Trick or Treat? New Candy Fixations by Tigi Bed Head

I don't imagine that it has escaped anyone's notice that it's Halloween today. My cupboards are laden with sweets in preparation for this evening but I shall be exercising my willpower and ignoring them. Instead, I plan on getting my sugar fix another way!

Tigi Bed Head are releasing five new confectionery inspired hair products. The Candy Fixation collection includes Sugar Dust, a volumizing powder and Mega Whip, a marshmallow hair texturizer which I have been testing out over the last couple of weeks. Well I say I, it has been a bit of a family affair as I enlisted the help of Mr. MB too.

Can I just start by saying how much I like the Sugar Dust packaging. The pot reminds me of the old style pepper pots, complete with little holes on the top which you line up to dispense the powder. The powder is super fine; the entire contents weigh only 1g so this is a very light powder. I have tried similar volumizing powders before and whilst this does give hair a candy floss type texture, it doesn't feel as sticky or itchy as say the Tresemme powder that I wrote about earlier in the year. It doesn't give quite the same level of volume but I'm happy with that trade off for the increased comfort. I didn't combine it with backcombing but found it gave root lift by simply massaging the hair with my finger tips.

Mega Whip has a whipped, springy texture and smells good enough to eat. It is designed for use on course, thick or difficult hair. My husband's hair is short and very thick, the increasing number of grey hairs mean that it is quite course too. Mega Whip gives his hair texture and separation without the wet look and stiffness of his usual moulding products. It can be used wet or dry and he tells me it doesn't feel heavy on the hair. I also find his hair more malleable to the touch.

The other products in the Candy Fixation range are: Glaze Haze, a smoothing serum, Totally Baked, a volumizing 'hair meringue' which you apply like a mousse before blow drying and Sugar Shock, a texturizing hair spray. The products range in price from £10.50 - £12.50 and will be available from salons from November. You can find a list of salons on www.bedhead.com. EDIT - EJ was kind enough to let me know that the collection is already available on Feel Unique and currently on offer. Thank you EJ!

As it is Halloween, maybe I should opt for a bit of backcombing, what do you reckon?


Disclosure: PR Sample

PS. I apologise for my use of volumizing instead of volumising and texturizer instead of texturiser.  As Bed Head use the American spelling on their products and descriptions I felt it would be overly stubborn to switch between the two. It was touch and go for a while though!

A Half-Term Montage and the Beauty Spotlight Roundup

It's been the half-term holiday this week and so my days have been filled with entertaining children after a lovely night away visiting friends. Here's a little glimpse at my week in pictures. As you will see, trains, Lego and Star Wars featured heavily!

Our makeup mavens have more exciting beauty news this week; giveaways, reviews and a new website with a weekly podcast to discuss makeup and trends!

Is your makeup doing a disappearing act in the middle of day? Keep your makeup fresh and glowing all day long with Skindinavia Makeup Finishing Spray. Prime Beauty is giving away two, enter now!

Beauty, Bacon and Bunnies warns us it's getting cold outside and soon the holidays will be upon us. Always in the know, Joey brings us Part 1 the Holiday 2011 Limited Edition Collections.

Paula, from Older Girl Beauty, talks about her new site "It's Just Lipstick", where she and Meredith, from Retrodiva's Beauty, discuss makeup & trends in their own irreverent way in their weekly podcast & Spreecast.

Modesty Brown shares her small but perfectly formed collection of NARS eyeshadow duos. Well, perfectly formed if you're a fan of taupe!

Have you found the L’Oreal Paris Project Runway displays yet? Beauty Info Zone wants to you to see some of the gorgeous Watchful Owl products available. They are worth a search.

Can pale people wear gold lipstick? Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed sadly finds out that the answer to that is "no" but feel free to come and mock her anyhow!

Have you had a chance to try any Kiehl's products yet? If not (or even if you're already a fan!), stop by Lipstick Musings to enter the giveaway for a Kiehl's "Favorites" Kit. It's got something for everyone!

