Review: BareMinerals BARESKIN Pure Brightening Serum Foundation

You know how a new foundation comes into the market  and you just have to have it? Well if I did that for every foundation that was launched I would have to declare myself bankrupt! Haha

I discovered that BareMinerals were launching a liquid foundation a few months ago. I have always liked BareMinerals products, it was when a good friend of mine that works as a consultant for them gave me a few samples of the mineral foundation to try,  that I found myself experimenting with the brand more. Was it enough to completely stop using what I was using and switch over to them, probably not.  I just love my liquid foundations far too much.

QVC began selling the BareMinerals BARESKIN Pure Brightening Serum Foundation prior to its launch earlier on in the year but I wanted to pop into my local Debenhams and get a proper colour match. Well why did this foundation stand out to me? It was Bare Minerals first ever liquid foundation infused with a brightening serum so of course I understood all the hype over it.

After being colour matched to what seemed like the perfect colour, my lovely friend sent me a sample of it to try. I decided to trial it out for about threeish weeks to see how I got on with it . I opted out from buying the buffer brush that’s designed to be used with it and decided to make do with the brushes I already had. I own far too many brushes anyway the little voice in my head said.

So lets move onto the packaging. I actually really like the packaging, it is a sturdy bottle with a nozzle top that gives you good control of just how much product to use. And you only a few small drops on the back of your hands. The colour range available is super impressive too ranging from the cool skin tones to warmer skin tones. It also contains SPF20 which is an added bonus.

As instructions state, it is important that you shake the bottle well before use seeing as it contains an oil based serum. If you do not, well the product will separate and you’ll end with an oily residue.  The serum has a light fragrance of coconut which i generally like. At first, seeing as my skin becomes much drier in the colder months, I was a little sceptical as to whether the product would be uneven and cling onto dry parts of my face? Thankfully it didn’t. I also found that it didn’t require much setting with a powder.


Before

Bottom Blended

 

Fully blended

The coverage is fantastic, a lot better than I thought it would be without feeling too heavy or cakey, I liked how it felt on my skin, very hydrating. Also, despite the serum, it did not feel oily at all on the skin which I really liked. If you have normal to combination skin, this may work well for you too. However, if you are on the oily side of the spectrum with your skin, you may not like the feel of this.

I did however question whether the application would be much more better if I had purchased the brush? Probably yes, there's a possibility that a normal buffing brush would probably eat up too much of the product on it bristles and you may need to play around with it a bit. I guess for ease of application and a more flawless finish the brush may be worth investing in. It retails at £24.

Overall, I quite like this foundation, it feels amazing on and I love how the serum hydrates my skin. In terms of it brightening my dull skin I am not so sure If it had the ability to do that. I definitely recommend this foundation and it will certainly be my go to product for the winter months. it can be purchased here at a cost of £26.

Have you tried the BareMinerals BARESKIN Pure Brightening Serum Foundation?

 

Love and lipstick.

xxx

 

 

 

MesmerEyez Coloured Contact Lens Review.

Give me anything that enhances natural beauty and I will be there in a flash be it lashes, hair extensions and coloured contact lenses to enhance the natural eye colour.

Correcting my sight last year gave me the option to experiment more with coloured contact lenses. I have been very interested in how makeup can look different with different eye colours and let’s admit it, changing your eye colour to suit your mood is kind of fun.

I have since then tried several different brands of coloured contact lenses, some I have quickly become quite fond of, others not so much. Lately, I have seen many beauty bloggers and YouTube Vloggers wearing lenses from a brand called MesmerEyez and I just knew I had to try them!

The lovely Tahiba from Mesmerize_lenses on Instagram (Notice the spelling is different to the original)  sent me a pair of Hazel lenses to try from their Blendz collection. At first, I was a tad bit sceptical as to whether to colours would show up on my dark eyes, or on the contrary, would they look fake?

Once I received the cute little package, and must mention super fast delivery on Tahibas part, the one thing that first caught my eye was the cute little rose lens case to store them in.  I was super impressed as most of the higher end brands of lenses do not include a lens case with their orders which is a little disappointing considering you pay a fair amount.

Seeing as I have worn contact lenses before, I had no trouble inserting them in or removing them for that matter. I loved how to lenses were not of large size to make my already big eyes even bigger, infact they were just the right size. Also, I was absolutely relieved of the fact that these did not dry out and irritate my eyes which at first I was a little worried about. Personally, as with all lenses, I wouldn’t advise wearing them longer than sixish hours.

