SBC - Cucumber Gel Part 2

SBC – Cucumber Gel Part 2

So I have been using Cucumber Gel every day now for a month and I have to say overall I am pretty impressed. At 25 I don’t have any major signs of aging; I just have a few fine lines on my forehead that are barely visible but I would rather prevent aging then try and fight it in a few years. I found this gel to be cooling and mildly moisturising; it left my skin feeling matte so worked perfectly as a makeup base. I would personally only use this in the mornings for this purpose and use a more deeply moisturising moisturiser in the evening as that is when your skin rehabilitates and reconditions itself the most.  

All in all this is a lower to medium end price pointed product that provides a level of moisturising that I need for my sensitive dry skin without leaving it feeling oily (under makeup) and is simple and easy to apply and quick to absorb. It also comes in such a large size that you can apply on any dry areas on the face or body without feeling guilty. I would give this product a7 out of 10 which in my books is a good product.

Bye For Now

Nicola

Barry M - Lip Paint 153 Pink Ribbon

Barry M – Lip Paint 153 Pink Ribbon

This is my first Barry M lip stick; on first appearances I love the packaging. It has a matte finish top and bottom on with a gloss band at the twist point on the bullet. The colour as you twist looks intimidating as it is a shockingly bright pink, but looks great when it’s on. Whilst applying I felt that it dragged at my lips and was more difficult to apply because of this. I had to clean up the edges with make up remover to get a smooth finish; overall the lipstick lasted 3 hours or so before needing topping up, I would probably buy from the Barry M lipstick line again as they are on the cheaper side and come in a broad range of colours. I might apply with a brush next time though to get a neat look straight away rather than having to clean up afterwards.

Bye for now

Nicola

Barry M - Waterproof eyeliner Gold

Barry M – Waterproof eyeliner 2 gold

Now as my previous posts have explained I am useless with eyeliners but I am being brave and tackling my problem head on. According to the Barry M website this liner should ‘Apply as smoothly as a liquid with the precision of a pencil’ this is a bold statement to make for a liner that only costs £4 on average.

Packaging is a sleek black with a filigree style mixed with a generic easy to read font in a beautiful gold colour that matches the colour of the liner perfectly. The bottom of the pencil twists to release more product as it wears down. 

Application was smooth and effortless; I was amazed at how simple the line went on both eyes and gave me the perfect liner line I have been dreaming of. The gold tone opens your eyes and gives a metallic shimmer that can be worn in the day time with a nude eye shadow (my personal choice, as shown in pic) or could be layered with a smoky shadows to give a great party look.

I love this liner and I can’t wait to try it in other colours; I think I will buy a traditional black and see if I can recreate the classic look as easily as I have done with this metallic beauty.

Bye for now

Nicola

Gatineau - Floracil

Gatineau – Floracil

This is not a cheap eye make up remover by any stretch of the imagination, coming in at roughly £25 for the 400ml size that I have but my goodness is it incredible. In one word WOW; on first appearance a bright blue fluid is quite daunting to be putting anywhere near my very sensitive tired eyes but have faith people it is really worth it.

Packaging is slightly flimsy and I worry that if I dropped it (I am so clumsy) it would split. A simple white lid sits upon the 1920’s fan/rectangle shaped clear bottle; text is in a very easy to read font in white which is fine for me but I can imagine it can be hard to read the less blue fluid is behind it.

To use I simply poured a small amount onto a cotton wool pad and with a little pressure I pushed the pad onto my eyelid and left it to absorb for 10 – 15 seconds. I was amazed when I lifted the pad off there was a perfect imprint of my lashes, liner and shadow (in the picture below). I then reversed the pad and repeated the same once more to soak off any large makeup residue; I then did a final swipe to remove the last little bits of makeup. I have never used a makeup remover that I have not had to drag my eyes and pull at the sensitive tender skin, Gatineau is in a whole new league it was almost like magic with how simple and quick it was to remove my stubborn make up.

So far I have used it to remove; Collection it does it all mascara (very stubborn to remove normally), Laura Geller styleLASH intense mascara, Barry M Kohl eyeliner and Laura Geller INKcredible eyeliner plus the eye shadows I was wearing at the time. All of the products I have tried it with have been removed effortlessly and in just a few swipes. I highly recommend this product to any eye makeup wearer you won’t be sorry. 

