Nivea Creme Original

After seeing a review on the Daily Mail website trialling the Nivea Original Creme vs the overly priced Creme De La Mer and the Nivea coming out on top I knew I had to try this and see what all the fuss was about. 

I have VERY oily, acne prone skin. During the winter months it isn't as bad but I still don't have a bit of dry skin on my body. On the other hand, my skin is also very dehydrated especially around my eye area. I have tried so many moisturisers over the years and eye creams, some costing a ridiculous amount of money so I thought to myself what did I have to lose trying out a £3.39 creme? Not only is this crazy cheap you get a huge amount for your money, 200ml in fact. I chose to get the tub offering although I do believe you can get this in a tube form as-well but it's quite a bit more expensive. Being the tight ass that I am, I chose the cheaper option! Having it in a tub form makes it easy to get the product out but is also could be quite unhygienic dipping your fingers in every day so I tend to opt for a spatula to scrape out the creme.

I only use this at night as it is a very thick creme which will leave your skin looking quite greasy looking which probably isn't the best look for the day, unless that's what look your going for ;). The creme is quite hard to rub into the skin as it's very stiff but keep rubbing and it will disappear eventually. You don't need to use a lot at all. I use a 50p sized amount for all over my face. It's probably worth mentioning I use this on my eye area where you would put an eye creme too, wether your supposed to or not I don't know but it seems to be doing wonders there! My skin has been left feeling so soft, like a baby's bum ever since I started using this, I noticed the difference from the first application. 

As far as I'm aware this is not marketed as a face creme, but an all purpose creme which makes it even better value for money. You can use this on your hands, body, wherever else you may desire. I checked the ingredients as I have basic knowledge of what is good for your skin and what to avoid and there isn't anything that stands out as bad to me. My pores also clog easily and I haven't noticed any of this either.

My skin has been left looking and feeling so amazing I am actually shocked. Since using this I haven't had one spot (touch wood) and my skin is feeling fresh and glowing. My sister actually came into my bedroom this morning and asked me why I had gone to bed with my foundation on (which I obviously hadn't) as she said my skin looked that fresh. Coming from my sister that mean't a lot. She isn't the best with compliments!

I was considering trying the Nivea Eye Cream but this seems to be working just fine for me! I am a Nivea Convert! I still use a light moisturiser in the day for under my make-up but this is my new holy grail night creme!

You can pick up Nivea here

Have you tried this Creme? What is your holy grail moisturiser?

MAC 224 DUPE

You may remember from my last wishlist post that I really wanted to purchase the MAC 224 brush and it was on my shopping list to be bought next. Yes I really do a shopping list and purchase things in that order! As I'm in college I get to try lots of make-up brushes from the girls in my course and we all tend to dabble in each other kits. Last week my make-up tutor had the MAC 224 brush with her and I asked her if I could try it out. She said she swore by this brush and had about 10 in her kit which made me even more excited to give it a go!

Firstly I tried it out with eyeshadow and using it to apply my transition colour, as predicted it blends out like a dream. This is better for un-controlled blending if that makes sense at all. For example if you want your blending to be very precise and stay in one area you would use a brush such as a 217, but for a more smoked out effect you would use a tapered blending brush such as this. I also then used this for applying my concealer (when it was clean of course.) It gave a beautiful airbrushed finish to my concealer.

It was after I got home that the penny dropped. This brush is identical to the Sigma E40, nothing different at all. This brush was kind of dis-owned until recently where I decided to try it out again and for some reason I failed to see if was exactly like the MAC 224. The Sigma E40 looks exactly the same and completes the job just as well as the MAC 224 but is a considerably option. The MAC 224 retails for £22.50 and the Sigma E40 retails here for £15.95.

MAC 217 next to the Sigma E40 for size comparison.

Now you may think that isn't much of a saving but if like me you purchase several of your favourite brushes for yourself and your kit then that £7 per brush can make quite a bit of a difference. I now have 3 of these brushes and can't imagine being separated from them!

What is your favourite make-up brush?

Collection Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Liners

Over the festive period I loved a glitter eye. Doesn't everyone? It's such a beautiful look when you want to feel extra glam! Especially adding colours! The only downside to glitter - the mess. The mess really puts me off doing it and to be honest theres no way to avoid it. You can do your eyes first but there is always that last bit of glitter that doesn't want to remove itself from your face! So I was on the hunt for something I could use instead of loose glitter powder. I searched trusty YouTube and came across this video from Pixiwoo and I had to have the glitter product she used! I was amazed to hear that it was by Collection! The liner is called Collection Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Liners.

The next day I took a trip to my local boots and headed to the Collection stand and was surprised at the colour selection that was available. There was 6 all together but looking on their website they actually have 14 colours available and I picked out 4 which I think I would use the most. The best part? They were £2.99!!!!! If I hadn't of watched the Pixiwoo video I would never of looked twice at this product. In my experience glitter liners are usually pretty naff and don't distribute the product evenly. This has such fine chunks of glitter in but really does manage to pack the glitter on the lid. I found the best way to use this is too add a crease colour so you don't have any harsh glitter edges and then apply a layer of the glitter all over the lid. It is then best to wait for the glitter to dry then add another layer and keep repeating the process until your happy with the coverage! This product gives no fall out at all so is amazing for people that hate mess!