Visionary beauty takes a look at the Perle delight of the Guerlain ombre-eclat-4-shade palette in Les Perles.

Juicy! Juicy! Juicy! See what gorgeous Rouge Bunny Rouge lipstick has Perilously Pale drooling.

London Makeup Girl has a weakness for Chantecaille Lip Chics, and succumbed to one of the new shades from the Autumn collection. Have a look at it on her here: Chantecaille Calla Lily Lip Chic applied.

Looking for great quality professional brushes at a good price? You might be interested in Kim Professional Makeup Brushes. Pammy Blogs Beauty scopes them out!

Everyday Beauty reviewed Glazed Lips L301, the final red in the "Ellis Red" trio.

Face of the Day with Hourglass Suede Duo

I don't seem to have done a face of the day post in ages. I wore this make up a couple of days ago. This may be a little disappointing for some as the makeup is subtle and muted but that is exactly how I like it. I'm really enjoying the Hourglass Visionaire duo in Suede and liked how it looked with the BECCA pencil in Goa. Like some kind of oddity I'm hitting the bronzer now that the summer is over. I'm no doubt trying convince myself that one of the cream to powder bronzer palettes from Hourglass would be a sensible idea!

Face
LMdB Peau Vierge in 01
NARS Laguna bronzer
RBR Manet blush wand
Shu Uemura brow pencil (H9, Seal Brown)
RMK Super Basic Liquid concealer on undereyes

Eyes
Hourglass Visionaire Eyeshadow duo in Suede
BECCA Automatic pencil in Goa
Max Factor Xperience Volume mascara

Lips
Giorgio Armani Shine lipstick in #5


Disclosure: The Peau Vierge, RBR Manet, BECCA pencil and Max Factor mascara were received as PR samples. The Armani lipstick was a gift from a lovely friend.

Naughty, naughty Georgie Girl!

Today we have lovely Georgie confessing for us. Georgie isn't a blogger but she is an avid reader and tweeter. In fact I already knew she was a bad 'un after one particular beauty bombshell came out on Twitter. Let's have a look and see how naughty she really is!

Confession is good for the soul, go ahead and unburden yourself! I promise I won’t judge.

Oh Aunty Brown, I think you might need to sit down before you read this… I have such a multitude of beauty crimes that really I have no business being on your lovely blog. I’ll pick my top 3…

1. From the ages of 16 – 23 I was a total tanorexic – and I’m not talking out of a bottle! Sunbeds started to be really popular when I was a teenager, and I’m ashamed to say I was a very regular user. I’ve always been so pale I’m practically blue, so suddenly the chance to have an orange glow was too much to resist. I was so bad that my local salon put a cap on the amount of time they would let me on for, but I got round that by going to two different salons, often on the same day! I’m now completely reformed, but fully expect and deserve to have skin like a crocodile skin handbag by the time I’m 30.

Source

2. Along with my day-glo skin, I used to adore the French tipped acrylic nails. I wore them constantly, and having much more important things to spend my money on (like sunbeds) I used to go to the dodgy cheap places, and only stopped when I picked up a nasty fungal infection and all my nails went yellow and fell off. My real nails. It was gross, and painful. I still wear fake nails as mine are so pathetic but I see a lovely lady now who does lovely natural looking gel ones, and doesn’t use the dreaded nail drill!

3. Until a few months ago I didn’t use facial moisturiser, my reasoning being that my skin didn’t need it as it was oily already! It was on twitter that the lovely Kenneth Soh and you Aunty Brown, persuaded me that I was being a total idiot and educated me accordingly… do you remember?


There, don’t you feel better now?
No. I feel dirty and ashamed, and not in the good way!

Aunty Brown has a few more questions though; it’s true that I’m the nosy type.

You’ve overslept and have 5 minutes to get out of the house. Are you going out with dirty hair or no makeup?
Oh dirty hair for sure! I only wash my hair about every 3 days as it’s long and curly, and I can usually push an extra day if I have to… However I’ve got spots and small piggy eyes, so without at least foundation and mascara even my dogs won’t be seen in public with me.

