FOTD | Simple.

Time for a wee FOTD post, not done one of these in quite some time. This was from a few weeks ago, you may notice that I used the first photo as my new blog icon.

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation in 110 Ivory | Review + Swatches.

Time for another review! Getting through them slowly but surely. This review is about Revlons Nearly Naked foundation (£8.99). I'm sure you've heard about it by now, it's huge in the blog world at the moment, or it has been in the past couple of months. As usual I'm a little behind!

I bought one of the lightest shades, Ivory. There was another light one called Shell but I thought this one was better suited to my skin tone. It matches pretty well which was surprising as most drugstore brands don't tend to have light enough shades for pale folk. The only other one I've found is Rimmels Match Perfection in 010 (review here).

So straight away I liked it because it matched my skin tone, great start. It also applies easily and quickly when using my Real Techniques Buffing brush. My skin is still very, very dry at the moment and I found it accentuated it even more. The Rimmel foundation does this too, rather annoying. Even if I exfoliate my skin beforehand it makes little difference.
Other than that I really like the feel and look of Nearly Naked. It is light to medium coverage which I like because my freckles still show through a little. It also feels nice and light so you don't really notice you're wearing make up. I'd say it lasts all day, but I tend to have to touch up sometimes because of my dry skin.
The thing that most people have an issue with is that it doesn't have a pump, but I don't find that to be a problem. You just need to be careful when you're pouring it out.
To see me wearing it click here.

Smashbox HD Foundation in Fair | Review + Swatches.

Once again I am sorry for the lack of posts. I've been working a lot and now that I'm off I've become ill. Typical.

This is going to be a super quick review of a foundation I've had for a while. You know when you get a product, try it out, are disappointed so you leave it in the back of a drawer in the hope that one day it will magically work for you? Well this is one of those products.
I picked this up from ebay for around £5, I think it retails on the Smashbox website for £26.
Fair F0 is the lightest shade you can get for pale, neutral skin tones. There is also Fair F1 for people with pink undertones. I was hopeful as online it looked pale enough but once I tried it I realised how wrong I was. It's far too orange for me, continue reading for more pros and cons!

Dainty Doll Haul | Foundation, Lipstick + Blusher.

Even though Amazon have kind of been avoiding their taxes, tax evasion hasn't stopped me from wanting to shop on their site. Just like it hasn't stopped me laughing at Jimmy Carrs jokes. Or watching Nicholas Cage films (ok, maybe some of the newer ones!).
I had seen a couple of bloggers getting brilliant deals on Dainty Doll products, so naturally I was intrigued and headed straight over to Amazon. They had huge discounts on a lot of the range including the liquid foundations. I really wanted to try the light shade, but it was sold out so I went for medium with the hope that it would match. Thankfully it does - but more on that later. The other two items I bought were a lipstick in Saucy Sailor and a blusher in Lilac.
There are still a few items on sale, and some reduced even further! All of the lipsticks are under £2! Just search for Dainty Doll on the Amazon website and it'll all come up.

Some of the lighting is a bit off in the later photos as the sun was setting. 

The outer packaging is lovely, I really enjoy getting things in little boxes! The design is very pretty and I like the illustration. The actual packaging of the make up is even nicer. Sleek black metal mostly, it feels really high end and sturdy. Always great if you're on the move and need to travel a lot.

MUA Matte Perfect Foundation + Pro-Brow Kit | Review.

MUA is a brand that I rate very highly, they are affordable, readily available and darn good quality if you ask me! I don't tend to have any problems with them at all. 

Here's the thing though, they suck at foundation shades. Now I'm aware there's not many drugstore brands that cater for very pale girls or very dark girls so I know they're not the only ones. To label this foundation as Fair though is ridiculous! It's barely even light. It also claims to be matte, and that it controls shine, which it does not. The somewhat embarrassing photo further down demonstrates this. This was a few minutes after I applied it by the way, I thought I'd give it time to sink in but it didn't. Perhaps if I'd left it a few more minutes it would have been fine but who has that long to sit about waiting for their foundation to dry?! 

