Xen Tan Review!!!

The following review is for Xen Tan Dark lotion: RRP £25.95 or £17.99 from feelunique.com

Ok, so the reason this took me so long to do was because I thought the best way to do it would be to actually show you the results, and me an avid fake tan wearer I had to wait for my existing tan to come off so that I could get some 'before' pictures.

I'll start by showing you my deathly pale skin so you can get some idea of the difference this stuff makes (excuse my bra, but all my nice bikinis were packed)

BEFORE

not too sure what's going on with my hip but what can you do ay.

AFTER 1 APPLICATION

AFTER 2 APPLICATIONS

SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON

AND FOR THOSE WHO WANT A

MORE DETAILED REVIEW :) ...

Colour

The first time I used this self tanner I thought the colour looked unbelievably unnatural, I felt like I looked really really red. I decided I hated it and vowed never to use it again until people started asking me whether I'd been on holiday or used sunbeds. My mom, dad, boyfriend and close friends all agreed that it was by far the most natural coloured fake tan I had used to date despite how dark it was. I was puzzled by this initially, but after a couple of days I started to get used to the red toned colour and so I began to really like it. Even though I couldn't see it at first, I think that it's the red undertones in this tan that make the colour so natural, I always believed that the green undertones famously used by St Tropez were the way forward. But, when you think about it, who actually goes green in the sun?! If you look at a Caucasian (other races will probably differ) with a really dark natural tan, chances are they have a slight pink/red tinge to the skin (unless they're just completely fried).

Evenness

It's completely even, streak and patch free! No matter how poorly you apply it :)

(except from if you just completely miss a patch out)

Application

Initial application is fine, it's quite thick so you do have to rub a bit to get it to spread and I absolutely love the smell even though its not to everyones taste (almonds and cherries).

But once you've rubbed it in, oh em gee it looks appalling!

Insert picture to that doesn't even begin to show the appallingness that can be witnessed in real life.

The person who said you can use the guide colour as a bronzer and go out tanned straight away, well, they lied. But once you've showered all the horrible patchiness just washes away :)

Durability?

If that's the right word lol, is pretty standard. No fake tan is ever gonna look the same as when you first applied it after about a week. Although I have to say this wore of a lot better than St Tropez and I didn't experience the dreaded snake skin effect, so thumbs up to that. I'd say this maintained its full colour for about 3/4 days and I was completely completely fake tan free after about a week and a half.

So after the longggg wait there it is. This is definitely my new HG fake tan and I would definitely recommend it to all those fake tan obsessives like me :)

xxxx

It's been wayyy tooo lonngggggggggggg!

So basically I haven't even given this a blog a thought for about 2 months now?! Not because I'm not interested anymore I've just been majorly major majorly busy with

1. going on holiday

2. Clearing sixth getting a level results etc.

3. Learning to drive

AND

4. The most exciting thing ever.. starting the media and theatre make up artist course.

I've already learnt soooo many tips and tricks and trade secrets which I can share with you all soon :)

AND one more thing - xen tan review which I was supposed to do before holiday :s oops, is coming up nowww.

xxx

Sunshine blog awards!

I've finally got my first award lol. YAYY. It was passed on by the gorgeous Carmen from CARMEN'S CLOSET. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for passing this on to me, it put a big smile on my face :) Mwah XXXXXXXXXXXX

Rules:

Put the logo on your blog in your post.

Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.

Link the nominees within your post.

Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blogs.

Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

The people I have chosen are (I chose 10 instead of 12)...

Tuttibeauty

Ava

Lubna

Kat O'Hara

Glam Sam

Hilary

BitterSweetKindaNew

The beautifier

Hershley's Sweet Kiss

*~ ♥ Giddy Princess ♥ ~*

MAC eyeshadow dupes :)

I thought I'd do a post on some mac eyeshadow dupes that I've come across over time. It's so annoying when you buy a brand new mac eyeshadow only to discover when you get home that you already have an eyeshadow that colour.

