Benefit Minis | Big Mini Review!

If it wasn't clear enough already, I'm a sucker for mini things. Mini anything. If a brand can show me something I like and then reproduce that in miniature form, I'm pretty much guaranteed to throw my money at them shouting "Yes, yes I'll take it! It's so cute!" And if there's ever a brand to rock it in the miniature makeup department, it's Benefit. Through samples with purchase, Christmas calenders, value sets, and special offers, I seem to always be drowning in tiny testers - produced in replica packaging... so adorable.

 It's Potent Eye Cream & Total Moisture Facial Cream.
So let's dive in with skincare samples. These were both gifts with purchase, and I plan on keeping the pretty little blue pots to refill when travelling or flying. It may look like there's approximately one use in each of these, but both creams are so intensely thick and so dense that a little really goes a long, long way. I love the feel and smell (fresh cucumber) of the Total Moisture Facial Cream and if I had money to burn, I'd consider buying the full size. Next time you're at a Benefit counter, try to ask for a sample - it's great stuff.

Dandelion Lipgloss & They're Real Mascara.
These were both paid for; Dandelion came as part of a set called "Feeling Dandy" and the fabulous They're Real caught me at the counter at Boots. Curse you for putting adorable products at your check outs, Boots! I'm not a fan of Dandelion personally, I feel that it makes my lips dry yet disappears within an hour. It also has a weird not-sticky-totally-sticky texture and smells powdery. They're Real however, I love. I really, really like this mascara, I just find that Maybelline The Falsies gives me such similar results and is half the price.

Tints: Posie Tint, Bene Tint, Sun Beam & High Beam.
Now these guys are little gems that I'd happily splash the cash for. I think High Beam and Sun Beam particularly are worth every penny of their price tag, but if you can, get a sample size (in a set or during a Christmas offer) because they last years. Years people. High Beam is pretty high up the list of my all time favourite makeup, but Sun Beam would do the trick if you weren't, y'know, pasty and practically transparent. #palegirlproblems. As for their cheek and lip tints, they're also fab, if you blend them fast enough - beware of coloured dots on your face! But they'll stay put through the apocalypse and look like your skin, not makeup.

Left Photo, Top-Bottom: Bene Tint, Posie Tint ~ Right Photo, Top-Bottom; Sun Beam, High Beam, Girls Meets Pearl, That Gal

Primers & Bases.
Contrary to the colours suggested on their packaging, That Gal is pink based and Girl Meets Pearl is golden based. That Gal is also sold as a primer for the whole face, and Girl Meets Pearl is sold as a highlighter, however these two are basically sister products and can both be used in either way. I've never gotten much use out of these because High Beam (or Sun Beam if your golden) does a much better job of highlighting I don't favour 'illuminating' primers. I do favour mattifying, pore minimizing ones though, and The Porefessional is great at providing an overall blur on the skin. It smooths things over and doesn't feel to slippy. It's still not quite good enough to charm me into buying the full size, but whenever I get my paws on The Porefessional I enjoy using it.


Minis are a great way to test out products and work out what you're willing to pay full price for. I'd highly recommend investing in a set of the tints and highlighters, they'll really last you forever, and Boots are now offering mini They're Real Push Up Liners too. Let me know what Benefit products you love below... maybe I'll have to collect a few more samples!

Barry M | Chisel Cheeks Contour Kit

With contour palettes like the Kat Von D Shade & Light Pallette and Anastasia Contour Kit going for around $40 on Sephora.com, who knew that £5.49 could get you such a steal? The new Barry M Chisel Cheeks Contour Kit is truly awesome value for money and has been all I've used to contour since I picked it up last week.