I was very surprised that these lenses covered my natural eye colour, although not completely, the colour enhancement was still visible, yet natural looking at the same time which is an important factor to me when wearing coloured contact lenses. I have come across a few people who have problems with lenses making no difference to their eye colour so I was extremely impressed.

These lenses can be worn for a total of three months which is amazing as I am sure I will be getting plenty of uses out of them. They are cosmetic therefore non prescripted so will not work well for those with a high myopic prescription.

If you are inexperienced with using contact lenses then I do suggest making a trip to your local opticians for help with hygiene, inserting and removing them, hygiene with all contact lenses is an absolute must in order to avoid eye infections.

Overall, I was very happy with these lenses and will definitely be making a purchase in the future. For comfort and affordability as well as a great colour range, I definitely recommend these, they is something out there for everyone as the colour range and collection is huge.

Thank you to Tahiba for letting me try these, do make sure you follow her on her Instagram account over at Mesmerize_lenses and contact her for prices and enquries.

Have you tried any MesmerEyez coloured lenses?

Love and Lipstick xxx

A Look Inside Septembers Birchbox.

Hello my lovelies,

I just cannot believe we are in October already, I mean the year has just flown by and before we know it, we will be in 2015!

So anyway, I hope this blog post finds you well. I know I am very late in posting this as we are approaching mid October but with Eid preps and celebrations plus I have been feeling a little under the weather with the colder days hence the late post and being MIA.

Today I will be posting my thoughts on Septembers Birchbox. Now, this is my first time sampling the box as after a dreadful three month subscription with Glossybox, I  had since then sworn off beauty subscription boxes for good.  You can read my Glossybox review here.

It wasn’t until a good friend told me about a £5 off code that she used and in actual fact the contents for that month’s box really appealed to me, particularly their advertising on their site. For those of you that do not know, Birchbox is a monthly subscription beauty and lifestyle box that delivers luxe beauty and lifestyle samples each month that is specifically tailored to you. For those in the UK, it costs approximately £10.00 per month plus £2.95 delivery. From time to time, there are special offers such as 'Free Delivery' etc.

Seeing, as I could get £5 off, I decided to give it a go and signed up for a six month subscription.  Three days later my box arrives. I have to say, the service and communication right down to delivery is excellent. They email you right up till your box arrives. The packaging is fabulous it is a sturdy mint green/turquoise  box with a hot pink design inside. There is a drawstring  pouch bag inside containing all the samples, plus a few money off vouchers as well as a card with a brief description and price of all the products included. The theme for this month is 'Happy Days'.

 

 

So, let’s take a quick look at what I got.

 

• 4ml glass vial of Agave Healing Oil Treatment 
• Premae Mild Dermabraison Face & Body Scrub 
• 3ml sample of Benefit It's Potent Eye Cream
• Birchbox Happy Days Photo Clip.
• Packet of Urban Fruit Perfect Pineapple Pieces.
• Modelco lip lacquer in Viva.
• Beauty Blender. RRP £26.00

 

 

 

 

First Impressions? Aside from the Beauty Blender, nothing seemed to wow me sadly. Yes, they were pretty decent samples, two brands which I have never heard of so I was excited to give them a try. As for the Benefit It’s Potent eye cream, well if I had asked the lovely people at the Benefit counter for a sample of it, I am sure I would have gotten it so I was a little disappointed with that. Despite all that, they were products that I could still make use of. I am sure I will be making lots of good use of the beauty blender and I still haven't found the perfect eye cream for my tired eyes and who knows, this may be just the one. What's more, my little munchkins loved the dried pineapple snacks. I will certainly be reusing the drawstring bag to carry my brushes or use it to store my bobby pins seeing as I am always losing them!

 

(I haven’t yet given any of these products a try so I won’t be posting a thorough review just yet mind you. )

Do I think beauty boxes are worth it? Sadly not. At over ten pounds a month, it is not cheap for a few samples. This is just my opinion. For some, it may be ideal particularly those that like to try products before buying it full size or those that simply do not live near stores and have limited access to beauty products will benefit from a monthly subscription service.

Fortunately, departments stores such as Debenhams are usually quite generous in giving samples and I live five minutes away from one so that is how I will be getting my samples in future!

Needless to say I have now cancelled my subscription for Birchbox and will be using my pounds on something else. Sorry Birchbox, it just wasn’t for me.

Are you subscribed to any beauty boxes?

Love and Lipstick

 

xxx