Most of the dupes I've found have been from Urban Decay and the Sleek storm palette, so if you have the Sleek or one of the Urban Decay palettes, you might not need to buy certain mac eyeshadows because you already have that colour... meaning that you can divert your money to other mac eyeshadows instead. Yayy!

Here are the best ones that I've found.

Mac All That Glitters and UD Chopper: Both have the same amount of shimmer and texture and are equally pigmented. UD Chopper is slightly more orange toned where as Mac All That Glitters is much more neutral with a slight hint of pink. UD Chopper also has silver micro glitter running through it, Mac All That Glitters does not.

Mac Wedge and Taupe from Sleek Storm: Both of these are very light matte taupe colours. Even though they are very similar, I would say mac Wedge is a more 'true taupe' as the sleek one has much stronger yellow tones.

Mac Shimmermoss and UD Shattered: Not only are the names similar but the eyeshadows are too. They are practically identical, it is only when you look closely that you notice that UD Shattered has slightly more green in it and Shimmermoss is slightly 'duller'.

Mac Carbon and black from Sleek Storm: Both black, both matte, but mac Carbon is slightly more pigmented.

Mac Dazzlelight and Pale cream from Sleek Storm: These two shadows are pale shimmery cream/white colours. Mac Dazzlelight has much stronger yellow yellow/gold undertones but they both appear off white/cream when applied to the eye. Mac Dazzlelight is a lot more pigmented.

Mac espresso, matte brown from sleek, and brown from L'oreal HIP duo bustling: All of these mid browns are the same tone, very neutral with a slight taupiness to them. Mac espresso and the sleek brown are very very similar, the only differences being the fact that mac is again more pigmented and sleek has slight red undertones to it making it a teeny tiny bit more orange. The brown from the HIP duo is not nearly as pigmented as the mac and sleek ones and has a slight gold shimmer in it giving the eyeshadow an overall gold sheen.

Mac Woodwinked, UD Nylon and UD YDK: Mac Woodwinked is definitely the most gold toned out of all of these shadows even though the other two have a gold sheen as well. UD Nylon is much more neutral than the mac one as it doesn't have such strong brown undertones and is more of a beige gold than a brown gold. UD YDK is the same hue as mac Woodwinked but it is darker in shade as it has significantly more brown in it. UD Nylon, UD YDK, mixed together would create a very similar colour to woodwinked, but slightly less gold toned.

MAC Beautiful Iris, UD Asphyxia and UD Ecstacy: Mac Beautiful Iris is a true lilac/lavender, it is cool toned with a white shimmer to it. UD asphyxia is a lot warmer due to the pink undertones but it still has a blue shift in certain lighting. UD Ecstacy is the same cool tone as Beautiful iris but it is a shade or two darker making it appear more purple as opposed to lilac.

Hope this helped!

Grace xxx

Haul time!

Just another boring little post with a few pictures of what I picked up.

Barry M nail paints in Gold and Tangerine £2.95 each or 2 for £5 from superdrug: I love Barry M nail paints, they're pretty chip resistant and there's such an amazing range of colours. The gold one is just your bog standard gold and I only really purchased it because I wanted tangerine and felt I should take advantage of the two for £5 offer ;) Tangerine is gorgeous, really bright and summery, it's a bit different from normal orange nail polishes because of the shimmer.

Sleek Storm i-Divine eyeshadow palette £5.99: I'm a bit slow of the mark with regards to the sleek eyeshadow palettes and I'm gonna admit it, I was a bit of a snob. I've always thought that good pigmented eye shadows have to be expensive i.e. mac. And eye shadow palettes like the sleek ones = the play make up I used to smear all over my face as a little girl. BUT... this palette has totally changed that snobbish and pre-judgemental opinion and I can honestly say I ♥ it. All the colours are so pigmented and easy to blend. It compromises of 3 matte shadows and 9 shimmers which I would compare to macs veluxe pearl formula.