(L-R) Rock Chick, Hustle, Va Va Voom, Dig It

Currently in Boots, the Collection stand are giving a free mascara when you spend over £5 on Collection make-up so be sure to grab that if you go! I haven't tried the mascara yet but if it rocks my world I'm sure you will be hearing about it in a favourites post.

I'm so excited to rock this look. I think the black will be my most used as I do love me a smokey eye! 

You can pick up the Glam Crystals Gel Liner here

What are your favourite Collection Products? I want to try more from this brand, I am loving everything I have tried so far!

HUGE Illamasqua Haul

My love affair with Illamasqua is very well known so it was only right a haul would be due soon and here it is! I got quite a lot of Illamasqua gift vouchers for Christmas as I really wanted to add some new items to my pro kit. So on Christmas Day I placed this HUGE haul! On Christmas Day to Boxing Day Illamasqua was offering 10% off on all purchases, and as I get 20% professional student discount that was a total of 30% off on my total order! EEK! This is the biggest amount of items I have ever bought from a make-up company in one go and I can't tell you how excited I was to receive the parcel! As soon as it arrived I took pictures so I could go use it all straight away! When the parcel arrived the sun was setting so the picture quality isn't amazing and I had to move all around the place to try and get the best lighting, so I'm going to apologise for that now! Do not fear though as I will have a swatches post coming soon of my favourite items! 

Illamasqua Skin Base - £27

L-R Skin Base 05, 01, 6.5

I decided to pick up 3 shades of the Skin Base as I am currently trying to build up on my 'No SPF' foundations for my pro kit. Illamasqua Skin Base is quite highly regarded in the make-up world as it claims to have a primer and concealer built into it but still leave the skin looking like 'skin.' I have tried this on myself but being super oily it hasn't worked out but most of my clients have combination or dry skin and this will work beautifully on them. I purchased the shades 05 which as you can see is a pink toned foundation. I also picked up shade 6.5 which is quite an olive yellow toned foundation. Along with these I picked up Illamasqua's skinbase in 01 which is white. I can use this to mix lots of shades with just these two foundations and also use it to lighten up any other foundations I have already.

Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation - £25

L-R 140, 200

Rich Liquid is an extremely high coverage foundation. On Illamasqua's website it is shown being used to cover tattoos, that's how much coverage it has! Whilst being a full coverage foundation it claims to still look natural on the skin without being cakey like some other foundations can be. This is a foundation I have personally wanted to try for a long time as I love fill coverage on nights out/special occasions but have never tried any without SPF and I'm sure everyone hates a flashback face just as much as me! I picked this up in shade 200 which is my fake-tan shade and 140 which is a tiny bit darker than my natural colour and can be used under the eyes as a highlight when I'm tan! This is the product I'm most looking forward to trying!

Illamasqua Skin Base Lift - £16

Light 2

I believe this is a relatively new product that Illamasqua have released to work alongside their Skin Base foundation. This is a corrector to be used underneath the eyes to 'lift' the appearence of your eye area. Skin Base Lift has strong peach tones which will counteract them pesky dark circles! I believe this is a similar product to the Bobbi Brown Corrector which is a pretty hyped up product so I am looking forward to seeing if this banish's them dark circles! This also comes in a white shade which I would like to pick up next to mix shades up and brighten the under eye even further!

Illamasqua Powder Eyeshadow in Vernau - £15.50

This is a shade I tried to pick up on my last visit to the Illamasqua store in Liverpool but they were sold out. The camera isn't really showing this shade very well at all. The true colour of this is a mustard brown shade. I thought this would be a beautiful shade to blend out a dark smokey eye due to the undertones of this shadow. I have used some of Illamasqua shadows before and they have all been amazingly pigmented and you only need the smallest amount so these will really stretch a long way. I'm probably going to de-pot these into a Z palette when I have enough shades! 

Illamasqua Powder Eyeshadow in Wolf - £15.50

This colour should be a staple in any make-up lovers kit. A deep chocolate brown shade can be used to create a number of looks! I have one very similar to this from MAC in the shade 'Espresso' but having tried 'Wolf' out already I can tell it's so much more pigmented than MAC's. I love this type of colour for going into the outer V of your eye as an alternative to black.

Illamasqua Power Eyeshadow in Servant - £15.50

This shade is a beautiful creamy peach shade which is beautiful for all over the lid when your having quite a neutral day but want to put  something on the lid. It doesn't really transfer as bright as it's showing in the picture but I can't wait to pair this on a casual day with Vernau in the crease.

Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Furore - £16.50

This is my second purchase of a pigment from Illamasqua. After owning my first pigment I knew I had to have more. I picked up Furore as it is a beautiful beige toned glitter which I thought could be applied lightly in the day for a neutral glittery look but then can applied heavily at night for the full on glitter look! You can use these dry and just pat the product onto the lid with your ring finger or for a more intense sparkle you can dampen your brush and pack that glitter on. The pigment is so finely milled it really does sparkle, not like some glitters which can be really chunky and uncomfortable to wear on the eyes.


Illamasqua Eye Colouring Pencil in Vow - £14

I have heard quite a lot about this pencil upon the blogging scene and most recently Caroline Hiron's recommendation on this product. Vow is a flesh toned pencil perfect for using in the waterline when you haven't had much sleep or just want to make your eyes appear larger and brighter. I have heard of people using this around their brows to sharpen them up and also as a lip liner when wearing a nude shade or to cancel out the lip colour. Got to love a multi purpose product!

Illasmasqua Brow & Lash Gel - £11.50

My brows are very unruly and need quite a bit of taming so a brow gel is a staple product in my make-up routine. I have been using the MAC Brow Gel for just over a year but thought I would give this a try to see how it holds up compared to that. I love the packaging of this compared tot the MAC one as MAC's come in a see through bottle which kind of looks disgusting after using it a few times as all your brow powder turns the gel a brown colour! Thankfully this will now be hidden in the sleek black packaging.

Illamasqua Powder Blusher - £18

L-R Hussy, Lover, Intrigue

I am yet to try any of Illamasqua's blushers but have seen them in action in demo's I have had in store and they always look beautiful when applied. I picked up the shade Hussy which is a bright pink but in the picture looks quite red which it's not at all. Damn you lighting! This can be applied very heavily or really softly to give the desired look so never be put off by the colour in the pan! The next shade is Lover which is a Peach toned blusher. I love anything that has a peach colour to it so it was only right I picked this up. I can see this being one of my favourites! The last blusher I picked up was Intrigue which is actually pure white which may seem quite strange. It was to me too when I first seen it! I attended a demo at Illamasqua in Liverpool with my college and the amazing Make-Up Artist Christina used this as an eyeshadow all over the eye to give a really bright white appearance and then did the most beautiful cut-crease! She also used this as a brow bone highlight and on top of the cheekbones! Illamasqua do a white eyeshadow called 'Sex' which is exactly the same as Intrigue blusher but you get a lot more product with the blusher for a tiny bit more money! It's also worth noting these blushers are all Matte finishes! I prefer to add my own highlight where I want it rather than having a whole load of shimmer on my cheek! 

Illamasqua Lipstick - £16.50

L-R Obey, Over, Fable

Lastly in this haul is the Lipsticks! I'm really disappointed as the colours haven't shown up how they look in the tube but the jist of it is still there. I'm going to do a separate post of all my Illamasqua Lipsticks including swatches to show you them better than they appear now! Obey is one I have been lusting over for the longest time, it is a true peach shade which may not suit everyone especially if your pale, but if you have a tan this will look amazing! Over is a beautiful coral shade which would look amazing in the summertime! Finally Fable is a Pink shade, it's quite hard to describe, it isn't barbie pink but it also isn't fucisa pink it's kind of a mix of both. Sorry for the lame description! All of the Lipsticks are a Matte finish and I would advise your lips are very well moistourised before applying these as it will cling to any dry patches you have! 

Phew that was a long one! I can't wait to try all this make-up it feels like Christmas again! As you can tell Illamasqua are my holy grail and I will always try out any products they release! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it! Until next time x

Illamasqua products are available to purchase here

MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer

I have seen many pictures of this MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer lurking around Instagram and loved the results it seemed to give, but with a lot of Instagram pictures being heavily edited I had my doubts. I popped into Superdrug and had a look at the shades they had available, unfortunately there was only one in stock which was  'Atomic' which I would describe as a red with a strong orange undertone. I was surprised to see the price at £3 which I think is an amazing price.

As soon as I got home I had to try this, so please forgive me for not having the original packaging to take photo's of! It is a lovely cardboard box though! I heard through Instagram it works best with a lip liner, so I applied MAC Cherry all over my lips then applied the Lip Lacquer straight on over it. I didn't really like the lip liner with it though as it was 2 different shades so off the lip liner come.

I then re-applied the product straight on-to bare lips with the wand and the finish was lovely. It was a little tricky getting into the corners so using a lip brush will definitely help with this! You do need to work VERY quick though as the product applies like a gloss and sets to a matte finish very quickly. If  you mess up it can go quite patchy and re-applying over the top made a complete mess when I tried it.

This is definitely like a lip stain. Once the lacquer had set to a matte finish it was completely transfer resistant and survived a meal and also drinking which is a huge plus!

If you have dry lips make sure you use a good scrub first as this will cling to any dry patches you have and make your lips look quite naff!

Overall this product is an absolute bargain for £3 so I will be picking up the other 4 shades in the range for me and another set for my pro kit whilst I wait ever so patiently for MUA to release more.

You can pick up MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer here