Bourjois Bronzing Primer (Chanel Dupe?)

Everyone went just a tiny bit nuts when the Bourjois Bronzing Primer hit the stands in Boots and Superdrug. Seeing as Bourjois is owned by Chanel, I think everyone expected it to be the drugstore dupe for the Bronze Universial that is ever so hyped up in the blogging world. 

I haven't personally tried the Chanel cream bronzer (the price scares me too much)  but I have given the Bourjois Bronzing Primer a good try and wanted to bring you my thoughts on it. 

It's okay and that's probably the best thing I can say about it. It's not great or life changing but it's not terrible. I was told that it was the same formula and the Flower Perfection Primer (rave review here) but it's not. It has a much more mousse-y texture (like Dream Matte Mousse) and doesn't feel as silky smooth on the skin. 

It does mattify, and add a hint of colour when used as a primer but I really don't see any different in "bronzing" when I use this. The foundation or bb cream just coveres the little tint this gives you so the colour is sort of pointless if you want a primer. I'd tried the BB Bronzing Cream if you want something to give you a more bronzed look. 

I think this works great as a cream/mousse bronzer. I use it with a damp beauty blender dupe or RT Miracle Complexion Sponge and push it into the skin where I would bronzer or contour. It isn't as intense as a bronzer or contouring powder but it does give you a hit of colour and helps me look less like a ghost without any face shape.  It can be used with a brush or your finger but I find it gives you to much colour/product and it starts to look very orange and muddy. 

Overall, I wouldn't repurchase this because it is a bit to orange for my skin tone and it doesn't work that great as a primer. I think I'll stick to their chocolate bronzer (review here) for bronzing and the Flower Primer for a primer. 

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Laura Mercier Foundation Primer

 The Laura Mercier Foundation Primer is a vitamin rich, lightweight creamy gel product meant to be used after moisturizer and before foundation or tinted moisturizer. It claims to make the face a painters canvas, providing a base that will hold makeup in place all day. 

 I picked this up from the gorgeous Sandra from The Black Pearl Blog for £5 in her blog sale. I've always wanted to try something from Laura Mercier, and I've yet to find a primer that is my holy grail thing. For a fiver, I thought why not? 

I am soo glad I snapped this up because I'm in love. The formula is great for my dry skin because it doesn't mattify the skin like many primers I've found. It blends onto the skin really easily, with a little going a long way. 



It's not quite as smoothing as some primers are (the Bourjois flower perfection primer being the best for me) but it holds my makeup in place like nothing else. I am not exaggerating in anyway by saying that it doubles the time my makeup lasts. Any fading of the foundation that I might have is very minimal and it stay flawless and even all day. 

The packaging is really simple, nothing excessive like some packaging can be. I'm not a huge fan of having a squeezy tube because I always get too much product, but I can get over that because having a pump might make it really chunky. 

You can pick this up in a couple of sizes. I have the deluxe travel size which retails for £18.50. The full size primer retails for £28 and is so worth it. I will be repurchasing this when I have the cash because nothing else preforms quite like this for me. You can purchase the travel size here and the full size here. 

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Bourjois Flower Perfection Translucent Smoothing Primer

This Bourjois Flower Perfection Primer is a translucent primer that evens out the skin's texture, helps hide pores, blemishes and fine lines to help the skin look flawless. It claims to have a melt-in airbrush texture that leaves the skin silky soft and prolongs the hold of foundation on the face. It's oil free and enriched with wild azalea flower to protect skin cells. 



The packaging is simple, and different from other primers. I can't say I often see primers in pots rather than tubes. I do have my slight issues with the whole dipping my fingers in and it not being totally sanitary, but I got over it. The other issue I have with packaging like this is the fact that it's easy to use more than you need to but after using it a few times you can guess quite well how much you need. 

The product feels lovely on the skin. It really leave my skin feeling silky and smooth. It helps hide my huge pores, but I can't really say that it helped disguise my blemishes and at 19 years old I don't have visible fine lines that this could help smooth out. 



This product really comes into it's own when you look at in terms of prolonging the wear of your makeup. I've never really found a primer than can keep any foundation in place and works with any kind of foundation but this one does.