(lol at my reflection)

Told you it was a little post :)

Xen Tan review update.

Ok, so as promised I'm working on a xen tan review, it's just taking me a little longer than expected. Basically, I was so excited when I got it in the post, I slapped it on and completely forgot to take some before pictures of my super pasty skin. One and a half weeks later I'm still brown (sort of) so the before pics are still on the waiting list. I know I could of done the review without the before and afters but I think you can only really see how good something is if you can actually see the difference its made. If that makes sense :S

Anyway, the top and bottom of this post was to say that I haven't forgot about the xen tan review, its on its wayyyy!

♥

Just a little something that made me laugh.

So last week some time I decided I needed to wash and deep condition my hair extensions, after about 10 minutes I was bored of waiting for them to dry but I didn't want to use any unnecessary heat. And then that's when my mom came up with the suggestion

'Why don't you hang them on the washing line'

So because it was one of those extremely rare sunny days that us English never see, that's exactly what I did. And the best thing... It worked a treat!

A little bit of everything haul

Reviews for some of these products coming soon.

This was what I picked up whilst on a recent shopping expedition with the boyfriend (needless to say he was not impressed at being dragged back and forth between boots and superdrug)

Oh, and also a couple of things off the net.

Enjoy!

Soap & Glory Glow lotion, £5 : love this, it's my new everyday moisturiser. Its really light, sinks in easily, has a pleasant smell and gives a pretty shimmer to the skin, especially on the legs.

Xen-Tan dark tanning lotion, £17.99 including delivery : I didn't actually buy this whilst shopping. I got it from feelunique.com as they were selling it at a really cheap price. The service and delivery was great, I'd definitely buy from them again.

Sleek face contour kit, £5.99 : I was unsure as to whether I was going to like this, purely because cheaper bronzers and blushers tend to go patchy on me and I was concerned this was going to do the same. BUT, I can safely say it didn't and this is my new HG bronzer/face contour. Full review and tutorial coming up.

Montagne Jeunesse mud pack face mask, 99p : This is the second one from this brand that I've tried, previously I had a peel off one, not sure which one it was. These are great value and have more than enough product to cover the face, neck and chest. I felt really fresh and clean after using this and I really think it did make my skin look clearer and my pores smaller. Would definitely recommend and for 99p what have you got to lose?!

Max factor facefinity compact foundation, £10.99 : I bought this in ivory, there was a limited shade selection and they all seemed pretty dark so I'm guessing this wouldn't be a product for people with fair skin. I actually bought this to use as a powder as I find powder foundations on there own too drying. It's not bad but I shall continue to use mac mineralize skinfinish natural and just use this for odd touch ups where my make up's come off and I need more coverage than just a new sweep of powder if that makes sense?!

Eylure Cheryl lashes, £4.89 : It's safe to say I absolutely hated these, I have never felt such a huge amount of disappointment over false eyelashes in all my life. I really wanted to love these (damn you Cheryl for being so pretty) but they just looked so... fake (but not in a good way). I like my lashes BIG, and when I wear false eyelashes I want them to make a BIG difference but these were just too drag queen-esque and I just looked as if I had got two black pieces of cardboard and stuck them on my eyes. All you could see were two big black lines, not quite the sultry, sexy look I was going for. So. What did I do?... Turn them into my all time favourite mac 7 lashes of course! I just un-knotted alternating segments of lashes to leave gaps and break up the solid line these gave. Fiddly, but worth it. I may do a tutorial on un-knotting false eye-lashes if I remember lol.

Rimmel the max volume flash mascara, £6.49 : I only picked this up because I thought the models own mascara (see below) wasn't going to come in time for my dinner dance on Friday and my Maybelline falsies was running dangerously low. It's ok, it doesn't really do anything spectacular, but will inevitably get better though when it's dried out a bit. I do like the wand on this though, it's pretty good at getting into the corners.

