The Swatch Files (and a tiny review): Jemma Kidd Makeup

For once I bring you a post which contains more photos than words..I'm not happy with the spacing between some photos but for the life of me I can't figure out how to make the space smaller, if you know how, let me know.

I-Perfector Prep & Brighten Duo

What do I think? The primer is good but I wouldn't recommend it for a starter as you have to blend it in pretty well to get the eyshadow to stick to it smoothly.  If you don't blend it in, the eyeshadow applies really patchy.  It's very good to use if you don't need your eyeshadow to stay for more than a couple of hours.  I've worn it to work and it's worked well for all day too.  You only need a tiiiiiiiiiiiiny bit as well which is good.  The liner is crapola, for starters, it's too hard to use on your waterline which is the only place I would use such a colour.  You can't soften it or anything either (I tried).  You could use it as a base but I have never tried.

Define Stay-put Eye Liner

What do I think? The smudger is one of the best I have used and this pencil lends itself very well to smudging.  The pencil alone is ok..nothing spectacular, not too hard but could be a bit softer.  It works brilliantly when used for a smudging effect.  If you're looking for a pencil which is smooth and you don't want to smudge it..don't get this.  If you want to smudge it on out, this is fantastic.

Dual Illuminator Créme Highlighter & Shimmer Dust

What do I think? As you can see, you can barely see the colour on both my swatches which is a good thing as I dislike obvious shimmers.  The first swatch is of the solid highlighter which I prefer to the powder shimmer because it is a lot easier to apply.  The powder shimmer gave me many a problem..the puff which comes with it is a bit useless as I can't think I would put something so glittery on my cheeks and it doesn't pick up product up properly either as it is too small.  The powder section had a sticker on it which prevented it spilling out, took me ages to get that off..and you can't stick it back on properly either.  Overall, I like the cream highlighter, the powder shimmer..not so much.

Firming I-Silk Long-last Colour

What did I think? This surprised me. I don't usually like cream eyeshadows but this is so nice to use and the colour is lovely.  It's perfect for both daytime and nighttime usage. I would recommend not using it without a primer but it takes to the JK primer very well.

Do I have a standout product?

Hmm..well I like the primer but you need a fair bit of effort to work it so it's not ideal when you're in a rush to get to work in the morning..and the nude coloured liner is totally pants.  I like the cream highlighter but the powder shimmer needs some amendments..I think my favourite overall is the eye pencil because it smudges up a dream.

The revised rant post.

Some of you got to read it, some of you didn't.

Anyway, I took it down due to the recieving of some bad personal news and I didn't really want to deal with a flame war at the same time.

In my infinite wisdom I have decided to not publish that post as it was because things have recently made me realise that getting hung up on the small things is pointless and that in the grand scheme of things, blogging is about 10% of my life.  So much more than blogging takes priority..which I'm sure is the same for most of you.  Despite that, I still stand by everything I said in that post, a summation of which follows below..

• Brands should actually research blogs and not go on a follower basis, I'm not saying this because of sour grapes..it makes sense to invite people to events who actually use your products because it's those blogs that come up when people do Google searches
• Followers aren't the be all and end all..blogging is just a hobby to most of us...there are tonnes of blog posts I have read which I have never commented on.
• Comments too, are nice but again aren't the be all and end all....
• Don't go follower mongering through the medium of giveaways, you don't have followers because you need to up your content.  We all start with 0 followers. 

There we have it.  If you take issue with this, feel free to unfollow..this probably isn't the blog for you anyway.

Bobbi Brown stole my idea!

Remember my old layering eyeshadow post I did using the Bobbi Brown palette?

Well, I was checking my emails today and I'm subscribed to the Bobbi Brown newsletter and look at what I found..

*ahem*

Review: Boots Traditional Skin Care Glycerin and Rosewater Toner v Boots Original Beauty Formula Skin Tonic

Nice, small title there..

I bought both of these..well, actually, my mum bought me one (shame!) and I bought the other myself.