Bye for now

Nicola

Laura Geller - Lace Illuminator

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Laura Geller – Baked Gelato Lace Illuminator

I am generally a huge lover of Laura Geller products and love the baked formulations as they leave my skin feeling smooth with a lasting coverage. I couldn’t wait to try the new illuminator/highlighter as I use Laura’s highlighter in French Vanilla and is one of my favourite pieces of make up I use; so to have this huge 11g highlighter in my hands was like all my Christmases coming at once.

I will start off with the packaging; I don’t know if Laura Geller is changing over to a new style of packaging that this illuminator comes in but I have a few products in similar styles so I think it may be the case. The new style of packaging is lovely in my opinion, a sleek black base upon which a large clear dome sits with simple font and the synonymous red lips. The lid is a nightmare to open and has chipped my nails already, I hope over time it will loosen up and make it easier too get into it. Overall I love the feel of the packaging in my hands; it sits nice when using it and is a lot lighter in weight than the last packaging.

The illuminator itself on first appearance looks like a basket weave with a chequered and lace top finish. The colour reminds me of a bronzer, it is slightly peach in tone but is a lot darker than the French vanilla highlighter I already have. Also rather than being a matte texture there is most definitely sheen that reflects in the light.

On application it is like all Laura’s products it goes on smoothly and evenly, and is lovely to use however on my pale skin the illuminator looks rather orange so I will not be using this like I use other highlighters. I ended up using this just under my eyebrows with a neutral toned eye pallet as it gave a lift and blended in nicely but was to much for me to use on my cheek bones and as an all over face highlighter. Maybe in the summer I could use it as well as a bronzer but for the winter months I will just use it as a brow lift.

Overall I wouldn’t buy this product again as for a fair skin tone like me I feel the colour is too intense. However like all Laura Geller products it is lovely to use and would probably look great on a tanned to Mediterranean skin tone.

Bye For Now

Nicola 

Leighton Denny - Jailbird & Devil Dust

For Christmas day this year I wanted festive nails that would last longer than one day, so I went for Leighton Denny’s Jailbird. As I have gone into before my opinions on LD’s formulation and packaging I won’t go into it again I will just focus on the colour in this post.

Jailbird is a greeny/blue metallic; the best way I can describe it is as a mermaid’s tail. It is beautiful shade that I would class as transitional, it will work in any season but for Christmas it looks like a bauble on my finger tips. I decided to add a single coat of Devil Dust, Devil Dust is very small red glitter fragments in a clear top coat. This allowed me to have extra detailing and making Jailbird slightly more festive in a subtle way that works throughout the festive period not just on Christmas day.

In the pictures you can barely see the glitter but in person it is so beautifully subtle it is just as the light hits my nails that you catch the red. Overall I love this combination; however it will just be a festive option. I cant wait to wear Jailbird in the summer where it will really catch the light.

Bye for now

Nicola

Laura Geller - Gloss Cafe Au Lait

Laura Geller – Colour Drenched Lip Gloss (Café Au Lait)

I usually wear my lips bare and focus more on my eyes; so for me lip glosses are not worn very often. However I received this gloss as part of a kit I ordered from Laura Geller a while ago and thought I would give it a fair chance. The packaging is ok, it is very functional and I do like that you can see the whole colour in the tube rather than a small window so at a glance you know which shade you want. The wand and sponge tip applicator is the same as most conventional lip glosses and allows you to apply the gloss quickly and efficiently with or without a mirror.

The gloss itself smells amazing; the aroma of coffee fills your senses as you apply which I liked. The colour is a dusky, pinky brown that is very true to life and is very much what you see in the tube, I personally find this to be a sign of a good product as the pigment is infused throughout the product and not just on the surface. The staying power was ok lasting roughly 1-2 hours which for a gloss is pretty good going but you would definitely need to take it out with you to re apply. Unlike most glosses I found this one to be non-sticky and cloying; as a non gloss wearer this was important to me as the sticky feeling is what turns me off about most lip products.

Overall I liked the gloss I just wouldn’t wear it everyday; the colour is great and wearable I just personally don’t like the feel of lip glosses and the faff of having to reapply through out the day is not convenient with two young kids. (picture one  is of my lips in artificial light and second is of the gloss itself)

Bye for now

 Nicola