L'Oreal Skin Perfection Miracle Cleansing Oil *MAC Cleanse Off Oil Dupe*

15 Second Miracle Cleansing Oil

The L'Oreal Skin Perfection Miracle Cleansing Oil claims to be a 15 second cleansing oil that dissolves even waterproof makeup while leaving the skin clean and non-greasy.  The formula helps re-balance the skins natural oils while helping skin to look healthy. 

L'Oreal Skin Perfection Miracle Cleansing Oil

The cleanser lives up to it's claims. I use about 2 pumps of this, in my hand and rub it all over my face. It instantly starts to remove my makeup, and  cleanse my face. I work it into my skin until I feel it's clean and then I just rinse of any excess with some water. 



For eye makeup I just use a pump or two of this on a cotton pad and place it over my eyes. If I have any waterproof makeup on, I'll let the pad sit their for about 15 second, but other than they I just wipe it all right off. 

I don't get left with any greasy feelings of anything like that, and my face does feel truly clean after using this. 

This is the only cleanser that I've found to be entirely oil, rather than a mix of oil and water than needs to be shaken up. I like those types of cleansers, but this one is just so much better at getting things off. 

MAC Cleanse Off Oil has always been a favourite of mine since I started using it. It's the only makeup remover/cleanser that I have that I can honestly say makes me feel like every single speck of makeup is off my face. Well, that is until now! This L'Oreal Cleansing Oil works in the exact same way as the MAC oil, and it's half the price.

The MAC Cleanse Off Oil is £18 for 150ml, where as the L'Oreal alternative is just £7.99 for the same amount. 

There is one difference with these products and that is the scent. The MAC Cleanse Off Oil doesn't have a scent, while the L'Oreal one does have a slight scent. It doesn't bother me at all though, and it doesn't effect the product in anyway.

Overall, I would say pick this one up over the MAC one any day, especially if you have been thinking about getting the MAC version. 

You can pick this L'Oreal Skin Perfection Miracle Cleansing Oil up in places like Superdrug or online here for £7.99. You can also find the MAC Cleanse Off Oil one online here for £18 if you want to give that one a go.

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Maybelline Eye Studio Mono in Iced Fudged (Satin Taupe Dupe)

Maybelline Eye Studio Mono Eyeshadow in 720 Iced Fudged, £4.09 link

I love a good eyeshadow! It's probably one of my favorite items of makeup. I rarely go out without eyeshadow in some shape or form. The Maybelline Eye Studio mono shadows are amazing quality, and only £4.09 a pop. You get a sponge applicator thing which can be of use somethings, and you get a pretty decent amount of product too. 

The shade that I picked up is called Iced Fudged (which is really bad English) and its a taupe-y brown colour with a silver shimmer running through it. The shimmer isn't glitter as such but it is slightly more chunky than shimmer that you see in higher end shadows like MAC. It blends out really well though and it's amazingly pigmented. 

I love this for use either in the crease in the day, or all over the lid for a darker night time look and it works both ways. The silver shimmer makes is a cool tone shade, rather than something that brings warmth to the eyes. If you like warmer tones, this might not be for you but I think anyone can make all tones of shadows work for them so it doesn't bother me. 

On to the dupe part!  It's very, very similar to MAC Satin Taupe which is something of cult classic. It's not exactly the same, and as I type I don't have them to swatch next to each other.

I love a good MAC shadow, but being a student I cannot afford to buy them all the time. I do have a few shadows from MAC, and finding dupes for those gives me a little giddy feeling. It's nice to know that when I want to repurchase something, I can get the same thing (or almost the same thing) for a cheaper.

The main difference in the texture of the shadow. While the Maybelline shadow is really good qualitly, it just doesn't have the creamy smoothness of a MAC eyeshadow. Its slightly more chunky and I think that has something to do with the shimmer. It's not quite as subtle as the silver sheen in Satin Taupe but the end results are pretty much the same. This can come of a little more brown in some lights, compared with Satin Taupe but for the price difference I'm willing to deal with it being a bit more brown rather than taupe/grey. 

If you like depotting things, these can be depoted quite easily but I haven't got an open palette so I've left mine in the casing. 

It might be worth a look at if you like these kinds of shade, and were thinking of getting Satin Taupe. It's about £10 cheaper than the MAC version and it's just as good in my opinion. 

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Topshop Lipstick in Rio Rio & MAC Sail Le Vile Dupe

I recently picked up a Topshop lipstick in Rio Rio and LOVE it. Topshop makeup seems to be all over the place at the moment, and I can see why. The range has such great stuff that I'm not surprised people are raving about it. I have tried a number of things from the range, and second only to the cream blushes these lipsticks are my favorites.

I have 3 shades but this is my favorite. Rio Rio is a gorgeous bright red colour that I think is the perfect summer red. It's also nearly exactly the same as a MAC lipstick. If you managed to get your hands on Sail Le Vile in the most recent MAC sailor collection you're a lucky bug! I adore mine, and I wear it a lot. But for those who didn't manage to grab one, this is the perfect dupe. There is one very slight difference and that is that the Topshop lipstick gives a little more a sheen when on the lips. The colours are identical and they wear for the same amount of time on the lips. I wish I'd found this first because it would have saved me £6 but what's done is done.

 

I love the packaging as well. It feels really nice, and more expensive than it is and the casing is metal rather than the cheaper feeling plastic.

 

It's really pigmented which I love, and unlike many reds I've tried it's not to drying. It does dry my lips out a little but it stays put so well that I just pop some balm over the top when I feel I need to. It's almost like a satin finish, with a little more sheen. 

Overall this is a brilliant lipstick, that I'm glad I've added to my collection.

Sleek Primer Palette Review

Hello there,

How are you all today? Good? Well I’m glad. Anyway, I have a little review here for you all today and I hope you all take notice of how great this palette really it.

I’ve had this for a while now, and have used it a fair ol’ bit. I wanted to really give it a try before I gave you my views and that’s what I’ve done.

I can honestly say I cannot believe this palette hasn’t got more love, and isn’t one of those hyped up products that everyone is talking about. It’s amazing!  It’s like all the coloured cream eyeshadows you could ask for in one small palette and for only £6.50. Sleek create amazing palettes at the best prices (second only to MUA palettes) and this is just another brilliant item to add the ‘MUST HAVE’ list from Sleek.

If you like using cream bases for your shadows, then this is for you. You get 12 colours, for half the price of one MAC paint pot. These aren’t exactly the same as paint pots, but they work just as well as bases!

The colours are absolutely beautiful, and can be built up for a sheer wash of colour, to something really intense. They help eyeshadows really pop on your eyes, and they stop them from creasing and fading.

They can be worn alone, but do tend to fade a little if you don’t push something over the top of them. It’s just a great palette, and I’m not sure I’m doing it justice so I’m just going to show you the swatches:

Do you like? Well you should!

Thanks for reading guys,

Sarah xo

Review & Swatches | MUA Pearl Eyeshadow in Shade 12 (MAC Club Dupe)

Hey guys,

So, if you have read my blog for a while (or my old blog) you will know that I’m a huge (HUGE) fan of the brand MUA. It’s a brand you can get a hold of online and in Superdrug stores and it’s the cheapest yet amazing quality brand I’ve found. The single eyeshadows are really big and only £1, they are also amazingly pigmented and a beautiful texture.

 I recently picked up a few eyeshadows and today I have a review of Shade 12 for you. It’s one of their pearl shades (they do matte as well) and it’s a beautiful dark brown colour with a green duo chrome to it. It leaves a beautiful sheen to the lids, without it being horribly obnoxious or chunky. It doesn’t have any glitter either which I love.

I’ve used it all over the lid and in the crease and it works both ways. I find it really easy to work with and it blends out really nicely. The intensity of the colour can be built up, or it can be really sheered out which I love and the formula it super creamy so it has little to no fall out and it lasts ages on the lids.

Please excuse the burn mark on my hand in the next picture. I'm a clumsy cow, and oil spat out of the pan and hit my hand! Ouchy :(

It’s an amazing close dupe for MAC Club which is £14 a pop, so definatly check this out if you’re thinking of getting Club.

The packaging is a little crappy, but for £1 I’m not going to complain. I will just say that it’s a little unsturdy, and hard to store because the lid is a dome rather than it being flat. I like the clear window on top though because you can easily see the colour.

Overall, I love this! It met and exceeded my expectations. The colour looks a little different in the pan, so bare that in mind but you really must check it out!

I would give it 10 if I could!

Have you used anything from MUA? Do you LOVE it?