I've been asked for a review on the Glycerin and Rosewater toner so I'm doing a review and compare.  I was originally going to just review the first one but as both have similar ingredients, I decided to do a comparison post.

Before I get to that, I'm quite happy that in this day and age you can buy toners on the High Street which are not jammed full of alcohol and will strip your skin and make your skin complaint worse.  I swear you couldn't get these when I was a teenager, I used alcohol fuelled toners for many many years, if these were around then, I'm sure my skin would have looked nicer back then. Don't get me wrong, these two contain alcohol but it's nowhere near as much as those "traditional" ones do..I had quick look at ingredients in Boots the other day.

Anyway, review time!

Boots Tradition Skin Care Glycerin and Rosewater Toner.

When I got this, I was using a cleanser which I found contained mineral oils (if you Google mineral oil, the top three shopping items that come up are things you put in your car, which is rather telling..)I researched up on them and found that they created a barrier between your skin and anything you put on it so I chucked it away.

I like the fact that the bottle is plastic and that the opening is small so it doesn't all come spilling out when you tip it upside down.  I also like the minimal, no fuss, semi vintage looking packaging.  The smell isn't horrible either, it's not your typical toner smell.

I soaked a cotton wool pad in it and circulated it around my face.  It made my skin feel really nice and clean and more plumped up.  When I apply my toner, I usually wait about 15 minutes before putting my moisturiser on as this is my personal best course of action.  When I touched my face after 15 minutes, it felt super smooth and very plumped out but pretty sticky..I thought this was just an after effect of the mineral oil cleanser...creating a barrier and what have you.

I used it time and time again and it still made my skin feel sticky.  It's quite a shame it did that because I enjoyed how smooth it made my skin feel but the stickiness was a deal breaker.

Repurchase?
I wouldn't buy this again because I have used it weeks after I stopped using the mineral oil cleanser and it still made my face really sticky.  If you want to try it for yourself, you can get it in Boots.  I couldn't find it online but it costs about £2.90.  I noticed once I had used it that it had rubbing alcohol in it (isopropyl alcohol) and I didn't want to put that anywhere near my face so I've been using it to clean by brushes before shampooing them.

Boots Original Beauty Formula Skin Tonic.

This bottle is glass.  I am a clumsy person.  Glass and butterfingers don't mix.  This is why I was glad it came in a cardboard box so that I'd be able to transport it home without it breaking (I've broken a vase on the way home once before..) 

Apart from that, I really like the packaging as it commits fully to the vintage feel, it's a heavy glass bottle with an old school looking label on it and the bottle even has Boots embedded into the glass.  The lid is a thin metally lid and there is no "protector" so if the lid is off and the bottle topples over, the product will go everywhere.  I dislike this. I feel a bit thick saying that I like the vintage design yet dislike the fact they've used glass? What I'm saying is, if it came in the same packaging that the Glycerin and Rosewater did..it would be perfick.

The smell..what to say about the smell..it's not pleasant. It does whiff a bit but you'd be surprised how quickly you get uesd to it, plus, you can't smell it once you've put it on.

I (once again) put this onto a cotton wool pad and rub it around my face in circular motions.  I feel this one feels a lot fresher than the Glycerin and Rosewater counterpart and it cleans my skin a lot better.  I look at the pad after cleaning my face with it and can see visible bits of "dirt" on it.  My face feels a lot cleaner after using this toner than it did with the other.

I waited again for 15 minutes and felt my skin, it didn't feel plumper but then it wasn't sticky and I'd rather have non stick than plump.

Repurchase?
I will deffo buy more of these in the future, I'm thinking to stock up whilst they're still on half price in Boots. £1.94 is a brilliant price to pay for a toner which actually works.

Review: The Body Shop Facial Massager

I've never really been educated on how things like face brushes and massagers could really make the difference, I used to just buy products and slap them on, I never thought you could enhance their performance.  I've had my face brush for ageeeeeeeeeeeees now and this is why I love buying products from The Body Shop because I know these peripherals work.