Which trend still makes you cringe?
Poker straight hair was all the rage a couple of years ago do you remember? Unfortunately this only suits certain people and I am definitely not one of them. Looking back at my round face with its flat lank strands hanging down around it makes me squirm! I have since learnt to embrace my natural curls and my hair and face are very grateful. As is my Dad, who regularly told me I reminded him of Morticia when my hair was straight!

What I need to know is, were you rocking Morticia with a tan?? Image Source

It’s the day of a special occasion and you wake up with an enormous spot on your face. Do you fiddle or are you the master of disguise?
I would love to say that as an acne sufferer I have learnt to leave well alone, but it would be a lie. I will squeeze and pick and have even been known to take a needle and tweezers combo to my face to dig out the nasty little blighters.

When did you last wash your makeup brushes?
I wash them once a month, so about 3 weeks ago! That’s good right?!

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Thank you very much for sharing Georgie! If you have something you need to get off your chest and want to take a turn in the Friday Confessional you can email me at modestybrown@googlemail.com. It's open to everyone: if you have something to confess, I'm happy to hear it!

My Illamasqua Blushers

When Illamasqua was still very much the new kid on the block, there was always a lot of talk about their blushers. They don't seem to get as much love anymore but they're still just as deserving so in view of that, I thought I would share my little collection

Clockwise from top left: Morale, Unrequited, Rude, Beg.

Clockwise from the top left: Unrequited, Rude, Beg, Morale.

I can't actually remember which came first but I know that I bought Beg, Unrequited and Rude in quick succession. I received Morale in my event bag for the recent Theatre of the Nameless release and you can see how it looks when applied in this post.

This is one of those moment where I can feel proud that I have selection of very different colours! Unrequited in a vibrant girly pink and Beg is probably best described as a deep rosy brown. Both of these colours are matte powder blushers. Rude is my only cream blusher from Illamasqua and I know it looks quite scary when swatched. On the cheeks it translates to a beautiful coral flush. The cream formula gives it a very fresh look and it's a perfect choice for warmer weather. Morale is Illamasqua's first foray into a shimmer finish (Ambition is also a shimmer finish and currently on my 'to buy' list). When swatched it looks almost metallic. On the cheeks this has the most amazing sheen. It reminds me a little of a MAC MSF but without the chunky glitter.

All of these blushers are very pigmented so a little goes a long way. They also last very well. I don't imagine that I will be hitting pan anytime soon! They cost £16.50 each but I have a feeling I picked a couple of these up from ASOS whilst they has special deals on. All of these shades are still available, although I see that Morale is currently sold out on the Illamasqua website. No doubt because of the free delivery offer they have at the moment.

Do you have a favourite Illamasqua blusher?

Kleenex Facial Cleansing Range

For some reason when I first heard that Kleenex were branching into skin care products, I instantly assumed creams and moisturisers. It sounded like a strange move. So, when I actually saw the range it made a lot more sense! Rather than cleansers and toners, Kleenex are doing what they do best; tissues. As it turns out the original Kleenex tissues were designed for facial cleansing so this is really a return to their roots.

The range includes facial wipes, eye makeup removal wipes, facial cloths and blotting sheets. The packaging is very appealing. I like the white background with the pretty mask detailing and I especially like the handy cube that the facial cloths are housed in as. The blotting sheets are also very neatly sized for slipping into your handbag.

Both the facial wipes and eye wipes are for use on sensitive skin. Both of the wipes are very gentle on the skin but I don't find them very effective at removing all of my makeup. There's something a little too soft and quilted about the texture so that whilst it doesn't drag the skin it doesn't seem to grab all of my makeup either. The eye wipes take off eyeshadow successfully but won't remove my eyeliner or mascara. Whether or not I wear more than the average amount of makeup, I'm not sure so this could be a factor. Although I don't find the facial wipes good for makeup removal, I have had great success using them as gentle face wipes on my children. Especially for their little cold ravaged faces. I also discovered that the eye wipes are brilliant for post-arm swatch clean up!

