Dior Diorskin Nude Shimmer Instant Illuminating Powder

This was a recent naughty purchase that I decided to reward myself after losing a stone (woohoo!) since I've decided it's a great motivator to purchase something from my wishlist everytime I lose a substantial amount. It's been on my wishlist for ages ever since I saw Tanya Burr use it in some of her videos and fell in love with the way it looked when the light hit! It's my first Dior product and I have to say, I'm extremely impressed.

The powder itself is so finely milled and buttery soft. As you can see from swatches below, it's a lovely light golden shade that blends effortlessly to give an amazing glow. It isn't too glittery, it's more of a sheen across your cheeks and doesn't make me look oily at all, just really lovely and healthy! As always with Dior, the packaging is beautiful and sleek, with a handy decent sized mirror inside for topping up any makeup. The spongey applicator is actually pretty good as far as in-product tools come and works well to dab the product onto your cheekbones without overdoing it.

It's usually about £32, but I purchased mine here from Escentual.com for just under £5 cheaper which I don't think is too bad for 10g of high end product!

Have you tried this? What's your favourite highlighter? :)

Review: Rimmel Apocalips!

I don't know about all of you, but when I saw that Rimmel were bringing out a lip laquer similar to higher end offerings I was definitely intrigued. After hearing so much about the Armani Maestro versions but deciding they were way out my price range for a product of it's kind I was overjoyed to hear there would be a drugstore dupe and after seeing them on various different blogs I knew I had to have them! Pigmented? Check. Amazing colours? Check. Comfortable wear? Check. They sounded right up my street! :)

From L-R: Luna, Celestial, Stellar, Apocaliptic, Big Bang

One thing I can say is they definitely fulfilled all the promised claims. As you can see from swatches, the colour payoff is amazing and these really are liquid lipsticks, they didn't move all day, especially the brighter shades! The colours I chose were Luna, Celestial, Stellar, Apocaliptic and Big Bang. The other shades in the range are a brown-toned nude (Nude Eclipse), a pinky shade I also really want (Nova) and a plummy shade (Galaxy) which I didn't get purely as I own SO many plums! The packaging for these is also lovely, I love how you can see the colour at the bottom and it almost looks a bit sleek whilst not being too boring.

The formula is so wonderful - creamy and opaque with minimal effort required in terms of topping it up throughout the day and the price is what makes these even better at £5.99 each. The only negatives I would point out is this can have a tendancy to go a bit everywhere if you don't apply a lip liner around your lips prior to application. Also, I would comment that the lighter shades can be a bit patchy and Luna definitely took a little more effort to look good but this is an easily fixed problem :)

Luna - I have to say, this shade was my least favourite of the ones I picked up. I found the formula of this to be quite patchy and unflattering, you could see a lot of imperfections on my lips. However with a lip scrub, this one does make a lovely peachy shade that I'd liken slightly to MAC Shy Girl.

Celestial - This is what I'd consider the everyday lip choice of the bunch. I adore this shade, a lovely neutral pink/plum that I've found works with a variety of makeup looks! This one reminds me a lot of MAC Plumful which I also like a lot.

Stellar - This shade is another one of my picks of the bunch! An amazing bright corally pink that is so similar to MAC Impassioned on the lips it's crazy! Definitely an amazing summer shade that I cannot wait to wear.

Apocaliptic - This is the fuschia pink of the lot, another very bright shade with blue undertones. This will be a great 'nights out' option for me, especially with it's similarity to MAC Girl About Town which is my favourite for those sorts of occasions!

Big Bang - Eeeek sorry, you can kind of see what I mean about the bleeding thing with this one! This is an amazing red and one I will definitely reach for on lazy days where I'm wearing simple eye and face makeup as it'll make an amazing statement lip! I don't have a MAC dupe for this as a lot of people are saying Russian Red but to me it's far lighter and pinker!

Overall, I'm so impressed with Rimmel at the moment, they are definitely upping their game and bringing out some incredible products. I really believe these are one product absolutely worth the hype and one of my favourite launches of the last year by far! 

What colour do you like from this collection? Have you picked any of these up?

Review: Barry M Pink Silver Polish, Sophisticated Glitter!

Hi everyone! As you can probably tell if you were a follower of mine before my blog has had a total makeover thanks to the lovely Ana @ Peaches and Cream designs. I would highly recommend using her design service if you're looking to revamp your blog, she honestly works wonders! Second thing, if anyone knows of a good, free editing program for photos I would really appreciate it as the lighting in my uni room is atrocious and I want the best quality pictures possible with would probably involve some tweaking! 

That aside, I thought today I would show you what I'd call my sophisticated glitter polish :)

The nail polish in question is Barry M's Pink Silver Glitter. Weirdly enough, I don't think I would have picked out this shade myself. It was actually a Christmas present from my lovely housemates (they know me so well) but after trying it on, it's absolutely beautiful.

