BeneFit Sunbeam Free with InStyle Magazine

I just thought I'd hop on and blog about a little freebie I came across today. I don't usually buy magazines for free products but I've been wanting to try BeneFit's Sunbeam for a while and the magazine was only £2.50 in Tesco (normally £3.80).

The sample is a dinky 4ml but contains more than enough product to try for a little while, at least. I was under the impression that this was a really dark golden colour and that's part of the reason I've not purchased the full size already. I was worried it'd be too dark to use as a highlighting product. However, as you can see in the swatch, it's more of a dark champagne shade which is a perfect highlight colour for me. When blended out it looks pretty subtle but I can't wait to try it out on my face very soon. 

If you're not interested in trying Sunbeam you could pick up a mini BeneTint or Cha Cha Tint instead. The magazine is full of high street finds this month so I'm probably going to spend part of this evening reading that!

Have you tried Sunbeam?

Stace xx

Illamaqua Generation Q Lipstick in Magnetism

It's not often I'm this excited about a lipstick. I've been stalking the launch of Generation Q from Illamasqua since I read Cami's amazing post and have been most excited about the raspberry pink lipstick in Magnetism.

 I got an email yesterday saying the collection was launching in Debenhams today so I popped in to have a look. I spent a while chatting to Lauren at the newly positioned and very snazzy looking counter before parting with my pennies and leaving with Magnetism.

I got home an hour ago, took photos of the lipstick and quickly applied it. I'm obsessed with it already. It compliments my favourite scarf (which I conveniently happen to be wearing today; it's fate) beautifully. 

The colour is a deep raspberry pink with a (very tiny) hint of purple and I think it's one that will flatter almost everyone. The texture of this lipstick is a bit different to the matte lipsticks we've all come to expect from Illamasqua; whilst it's incredibly pigmented, Magnetism is also a bit glossy and thus feels a lot more comfortable on the lips. I can't comment on how long it wears (because I've only had it on for 45 minutes) but I can say that it's easy to apply straight from the bullet which is handy for re-applying on the go. If I was doing things properly I'd use a lip liner and a lip brush but neither are really necessary.

Isn't it gorgeous?! If you buy one thing from the collection, make sure it's this lipstick. Magnetism is available nationwide at Illamasqua counters and online from tomorrow. It is priced at £16.

Please excuse the fact that the rest of my make up doesn't look too great; I wasn't planning on taking pictures!

Will you be checking out Magnetism or any other products from the Generation Q collection? Let me know!

Stace xx

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Compact Foundation

When I was at a Chanel counter a couple of weeks ago, the assistant gave me two samples of their new foundation, the Vitalumiere Aqua Compact. I have the shades B30 and B40. I chose to use B30 because I have Vitalumiere Aqua in B40 and it's my summer shade so I expected B30 to be a better shade match for me right now. The samples are the classiest foundation samples I've seen in a while. I've used the one pictured three times and I expect I'd get just one more use out of it.

I tried applying this a few different ways and found the best way to be with my Real Techniques Buffing brush. I expected the Stippling brush to work better with it because I often prefer to use it with my thicker liquid foundations but hey ho! I wouldn't recommend using the sponge provided as it resulted in a rather streaky finish. It's quite easy to apply with either of the brushes I mentioned but I wasn't a fan of having to dip the brush back into the foundation to apply more. I guess I could have scooped some out onto the back of my hand first but the downside to that is that it could result in a lot of wasted product. I tried just applying dots of it on my face and then blending it out with the brush but I felt that it just disappeared into my skin without providing any coverage.

If I'm totally honest I don't know how I feel about this product. I found that I needed a lot more of the foundation than I was expecting to achieve medium coverage and thus it felt quite heavy on my skin. Not only did it feel heavy, it also looked quite heavy and greasy. Setting it with a powder either did nothing (when I used too little) or looked even more cakey (when I used too much). I decided to try setting it with some MAC Fix+ and that worked a bit better as it got rid of the cakey-ness and most of the oil.

