NYX Macaron Lipsticks - Rose and Coconut

I just love the Macaron Lipsticks that are available from NYX. The colors are amazing and the quality is quite good too. I've now managed to complete my collection of them as the other day I grabbed the only two colors I didn't have Rose and Coconut. Rose is a pink colored lipstick while Coconut is white.

Rose, Coconut

Swatches

The texture of these lipsticks are really nice and creamy, they also have a good amount of pigment in them too. I wore Rose as a regular lipstick color but wore Coconut a bit different. I'm not fussed on white as a lipstick on it's own so i used it as a base color. The best thing about having a white base is it will slightly change the color of the lipstick you put over it. I had a dark red pink lipstick and it changed it to a paler pink which looked awesome.

The nice creamy formula means it is not drying and will glide onto the lips really nice and smooth. Later on in the day they did need a bit of reapplying but other than that these lipsticks are great. I'm really happy to be able to complete my Macaron Lipstick collection.

Rose

Using Coconut as a base color

Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush - Hyperfresh

I love anything Chanel, so for Christmas one of my gifts was Chanel makeup. I got the Joues Contraste Powder Blush in the color Hyperfresh. I love bright colors, so this one was perfect for me as it is a bright pink. It comes in that  signature Chanel packaging along with one of those brush applicators. I never like using these as I prefer to use an actual brush.

This color has an amazing amount of pigment in it and has a lovely smooth texture to it, allowing you to blend the color out nicely. I didn't need to use a lot of product to get the color looking intense as the pigment was fantastic. Pinks are one of my favorite blusher colors to wear and this one gives my cheeks an amazing pink glow. It didn't fade either or need reapplying. Once it was on, it stayed on all day.

Lush Santa In Space

For Christmas, I got quite a few Lush gift sets and one of them was called Santa In Space. This one is great as the products come in this really awesome tin that you can reuse and put different things in. The artwork on the tin looks great too. It's basically Santa in a space ship. Hence the name - Santa in space.

So you're probably wondering what is in this set. There was Santa Fun, Twilight Shower Gel, Big Bang Bubble Bar, Intergalactic Bath Bomb and Northern Lights Bath Bomb. Some of the products are re releases from last year as well as some old favorites that haven't been seen in quite some time.

Santa Fun
This is exactly what the product is, fun. I've used fun before and it's basically play doh for the bath. You can use it as bubble bath, shampoo, shower gel or soap. This one is called Santa and has all the colors you need to be able to make your own Santa. I had a lot fun making mine and in no time at all he dissapeared into the bath. We will have to wait until he reappears later this year.

Twilight Shower Gel
This product is exclusive to the set, it can't be bought separately any more. I think this one was available as a product on it's own a few years ago but has been discontinued. The Kitchen has been known to bring products back, so if you love this product it is a good idea to keep checking The Kitchen. This one is a really nice dark purple color and has the scent of lavender and sweet tonka. 

Big Bang Bubble Bar
This one has reappeared again from last year and is one of my favorites from the Christmas collection. To use just crumble it under running water and let the bubbles appear. This one creates plenty of bubbles and changes the water a really awesome blue color. It has quite a citrus scent to it and also has the bonus of feeling really moisturizing too, thanks to the avocado butter.

Northern Lights Bath Bomb
This one is an old favorite from a few years back and I'm glad Lush have decided to re release it. It's not shaped like a regular bath bomb and is really brightly colored with purple, yellow and blue. When a bath bomb is this colorful to look at, it really does make you wonder what it will look like in the water. As soon as it's dropped into the bath the colors start to appear right away. The purple starts to fizz giving off the awesome color in the water. Blue and yellow then start to fizz away in all different directions. The color show is just amazing, along with the scent of jasmine and ylang ylang.

Intergalactic Bath Bomb
This one like Northern Lights is super colorful. Unlike the other items this one is available all year round and isn't a Christmas bath bomb. I've written about it before on here so I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about it. The color show is just awesome and another bonus is, it actually has popping candy in it that makes the most amazing sound in the bath.

