Nourish Golden Glow Illuminating Face Shimmer

This post cannot start any other way than me declaring my absolute love for the Nourish Golden Glow Illuminating Face Shimmer. This bottle of golden goodness is one of the best items I've tried in a while and I will be repurchasing it the second it starts running low. 

The Nourish Golden Glow Face Shimmer is a 30ml bottle of a gorgeous golden liquid highlighter that would be beautiful on just about any skin tone. The golden tint to the shade is not to warm or cool, or to rusty like some golden colours can be. The closest comparison I can think of, with regards to the formula, is Soap and Glory Hocus Focus (which happens to be one of my holy grail products). The only difference is the colour of the shimmer that runs through the liquid. The Soap and Glory alternative is pink based making it great for paler, cool skin tones but the golden base of this makes it perfect for nearly all skin tones. 

I use one pump of this mixed in with my foundation or moisturizer to give my usually dull skin a bit more of a radiance, but it can also be used on the high points of the face over your base as a highlighter. Used either way, the product gives the skin a radiant glow without any glitter or obnoxious chunky shimmer. The smooth formulation gives the skin a glow that looks as if it comes from within rather than something that it piled onto the skin to fake a natural glow. 

The bottle is gorgeous, which is just another great thing about this product. The frosted glass is covered with a label that is beautifully decorated and something that someone of any age could appreciate. 

I simply cannot rave about this enough. I works well on my dry skin, but doesn't make my oily nose any worse than before. It looks great used under foundation or mixed in with it and because you need so little of the product the 30ml bottle lasts absolutely ages. You can pick it up here for £14.95, or on Feel Unique where you can get it shipped internationally for free.

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*PR Sample 

My Fashionista 6 Pan Palette: Eyeshadow, Blush, Highlight and More

I am so late with this Fashionista Custom Palette review. I picked this 6 pan palette and the refills up when MUA started selling the Fashionsita brand on their website, which I think was about (or over) 6 months ago). 

The palette is really good quality, and the pans fit into the slots nice and securely. The closure is very secure, which means I am totally comfortable throwing this in my bag if I want something for on the go touch ups or taking it traveling with me without fear that it will open or break.   The huge mirror within the palette also makes this great for on the go because you can see everything without any struggles.  

I opted for the white, 6 pan palette and decided to fill it with 2 blushes, a bronzer, highlight and two eyeshadows. Not having tried the brand before, I wanted to give the whole range a good go so I have a mixture of the regular formula and the "baked" or "merged" blushes/bronzer/eyeshadows. 

Juicy Apricot is an orange/coral blush with gold glitter running through it. I adore  this blush and find it great for everyday wear. I must admit the glitter did put me off a little but on the cheeks it gives the skin a glowy look rather than the disco ball look.  You can notice the glitter on closer inspection though, so if you don't like glitter I would say try "Lolly" from MUA which is similar in colour but matte (review here). 

New York is a blusher from the baked line that Fashionista offer. It's a gorgeous medium pink with a cool toned shimmer running through it. Whilst it does have shimmer, it is free of glitter. It has a nice pigment to it but the great thing about this blush is that it can be sheered out easily for a subtle look or built up for something a little more intense. For me, it's one of those blushes that is near impossible to mess up. 

Paris is a deep, matte bronzer. It's not to orange or anything, but because it is so highly pigmented it can be hard to blend leaving it looking a little muddy. Used with a duo fiber of stippling brush, it works really well because the brush applies the colour lightly. I think it would be better suited to a tanned skin tone, rather than my ghostly pale complexion but I can make it work.  It is great to find something that can work and isn't tango orange. 

Barcelona is another bronzer, but it is in fact a highlighter shade. This is one of a baked option, like New York and is free of chunky glitter. It does have a shimmer running through it making it great for highlighting the eyes or cheeks. The light, golden colour is for pale to medium skin tones depending on how heavily you apply it. It is nicely pigmented, like the other products and the lasting time totally depends on what foundation I'm wearing. 

Bliss is my miss of this little palette. It has nothing to do with the quality of the product because it's really great quality but it is more to do with my stupidity in choosing a colour. Bliss is a barbie, pearly pink shade that is BRILLIANTLY pigmented. It is very similar, in formula, to the MUA  singles but I find it slightly more buttery with less fall out. I would use this so much more if the colour wasn't quite so pink, so I think I'll check out the other shades in this line. 