The wear you can get from this foundation is also problematic. One of the times I wore it I checked my face about four hours in and thought my skin looked pretty nice but when I went to take my make up off a few hours later there was hardly anything there! I obviously like my own skin more than I think. This product transfers terribly on anything and everything; it ended up all over my phone and my top.

All in all, I can't recommend this foundation for anyone with skin that is in any way oily because it just never seems to set. Even though it offers pretty decent coverage I felt that I had to use too much product to achieve that. I think it might work for you if your skin is dry and not needing a great deal of coverage; that way you would require less product and benefit from the extra hydration on offer. FleurdeForce recently reviewed this foundation and said she liked it on her normal/dry skin but that she preferred to use it for touch ups during the day. I think if you want to try one of the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundations, go for the liquid as it's so much easier to use and works on a range of skin types. It's also £8 cheaper.

The Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Compact foundation retails for £39 online (link) or from Chanel counters.

Stace xx

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser

I was at a NARS counter recently and was given a little sample of their exciting new base product; the Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser. 

This is now available from NARS online (and I'm sure it's at counters too) priced at £27 for 50ml.

The assistant gave me the shade St Moritz and I initially thought it would be much too dark for me. This is the third lightest shade and it does match me pretty well once I blend it in. I think that's mostly down to the sheer coverage. This product comes in nine shades so I think a lot of skin tones are catered for. 

The consistency is quite thick for a tinted moisturiser as I usually find them to be quite watery. I applied it with my fingers and did find that I had to use quite a bit (about a 5p sized dollop) to cover my whole face adequately. 

As you can see from the unflattering photo above the coverage of this product isn't great but I wasn't expecting that. My skin is pretty bad right now due to having reactions to a few skincare products so it didn't do much for me. However, all is not lost, for a tinted moisturiser, I thought this was pretty impressive. It did a reasonable job of evening out my skin tone and I liked the finish; it wasn't greasy at all. I think with a good concealer and setting powder, this would be quite a nice base product. If/when my skin improves, I would definitely consider picking up a tube to wear during the summer months.

Will you be trying this out?

Stace xx

Revlon Lip Products #1 - ColorBurst Lip Butters

I seem to have a lot of Revlon lip products. I used to think MAC was my favourite brand for lipsticks and glosses but Revlon has well and truly taken over lately. I'm going to do a few posts over the next few days to share my Revlon lip product collection. 

First up...the latest addition to the Revlon family: ColorBurst Lip Butters!

These come in 20 shades and will be launching in the UK mid-March. I acquired a couple of mine from a blog sale and the rest in a US-UK swap. 

L-R: Creme Brulee, Peach Parfait, Tutti Frutti, Pink Truffle, Berry Smoothie, Raspberry Pie, Sugar Plum, Fig Jam

When I think of a lip butter, I think of a thick, moisturising product. These are more like sheer, slightly hydrating lipsticks. I wouldn't use these in place of a balm but I do like to use them on days when I want some subtle colour and sheen on my lips. I like the fact that they're relatively fuss free to apply; the sheerer shades are, at least.

L-R:

Cream Brulee

Peach Parfait

Tutti Fruitti

Pink Truffle

L-R:

Berry Smoothie

Raspberry Pie

Sugar Plum

Fig Jam

Raspberry Pie is the most pigmented by far. In all the above swatches, I swiped the lip butters several times whereas I only had to swipe Raspberry Pie once.

This is the amount of product in each lip butter. I can't find a weight on the packaging but it looks like it contains a similar amount of product to other Revlon lipsticks. It looks a little shorter because the lipstick is flush with the packaging. 

The lip butter on the right is Fig Jam and it's the only one I've used extensively so far. I've used it over a period of a few weeks but I do have to reapply it quite often so I seem to have used quite a lot of product. 