Now, I'm not a heavy contour kinda gal by any means. Whilst I love me a full face of makeup on the weekends, I rarely get past two eye-shadow colours for work and the whole contour, sculpt and highlight thing is just a bit much for me to deal with when I'm prepping for a day in the office. Add to that the fact that I have incredibly pale skin and it's often a hassle that just isn't worth it. However, this week I decided that for the sake of testing out the Barry M Chisel Cheeks Countor Kit (phew, that's a mouthful!) I would up it a bit for work and attempt to use all three shades in the palette in my daily routine. I've been thoroughly impressed with the results!


The packaging is cute, practical and small enough to throw in a bag or take with you on the go. When you open it up, the top lid has a a handy illustration showing you exactly where and how to apply each shade. I like this idea, and prefer it to a mirror because I'm likely to be using my large vanity mirror anyway, and let's face it, if you're taking a contour palette on the go with you, chances are you've got a compact mirror with you too. But given that this is probably going to be a palette for the slightly younger market, I think a good guide to work from is a great idea.

So, if we review the shades one by one what do we get? Well let's start with the one we're all here for, shall we: the contour shade. The contour shade is the dark brown on the right, and the one I'm most impressed with. As mentioned, I'm a pasty one, so contour shades can be a real pain to get right on me. Up until now, I've been using Next to Skin by Mac, a very light greyish brown (actually it's more like a brownish grey) that I haven't been in love with. It's done the job, but I haven't considered it anything special. Now I wouldn't say I'm in love with the Barry M one either, but I do prefer it, and that means they're definitely doing something right. It's quite a dark shade, which worried me at first, but you can't fault it's blendability. It blends down to a wearable, shadowy tone that even my see-through complexion can get away with and the lasting power is pretty darn good to! Yes, it will fade a little throughout the day, but if you're going out for dinner or you have an event and don't intend to wear a heavy contour for eight solid hours, you'll be just fine with this. I don't find the power choppy, and more importantly I don't find the shade to be too warm, which means you definitely avoid looking like you've just used bronzer to contour your cheekbones - a big no-no ladies! Speaking of bronzer...

The middle shade in the palette is intended as a bronzer, and is the warmer, lighter of the two brown shades. This is also the one that I'm least excited by, and towards the end of the week I found myself reaching for my regular bronzer instead because the Barry M one is a little too yellow on my skin and doesn't have great lasting power - the only shade I had this problem with. It was the only shade that I had to be a tad careful with, because I could start to look a bit muddy if I used too much. But hey, if you're on a tight budget then don't forget that this is three products in one here! Is this bronzer okay? Yeah, sure. Is it my favourite? No. But I'm willing to overlook that because of the success of the other shades, and I'm also aware that more olive skin tones or darker skin tones than mine (so everyone basically) might look significantly better with the bronzing shade, it just didn't outdo my current bronzer and I don't think it's the reason you should buy this palette.

The highlight shade though... another winner! It's very subtle, so if Mary-Lou Manizer is your thing, this probably won't make the cut. But this is Barry M we're talking about, a company who's main target market will be young girls, perhaps looking for an understated way to bring a bit of extra dimension into their face and add a pretty glow. This highlight is subtle enough that it's very work appropriate, but even better, school appropriate (if you don't go mental with it) and adds a barely there sheen to the skin. I like a stronger highlight personally, so I've been building it up over the top of Benefit's High Beam once my powder has dulled it down a bit. Unlike High Beam though, the Barry M highlight shade is so universally flattering. In the pan, and in my swatch it looks really quite yellow based, but in reality it's not too pink, or too golden, or too silvery - it appears to have little undertone at all when it's actually on the skin. Just like the contour shade, it's seemingly an all rounder for most skin tones.

So overall, I'm massively impressed with this palette. If you're serious about sculpting, you'll probably want to pick out a custom contour colour from a brand like Anastasia, and you'll definitely want a more visible highlight. But I think the Barry M Chisel Cheeks Contour Palette is perfect for younger girls who want to enter the world of contouring in a subtle, more every day way. The two important shades are fairly hard to go overboard with, would suit most skin tones, and it's extremely budget friendly. Result!