Finally, we have Double Take which is a baked eyeshadow. It is shimmery with gold glitter as well. It's a gorgeous golden, bronze brown shade that, like bliss, is gorgeously pigmented. My only issue with this is that the glitter falls out like crazy. You can get around the issue but putting your foundation or concealer on later, but I just cannot get used to doing my face after my eyes. I do need a primer underneath this, and the other shadow, to make it last all day without creasing but they don't fade without a primer it's just the creasing I have an issue with.

Just A Note: The compacts that the refills come in are actually quite poor quality, so I would recommend picking up a palette if you are going to invest in something from this Custom line. 

You can check out the palettes and refills here and they start from just £1.65 a piece.

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MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Lightscapde

MAC Mineralize Skin Finishes are a cult product in the beauty world. Whether it's people loving the MSF natural for setting foundation, or people adoring the MSF's for highlighting I honestly believe that everyone has at the very least heard of the beauties. 



When I decided to invest in one of the MSF products, I opted for Lightscapde. From what I'd seen it was a great highlight for the paler skin and was slightly more subtle that the raved about Soft and Gentle. 



The Mineralize Skin Finish in Lightscapade is sold as a soft candlelit beige with multidimensional shimmer in the form of a velvet soft powder with a high metallic frost finish. In the pan it looks like a creamy/ivory shimmer base with pastel colours running through the baked powder.



It comes off beautifully on the skin and can be applied subtly or built up to a more dramatic finish. I've used it with just about every brush I have from the ELF Studio Stippling Brush to the Real Techniques Contour brush. I've found that it lasts all day on the tops of my cheeks or wherever I place it but it does being to fade after 6 or so hours wear. 

Not only is this a brilliant cheek highlight but it works great as a highlight on the eye and as a great all over lid colour.To build up a more high shine finish I have used this with a wet brush and patted it all over the lid. It stayed in place amazingly well, and the foiled effect finish was gorgeous.  

Overall, I would highly recommend this for those pale girls out there. For people with a deeper skin tone, I would say try Soft and Gentle  or maybe even Gold Deposit. If the formula of those, matches this beaut then they will be fab for anyone. 
 

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Rimmel Wake Me Up | Foundation, Concealer and Shimmer Touches

Rimmel are on the ball at the moment! I mean everything they are coming out with seems to be a hit. The Wake Me Up range is something that is kind of hit and miss. The range offers some shimmer creams, foundation and a concealer.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Range | Wake Me Up Foundation, Wake Me Up Shimmer Touch in Radiant Rose & Shimmering Sand and Wake Me Up Concealer

People went a little crazy over the Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation, and with good reason. It's an amazing foundation, that work for most skin types and gives a really nice finish to the skin. I've gone through a couple of bottle, and am currently working my way through a little sample I got. I've heard it's a dupe for the Nars Sheer Glow but I'm not entirely sure about that. I would say go and try it if you haven't. It's the stand out for me in this little range Rimmel offer. It comes in 6 shades, and is only £8.99!

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer in Ivory, link, £5.49

I, personally, also went a little mad over the Wake Me Up concealer. It was one of the first under eye concealers that I found that really worked for me. It brightens under my eyes and it erases those dark circles. I'm a student, I need all the help I can get. You can read my full review here! It comes in 4 shades, and it's only £5.49.

Wake Me Up Instant Radiance Shimmer Touches in Radiant Rose and Shimmering Sands link £4.99

 There are some things that let down the range, and those are the Instant Radiance Shimmer Touch. They come in two shades, one golden toned and one pink toned. The problem that I have with these are that I'm not sure what they actually are. When I brought them, I thought they might be a highlighter but they are just too pigmented to be a highlight. The pink, Radiant Rose, seems like it could be a cream blush but it's got to much glitter in it. It makes you look like you belong in Twilight, and that's not a look I can pull off. The golden one, Shimmering Sands, isn't dark enough to be a bronzer, and it's too glittery to be a blush and too dark for a highlight. I just don't know what to do with these, so they fall in my regret buying list. 

You can pick this range up in most drugstores and online here! 

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Foundation Routine | Great for Dry, Pale skin.