I read online somewhere (I can't remember where) that when you have a facial, you should come out with a really warm, pink face and that if you don't the facial hasn't been carried out properly.

So, I set about trying to give myself a facial at home..it failed.  No matter how much I massaged my face, it didn't get near red or warm enough so I decided to let it be.  Plus, my nails were pretty long at the time and it was really hard to massage myself without ending up with crescent moons all over my face.

Then I saw this beauty on The Body Shop website and decided to buy it.

The basic method of usage is thus..

I usually use it, miss a day then use it..I couldn't think of the technical term for that kind of usage..is there one? Fortdaily? But then fortnightly is two weeks so isn't fortdaily the same? Forthourly? Does anyone know?

It says "gently roll" but I can't be gentle to save my life so I'm quite forceful with it because it's fun to do it like that, plus once the blood starts pumping it's hard to stop (man, the number of ways this sentence could be misconstrued)..

Also, I don't use it on my neck because I hate that feeling of water trickling down your neck..I might use it like that in the shower actually..

I've used it with a mixture of cleansers.  I used a solid oily cleanser, a liquid oily based cleanser and then plain old cleansing milk.

When you roll it on your mush you don't need to apply a lot of pressure as it rolls around itself, the only place it got a bit stuck was on my nose but you just learn to roll it the opposite way to how you use it on the rest of your face.

It makes my face really nice and warm and my skin feels a LOT smoother once I've washed the cleanser off.

I didn't think that my skin was that dull before but after using this, it's really perked itself up and it looks a lot more plump than it did before.

When you roll it over your face with the cleanser on it, you can tell it's working because the cleanser is in little zigzag patters on your face.

You can use it when you don't have any product on your face but I like using it with the cleanser as it kills two birds with one stone.

Purchase?
I did pay for this myself but I think saying "repurchase" is a bit redundant here as The Body Shop items like this last for ages.  If it did break on me then I would buy it again but it's very sturdy and the only way I see it breaking is if someone smashed it with a hammer.  What I'm trying to say is, if you think your skin looks dull/you can't give yourself a proper facial at home then get this because it is really good, it's foolproof!

EOTD: Layering eyeshadows

I seem to have this disease whereby I practice makeup application at night whilst watching the TV..I never used to do it before because I thought it would be a waste of makeup but now I realise that this practice makes my daytime makeup look better because I'm improving the whole time.

My original plans for this look were to have a shimmery lid and a darker colour on the outer edge.

This failed, mainly because I don't use a primer when I'm practicing and the shimmery colour didn't show up so I decided to layer my shadows and see what would get me.

So, here we go..this is what I used:
(The MAC is a 239, NOT a 230..which doesn't exist)

This is what I got..

That little feint black line is where I had a slight mascara mishap but I managed to blend it out a bit.

How did I do it?

• Stroke the MAC brush in the dark brown eyeshadow and apply it all over the lid..blend it as well as you can.
• Get the Boots brush and blend it in a bit more so that the edges are soft..it's pretty easy to blend.
• Clean the Boots brush on a tissue and pick up the glittery shade and apply it all over your lid.  You can either apply it in sections and blend or apply it in layers and blend.
• Whack on your mascara, it doesn't matter if you get some on the lid because..
• Apply your liquid liner.  I find that doing a thin line first and then building it up is the best way to get a decent thick line.

I'm quite happy because I think the blending went ok and I actually managed to layer two shadows, usually when I try this, they mix and it looks like I've applied fingerpaint to my lids.  I think a lot of it has to do with Bobbi Brown shadows themselves, of all the ones I've tried to layer, these have worked the best.  I've put this palette in The Swatch Files and I would really recommend her shadows to anyone, I've used this palette to death and look how much product I still have left.

Anyone else ever tried layering shadows before? I think I might do this for some of my other palettes..

EOTD: Eye spy

I thought I'd let you all in on my latest revelation.