The soft facial cloths are designed to use in place of cotton wool pads or balls and can be used wet or dry. I have tried them out for several 'beauty' jobs. I didn't have much success using them to remove cleanser but I much prefer to use a damp muslin or flannel to remove cleanser anyway. I have used them successfully with toner and also for nail polish removal. Although it's not possible to soak the cloth sufficiently to remove a glitter polish.

And now I'm probably about to out myself as a bit of a hippy dippy but I do like to keep my use of disposable items to a minimum. I really like how the facial cloths feel, they are soft, thicker than a tissue and have a quilted, cushioned texture. I also appreciate that all of the range is made with 'ecoform' fibres to reduce environmental impact. However, I personally think that the facial cloths are too large. They're much larger than the cotton pads or balls that you would use to do the same jobs. So, because I am a hippy dippy, I find myself tearing them in half rather than be wasteful. I do really wish they were half or even a quarter of their current size. I know this issue won't bother everyone and I do intend to buy more of the facial cloths as they are very handy but I'm likely to carry on my habit of cutting them up!

The range is available from Superdrug and other selected stores now. The facial wipes, eye makeup remover wipes and shine absorbing sheets all cost £2.99 per pack. The facial cloths cost £1.99.


Disclosure: Press samples.

Hourglass Flash Sale at Zuneta!

I spotted that Zuneta are having a flash sale of Hourglass Cosmetics. From now until 28th October you can get 20% off Hourglass using the code GRATITUDE11. If you are looking for ideas on what to get you can find my previous posts about Hourglass Cosmetics here. My personal recommendations would be the Film Noir mascara, the Femme Rouge lipsticks and their brilliant primer.  The primer comes in a new travel size which in itself would probably last ages as you only need a tiny bit to prime the face.

I was actually lucky enough to have a makeover with Gina Brooke, creative director for Hourglass on Saturday in Liberty. In my excitement I forgot to take any pictures so I will endeavor to do a re-creation later in week. I brought home the eyeshadow duo in Suede but I'm also keen to get several other items, including a hidden corrective concealer and the large concealer brush. Gina used these instead of a foundation and I was very pleased with how flawless my skin looked. I still kicking myself for not taking pictures, both the makeover and meeting Gina was an enormous thrill!


All the links in this post are for information only. I am not affiliated to Zuneta, Liberty or Hourglass, I'm just a big fan! Happy Shopping.

Modesty Brown is Away

For the first time since my smallest was born, I am spending the night away minus all three children. We're off visiting friends and I can't tell you how excited I am by the prospect of an unbroken nights sleep and maybe even a lie in!

I don't like to leave you without anything to read so may I point you in the direction of the Fall Edition of Makeup4All's wonderful magazine. As well as interviews with personal favourites such as Rebecca Morrice Williams and Gina Brooke, Marina shares her picks from the Autumn collections and I have to say the magazine is a visual delight for any beauty junkie. I gasped at the sight of the stunning Givenchy collection! I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did.

Have a lovely Sunday, whatever you're doing x

London Makeup Girl's Bag of Treasures!

It's time for a look inside another Beauty Spotlight Team member's makeup bag, and this week it is Grace London's turn to dish the dirt and show us the stuff. Is she a minimalist, or does she carry everything but the kitchen sink inside her daily essentials kit? What secrets are hiding inside London Makeup Girl's bag? I for one can't wait for a peek!

The Lipstick Lunatic lets it all hang out!

We're back!!! This week we have Erin confessing for us. Erin has two blogs, Ravings of a Lipstick Lunatic and The Cheap Chick. Do we have any dirty secrets lurking here? Oh, but of course. Let's have a look then shall we...

Confession is good for the soul, go ahead and unburden yourself! I promise I won’t judge.