Solait Bronzer link, Collection Sheer Loose Powder link, MeMeMe Beat the Blues link, Rimmel Wake Me Up Shimmer Touch link, Rimmel Fix and Perfect link, Soap and Glory Hocus Focus link, Vivo Highlighter link, Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid link, Bourjois Flower Perfection primer link, Sleek New Skin Revive foundation link, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealers link and Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer link.

I finally have a foundation routine that I'm happy with and thought I would share it with you. It works for my dry skin, and helps cover up the extreme redness and blemishes and scars I can get. The products I use are also pretty good for those who are Casper the friendly ghost pale like myself. I'm going to jump right into this because I have a feeling this is going to be a long post! Thanks for reading.

I've only just really found some good drugstore primers that work for me. For some reason, most of the primers that I tired made my skin feel great but my foundation (or BB cream or anything else really) wouldn't sit well on top of it. It made it look streaky and horrible so I gave up my search. 

But after getting the Bourjois Flower Perfection Primer in a Secret Santa present I thought I would give it a try. To my surprise it works really well. It smooths out my skin, and helps mask some of my pores. It leaves my skin feeling really soft and smooth, and the foundation I used sits on it really well. It helps the foundation last a long longer, and it doesn't have a matte finish which is great for my dry skin. At little dew is great.  

The Rimmel Fix and Perfect is another great primer that works very similar to the Bourjois one, and I love it all the same. I think if were to repurchase though, it would be the Rimmel product. It lasts a long longer, and is cheaper. 

I swap and change these when I feel like it so, obviously, I don't use both at the same time. 

 

I use Hocus Focus from Soap and Glory to add some glow to any foundation I use. It's great to mix in with foundation because, as I already said it gives it a nice glow and if it's thick full cover foundation like I tend to choose it makes it a little more liquidy and easily blendable on the face. I mix it with both Dream Satin Liquid and New Skin Revive, which I use on different areas of the face. 

I use the Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid in Light Porcelain in the centre of the face, and it works really well. It gives me a nice coverage, and it's just a touch lighten than my skin so it gives a highlighted effect as well. It's easily blendable and while it does last a long time it doesn't give that super matte finish like others can. The finish is quite natural and leaves my skin looking fresh and just all around nice. 

I use the Sleek New Skin Revive in Sand on the outside of my face and it's just s touch darker than my skin. It makes the Dream Satin Liquid look a little more highlightery (is that a word) and creates some natural shadows without it being horribly obvious.  It offers a similar coverage and finish to the Maybelline foundation so they work well together. 

I apply these with either a Real Techniques Buffing Brush, a Stippling Brush or a Beauty Blender sponge (damp, of course). 

 

Concealer is my faithful friend. It helps hide the sins on my face, so what more could I ask for. My favourite concealer ever is probably no surprise to anyone because it;s raved about my everyone and their dog. It is of course the Collection (or Collection 2000) Lasting Perfection Concealer. I have two shades of this because I use them in different areas of the face.The lighter shade is used to cover the inner portions of the face, while I use the darker shade (still really light thought) on the outer portions of my face. It covers well, lasts a decent amount of time and doesn't break the bank so a winner on all counts. 

The Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer (in Ivory)  is probably the only concealer that I have found that does a light enough that it actually makes the area under my eyes brighter and lighter. It really does wake me up, makes my dark circles a thing of the past for the day and doesn't crease. It's not to expensive, and the shade range is pretty good for the pale people out there. It's doesn't have that may darker shades though so be aware of that.  

I just blend these products in with my fingers. I have tried using brushes but they just don't work for me. My fingers leaves the products nice a warm so it blends into the face well and it leaves the finish looking pretty natural too which is great.  

I always highlight. I think I have quite dull skin so I use whatever I can, whenever I can to get some radiance back. Highlighter is a subtle makeup products, but in my opinion makes all the difference to a look. I've been loving liquid highlights best since the winter hit but in the summer I'm partial to a powder highlighter of two because my skin isn't quite as dry.   

The first highlighter I love is one that I got 'free' with an eyebrow kit form Vivo. It's only a small little thing and I hope you can buy it on its own because it's great. It's a white highlight in the tube, but when blended out it's almost translucent but it leaves a lovely pink iridescent shimmer on the face that looks gorgeous.

