Kylie Cosmetics Valentine's Collection

Available at kyliecosmetics (some items are no longer available)

I'm a bit late to the game with this but I've only received these, this week. Kylie Cosmetics released a valentines makeup collection. There was quite a bit to this collection, there was two new lip kits, Kylie's dairy which was a eye shadow palette with her first 2 blushes. Mini liquid lipsticks and 3 mini kits that came with a mini matte liquid lipstick and gloss. 
I managed to get my hands on the mini liquid lipsticks and one of the mini eye shadow kits called Kiss Me. 

Mini Matte Liquid Lipsticks

Price: $36

When the collection was first announced this was the item I was most excited about. I already own one of the lip kits and I really like it and I wanted more colours to try. But the lip kits are not cheap and living in the U.K means I have to pay custom charges. So I thought these would be great to have a variety of colours without spending loads. You don't get the lip liners with it but I can live with that as I don't always line my lips. 

In this set you get 3 new shades, Apricot, High Maintenance and Head Over Heels as well as 3 classics, Maliboo, Posie K and Mary Jo K. They all have the same strong sweet vanilla cake smell to them just like the full size versions. I love the scent of them but I can understand how some people may not like the scent as it is strong.

(Left to Right: Apricot, Maliboo, High Maintenance, Posie K, Head Over Heels, Mary Jo K)

Lets firstly talk about the new shades. Apricot is a peachy nude colour and I can see how this is a popular colour and how it has been made a permanent shade. For me though, it is a shade that just doesn't look good on me as I think I am too pale for it. In fact this is my least favourite shade from this set, but I think it would look great on darker skin tones. It applied well and wasn't patchy and dried down to a matte finish. It feels comfortable on the lips, so comfortable in fact I forgot I was wearing it. 

High Maintenance is a dusty pink shade and is great if you want to create a cute girly look with your makeup. It applies the same and feels the same as Apricot and had no patchy areas. I don't mind this colour but it still not my favourite.

Head Over Heels is a beautiful deep plum shade and also has been made a permanent shade. I can see why it has been made permanent as it is my favourite shade from all the mini's. It feels the same as the others and with one coat it is patchy but with another coat it was fine for me. I think this would work better with a lip liner so I may end up buying the full size lip kit when my mini runs out. 

I did try the classic shades and they all have the same formula as the new ones and I really liked them especially Posie K. I don't want to talk or bore you with them too much as these shades have pretty much been reviewed over a million times. 

Kiss Me Mini Set

Price: $22

I've wanted to try Kylie's eye shadows for a while but I didn't want to spend out on a full palette and pay customs on something I may not like so, when I saw these mini sets and it came with a liquid lipstick and gloss, I thought they were perfect. There were 3 mini sets, Kiss Me, Smooch and Sweet Heart. I went for Kiss Me as I thought I could create a pretty day look with them.

Now as you can probably see in the picture above, one of my shadows arrived broken and I've tried to fix it and I am missing the gloss. Not going to lie I am pretty annoyed with this and I have emailed them about it, just waiting for a email back. So I can't give a full opinion on this product but I will try with what I got.

The mini matte liquid lipstick is in the shade dirty peach and has the same formula as the other liquid lipsticks. The gloss well, I can't say much as it never arrived. The matte shadow shade is Sweet Thing and the shimmer/glitter shade is Main Squeeze. I was pleasantly surprised with the pigments from the shadows especially Sweet Thing, I read the matte shades had great pigment but I didn't realise how much pigment they had till I tried this. Main Squeeze was the broken shadow and also the shadow I was most excited about. 

The image above shows the look I created with the shadows. I found the matte shade, Sweet Thing, easy to apply and blended beautifully. Main Squeeze I found I had to use my finger to apply to get it to show. But to be fair a lot of shimmer shadows from other brands I find they apply better with using my fingers. Overall I really like these shadows and I may buy one of the full size palettes in the future. 

Would I recommend these products?

First these actual products aren't available anymore but there are full size lip kits of some shades from the sets available. The mini liquid lipsticks I would recommend if you are new to Kylie Cosmetics and not sure what shade of liquid lipstick you want and just want to play around. I know she has done other mini collections in the past so if you want a mini collection I would recommend you keep and eye out in the future as I doubt this will be her last one.

