NARS Light Reflecting Loose Setting Powder

Who doesn't want a flawless face of makeup that blurs fine lines & imperfections?!? If your answer is no, then you sir are crazy!
Since my obsession began with hourglass lighting powders & their Photochromic Technology I have been drawn to products that also claim to have the same effect, enter Nars 'Light Reflecting Loose Setting Powder'.

This Nars powder is infused with Photochromic Technology, which helps diffuse light & adjust to new sources of light throughout the day. Whilst also optically fading pores, fine lines & wrinkles. This light weight translucent powder does an amazing job of making my face look pore-less & flawless. So much so that I find I have to be very light handed when applying, as too much can make my skin look scarily perfect in a very unnatural way. But with the right amount & a light hand it does an amazing job & lives up to the claims.
It's easily blended into the skin & truly is transparent so doesn't leave that horrible white cast in flash photography. 

The loose powder gives my skin a matte finish yet still manages to make me have a natural healthy glow (when used with a light hand). Unlike the Hourglass Lighting Powders which have more of a glisten to them & no mattifying properties at all (incase you were wondering what was the difference).

Another bonus is that Nars 'Light Reflecting Loose Setting Powder' is Paraben-free, Fragrance-free, Non-Comedogenic.

Over all this is a great mattifying powder that leaves a natural healthy glow to the skin. 

Price range from £25-£26

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NYC Smooth Skin Bronzing Powder Sunny

The amount of rave reviews I've read from across the pond of the NYC sunny bronzer, I just had to order myself one to try out. A week after the bronzer arrived from the USA I discovered Superdrug are now stocking the bronzer.....doh!

So the NYC Smooth Skin Bronzer in Sunny is a very popular drug store bronzer & is said to be a great dupe for Benefits Hoola bronzer but less than half the price.

When swatched side by side the two do look extremely similar, with Hoola being just a smidge darker & smoother to the touch. Sunny is also super pigmented so make sure to use a light hand. When applied to the face I think that NYC sunny bronzer can easily lean to the orange side if applied to heavily or not blended well enough. With a light hand & thin applications it does give a nice natural matte bronze to the face.

My all time fave drugstore bronzer is In fact also by NYC & is there 

Sun N Bronze Bronzing Powder in the shade 'montauke bronze'. Comparing the two together, 'Montauk Bronze' comes out on top for me. Even with its slight shimmer, I think it's easier to apply & never sways to the orange side. I opt for this bronzer over my Hoola bronzer any day.

So to round up, as Its hard to come by a good matte bronzer in the drug store & for such a reasonable price NYC Sunny is worth a try. I wouldn't rave about it like i do my 'Montauk Bronze', but then it's also not the worst bronzer I've tried.

£1.99 available from Superdrug

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L'Oreal Lumi Magique Pearl Powder

On a Recent Boots shopping trip I picked up a powder I hadn't heard or seen anything about; the 'L'Oreal Lumi Magique Pearl Powder'- it looked too pretty to leave in the store!

On first inspection the powder looked to me like a highlighter & that's what I though I was purchasing - a highlighter! When I got home & had a play around with my new buys, I read the back of the product & it said 'Our first illuminating powder which mattifies, highlights and gives a radiant healthy glow'. I was dumbfounded, how could this intensely shimmery powder give my skin a matt finish?! You can clearly see the shimmer on the product from my pictures I took when I first bought the powder.  

So I continued to use the powder as a highlighter placing it on the high points of my face, cheek bones, nose etc. I though I had found an amazing high street highlighter for a great price. After two weeks of use the shimmer started to fade, leaving behind a light iridescent powder.  
So now L'oreals description started to make sense. The shimmer was just a thin over spray & infact this product is an illuminating powder. Bad descriptive work from L'oreal there.

After initially being slightly disappointed I continued to use the powder & realised that it is a very close dupe to the finish that Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder gives the skin. It's just dryer & thinner in consistency, giving the face a less intense glow but none the less a very similar idea. The powder has a very light pink hue that doesn't show up on my skin. It also doesn't contain sparkle or shimmer it's more of subtle glow, so looks very natural. I love using it for setting my under eyes.

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Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder 'Luminous Light'

I've had my Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder in 'Luminous Light' since December & been putting off writing my review, for fear I just can't do this powder justice. I'm worried that words just can not describe how AMAZING this powder truly is. 