Jo Malone | What The Reviews Don't Tell You

Even if the price tag would put you off ever buying one for yourself, I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t love to receive a Jo Malone candle as a gift.
For me, they’re absolutely one of the most luxurious items I can think of, partly due to how completely unnecessary they are. I mean, once in a while I may be known to splash out on a Molton Brown hand wash, but what do you expect me to do, not wash my hands? I need hand soap. The same can almost be said for makeup to a certain extent, I’m pretty sure mascara is a basic human right. But no matter what ridiculous lies we tell ourselves, it’s very difficult to justify £40 on what is essentially, a scented lump of wax. I mean, you’re literally burning your money!

Perhaps this is what makes the Jo Malone Candles such a beautiful gift, the sheer extravagance of them; somebody telling you, “Hey, you’re worth this.” We all love that, right?
Maybe it’s their chic, understated design. The classy, classic glass jar is very easy to spot as being Jo Malone, yet doesn’t demand attention. They definitely make a statement when left unburned as home décor. Even when that last pool of wax at the very bottom has gone, you can rinse out the jar and use them to store makeup brushes, cue tips, even as a toothbrush holder (as demonstrated by yours truly), and continue to enjoy looking at them for months.
So why am I only talking about how they look, and not how they smell? After all, they are scented candles. Well, it’s like this…

When standing in the cream and black gorgeousness of a Jo Malone Boutique, receiving amazing service from the polished, lovely ladies who massage body lotions and perfumes into your hands, it can be very easy to get swept away in the heavenly scents that surround you. Sticking your nose in and out of the entire range of candles, most of which are quite unique and sophisticated, you then trot off home with that “ooh, what a treat!" feeling.
After such a euphoric shopping experience, and such an extortionate purchase, you can feel obliged to absolutely. love. this. candle. With a reputation and price tag to match, it is surely candle of the Gods. But be warned:

A lot of Jo Malone reviews will praise them for being “elegant and not overpowering”, or “beautifully subtle”, and in my experience, that is to say that they are very, very subtle in smell. As someone who’s worked in a candle shop, I like to think I know candles, and those who don’t have the nose of a bloodhound may find some Jo Malone candles to be very weak in perfume once lit.
Pomegranate Noir, a hugely popular Jo Malone scent, has never seemed to give me this trouble. Sadly, the same can’t be said for Lime Basil and Mandarin, Jo Malone’s signature (and my favourite!) scent. Truth be told, I hardly smell it at all when I burn it. Nor am I impressed by the perfume power of English Pear and Freesia, a really feminine fragrance. When I compare this to a Yankee Candle that floods my entire flat after five minutes and for a fraction of the price, it’s hard not to be a bit disappointed. Having said that, plenty of people find Yankees overwhelming and too dominant, so if hardly-there is your thing, go for it.

I will always love a Jo Malone candle. Get me one for Christmas and we’ll be best friends forever, but when parting with my own hard earned cash, I tend to invest in the diffusers instead, which I don’t think I could say a single bad word about. My Lime Basil and Mandarin diffuser has lasted MONTHS and fills our bedroom with a subtle yet distinctly detectable scent. When I want a bit more oomph out of it, I simply flip the reads in the oil. As for my candles, I like to leave them as ornaments mostly, burning them on special occasions but certainly not relying on them to add a welcoming aroma to my flat.In conclusion, no I don’t think a Jo Malone candle is going to fill your four story house with fragrance for a week, but I do think they’re a truly beautiful gift and a luxury I will continue to indulge in every once in a while.

Real Techniques | Bold Metals & Original Line In Depth Review

When the Pixiwoo sisters first launched their Real Techniques makeup brush line in 2011, it seemed like the beauty community went crazy for them. And rightly so. These brushes are a great price, good quality and look pretty on a vanity or dressing table.

Girls who loved makeup, but perhaps couldn't afford to build a brush collection from brands like Mac, could pop down to their local Boots and pick up a ready-made set of brushes without splashing their cash. On top of that, the brushes were made by trusted Beauty Guru’s they knew, and the amount of buzz and rave reviews on the internet left them in no doubt that the brushes would get the job done well.