 I used it tinted moisturizers/BB creams, Cream foundations, concealers  and liquid foundations and it's worked amazingly well with all of them. It gives them a smooth base to sit on and holds them in place until I take of my makeup at the end of the day.  

It can run out quite quickly, but it's well worth the price and I will be repurchasing this Bourjois Flower Perfection Translucent Smoothing Primer again and again.

You can pick this up from places that stock Bourjois products like Boots and Superdurg, or you can purchase this online here for just £9.99.

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Up and Coming *Exciting* Products...

I'm always exciting when new things hit the shelf! I have no self control so I start buying, and therefore blogging  about them and I get lots of new things to play with. 

With that in mind, I'm going to start doing a monthly post about new products that are hitting our UK shelves so maybe you can keep and eye out and squeal over them like I do.

Bourjois Cream Blushes & Bronzing Primer

With summer just around the corner (hopefully) cream blushes are in and powder blushes are out. Bourjois, famous for their baked blushes, are bringing out some fabulous cream blushes. They come in 4 shades - a matte peach, a pearly apricot pink, a pearly soft pink and a matte brown pink. They are a creamy to powder formula that claim to blend easily over the skin and carry the signature rose fragrance that comes with their signature rose fragrance. They hit Boots on May 15th if you want to get your mitts on them. 


I'm also eagerly awaiting the release of their bronzing primer. I love the flower primer from the brand, and the bronzing one is said to have a similar formula. So a great primer alongside a possible dupe for the Chanel Bronze Universal. This comes out in Boots at the beginning of June, and hits Superdrug in July.

HD Brows | Blush & Bronzer 

I think everyone knows what HD brows do, but the brand is now introducing a blush and bronzer range for Summer 2013. The pressed powder blush is a soft burnt rose shade that is meant to suit all skin tones while the bronzer is great for both adding a sun-kissed looks and for contouring. 





They are on the pricey side of things at £17.95 for the blush and £19.95 for the bronzer, but the products that have come previously to this have been amazing quality so I think we can expect the same from these.

 Maybelline Mega Plush & New Colour Tattoo Eyeshadows 

I've been waiting for the pomegranate shade of the Color Tattoos to hit the UK since I saw them in the US. I cannot wait to get my hands on this, and it releases in Superdrug today.  A navy shade is also hitting the shelves.

The Mega Plush mascara has had rave and pretty bad reviews so I can't wait to give it a go to pass on my opinions too. Maybelline are hit and miss with mascaras for me, so hopefully this will be a hit.

Rimmel Lycra Flex Scandel Eyes 

 

The bright green tube will catch your eye, and the fact that it's great for contact lens wearers will keep you interested. It's meant to keep lashes from getting hard and brittle while giving ultra great volume. 

I can't say whether it lives up to expectations when it's released. You can get it for £6.99 in Superdrug from today onwards. 

Barry M Confetti Top Coats

Every one and their mum went a bit crazy over the confetti top coat from L'Oreal, and Barry M see to be following suit and releasing a range of their own. I personally prefer the Barry M ones because they are more my colours. You can check out reviews and swatched over on the Sunday Girl here, but I have to say that Sour Apple is one I'm going to keep and eye out for. You can get your mitts on these from June 5th in Superdrug, and 12th June in good ol' Boots. 


So, what are you awaiting the release of? I would love to know!

PS: All lashes and cosmetics are now on mix and match 3 for 2 in Superdrug for the next month or so.

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MUA Pro-Base Eye Primer

MUA produce amazing cosmetics. I've heard some not so good things about the brand as whole, and the way they present themselves online through social media. For that reason, I wouldn't order online but when I was in Superdurg I saw their new eye primer (along with some other bits) and decided to give it a go. 

MUA Pro Base Eye Primer, £2.50 online or in Superdrug stores.

I think this is just a new packaging for an old product. I'm not sure because you can still buy the old packaged product online, but they seem exactly the same. I think it was re-packed to go along with their Pro-Base line and the new white packaging. 

I don't like the new packaging. The old black was a lot more sleek than the new white. I think the white looks cheap and it's not something I'm in love with. This is one of the better items with the new packaging because the silver covers up so much of the white but the palettes and things like that just don't impress me at all. 

