today!

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation has been raved about on many blogs and I thought I'd put my opinion out there as well. I've had this foundation for well over a month now so I think I've had it long enough to really see how it performs. 

 No makeup (EEK!)

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow only - no concealer or powder on yet
Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow, £26.50, available here

Benefit claims that this foundation builds from light to medium coverage to brighten the complexion and give a flawless and natural finish. It has SPF 25 and contains 30ml of product. 

I was colour matched to the shade "believe in me Ivory" which is the palest shade for pink based skin tones. This shade isn't a perfect match for me unfortunately as I am very pale but I actually don't mind this! I feel that (as long as it is blended properly!) it gives me a nice glow that my tippex-like skin usually lacks. If your skin tone is paler than mine however (which would almost certainly mean that you are transparent as I really am the palest of the pale), you may struggle to make this foundation work for you. 

You can see yourself from the swatches what kind of coverage you think the foundation gives but I agree with Benefit's claim that this is a light-medium coverage foundation and can be built up for a higher coverage if you wish. I really like this coverage as it allows for a nice natural looking finish whilst still covering up any uneven skin tone. I had previously used MAC's Studio Fix Fluid which I found could look too heavy sometimes. I still need concealer obviously for under the eyes & other imperfections & need to powder throughout the day due to my oily T zone. I find that this product lasts really well throughout the day & I've never needed to reapply once I've set it with powder. I also agree with the claim that it is a brightening foundation as I really do feel that it gives the skin a lovely glow. It's also oil free which is ideal for my combination/oily skin as it means I don't look like I've dipped my face in a tub of grease by the end of the day! I find that a little goes a long way with this foundation; one pump is usually enough to cover my whole face.

I really like the design of the bottle for this foundation. It has a pump which is always a plus as it saves unneccessary waste & I love the fact that you can see exactly how much foundation you have left, so you will always know when you are running low. Also, I'm not sure if you can see this from the picture but the actual bottom part of where the foundation is stored in the bottle moves up as the product is used up which means there's no product left around the bottom & sides of the bottle that the pump can't pick up.

As far as value for money is concerned, I really do think that this product is worth the money (although when I bought it I'm certain it was £25.50 so I don't know why they have increased the price?). As I said, I've had this foundation for over a month & going on how much I've used so far, I can see it lasting at least another 3-4 months. So judging by the quality of the product & the amount of time it will last, I do think it's worth the rather expensive price tag. However, I do love a bargain so if anybody knows of any cheaper dupes then please let me know!

Overall, I'm really impressed with this foundation & would definitely reccomend it! I think it's great for Summer as it is of a slightly lighter coverage, has SPF & really brightens the complexion, so it's perfect for dull skin tones. There's a strong likelihood that I'll repurchase this when I run out, however I've had my eye on NAR's Sheer Glow for a while, so I may give that a go next if my funds allow it. The only downside to this product is that if you're very pale then you may struggle to make the colour work for you, but a simple way to check is to head to a Benefit counter to get a colour match & see what you think! 

Have you tried Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow? What do you think of it?

Jen x