Thanks for reading guys,

Sarah xo

MAC Blankety Dupe

Hey guys,

So, I've got a new dupe post for you today and it's  dupe for the MAC amplified lipstick in Blankety. Now, I adore this lipstick and have since the day I brough it. I'm never really attracted to nude colours, and the proof that I adore this colour is the fact that I ended up with something nearly exactly the same.

L'Oreal Colour Riche lipstick (from their Naturals, Blondes) in 233 Boreal is almost an exact colour match for Blankety. The finshes are alightly different, but unless you are a lipstick addict like myself you can't really justify having the two. The L'Oreal sahde has more a sheen (and very very very slight shimmer to it) whereas the MAC shade is more of a creamy finish.

The L'oreal lipstick is first, and the MAC lipstick is second. Very similar, no?

If you want both or unsure you really want Blankety (which costs a painful £14 a tube) I would recommend giving the L'Oreal shade a try because it's only £8.19 a tube.

I actually like the L'Oreal packaging better two. Now, if you're in the States (and maybe other places) I know the packaging is different from what we have in the UK, but I think the UK packaging feels more expensive and is a nice gold shade. The MAC lipstick only feels expensive to me because it's got MAC plastered on the packaging.

When I was looking thorugh my collection I also found a gloss that is almost an exact colour match for these lipstick. It's another L'Oreal prodcut and it's one of their Glam Shine Blush glosses. they are about the same price as a tube of liptick and come in really cute packaging with a 'heart' shaped applicator. The shade is 157 Rosewood Blush. It's obviously a different finsih becuase it's a gloss, and it has some glitter/shimmer in it but it's essentialy rhese shades in a gloss. It's just something to consider if your not a lipstick lover, but like the colour.

Now, you will have to excuse the fact that I don't have  swatch of the gloss. I took the pictures before writing this up and forgot the gloss. It's now packed away in preperation for my move. Sorry.

But, I hope this saves some money and thanks for reading guys,
Sarah xo

HD Brow Palette in Vamp (and Dupes or Alternatives)

Hey guys,

I’m sure you are bored of seeing these because just about everyone who has a glossy box has one of these bad boys. They’ve done the rounds twice in the box, and have received much love from almost everyone.  So, today I’m going to review the HD Brows Palette in Vamp, and offer a few alternatives to consider before purchasing it.  

I’m not going to say these are bad, but it doesn’t work brilliantly for me.  I’m in no way saying they don’t deserve the hype and love they get in the blogosphere but I have to say that it’s just not the palette for me. I have super blonde eyebrows, and none of these colours work for me at all. The lightest colour is too light, and the other colours are two dark.

If the colours match your brows, great! The shadows or brow powders are gorgeous. They are nice a soft, long lasting and work well through the brows. I’ve settled for using them as eyeshadows because of the un-matching-ness of the shades and I love them. They don’t crease on me at all, and last all day without a primer or base.

So, if you are having the trouble I am and just can’t find an affordable brow powder for you then I would suggest the palettes and kits I’ve mentioned below. I nearly called these dupes, but they aren’t similar enough for that but they are great kits that are more affordable and are just as great and the HD brows palette.

Vivo Ultimate Brow and Eye Kit

This palette is a freakin’ beaut! This is by far my favourite brow palette for three reasons. The first being the gorgeous brow gel you get with the kit. It’s so much better than getting that dry wax stuff and it kept my brows tame and in place all day. The second reason I love it is because the blonde colour is the perfect colour for my super pale eyebrows. The third, and last reason, is that the other colours are used as well because they are gorgeous enough to create a nice matte eye shadow look. They are pigmented, blend well and just look great all around.

MUA  Pro Brow Kit (Review To Follow)

This is a new buy of mine, but I already love it. It’s not long been on the market, and I can see it being a big hit. It’s very comparable to other brow kits but is cheaper than them all. There are 3 powders, one wax, a double ended brush and some really cute tweezers. Now, I’m not a fan of those waxes you get with kits but this is a nice wax that is smooth and just soft enough to really work. The three colours are beautiful and there is one that matches me so YAY!

So, I know this post is a little all over the place but I didn’t know what to with it to make it better so you’ve got it as I wrote it. I’m sorry, but it seems my editing skills have gone to hell this week.

Thanks for reading (or trying to read the mess that it is) and I hope you found it helpful.  

Sarah xo

PS I’ve linked the review of the Vivo Brow Kit above, and the MUA review will be coming soon J