 

 As for the primer itself, it works. The product blends to a translucent finish on the skin, and a little goes a long way. It makes the shadows stick that little bit more, makes them a touch more vibrant and ensures they don't crease. It does everything I want from a primer, and it does it well. 

I know you can get these sorts of things everywhere from places like Urban Decay, Too Faced and even Rimmel but this is one of the cheapest (other than ELF) and it works just as well as the others I've tried.

You can get the MUA Eye Primer in selected Superdrug stores and online (here) for only £2.50.

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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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January Favourites | Candles, Concealer & More

It's been a while since I've done a monthly favorites, but I want to start doing them every month  so this marks the start of something new on the blog! I'm just going to jump right in to the products because I can imagine this being a long post! I hope you enjoy. 

 Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey 
I'm not sure I need to say much on this. The balm stains are a big blogger hit and Honey seems to be the most popular shade. It's a 'my lips but better' colour that leaves lips with a nice hint of colour that lasts a good amount of time on the lips. 
 
MAC Lustre Glass in  Sinnamon 
I'm in love with this lip gloss. I'm not normally a lip gloss girl but this one is just amazing. I love the colour, the formula and think it would look great on a number of skin tones. I use this all over the lips, over lipstick or alone and I also use it in the centre of the lips just add the illusion of a bit more fullness. 
 
Yankee Candle in Peppermint Swirl 
I love candles. I can't have them a university because I live in halls and I can't burn candles without the firs alarm going crazy so over the holidays I went candle mad at home and this is my favorite by far. I used this one more in January and thought I should include it. It's a really nice sweet peppermint smell that leaves the room smelling gorgeous. I think the candle looks great, and it lasts a long time when you burn it. 
 
Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid Foundation
I ran out of foundation, and went in search of the cheap but nice drugstore foundation. I have heard some great things about the Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid  and it was only £4.99 at the time. I'm so glad I picked this out. It has a nice colour range, and a colour pale enough for me. It gives a nice coverage, and the finish it leaves on the skin is what I'm always searching for. It give a slightly dewy finish but it's also a little matte so that you don't look oily or shiny. 
 
Naked Skin Thirst Aid Moisturizer 
I've done a review on this before and actually said I wasn't a fan of it but after starting to use it again (just to use it up) I've found that after my skin has cleared up a little it now works really well. It's keep my skin moisturized through out the day, and it leaves my skin in a nice way for makeup to sit on top of it. Over all, it;s a great moisturizer.
  
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer 
I don't need to say anything when it comes to this so I won't. I'll just say it's a great colour match, and it last a long time of blemishes.
 
Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer 
I have only just discovered the benefits of having a specific under eye concealer. I used to just use the Collection concealer if I needed to and that was that. After getting this, I've now seen the error of my ways. This concealer gives my under eyes a brightness that nothing else has, and it just looks great. It covers and darkness under there really well, and lasts a long time too. 
 
MUA Pro Base Eye Primer
I haven't always been one to use an eye primer. My eyeshadow never really used to crease  but lately it has been so I picked this up. I think MUA have had one for ages, but they have recently repackaged it. It was like £1 off so I grabbed it and I love it. It makes my shadows pop a bit more and keeps them from creasing and fading like they did before.
 
Solait Bronzer in Golden Glow
I speak about this too much but I love it. It is my perfect bronzer, and I wouldn't be without. I've hit pan quite a bit so might need to pick up a new one soon. It's matte, the right colour and super cheap too. It's huge as well.
  
Lush Mint Julips Lip Scrub 
I haven't had a proper lip scrub for a while and love having one back around. I love the lush scrubs because they taste great, really work and you can lick them off after using them. They aren't that expensive and last for a long time. I used this every other day and it helps my dry lips to no end. It gets rid of the dead skin and tastes like chocolate mint! What more could you want from a lip scrub? 

Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara   
I adore Lancome mascaras. They are expensive but I think they are amazing. They keep my lashes curled and give them volume and length. My all time favorite is the Hypnose Star mascara, but after seeing the Drama on sale I picked it up to give it a go. It took some getting used to because it's very dramatic but I've gotten used to the wand and the amount of product you get and I'm in love. It makes my lashes look very black, full and long. That's what I want from a mascara, and this one does it amazingly well. 
      

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