This is just a fantastic gift set from Lush. I've really enjoyed using all of the products in it. Christmas gift sets from Lush are just amazing.

The Importance Of A Good Eye Primer

If you want your makeup to stay on all day then it is really important to use a primer. Primers come in all different varieties from face, eye, lip and even eyebrows. Many different brands now offer primers and you can find at least one in a range of different brands from drugstore to high end. 

I started using an eye primer a few years back and once I had noticed the difference with wearing one I've never gone back to not using one. An eye primer is a must if you want to keep your eyeshadow on all day without creasing. A primer also gets the color to stand out more too. No matter what brand your eyeshadow, whether it's Chanel or Rimmel, if you want the color to not crease you need to use a base. My favorite eyeshadow primers are the NARS Smudgeproof Shadow Base and Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion.

This Christmas, I got two Makeup Reviolution gift sets. Each one contained a different eye primer. I was really interested in seeing how these performed. I love trying out new products. Makeup Revolution make some great products and I was interested to see if their eye primers would be as good.

Eye Primer

This one is called Eye Primer and comes in packaging very similar to lipgloss. It also comes with a doe foot applicator for easy application. I normally use my eye primers with the applicator it comes with and directly apply it to the eyelids. I noticed that this one has a bit of color in it and goes on thick. I did try thinning the coat out by dabbing it with my finger, but it made no difference.

After applying it to my eyelids I then applied the eyeshadow on top. I didn't really notice the color going on stronger with the primer. Eye primers normally make the color bolder. A few hours later I did notice the color starting to crease, so this primer didn't really do a good job of keeping it on without creasing.

Fix And Focus Eye Primer

After using the other eye primer from the other gift set I was hoping that this one would be better. This one is called Fix And Focus Eye Primer and comes in more fancy looking shiny packaging. The applicator is the same, allowing easy application to the eyelids. 

The formula of this one isn't much better and still feels too thick. I also don't like how it has color to it. I mean it's an eye primer, not a concealer. Eyeshadow is supposed to go on top of it. Why they had to put a color into it is beyond me.

This one seems to be worse than the first one. After about 15 minutes of putting my eyeshadow on it started to crease badly and this was a good quality eyeshadow I had used. I think the eyeshadow would have stayed creaseproof longer if I hadn't of bothered with this primer. After an hour or two it got so bad I just took my makeup off and started again with my trusted NARS primer.

Makeup Revolution make some great eyeshadows, blushers and highlighters. Their primer products seem to be a complete let down. I tried their makeup setting spray the other day and didn't think much of that either. They should just stick to color products and forget the primers.

There are some products you do really need to spend a bit of money on and primers are one of them. This is because they are a product that the rest of your makeup sort of depends on. A good quality base ensures long lasting makeup. There is nothing worse that spending a lot of time getting your eyeshadow all nice if it's just going to crease like mad an hour later. The NARS and Urban Decay ones may be more expensive, but this just proves you really do get what you pay for.

Eyebrows With Makeup Revolution

Eyebrows are all the rage right now and with many different brands offering all sorts of products from powders to pomades, there is bound to be something to suit everyone. This Christmas I got two really awesome Makeup Revolution gift sets and in each one were a brow product. In this post I'm going to tell you about each one.

Makeup Revolution HD Pro Brows

Out of the two brow products, this one is definitely the biggest. It comes in packaging very similar to the brand's eyeshadow palettes. It you are familiar with the brand you will know that this one looks like the Ultra Brow Palette. The only difference is this one doesn't come with a pencil and tweezers. Apart from that this one looks more or less the same. As far as I know this one is available in one color.

In this one are 4 powder brow colors in medium to dark shades. Along with two brow creams/pomades, cream highlighters, wax and a powder highlighter. I didn't use the cream/pomades but I really liked the brow powders. The pigment was very good and was easy to build up the color on my brows. It wasn't too powdery either and had the right texture. The brow wax is great too. I used this before adding color, although it did take a few minutes to set. The highlighters are great to use under the brows as they really make the brows stand out. This is a great product and looks like it is exclusive to the gift set.