The mini set I can't really give my full opinion on as how it arrived I didn't receive it all and it arrived damaged. Don't let this put you off I have bought other things from Kylie Cosmetics before and they have always been fine. I do think though that Kylie should really look into having distributors in other countries. As I would buy a lot more of her products if I didn't have to pay custom charges every single time and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Did anyone else manage to get there hands on any of Kylie's Valentines Collection? If so what did you get?

Too Faced x Kat Von D Better Together Review

Price: £18.00-£57.00 Available: Debenhams

Too Faced and Kat Von D have joined forces to create this beautiful limited edition collection inspired by friendship, love and a passion for makeup. Ever since this collection was announced, I have been so excited to get my hands on it. Living in the U.K I have had to wait that little bit longer, but the wait is finally over! 
I just love the idea behind the collection. There are 3 sets for this collection: Better Together-Ultimate Eye Collection, Better Together-Cheek and Lip Makeup Bag and Better Together-Bestselling Mascara and Liner Duo. I didn't purchase the mascara and liner duo and there are full sized ones with the eye collection. The item from this collection I was most excited about was the eye shadow palette. 

Better Together-Cheek and Lip Makeup Bag

Price: £33

I will be honest with you all, the main reason I bought this was for the makeup bag as it is super cute. One side you have Kat's cat Piaf and the other side is Jerrod's dog Clover. Even the little zipper has each brands logo on either sides, which I found a nice little touch. It's not a large bag but perfect for little bits to pop into your handbag when you are on the go. You get four mini makeup items with this set.

The first two mini's are from Too Faced which are Candlelight Glow Highlighting Powder Duo and Love Flush Long-Lasting Blush. On first appearance of these, the packaging reminds me of a kids toy. The packaging is just plastic and I find it kind of cheap, I've not used the full size of these items so I don't know really if the full sizes are like these. 

The blush itself is a pretty pink colour with a shimmer to it. It doesn't have a strong pigment but you can build the colour and is a lovely colour when applied to the apples of the cheeks.

The highlight duo first of all I love the candelabra image in the blush, I really didn't want to test it as I didn't want to ruin how pretty it looks. When I eventually used it, I like the colour of the highlight and is very pretty for a soft highlight. It's not the most blinding highlight but if you are someone that prefers and soft looking highlight, then this highlight is perfect for you. 

The other two mini's included are Kat Von D's Studded Kiss Lipstick in the shade Muse and Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in the shade XO. I own plenty of the liquid lipsticks and there one of my favourites liquid lipsticks. So I'm not going to talk much about how much I love it as I've mentioned them before. So all I will say is XO is a dark pinky/redish colour and is also a colour I don't own. The studded kiss lipstick on the other hand I don't own many of but I love the packaging of these. The colour is a nude colour with a sort of shimmer/sheen to it. I can actually see me wearing this colour a lot. It applied well and feels comfortable on the lips. 

Better Together-Ultimate Eye Collection

Price: £57

This product is what I was so excited to try. It is a bit on the pricey side but it does comes with a full size Tattoo Liner and Better Than Sex Mascara. So you can do a complete eye look with the whole collection.

As I mentioned it comes with Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara and Kat Von D's Tattoo Liner. The mascara makes my lashes full and look longer but personally I prefer the waterproof version of the mascara. Don't get me wrong this is a good mascara and if you don't like waterproof mascaras then give this one a go, but I have always preferred waterproof mascara's. I also think the packaging for the waterproof version is brilliant. 

The Tattoo Liner on the other hand is my favourite liquid liner ever. It just applies a clean, neat, bold wing effortlessly. It is also waterproof and just lasts all day and doesn't wear off. When ever I get asked for a liquid liner I always recommend this one and I personally can't live without it. 

Now the most exciting item from the collection, well for me anyway. This eye palette is so cool, I love how you can pull them apart or put them together. I also love how both sides represents each brands look and both of the founders style. I think it is cute as there are little messages from Kat and Jerrod talking about there friendship and love and respect for each other. The packaging for me is just perfect. Also all the names of the shadows are somewhat linked to friendship.

Let's start with the Too Faced side. So the eye shadows are in heart shapes which is used in some of there eye shadow palettes. There are 2 matte shades and 4 shimmers, but no actual transition shade which is a little disappointing. My favourite shade is Friendspiration which is a golden shimmer shade. It applies so well and blends perfectly and just the perfect golden shimmer shade. All the shades feel smooth and creamy and all pretty much applied very well. 

This is an eye look a created with the Too Faced side. I used BFF all over as a base, I used Lovely in the crease. Friendspiration all over the lid and underneath the eye and I used Power Couple and Better Together lightly in the crease and on the outside of the lid. All the shadows blended well and were easy to apply.

Now on to the Kat Von D side. You get 3 mattes and 3 shimmers on this side but still no real matte transition side which is disappointing. My favourite is Swoon which is a beautiful red shimmer shade and has amazing pigment and is my favourite shadow from all 12 shades. All the shadows feels smooth and creamy just like the Too Faced side. 

This is the look I created with Kat's side. Seriously Swoon is just the perfect red for me, it is so easy to apply and the pigment is unbelievable. For this look I used Por Vida as a base and then when in with Yours in the crease. I applied a mixture of Darling and Lovestruck on the inner eyelid and applied Swoon in the middle and in the crease and under the eye. I also added a little of Devotion on the outside.

I wanted to create a look with both sides of the palette, trying to use as many colours as I could, so this is what I created. I used BFF as a base and I used Lovely in the crease. Friendspiration on the inner eye and underneath the eye. I used swoon on the middle and outer of the eye. I used better together, Yours and a dash of Devotion on the outside of the eye and crease.

Overall all I adore this palette. The colours are beautiful and blended like a dream. I only wish there was a transition shade to make it perfect. For being quite pricey it honestly doesn't bother me with especially how beautiful the shadows are and how well they work.

Would you recommend these items?

I would recommend the ultimate eye collection to anyone, whether they are new or old to the world of makeup. The shadows are beautiful colours and blend easily and you also get the best liquid liner in my opinion included and a good mascara. It may be a bit pricey but honestly I think it is worth the money. 

The cheek and lip makeup bag I think is a great way for trying out both brands with the mini's you get but I do think it is expensive for what is is. 

Out of the two sets I would recommend the eye collection without a doubt for the reasons I said.

Has anyone else tried these products? If so what do you think? Or are you thinking of getting them? I would love to know your thoughts. 

Birchbox Review and First Impressions

Price: £10 + £2.95 p&p (Monthly) Available: Birchbox

I've been hearing and seeing many great things about Birchbox so I wanted to test it out for myself to see if it lives up to the hype and is worth the money. For those who don't know what Birchbox is, it is a monthly beauty subscription box that comes with 5 beauty products. It is a great way to test and try new products that you may not of heard of or simply can't afford or get your hands on.

For signing up when I entered the promo CULT I was able to get a extra item. I was also able to choose the actual design of the box for this month as they were doing a collaboration with Papier. Which was pretty cool as it just made it more personal, I went for the darker design as I liked the colours a lot more. You also get a card explaining what the products are and what they are for and how to use them which is handy if you are a beauty newbie. So lets talk about some of the products.

The first item was this little eyeshadow trio by POP Beauty. It is a mini version of the full palette which has 10 shades. I've never used any products from them so this was a first. The colours of the shadows are lovely and great if you want a natural smokey eye look. I did test this product out as I am a sucker for eye shadows. I did swatches of the shadows first they all had great pigment from the swatches and felt soft and creamy. 

The image above shows the look I managed to create and I was really disappointed in the pigment. I guess I was just expecting more from what I got from the swatches. There was a bit of kick back but that doesn't bother me that much. I think for a natural look they are fine but I have so many palettes that are much better and give a better pigment. I'm not wowed and I won't be buying the full palette anytime soon.

This item was the item I was looking forward to most. I don't own any spectrum brushes, but I've wanted some for the longest time as I've heard great things and there collections just look so beautiful. So when I saw the Spectrum Marbleous C06 eye contour brush I was very excited. On first impressions the design of the brush is beautiful and the actual brush feels so soft, I wish I could let you all feel how soft it is. I have used it once and it blended my eye shadow so effortlessly. It has become one of my favourite brushes and I now realise I really need to save up and buy a full set of brushes by Spectrum.