As always, the formulation is great. I find Barry M to last longer on my nails than most higher end brands which is great considering they're only £2.99 each! It's lasted around 4 days before chipping and was opaque within two coats on me, even better considering how impatient I get painting my nails which often ends in my trying to multi-task and smudging polish all over myself. Not great!

The shade is perfect for being a neutralish glitter as I'm not often a fan of the really in your face ones, I'm much more of a plain creamy colour kind of girl but for this polish, I can definitely make an exception.

Have you tried this shade? What's your favourite glitter? 

Review: Origins Eye Doctor

Hi everyone! Bit of a different post to my usual makeup/nail posts because I wanted to tell you all about my holy grail eye cream, Origins Eye Doctor.

Origins Eye Doctor £26/15ml

I don't think I've mentioned this on my blog before, but I have extremely sensitive eyes. They tend to water by the end of the day, creating sore patches of dry skin around them which not only looks horrible but is painful too. I've tried a lot of eye creams, including the more popular Origins Eye Cream Ginzings but for me, that just doesn't compare! 

The cream itself has a light cucumber scent which is refreshing but not overpowering in the slightest for me. It's quite a thick consistancy, so I tend to use a larger amount overnight and dap a smaller amount on my eye area in the mornings. I find this product not only soothes any soreness or dry areas around my eye, but really brightens the area too. On top of this, I suffer slightly from milia and this is the only cream to improve the problem rather than make it worse.

For me, this really is a miracle product that I feel I couldn't live without. I don't think I'll ever have to try another as after working through all my other eye creams before repurchasing I can honestly say I really missed the results it gave me, which I never thought I'd say about a product of this kind of all things!

A Vampy Lip

From the recent MAC Marilyn Monroe collection, I bring you the perfect 'vampy' lip! Deeply Adored is a beautiful dark red shade with slight blue undertones. Although in swatches it may appear a bit plum toned don't be fooled, this is most definitely a deep scarlet red that would look beautiful on a variety of skintones. 

As you would expect from a Matte lipstick, the colour payoff is really great. Some find the Matte formulas to be a little drying but on my lips they really aren't as drying for some reason! I actually seem to be the only person who finds the cremesheens a lot more drying.. Anyway, due to the pigmentation, this shade is opaque in one sweep across the lips and with a bit of lip liner to prevent bleeding (I used Rimmel's one in 'Black Tulip') you are good to go!

In terms of how to wear this, I think it looks best with really simple make up - I tend to wear nothing but mascara on the eyes and sometimes a bit of Nars blush in Sin on my cheeks, though most often I will just wear this with no blush or eyeshadow so all the focus is on the lips. The colour lasts a good few hours on the lips for me without the need of a touch up, which is really nice - especially on a night out.

Unfortunately, this collection sold out so quickly but if you ever see it in a blog sale or have a chance to get I would highly recommend snatching it up! 

What's your favourite dark lip shade?

Review: Topshop Celestial - the most beautiful nail polish ever?

Topshop Celestial may just be my all time favourite nail polish. When I first set eyes upon Celestial, I was sure it would be another blue shade far too bright for my pale skin, especially since I've never found a blue that looks nice. However, I was ecstatic to discover that this one is absolutely perfect! A cornflower blue, this is not as harsh as some brighter shades due to the purpley undertone and stands out in the right way.

I've also found the application and finish of Topshop nail polishes to be really great. This particular shade only takes 2 coats to be opaque and leaves a lovely shine to the nails. It lasts around 4 days on my nails (this picture being taken on day 4, hence the slight chip on my thumb!) which I think is a great wear time and at £5, it is definitely worth trying out for yourself! 

Which Topshop polishes do you love? :)

Review: Soap & Glory Scrub Em and Leave Em!

Today I thought I'd write a review on one of my holy grail products, Soap and Glory's 'Scrub Em and Leave em'. Although most people seem to talk about their Breakfast Scrub or Sugar Crush, I much prefer clean/fruity scents over sweet ones so this suits me perfectly.

Soap & Glory says the product contains scents of Bergamot, Blackcurrant, Magnolia, Freesia, Vanilla and Musk.  The scrub is formed of sea salt, jojaba (whatever that is!) as well as Mandarin Oil, which you can really pick up on in the scent.

I love this particular scrub not only for the scent, but the way it works at scrubbing away any rough patches of skin whilst moisturizing the area leaving it soft and smooth. I mainly use this on the tops of my arms where I have particularly rough skin and it really helps to improve the look and feel of the area.

In terms of price, it is actual more cost efficient than the most other scrubs by Soap & Glory. If you compare it to the others, the only one better value for money is Flake Away, which is £7.00 for 300ml. This one is £7.50 for the 300ml, whilst others (in particular The Breakfast Scrub which is £9.50 for the same amount!) are 50p or more expensive than this one, or the same price but for 100ml less product.

If you prefer fruity/floral scents, I would definitely recommend smelling this in store and giving it a try. I'm on my third scrub and really don't see myself drifting from it anytime soon!

Katherine xo