Makeup Revolution Eyebrow Kit
This one is a smaller version of the HD Pro Brows. In this one are 3 brow powders in medium to dark shades. There is also brow wax and a cream highlighter. Unlike the first kit this one doesn't have the creams/pomades and only has one cream highlighter. This one looks a lot like Makeup Revolution's Focus And Fix Brow Kit. The only difference being this one doesn't have the brush and tweezers.

This one is great because there are 3 colors to choose from and the pigment in them is great. They don't feel at all powdery either and seem very much like the powders in the HD Pro Brows. Like that one, the wax in this one does take a while to set. With this one you can really build up the brows. The highlighter is great to put underneath your brows to get them to stand out.

Makeup Revolution Pro Prime And Pro Fix

Setting and primer sprays are very popular right now. Many different brands (drugstore and expensive) have brought various ones. One setting spray I have been using for some time is the Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray. Before I started using it I was a bit skeptical of it. I mean could a spray really keep your makeup on even longer? I was given a sample of it and after using it I was hooked.

Other brands I have seen selling setting spray are Clarins, NYX, Barry M, L'Oreal, Freedom and Makeup Revolution. This Christmas, I got this Makeup Revolution gift set that had their Pro Prime Aqua Priming Base and Pro Fix Makeup Fixing Spray. After using them for the past few days I've decided to tell you what I think of them both.

Pro Fix Makeup Fixing Spray
First off is the Makeup Fixing Spray. It comes in a good size spray bottle. Great for carrying around with you. Once you have done all of your makeup you spray a small amount of this over your face. It's always best to spray it at a good distance away from your face so it creates a fine mist. This one, unlike the Urban Decay one did make my face feel a bit wet and did take longer to dry. The worst thing about it was it had quite a strong scent of alcohol in it. I know the Urban Decay one contains alcohol too, but the scent is no where near as strong as this one. I can't really smell the alcohol in the Urban Decay one either. This one also tingles a bit if it gets on your lips.

As for keeping your makeup on longer it did do a good job of making it stay. I really don't think it is a good product tthough, the scent and feel of the alcohol in it is just too overpowering. It's like spraying a solvent onto your face. I've since gone and re bought the Urban Decay one. I know it's more expensive than this one, but as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. 

Pro Prime Aqua Priming Base
I've found that this product is a lot better than the fixing spray and I have gotten on a lot better with it. It comes in similar packaging to the fixing spray and is designed for putting on your face before applying makeup. It's best to spray this at a distance so you can create a fine mist. I really like that it's got a nice cooling effect to it, which feels great if your skin is dehydrated. It does take a little while to dry, but gives a nice base to the makeup.

After putting this on first I did find that my makeup goes on nicely, just as if I had put on a regular primer. These two may have came in a set, but I'm pretty sure that they can be bought separately. I would avoid the fixing spray, but the priming base really isn't that bad.

My 2017 Beauty Wish List

Happy new year everyone. I can't believe it's 2017 already. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. As it's now January, it's time for my first blog post of the year. There are many products I've seen lately that I want to get this year. Some are brand new and some are items I have had my eye on for sometime.

A brand I really like - Anastasia Beverly Hills have recently launched a UK website. This means no more having to have shipping from the US and I can browse the full range of products without worrying about shipping costs. There is also free delivery on orders over £25. You can check them out here

So here is my 2017 wish list

Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit - Moonchild £39 at Anastasia Beverly Hills

Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit - Sweets £39 at Anastasia Beverly Hills

YSL Eau De Toilette - Caban. £195.00 at Harrods

Jeffree Star Skin Frost £25.50 at Beauty Bay

Jeffree Star Beauty Killer Palette £40.00 at Beauty Bay

Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipstick £16.00 at Beauty Bay

La Prairie Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Eye Cream £164.00 at La Prairie

Are there any items you have had your eye on for a while you want to get this year.