I don't know if I'm the only one but I used to find it hard to transport my day time makeup into night time makeup.  It's hard, you can't glam yourself up in the morning because you will look like a right tit sitting at your desk looking like you got lost on your way to the club..but then you want to look like you've made an effort if you go out for drinks after work.

So, what do you do?

Well, I've figured out that I can use a semi shimmery nude shade during the day and then vamp it up for the evening.

This is what I use..

I've done a little comparison so the changes are evident.  Check out my lyrical genius under each watermark, you know I got mad skillz.

The only reason I don't wear liquid liner in the day is because I'm a bit thick and can't figure out how to do it without leaving it too short on my eyelid so I just play safe and flick it out.

You know what else annoys me? The fact that I can only ever find a "my eye but better" shade in palettes which are either VERY hard to find or have been discontinued.  You can't buy this palette anymore as I bought it at Xmas and the No7 solo shadows have sucky pigmentation.  I wonder why the palettes are so much better.  I really need to sit down at a counter and find a shade like this..

I went slightly mad with the picture taking and decided to show you what it looks like behind my standard geekware too.

So, that's how I switch up my makeup from day to night, how do you ladies do it?

Review: Collection 2000 Big Fake False Lash Effect Mascara

I bought this mascara totally on a whim the other week from Boots, mainly because you got a free eyeliner with it and I'd heard great things about the eyeliner.   

The mascara cost more than the eyeliner did and to a sensible mind, buying the eyeliner alone if that's what you really wanted would make more sense but I'm not a sensible person.

Plus, I quite like the packaging, it looks like a hybrid of Maybelline's Colossal and Stiletto.

The brush is MASSIVE, not chunky wise like my Prestige brush but length wise, it's pretty big (ooh err).  The mascara consistency itself seems ok, not too thick nor too thin.  Pigmentation is ok.  I know the review seems a bit wishy washy at the moment but that's all I observed of it.

I bought Ultra Black because brown doesn't do much for my lashes as they're black anyway.

What do Collection 2000 say?

"New Collection 2000 Big Fake False Lash Effect Mascara provides sensational lashes that really stand out from the crowd. The unique 3D lash coating tube technology will plump and stretch each individual lash without clumping or smudging. New Big Fake False Lash Effect Mascara also introduces the biggest brush yet from Collection 2000, and with new slim line, sleek and sexy packaging, it’s perfect to pop in your purse for a stylish pick up for your peepers! New Collection 2000 Big Fake False Lash Effect Mascara is set to re-create the false lash look with the mere wave of a wand. Achieve phenomenal length and volume!"

What do I say?

Firstly, brace yourselves..this review bit comes with an extra order of rambling.

I've used it a few times since I bought it and my opinion kept changing until I settled on one view. The first time I used it, it just lengthened them and that was all.  No false lash effect at all.  

I used it again and coated my lashes about 4 times.  I applied each coat whilst the one before was still wet so it was easy to mesh them all together as one.  I think that the consistency of the mascara itself is pretty good in this respect, it doesn't dry so quickly that you can't build up your lashes.

I wasn't impressed seeing as I could get this result from one coat with my Maybelline Colossal and application was quite fiddly with this to get it up a nice standard.  Not false lashes by any stretch of the imagination, just lashes which had mascara on them and looked a bit enhanced.

I went back a few hours later and my lashes looked totally different, they're longer, thicker and look pretty good..I'm finally impressed.

Then I went back again and the mascara had flaked pretty badly which is not what you want on your under eye area as it's pretty hard to remove without giving yourself premature wrinkles.

It's a shame that you have to figure out a way to use it properly before getting any results. I don't think many people would carry on with it after 2 coats but 4 seems to be the magic number here.  5 gave me really heavy lashes.

Repurchase?

Nope.  If you're looking for a false lash effect mascara and don't mind coating your lashes up then get it.  If you want an everyday mascara that doesn't clump and stays on for ages then you should also get it.  If you want no fuss fake looking lashes then there are other mascaras which will do the job better.