Let me just ask you, would you like to look air brush/filter perfect everyday? Yes......well then I think you need to invite an Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder into your life, pronto.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders come in a range of six shades. From the sheer off white 'Etherial Glow' that gives the face a subtle opalescent finish to the sheer lavender 'Mood Light' that brights the complexion.

Each powder has a unique colour. All six are created with technologically advanced soft-focus particles that diffuse & soften the way light is reflected onto the skin so help the skin appear younger, even toned & radiant.

 I own 'Luminous Light', a champagne pearl shade that creates a soft incandescent glow on the face. When dusted all over the face It gives the effect that your 'glowing from within'. Rather than the strategically placed obvious highlighters that you dust on the cheek bone etc, this powder is so natural & flattering it is breathtakingly gorgeous. 

The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders can be used lightly all over the face as a finishing powder or alone on the high points of the face where you normally highlight. Either way this powder gives a flawless finish that I just can't get enough of. It works wonders on more mature skin, giving it back that youthful healthy glow without settling into fine line. 

The packaging too is lovely, although I must say it is a magnet for finger prints. That can be quickly forgiven though, as it is what's on the inside that counts.

So ladies have I stressed enough how amazing this powder truly is? I highly highly HIGHLY recommend it & you can thank me later.

£38 each available from SpaceNK (click here) John Lewis (click here) Liberty (click here)

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Wet n Wild Color Icon Single Eyeshadow In 'Crème Brûlée'

Hear is another cheeky purchase from beautyjoint.com. I promise I have no affiliation with them, but I just love that darn site.

Wet 'n' Wild Color Icon Single in the shade 'Crème Brûlée'. Is a small single eyeshadow in a matte, creamy nude shade, that is a spot on match for my skin tone (I'm a NC25 in mac for reference). So my purpose for buying this shadow to use as a matte inner eye & brow bone highlight, was a bit of a fail. Other beauty bloggers & vloggers have raved about this shadow & compared it to 'Brule' by mac, saying its a spot on dupe. I don't own 'Brule', but from online swatches I've seen 'Brule' looks so much more pigmented, but I agree they do look a very similar colour.

'Crème Brûlée' is quite a dry powder to the touch & can kick up a bit of a mess when dipping in an eyeshadow brush. Although when applied to the eye lid it does apply & blend well with other shadows. In fact that is what I have been using it for; when I've blended deeper shadows to high to the brow bone, or been a bit heavy handed I will use 'crème brûlée' to clean up or to smooth out edges. If I'm going for a really simple makeup look, by swiping 'crème brûlée' across my entire eyelid it does a nice job of subtly evening out my skin tone. 

Heavily swatched.

The packaging is rather basic, with a black plastic bottom & clear lid that shows the colour inside, which is handy when I'm rummaging through my shadows. The compact closes very secure with a loud 'snap', but so secure that it is sometime hard to open. The amount of nail polish I've chipped getting my nail under the lip to open it up.

Over all this isn't half as pigmented as I had hoped it would be & so I can't say I'm too impressed with it. Although If your looking for a really subtle matte nude shade then this may work for you.

Have you tried any Wet n Wild products, what do you suggest?

Available from beautyjoint.com $2.75/£1.65

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Ben Nye Luxury Banana Powder

I bought the Ben Nye Banana Luxury Powder early last year as it had been hyped up so much in the beauty world.

It was made famous by the makeup god that is mario dedivanovic using it on Kim Kardashian to give her the famous highlighted look.

Described as - Ben Nye Luxury Powders provide superior matte and subtle finishing. Often compared to French powders with silky-fine textures.

The powder can be used lightly as an all over setting powder, or as a highlighter when using precise application on the bridge of the nose, centre of the forehead under the eyes etc. Everywhere you would normally highlight, the banana powder intensifies the look.

Now I naively bought this product thinking it was Kim K cheek bones in a bottle, I was wrong........so.wrong.

I'm a NC25 girl from Britain not a tanned middle eastern beauty, so it didn't reeeaaaally look the same on me as it did Kim.

So unless I have a tan this product doesn't work for me for its highlighting purpose, as it looks so stark yellow on my skin.

Up until the summer when I have got a bit of colour on my face, I used this very lightly as a setting powder dusting across my face & it works brilliantly, applies smoothly & doesn't crease.

For when I am using the powder to highlight I apply using my beauty blender, under my eyes, down the bridge of my nose, middle of my forehead & it gives a very intense highlight!