Whilst now I tend to reach more for my Sigma brushes, I loved the Real Techniques range when I first got my hands on them a few years ago. I can’t deny that the original line still offers truly great value for money and great quality brushes. They are soft, hold up well over time, and offer enough of a range to suit most people’s basic makeup needs – by that I mean, most people can almost own every brush they’ll ever need by just sticking to the Real Techniques line …almost.

Designed to be makeup brushes for the “every day girl”, they were never intended to be show-stopping, industry-changing tools (though you could argue they kind of were!) and so now, Pixiwoo have launched the Bold Metals Collection, designed for  a more professional market.

The Bold Metals Collection consists of just seven brushes:

(GOLD)

100 Arched Powder £25.00

101 Triangle Foundation £22.00

(SILVER)

200 Oval Shadow £15.00

201 Pointed Crease £12.00

202 Angled Liner £10.00

(ROSE GOLD)

300 Tapered Blush £24.00

301 Flat Contour £24.00

Not wanting to go overboard, I bought the only brush that really jumped out at me, the Flat Contour brush.
As you can see, the brushes are priced much higher then the original collection. A few people have had real problems with this, as I think the Real Techniques brand has now become associated with affordable makeup tools, but that’s not what Sam and Nic were trying to achieve here. In their own words, “these are premium brushes that are being sold in a drugstore”.

So the price didn't make me wince that much when I took my single, solitary £24 brush to the counter, as I was expecting a truly top notch result for my money. What has upset me a little bit is that, the brush I own doesn't really feel that premium at all.

That’s not to say it’s not a good brush, but I think the main thing that makes it a good brush is because there’s very little on the market to rival it. Being unmistakably designed as a contour brush, it fits perfectly into the hollows of your cheekbones and deposits a “stripe” of product, for you to then blend out. That distinctive flat, dense, “contour shape” is perhaps something that only the NARS Ita brush is really competing with right now, and at £43 I think I’ll give that a miss thank you!

The brush is nicely weighted in your hand. It feels heavy, and in that respect, good quality, but it’s also an awkward diamond shape which just doesn't sit as naturally in my hand as a classic round handle. Not to mention it’s very long, which isn't a big deal but looks unnecessary and strange next to my other brushes. 

I’m also really, really not a fan of the colour or finish of this brush. (Don't hate me!) It’s a personal preference thing obviously, but for me, the “rose gold” coating just looks tacky and cheap. It’s far too shiny and whilst I'm a fan of rose gold in general, I think I’d prefer my makeup brushes to be a more timeless, classic black, rather than something currently on trend that might look really dated in a year or two. Pixiwoo also claim that the brushes are much softer than the original collection, but I don’t feel like that’s the case with the brush I own. Maybe I got a bad one? Maybe the other brushes in the collection are absolutely heavenly, but my Flat Contour brush feels distinctively average in the softness department. It deposits product well, but not that well, sometimes leaving me with darker areas to blend more extensively no matter how hard I try to coat the brush evenly!

It doesn't do a bad job at all, but where I was once perfectly happy with the leap up in price from the old collection, I’m now not so sure…and £24 now feels like a bit of a sting for what I actually ended up with.
I’d still like to try more from the Bold Metals collection, it just didn't meet my expectations after such hype. That said, you might absolutely love them, so please don’t take this review too negatively. 

I couldn't recommend the original line any more highly for someone with basic makeup needs and a modest budget. I really don’t think you’ll find better for the price.
As for the Bold Metals collection, I say go for it if you have the money to spend and want to try out Sam and Nic’s latest launch, but don’t expect miracles or game changing results, and don’t feel like you need these brushes if your budget is tight or you’re fairly new to makeup.
Stick to the original line for amazing affordable tools and maybe try Sigma or Mac if you end up seeking better quality from your brushes down the line.