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse is a multi-purpose oil to hydrate and restore hair, face and body. I haven't tested this out and I'm not really sure if I will. I'm not great with products like this, so I may give this away.

Keeome Hydration Mask Therapy is a hydrating face mask that is perfect for tired skin. I haven't used mine yet, but I am saving it for when my skin is looking a bit tired to see if this mask really does what it says. 

Beaver Professional Daily Moisture Conditioning Spray is perfect if you have dry or damaged hair. You just spray it on to damp hair and massage in to condition it. I haven't tried this yet as my hair leans more towards greasy than dry. But I will keep this for when I start dying my hair crazy colours again and it just needs some help.

As I mentioned I got an extra item for entering the promo code CULT, which was this Smith & Cult lip lacquer. The colour is beautiful and I couldn't wait to get it on my lips. There is a slight smell of vanilla and when I say slight, I mean barely any scent. When applied to the lips, there wasn't actually much pigment which I was really disappointed with, as I really loved the colour. It feels thick when applying but once it settles on the lips it feels light. It's not sticky and gives a glossy finish. Personally I'm not a huge gloss fan as I never have luck with them. This product I did like but not love, as the only issue is the pigment and mine seems to have a tiny leak if I don't stand it up.

Would you recommend this?

Birchbox is a little more expensive than love me beauty because of the postage and packaging but you get a lot more product for your money than love me beauty. You don't get to select the products like you would for love me beauty but you get a little sneak peak for next month's and if you want to know well you have to buy this month's to find out. Also you are likely to receive full size items in birchbox. I would recommend Birchbox for any beauty fan whether you are new or a professional. It's a great way to discover new products and is great value for money. 

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette

Price: £39 

Available at Debenhams

The Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette I have wanted for the longest time! As soon as I got it I decided to share my thoughts with you all. Too Faced as a brand to me, well I just love how quirky they are from a lot of other brands. They think outside the box and put a lot of effort into there products which you can just tell by looking at the packaging. The better than sex mascara is my favourite mascara at the moment and there are so many more items of there's I would love to try. I also cannot wait till the Too Faced x Kat Von D range comes to Debenhams. 

First of all I want to talk about the packaging. I mean the box it comes in looks like chocolate bar packaging and is super cute. You really cannot deny a lot of thought has gone in to it. On the back of the packaging you can see the lines that would be for the foil wrap that would be covering the chocolate. You can also see the shadows and the names and a list of ingredients. When you get the actual the palette itself, its shaped as a chocolate bar. It's a decent size and isn't a bad size for travelling. It has a magnetic close on the palette which I really like. Inside it had a decent mirror so if you are on the go it doesn't warp your face or distort it. I also love that it has the name of the shadows above the actual shadows itself, I just think that is handy. You also receive a little how to guide for some looks using the shadows.

These shadows are made with cocoa powder and for those of you who don't know, these shadows actually smell of chocolate. The smell of this palette is just amazing! It's not super strong which I'm glad and the smell doesn't hang around when you have applied the product to your eyes. 

Now lets talk about the actual shadows themselves. From first impressions the colours look beautiful, they are the sort of colours I wear and I can see a few looks I could create with these. The shadows that really appealed to me are Marzipan, Salted Caramel, Cherry Cordial, Amaretto and Candied Violet. I did a swatch of all the colours before I tested some of them out on a eye look and they all felt smooth and creamy. You can see how my swatches turned out just below:

(Left to Right: Triple Fudge, Black Forest Truffle, Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate, Gilded Ganache)

(Left to Right: Amaretto, Candied Violet, Strawberry Bon Bon, Semi-Sweet, Marzipan, Salted Caramel)

(Left to Right: Champagne Truffle, Cherry Cordial, Haute Chocolate, Crème Brulee, Hazelnut)

As you can see some of the swatches are more pigmented than others. White Chocolate and Strawberry Bon Bon were the ones that didn't seem to have much pigment but they may work different on the eye and to be honest, I really doubt I will use Strawberry Bon Bon. It is just a colour I would never wear and it is my least favourite colour from the palette.