So I only us this on nights out, its definitely not a day time look (& I like a full face in the day so that's saying something). One problem I have is it really does crease & settle into my fine lines under my eyes so I use sparingly around that area.

Here is a swatch & below that is the powder lightly rubbed into the skin.

If you are a NC25 or lower with pink not yellow based skin tone I personally wouldn't suggest this powder.
Ben Nye have a whole range of other shades in this line so there is plenty to pick from for all skin tones.

The container is plastic with black plastic screw on lid, so nothing particularly fancy. The powder is secure in the container with a dispenser similar to that of baby power, preventing  powder explosions.

I purchased mine from my favourite theatrical makeup supplier on ebay  http://stores.ebay.co.uk/stagedoor1971 for around £15.99.

I had to share this pic. Very fitting haha!

Have you tired Ben Nye Banana Powder?

I hope your all well & having a lovely week :)

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Vivo Innocence Eyeshadow Pallet Review

Vivo is a new affordable makeup line which has recently launched in Tesco stores. With a large range of lipsticks, blushers, eyeshadows, concealers etc. 

On my latest trip to my local Tesco I had a little mooch at the new line & was drawn In by the eyeshadows so for £2.50 I decided to pick up a Trio Eyeshadow palette in Innocence to give it a try. 

The Innocence pallets contains three colours perfect for a brown smokey eye. A shimmery cream shade, light golden brown (I really do like this shade) & a dark brown all having a slight shimmer to them. The powder is very smooth & creamy, yet slightly chalkey & not very pigmented. So because of this I decided to use an eyeshadow primer with this palette (although I always tend to wear a primer as colour doesn't last on my lids). The shadows go on smoothly & are easily blended, but again because the lack of pigment I found that I really needed to pack the powder on.

The palette comes with a double ended foam tip applicator & a little mirror on the reverse of the lid, so great for on the go.   



I liked the end result (but I am a sucker for a brown smokey eye) & with a primer the shadow did last me. 
This pallet isn't my fave, but for the price it was what I expected.  



I would like to give the Vivo baked blushes & bronzes a go as they look a great dupe for Mac mineralised skin finish powders. 

Have you girls tried any of the new Vivo Line?

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My April Favourites

Maybelline Colour Sensational Vivid Lipstick In 'Shocking Coral'- Since I bought this beauty at the start of the month I have not stopped wearing it. A beautiful bright pinky coral shade, that is super smooth & long lasting.

Maybelline The Rocket Volum' Express Mascara In Black - See review here maybelline rocket mascara review

Superdrug Dry Shampoo In Chocolate Brownie 150ml - For 99p this is a good dry shampoo for dark hair as it has a brown dye to it. I used this on my roots when I was in need of a hair dye touch up & this covered my roots up brilliantly.

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfect Concealer in 'Light' - This month was the first time I have tried this concealer. I honestly don't know how I lived without this for so long. Great coverage & Long lasting. 

ELF Baked Blush In 'Pinktastic' - Although this is a blush I find it way to light to use it for this purpose, so I have been using it as a highlighter. Pinktastic has a lovely light pink shimmer so perfect for highlighting. On top of my cheek bones, on my cupids bow, under the arch of my eyebrow. It's a good dupe for Mac mineralized skinfinish.

Maybelline Stay Matte Powder In 'Translucent' - See review here rimmel stay matte powder review.

Bourjois Blush In 'Golden Rose' - I am obsessed with this blusher, a gorgeous pink tone with the perfect amount of golden shimmer, for the perfect subtle glow. I will be reviewing this very soon.

Ebay Beauty Blender Dupe - Although the original beauty blender has so much hype around it I just cant bring my self to pay £16+ on a little sponge (call me scrooge). Whilst browsing on ebay I stumbled across a beauty blender for 99p, it looked like the real thing & for 99p I thought, what's to lose. To me this feels just like the real thing, & the finish of my foundation after using this is flawless. I've tried beauty blender dupes before & this by far is THE best I have come across. I'm definitely going to buy some more & stock up. Here's the link if your interested Ebay Beauty Blender. Since I bought this last month they have since put the price up to £1.25, but still a great bargain. 

Sinful Colors Nail Polish in 'Frenzy' & 'Easy Going' - See review here Sinful Colors Review

Top - Bourjois  Blush In 'Golden Rose'

Middle - ELF Baked Blush In 'Pinktastic'

Bottom - Maybelline Colour Sensational Vivid Lipstick In 'Shocking Coral'

What are your April Favourites ?

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