I like these Lip Butters. I don't think they're incredibly ground breaking but they're nice to have. There is a shade to suit everyone so they're worth a try. 

Stace xx

Urban Decay Naked2 First Impressions

This arrived on my doormat this afternoon. I excitedly ordered this the moment I received the link because I thought it would sell out like Naked did. Thankfully it didn't and I think there are still plenty available from Debenhams online. As an added bonus I got 680 Beauty Card points (500 if you spend over £30 and 5 points per pound).

I just thought I'd write this post to give my first impressions of the palette. Naked2 seems to have divided make up lovers everywhere; some love it, some hate it and some are indifferent. I'm probably in the last category. I wasn't going to buy this when I first heard about it because I didn't think the shades were as suitable for my skintone as the shades in Naked. However, I was sucked in by the hype and convinced myself that a girl can never have too many neutral shadows.

Most people comment on the differences in the packaging and say they prefer Naked2's sturdier casing. I don't dislike the packaging on either Naked or Naked2. I've not had any problems with my Naked palette's packaging and I always take it with me when I travel.

The palette includes the following shades:

Foxy - this light matte shade is the most disappointing in the palette for me. It's pretty poorly pigmented and a little chalky.

Half Baked - this is in Naked and I do use it a bit. It's very warm toned though so cooler toned girls may not appreciate this shade. It is pigmented and very creamy.

Bootycall - again this isn't terribly pigmented when swatched but I've not tried it on my eyes yet. 

Chopper - I have been contemplating picking this up in single form so I'm pleased to see this in the palette. However, it is a bit disappointing pigmentation-wise as it's not as creamy as some of the other shades.

Tease - this is the best matte shade in the palette. It's pretty smooth and I can see myself wearing this. 

Snakebite - this is one of my favourite shades in the palette. It's creamy and very well pigmented. I can see this being a good all over lid shade for me if I'm in a hurry.

Suspect - this is another nicely pigmented shade and again, it's one I think I'll get a lot of use out of.

Pistol - I have no complaints about this one either!

Verve - I really like this shade too and can see myself using it a lot as an all over lid shade.

YDK - this one is a bit of a shimmer-fest but thankfully it has no glitter in it unlike some other UD shades (*cough* Naked's Sidecar)

Busted - this shade swatched a bit darker than it looks in the pan. It's probably one of the only shades I'd use as a crease colour in this palette.

Blackout - I'm not a fan of this at all but then I never use black shadows. I didn't find it to be very well pigmented and can't see myself using it very much.

Unlike my Naked palette which came with an eyeliner duo, this palette comes with a double ended brush. I heard people say that this brush was nice quality but I have to say, I really don't like it. I used it today (as you can see!) and the bristles are so hard that it's painful to use. I don't think it works well with the generally creamy/buttery texture of the shadows in the palette. 

Instead of a mini primer potion, Naked2 comes with a mini Lip Junkie in the 'shade' Naked. I say 'shade' because this has no pigmentation whatsoever on my lips. For me that's a good thing since I'm not a fan of the shimmery coral colour it looks in the tube. I quite like the gloss, surprisingly. I've been wearing it all day. It smells like peppermint and it's not overly sticky (I hate sticky gloss!). I prefer this to a Primer Potion as I'm a Shadow Insurance girl but I can see why some people won't appreciate a mini lip gloss. 

Foxy, Half Baked, Bootycall, Chopper

Tease, Snakebite, Suspect, Pistol

Verve, YDK, Busted, Blackout

I tried to swatch the shades on my arm but couldn't get the two lightest ones to show up at all on that paler skin so I did some (really rubbish) swatches on my hand as the skin is darker there. There are a million and one blog posts and videos on this palette so google is your friend if you're looking for pretty swatches!

Overall, I'd say it's an okay palette. I'm not amazed but I'm not disappointed either. I think this is the palette I'll be reaching for more when I'm in a rush.

Did you pick up this palette? Are you planning to?

Stace xx