The second highlight I love is great for when I want a more subtle highlight. It's the MeMeMe Beat the Blues Highlight.  This looks quite yellow/gold but it blends out to almost nothing just leaving that 'glow' everyone wants on the skin. I believe it's a dupe for Benefit Moonbeam, and it's much cheaper than that. It works just as well (I've tried High Beam) lasts a decent amount of time on the skin and doesn't cause my foundation to go cakey. 

The last of the highlighters that I've been reaching for recently is the Rimmel Wake Me up Instant Shimmer Touch in 004. This is the least subtle highlight that I use, and for that reason I only tend to use this on nights out or bronzed days. It's a nice gold/bronze highlight that has more a shimmer/glitter than the others. It highlights beautifully but it's a lot more noticeable.  

   

I blend these over the tops of my cheekbones and down the nose with my fingers or a Real Techniques Stippling brush.  

 Finally we come to the end process. I'd give yourself a pat on the back if you made it this far! The last things that I do is pop on some bronzer, blush and powder. The blush changes day to day, so I didn't include it but the bronzer and powder rarely change so I thought I'd say a little on them. 

The Solait Maxi Bronzer in Golden Glow is a brilliant bronzer for the pale girls. It's not too orange or to dark. It's not full of shimmer (in fact it's matte) and it looks great on the skin. I used this to half bronze/half contour. I don't hard core contour but I do add a little under the cheekbones  and chin to add some shape to my round face. I then add some around the outside of my face, focusing on the temples and blending it to my forehead . I used the 3E technique that people talk about to make sure it's blended and to add some definition to the face. 

The powder that I reach for most of all is the Collection Sheer Loose Powder. I's just a nice fine powder that sets the foundation without adding coverage and caking the foundation up. It's only £2.99 and this pot is seriously lasting me forever and a day. It's so worth it. 

I use an angled blush brush from Forever 21 to apply the bronzer, and either RT Blush brush or Powder brush to dust the powder over my face. I use light downwards stroke for the powder to make the foundation look a little more flawless.  

PS: Sorry this was so freaking long but I hope this helps in some shape or form. This is for 'full makeup' days, and I don't do this everyday but this is my full routine. Hope you enjoyed. 
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My Favourite Makeup Products at the Moment | Face, Lips and Eyes

Some of my favourite makeup products right now!

I really wanted to do a favourites post, and I thought about doing a 2012 favourites, but I think it's just too late to do that now.  I then thought I'd leave it until the end of January, but I'm too impatient to wait that long, so I just going a random favourites post.

MAC Cream Colour Base in Hush link, MeMeMe Beat the Blues in Sunbeam link, & Soap and Glory Hocus Focus link.

  I've been all about highlighting recently, and these have been my favorites at the moment. 


MAC Cream Colour Base in Hush - £14.50
The MAC cream colour base is something that I've owned for quite some time, use pretty regularly and it's still going strong. It's a nice pink toned shimmery highlight that looks great on pale skin. It blend really easily and it doesn't look cakey or make my foundation go cakey which is a total bonus.

MeMeMe Beat the Blues Highlighter in Sunbeam - £5.25
This is a really new find for me and I'm glad I gave it a try. I got this in a set of all the MeMeMe products like the Benefit products. If I'm ever going for a bronzed look, I will grab this because the golden undertones compliment those looks so well. It's just a nice change from the pink highlighters that usually suit my pale skin.

Soap and Glory Hocus Focus - £13.00 
This is possibly my favourite find of 2012, and now I will never be without a bottle. You can use this as a highlighter on your cheekbones and down your nose or you can mix a pump or two in with foundation/moisturizer to give a gorgeous all over glow! It's a white liquid, but blends out to almost no colour just a slight pink iridescence to give that 'glow' everyone craves.

 

MAC Lustre Glass in Sinnamon link, Revlon Colour Burst Lip Gloss in Peony link & MAC Lipstick in Lovelorn link

MAC Lustre Glass in Sinnamon - £13.50
 This is my go to lipgloss when I don't fancy wearing a lipstick, or I want something to go with a nice nude! I tend to always go for brown tone nudes so I don't look dead wearing them, and this goes amazingly well with most of them. It's beautifully pigmented, and the shimmer is viable but you don;t really feel it. I love that it's a smooth formula, because bits of glitter stress me out a little. 