The image above is what I created using the shadows. The shades I used were, White Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Marzipan, Semi-Sweet, Cherry Cordial and Crème Brulee. I found the matte shades blended beautifully and with such ease. The only one I had a issue with was white chocolate due to the lack of pigment but that could also be down to me being as pale as a ghost. The shimmer shades I had a little bit of trouble at first but I decided to use a some mac fix+ to give them a bit of a boost and they performed a bit better after that. Personally I prefer the matte shadows as they were to easy to blend and are such beautiful colours. 

Would you recommend this product?

I would recommend this especially for the matte shades and for the smell. If you interested more in the shimmer shades then I suggest having some mac fix+ on hand. Or if you just looking for something different or a collector of make up I feel then you should have this. This palette is on the pricey side but I believe there are dupes of it out there. Too Faced also have a different range of these chocolate palettes now and a peach palette, so if the shades in this palette are not for you then maybe looking at the others or the peach palette. 

If there are any products you would like me to test out and review please let me know.

You can find more Too Faced products at Debenhams.

Primark PS Pro Oval Brushes Review

For the longest time now I wanted to try some oval brushes as I've heard great things about them, especially the Artis ones. The thing is, I've been using a beauty blender for so long, I don't know how I would cope going from a sponge to a brush. I also didn't really want to pay out for something that I'm not even sure I will like. So I had a look around and I saw Make Up Revolution did some at a decent price but, when I went to buy some they had sold out. I took this as a sign from the make up gods to just forget about it. But on a recent trip to Primark, I found some oval brushes in there PS Pro range, and I couldn't argue with the price so I grab one of each size they had in store. 

I believe the PS Pro range is the better quality of Primarks beauty range. I will be honest I don't really have high expectations for these brushes as I've bought some in the past from Primark and they have never really worked for me or wowed me. These brushes are smaller than some of the oval brushes I've seen which I like cause I'm not really sure how the big ones cover the whole face especially around areas like the nose. Also I don't know if Primark do any other sizes, these are the ones my local Primark had in stock. 

All these brushes have dense bristles and black plastic handles. It says high definition result  suitable for liquid and powder on the package so I assume that is what they claim from these brushes. So I will talk through each brush individually and give my views on each one. 

Small

Price: £2.50 - £3.00 

So this is the smallest of the 3, I tested this out on concealer, mainly under my eyes. It didn't do a bad job, but I felt it just moved the concealer around and not set it in the skin like a beauty blender does and I need full coverage on my dark circles. I won't use this again for concealer but I think it could be good possibly for a contour especially if you have a small face. Personally for me, it is not narrow enough for a nose contour. 

Medium 

£3.50

The medium brush I tested out on contouring. I'll be honest I am no contouring expert and having the same skin shade as a ghost, it's not the easiest for me. It applied the product evenly and blended the product well, without making it look patchy and horrible. I was pleasantly surprised on how well it worked, especially on carving out my cheekbones. 

Large 

£4.00

Out of the 3 brushes I used, this is my favourite. I used it for applying my foundation and I have to say I was so impressed. It applied my foundation evenly and made it look flawless like a beauty blender would. I used the same amount of product I would when using a beauty blender and the foundation covered my whole face. This is going to be my go to foundation brush when I'm in a rush (really didn't mean for that to rhyme) or if I am too lazy to dampen my beauty blender. The only flaw with this is the neck is a bit flimsy so you need to place your finger on the back of the brush to make it more stable. 

Overview

All these brushes are all easy to use and you can't argue with the prices. I said I didn't have high expectations of these brushes but they have really impressed me and showed me that just cause it's not a label with a big price tag, doesn't mean that it is going to be a terrible product. The only flaw with these is I just think the neck on these brushes need to be stronger and maybe different sizes and shapes of these brushes if there aren't any. If anyone knows if they do more sizes and shapes please let me know. 

Would you recommend these products?

Hell yes I would! For the price they do an amazing job, especially the large brush. They are perfect if you are just like me and just want to try out oval brushes or you want to save some pennies. If these are the quality of products Primark are bringing out these days, I am going to have to test out some of there other products.