I can't complain too much as I did expect this to happen and it only cost £2, but I wanted to put this information out there so perhaps some other people won't waste a couple of quid. This foundation will be given a new home asap, I'm sure one of my friends might be able to use it. Megan, I'm looking at you!

FOTD | Red Lips.

Another quick FOTD for you today. This is quite a simple look, bold lips and winged liner. I'd say it's my go-to make up really as it's simple, easy and classic!

Although saying that it takes me a while to get it just right, and a lot of products evidently!

2012 | Beauty Favourites.

Here are my favourite products of 2012. I've been getting into make up and beauty a lot more this year, eventually! I've never really been one of those girls that takes ages to get ready, or to spend money on beauty products, but I'd really like to take more pride in my appearance for many reasons. Mainly because it makes me feel more confident and lifts my mood!

I've split everything into categories, each category has winner (or two, I'm so fickle!)

Foundation.
Rimmel Match Perfection - Shade 010.

I just love this foundation, it's everything I've been looking for; a decent price, nice packaging, medium coverage, a shade that actually matches my skin, a nice smell, and is readily available!
Full review here.

Lipstick.
Kate Moss for Rimmel Matte Collection - Shade 111.

I'm in love with matte lipstick, especially red matte lipstick and this one is gorgeous! I think this whole collection is perfection and I hope that they bring out more colours this year!
Review here.

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation | Review.

Recently I've been really enjoying Rimmel products, as you may have noticed! This time I'm reviewing their Match Perfection liquid foundation.
I'm always on the look out for a drugstore foundation that matches my pale skin tone, until now I hadn't found one. I'd say this is the closest match I've found, and for only £6.99! I bought shade 10 - Light Porcelain.

"Introducing a whole new Match Perfection, a makeup match like you’ve never seen before. Traceless coverage with Advanced Smart-Tone Technology reveals a perfectly flawless you, no matter what the light.
From the bathroom, to work, to the pub, your natural colour never changes.
Completely conceals imperfections with no foundation line, no makeup mask. Enhanced with Sapphire Radiance for an illuminating glow that never falls flat.
Natural, flawless coverage with a fresh finish.  Lasts all day."

Rimmel Website.

I would say this is a medium coverage foundation, and it's somewhere between matte and dewy. Which is a change for me, but I like it. It does cling to my dry areas, but most foundations do. Although it's not cakey or anything which is great, it looks very natural. I do like a medium coverage base as I don't like heavy make up and my skin isn't too bad.

Please excuse my sleepy faces that will follow...

Shade 10

No7 Foundation Match Made Service | Review.

As you may have noticed in photos of me I have very pale skin. Very very pale skin. Which I do like, I'm not complaining, it's just hard to find a foundation to match it. When I heard about the No7 Match Made service at Boots I was very intrigued.

It did take me a while to get around to it because admittedly I'm very shy and awkward in these situations. My boyfriend and I went up to the new Boots at the Kingsway retail park, which was much quieter and the lady from the No7 counter actually approached me. That made it much easier.

So basically she wiped off my existing foundation, and used the little device to take a photo of my skin on both sides of my face. It turns out it came up with a warning saying my skin couldn't be matched (my boyfriend found this hilarious). I wasn't all that surprised really, I realise how pale I am. She did manage to get a reading from the left side of my face, it was for the lightest shade they have, Calico. This was then applied to my cheeks on either side and she blended it in, but it was still far too orange for my skin tone. After a couple more tries she suggested their Intelligent Colour Foundation instead. This worked much better, it's more sheer and comes in the shade Extra Light. Which she informed me was a new addition to the range.

Elf Haul

Hello! 

Last week I received an e-mail saying that elf were having a Spooktacular Halloween sale (which, unfortunately, is over now). It's always exciting when they have a sale because they are so affordable in the first place that it just makes it even more of a bargain. 

I've bought a few elf products in the past, such as their matte lip colour, eyebrow kit, concealer and highlighter, and a lipstick. I was pleasantly surprised by everything, except from the eyebrow kit which didn't really work for me. Anyway, on to this haul. The list of everything I bought is at the end (I took a screen shot when I was checking out), it includes the name of the products, the discounted prices and the shades where applicable.