Oh, where to begin?! Although I don't leave the house without wearing some kind of makeup to even out my horrible skintone, I often go days at a time without wearing any makeup, or washing my hair, or even changing out of my pajamas! I'm an unemployed student who takes classes online – I don't have to go out every day (I do still shower, though, thankyouverymuch).

Just don't forget to put some clothes on before you go shopping. Even if they are your best PJ's...

Also, for some reason, no base coat will make nail polish stick to my nails, so whenever it starts to lift up at the edges I will peel it all off without mercy. Needless to say, my fingernails are not in the best condition ...

Oh, and I have a huge collection of eyeshadows, both loose mineral and pressed, which hardly ever see any action. I sometimes feel I don't deserve to own all of it, but cannot bear to part with any of it!

There, don’t you feel better now?

Actually, no … I feel a bit worse about myself xD


Aunty Brown has a few more questions though; it’s true that I’m the nosy type.

When was the last time you visited the hairdresser?
Actually, just about a month ago – but before then, it had been over a year. I won a $100 gift card and knew I HAD to use it to get my waist-length, split-end-filled hair trimmed and shaped! I lost about three inches of hair just to remove the worst of the damage … but honestly, it was either go without haircuts for that long, or go to SuperCuts O_o

You’ve overslept and have 5 minutes to get out of the house. Are you going out with dirty hair or no makeup?
I'm a bit ashamed to report that I very often do go out with dirty hair! I have a special Stewie “Victory Is Mine” hat I keep for this very reason …

You do WHAT with my hat?

… oh wow, I'm gross.

Which trend still makes you cringe?
SO MANY! Uggs, “harem” pants, and more recently, spider lashes – c'mon, haven't we all been complaining about the spider-lash-effect since mascara was first invented?!

What’s the oldest item of makeup in your collection?
I'm sure there are several lipsticks and glosses that are more than five years old still living in my collection. Some of my oldest items are higher-end brands, because I used to have more money to spend! They're all lipstick and glosses, though – like my MAC Russian Red lipglass, and the mini LORAC Lip Polishes I got in a set one year – because I own so many lip products I almost never run out of any one of them. You say obsessive, I say collector ^_^;

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Image credits
Picture of Stewie from www.familyguyquotes.com
Picture of the lady banned from shopping in Tesco from www.mirror.co.uk

My NARS Eyeshadow Duos

Over the past year, I seem to have developed quite a collection of NARS eyeshadow duos. My first was Melusine and a PR sample but having lusted after the duos for a long time, I was bitten by the bug. Since then, I have added four more duos and one trio (yes, I know it's not a duo but it felt mean not to include it).

My Hourglass duo wanted in on the action.

Top row (left to right): Grand Palais, Dogon, Melusine. Bottom row: Rajasthan, Delphes, Brousse.

I think it's fair to say that not all NARS eyeshadows are create equal. There is much variation between the duos as well as between the pairs themselves. Some are sheer, some are very pigmented and some are just hard work. The Delphes trio is the most tricky of all of my NARS eyeshadows. I don't really have time for glittery sheers so the future of this pretty looking thing is uncertain!

There's probably a bit of a theme amongst the colour choices I have made. With the exception of Brousse, all of the duos contain a taupe-y colour of some description. They are all unique and complex in my opinion (just how I like my boring colours!), though for non-taupe fans I can appreciate there is probably a certain amount of overlap. Melusine is silvery and a pleasure to apply, I really like to wear this on it's own as a lid colour or pair it with other colours. The purple shade in Melusine is a beast to swatch but strangely doesn't do this on the eye.

Rajasthan and Dogon are quite similar on the surface of things; taupe paired with a darker green. The taupe in Rajasthan is more golden in undertone and is very pigmented. The taupe of Dogon is cooler with a green tinge and it is quite sheer. It is buildable but never becomes opaque on the lid. The 'greens' probably look more dissimilar in the pan than they do when swatched. At least that is the case on my skin tone. The Dogon 'green' is the more pigmented and smooth to apply of the two.