Revlon Colour Burst Lipgloss in Peony - £7.99
This is my go to lip gloss if I'm wearing anything pink on my lips, and it works especially well with lovelorn. It's a gorgeous pink/coral colour with golden shimmer running through it. It's amazingly pigmented, and looks good alone or in combination with other products. I like to dab a little of this in the centre of my lips for the fuller looking lip look.


MAC Lipstick in Lovelorn - £14.00 
This is one of my favourite lipsticks from MAC, and it's something I'm 100% going to repurchase when it runs out. From the picture you can see that it's well loved. I think the pink would look great with any skin tone. It doesn't dry out my lips, and it's pretty long lasting for the finish it has.

Barry M Dazzle Dust in Pink Ice link, Benefit Ceaseless Cream Shadow in Foiled link & MAC Paint Pot in Constructivist link

Benefit Ceaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Foiled - £14.00
This is a gorgeous taupe colour that blend out beautifully. It can be used alone, or 'set' with a powder shadow, and I use it both ways. I often use it as a base for the Barry M Dazzle Dust, but if I want a nice cool toned eye look I'll  use this. It lasts all day without creasing or fading. 


MAC Paint Pot in Constructivist - £14.50
 I brought this because I was on a Paint Pot kick but this is just a bit to dark for everyday use as a paint pot. I have, however, been using this lovely colour as an eyeliner. It's dark enough that I feel I can leave my black off, and the chocolate brown colour with slight bronze shimmer makes my blue eyes pop a little more than black.

Barry M Dazzle Dust in Pink Ice - £4.59 
This is gorgeous! It's messy, but it lasts forever and brightens up your eyes so well. I use it all over the lid or a highlight and it looks great either way. It's quite cheap and the slightly pink tone to the white makes it a little less harsh that a plain shimmery white colour! 

Bourjois Bronzing Powder in 51 link, Bourjois Blush in 34 Rose d'Or link and New CID Pressed Powder in Extra Light link.

  Bourjois Bronzing Powder in 51 - £6.99
I put off getting this for a long time. I was a bit weirded out by something that was meant to smell of chocolate, because I generally hate the scent. I can't use anything like Palmer Coco Butter because the smell grosses me out but this doesn't smell to strong and when you use it, the scent if gone! I acutally didn't buy this for myself, but I got it in a blogger Secret Santa from the gorgeous Kym. 


Bourjois Blush in Rose d'Or - £7.49
This was also a present from Kym, and I love it. I'm just learning to love blushes with shimmer, and this is a great way to ease yourself into shimmer. It's hard to overdo the colour, and it's not too shimmery. It's a nice rosy pink colour, and the backed formula makes it pretty sturdy. I'm soo clumsy,and often drop my makeup and this baked formula doesn't smash like regular powder blushes do. 
 
New CID i-Powder compact in Extra Light - £21.50
This has been my go to powder for so long, and I still haven't hit pan. I got it in TK Maxx, and love that it's in Extra Light. It's the perfect match for my skin. It doesn't really offer all the much coverage, but it's not translucent either. It keep my makeup in place, and is a super handy light up mirror as well as the powder. IT's quite expensive, but keep your eyes out in TK Maxx because it was £7.99.  

Bourjois Flower Perfection Primer link, George Face Primer (not online) & YSL Touche Eclat Foundation link

 Bourjois Flower Perfection Primer - £9.99
This was also a present from Kym, and it's as good as the other products. I don't know why I haven't tried more Bourjois products because they seem really good. It's a brand I overlook quite a lot but after this little present exchange I will be looking at them more. This primer leaves my skin feeling silky smooth and my foundation applies really nice over the top of it. It doesn't mattify my skin to much because I love a dewy look, and it keep everything in place longer then bare skin would. 


George Face Primer - £5 (ish)
I got this so long a go, and have recently rediscovered it. It's a great primer for those with normal/dry skin. It leaves the skin silky smooth, and keep makeup on all day. It's a skin colour when you squeeze it out but it goes on translucent. It doesn't dry my skin out or make it oily, and it leaves a great base for foundation to go on to. 


YSL Touche Eclat Foundation in B10 - £28.00 
This is the best foundation I have ever used. It just does something for my skin that nothing else does. It lasts ages, give it a great glow and takes out the horrid redness that I get. It's not that great of coverage, but as I said before it just does something for my face that I adore! It's brilliant, and while a little expensive it's not as bad as some higher end brands are for pricing. The packaging is gorgeous too. Simply, elegant and classy. 

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