Grand Palais is a really interesting pairing and my most recent duo acquisition. The taupe is lovely and another good one worn on it's own or used with other eyeshadows. Like Dogon, it is quite sheer but buildable. I was nervous of the pink as a crease colour but it works incredibly well. I haven't tried it as a blusher colour yet but often mean to.

Brousse is a darker, more broody pairing than my others but I love it. If I want a darker smoky look, this is what I reach for. The lighter shade is a chocolate brown and the darker colour is a smoky plum purple. They go very well together and the texture and pigmentation of both of these colours is very good. I do find I need to apply over a primer otherwise I get creasing and fading. Something I haven't encountered with any of my other NARS eyeshadows.

Although, it's fair comment that I don't need anymore eyeshadows, in the interests of investigative beauty blogging, I feel like I need to explore more NARS offerings. I'm not sure yet that I will pick up anything from the NARS Holiday collection; the trio looks very pretty but I'd need to see reviews of the texture before I considered a purchase.

Oddly, I don't get excited about the singles. I think a lot of the NARS appeal is in the interesting combinations. I might not always like them but I like that it's not always about going for the safe option. I find it similar to Le Metier de Beaute in that sense, I know that left to my own devices I wouldn't be so daring. What I'm most interested in trying next is one of their six pan Artist Palettes. I have been dabbling with the idea of getting Douceur de Paris for a while now. I also think the Modern Love palette that Delicate Hummingbird posted about would have been a great buy as it contains a couple of some colours from duos that wouldn't buy as a pair.

Are you a fan of NARS eyeshadow duos? Have you noticed the variability in texture too?

The Strange Habits of a Beauty Blogger!

Yesterday afternoon whilst going about my business, I realised I have adopted several strange habits since I started writing a beauty blog. As I mentioned earlier in the week, I have a horrible cold. I don't mind admitting that yesterday I was feeling particularly sorry for myself. Yet, the moment the sun came out in the afternoon, I literally ran for my camera and grabbed a load of things to photograph. Now honestly, I don't think these are the actions of a normal person but I'm sure I'm not alone in this strange sun worship.

Part way through taking my 100+ snaps, I thought 'my skin looks a bit ropey, I better put a face mask on'. So I pulled out my Naked Truth exfoliator mask thingy and stood around taking photographs looking like this....

I got it all over my hair on purpose. It's a cunning grey root disguise!

..as you do! There are plenty of other strange things I do too. Like carrying practically all of my makeup outside into the garden because it was the best sun spot. I have a cream table cloth which sits around in my conservatory waiting to act as a backdrop for pictures. There's a box under my bed that serves a cosmetics holding pen for items I can't use until I've photographed. And of course, I've taken literally hundreds of pictures of my inner arm. I caught my four year old trying to take pictures of his arm the other day. It's not normal is it?

I shall leave you with proof that I am not slacking on my Mum duties when immersed in these strange blogging rituals. Here's my little assistant helping out on an earlier photoshoot!

Miss MB gets in touch with the Zeitgeist

Tell me, am I the lone blogging weirdo in the village? Does anyone else have any strange blogging habits or rituals?

Neglected Makeup Challenge Pt III

It's time for another neglected makeup challenge post. I feel bad because I don't have any pictures to show you of how I got on with last week picks which is a particular shame as I really enjoyed the selection. It's a little hard to choose favourites but I wore Rue de Rivoli, the Bobbi Brown gel liner and the Sue Devitt blusher several times. The Sue Devitt gel-to-powder formula is actually really nice to use. I was reminded of how nice the texture of the Chanel Rouge Allure Laque is and have renewed my love for the Shu Uemura eyeshadow.

Talking of texture, it was fun using the MAC Magically Cool Liquid powder. This was in my event bag from the MAC Venomous Villians event last year and I don't think I've ever blogged about it. Probably because I'm never quite sure how to use it. It feels very wet and cold as you apply it and will actually make brushes damp. I stick to applying it with a stippling brush these days after reading Charlotte Lipglossiping's post.

On to this weeks pick of 7.

MAC Strada blusher
MAC Well Dressed blusher
Suqqu Ex-07 Lilac Allure Quad
Edward Bess Night Romance lipstick
Hourglass Extreme Sheen lipglossin Ignite
Inglot Lip Paint in 59
Essie Smokin' Hot
(The links above are to previous posts where applicable).

The swatches are from left to right: MAC Well Dressed, MAC Strada, Inglot Lip Paint 59, Edward Bess Night Romance and Hourglass Ignite.

Hopefully I can get a picture of both the nail varnish and updated swatches of the Suqqu palette this week to share with you. I'm looking forward to wearing both of the darker lip colours, it seems like a while since I've worn anything so bold.

Which item are you most interested in seeing in a FOTD? Are there any items from last week that you would like to see in more detail too? Have you been using any old favourites this week? So many questions!

Ilia Lip Conditioner in Blossom Lady

I have another horrible cold thanks to the generosity of the small people. My lips tend to suffer badly when I'm under the weather, they seem to dry out and get quite flaky. To try and remedy this I have been wearing Ilia Lip Conditioner in Blossom Lady most days.

The Ilia Lip Conditioners are described as a balm, gloss and lipstick in one and 85% of the ingredients are certified organic. They contains jojoba oil, cocoa butter and Vitamin E as moisturising ingredients. I think they are great for anyone that is looking to avoid lip balms that contain petroleum.

There are a total of six colours in the range and they're not all as muted as Blossom Lady. There's a red - Bang Bang, a coral - Shell Shock and a deep berry - Arabian Knight, as well as a sheer nude - Nobody's Baby and a soft melon - Dizzy. Blossom Lady is a muted pink, I don't tend to go for this sort of pink normally but the sheer nature of the colour makes it very wearable. Although it is sheer you can build up more colour by layering. It has a nice glossy finish without feeling sticky and as you would expect for a lip conditioner it is very moisturising. The moisturising feel lasts a long time too so I don't feel I have to apply it constantly to feel the benefits.

This shows the glossy finish very well

I like the exterior packaging of this very much and it definitely has the appearance of a luxe organic item. I do have one gripe though and that is the fact that the bullet doesn't sit in the plastic base firmly. The circumference of the plastic housing is bigger than the lipstick bullet so the lipstick wobbles from side to side during application. I try and make sure not to wind too much out but the bullet has ridges in it from knocking into the outer casing as it moves around. I know it's a petty complaint but I realise this would bother some people.

I am very pleased with the texture and finish of Blossom Lady and I've very keen to try one of the darker colours as I think they would be perfect Autumn/Winter wear. Ilia Beauty Lip Conditioners are available from www.beingcontent.com in the UK and cost £20 each. You can find more details about Ilia Beauty on their website www.iliabeauty.com.


Disclosure: This products was provided without cost for consideration for review. The links in the post are for information only and are not affiliate links.

Coming soon...

I've been having a lazy day today so no full post but here's a look at what's coming soon. And yes, I did take a picture of all of my eyeshadow palettes. I'm not entirely sure why but I think it's mostly to shame me into using them more often.

I also wanted to mention a couple of things that I'm obsessed with at the moment. I don't tend to take much notice of TV adverts but the D&G The One advert has been catching my for the wrong reasons. I am totally fascinated with Scarlett Johansson's lips in the ad and I'm led to believe it's a lipstick called Scarlett that she's wearing. Look at the perfect wing too!

I really feel the urge to investigate D&G Cosmetics suddenly. I've also been crushing on Eve Lockhart's hair (played by Tara Fitzgerald) in The Body Farm. Whether natural or expertly done, I love the subtle highlights in her brown locks.

From the BBC website

What are you fascinated by at the moment?




PS. I am totally getting sucked into X Factor at the minute. These guilty pleasures are getting out of control. First it's The Bachelor and now X Factor, where will it end? What did you all think to Misha B's outfit. *Sits back for Grace Jones comments*.