Models own volumising big brush mascara, £5 : This was from asos, and was bought on the basis of Imogen at foxylocks extensions saying it was good (her eyelashes always look gorgeous, false or not) I have to agree, it's pretty amazing and definitely comparable to Benefit's Bad Gal. I'm planning on reviewing this properly and have already got a few picks of this to post, they should be on really soon.

and last but not least...

Benefit pencils courtesy of Glamour magazine, £2 each ;) :

xxx

Upcoming blog posts!

Coming soon!

Collection 2000 lasting perfection review

Xen-Tan Dark lotion review

St Moriz vs St tropez

Sleek face contour kit review and tutorial

Pastel nails

Mac eyeshadow swatches with dupes

Models own Big Brush Volumising mascara review

Cheryl Cole inspired big, voluminous, hair tutorial

Favourite products right now.

I love reading what peoples favourite hair, beauty and make up products are so I thought I'd join in the fun :)

Foundation - Collection 2000 Lasting perfection foundation. Better than any mac or high end foundation I've tried ( and I've tried a lot). Full review coming soon!

Powder - MAC mineralize skin finish natural.

Concealer - MAC studio fix SPF 35 concealer

Primer - MAC prep + prime transparent finishing powder

Bronzer - NARS Laguna bronzer.

Blusher - MAC powder blush in Coppertone

Cheek Highlighter - Highlight colour out of Sleek face contouring kit

Eyebrow Highlighter - Benefit eye bright pencil

Eyebrows - Benefit brow zings in dark

Mascara - Maybelline falsies

False eyelashes - MAC 7 lash

Eyeliner - Urban Decay 24/7 glide on eye pencil in Zero

Inner corner eyeshadow - MAC Dazzlelight

Crease eyeshadow - MAC Wedge

Lipstick - MAC Creme d'Nude

Lipgloss - MAC Dazzleglass in Bare Necessity

Shampoo - VO5 volume boost elixir shampoo

Conditioner - VO5 volume boost elixir conditioner

Leave in conditioner - ION effective care intensive therapy

Hair spray - L'Oreal Elnette Very Volume extreme strength

Heat protection spray - Tresemme heat defence styling spray

Hair Extensions - Head Kandy 24" shade Hot Toffee

Face wash - Nivea Visage Young wash off! mild cleansing gel

Toner - Clearasil Deep Cleansing toner

Moisturiser - Clean and Clear oil free dual action moisturiser

Body moisturiser - Soap & Glory Glow Lotion

Perfume - Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy

The secret (or not so secret) way to flawless skin.

I'm sure you all remember when Mac first announced they were going to be launching the colour ready collection, you know the one with the promo picture of the beyond flawless, blue eyed, pink lipped gorgeous model (but in case you forgot there's a picture below). Anyway I for one was excited, especially for the prep + prime transparent finishing powder which promises 'A silky finishing powder that provides an invisible way to set makeup. Reduces shine while optically minimizing the look of pores, lines, imperfections. Available in one universal colour that suits all shades. Wear over makeup or on bare, moisturized skin.'

So when I finally got my hands on this little pot of magic white powder which was going to (I'd hoped) transform my skin into the perfect pore-less complexion of that of the promo model, I was disappointed. To me this was just your bog standard finishing powder, nothing more or nothing less. Call me naive but I'd expected at least a soft focus like effect. But I soon got over it and the little pot of magic white powder was shoved to the back of my cupboards and forgotton about.

But, the other day, a whooooleeee year after I first tried this, I decided to give it another go. (Yes, I am aware of the hygiene implications of using this year old product but it was only once and I do intend to buy a new one.) And lets just say I loveeeddd it!

BUT...

THERE IS A SECRET...

you don't use it after your foundation...

you use it before. :O

Ok, so maybe people had the common sense to try using it this way the first time round, but I didn't and my gosh do I wish I had of tried this a lonnnggg time ago.

WHAT I DO...

-Moisturise and leave to soak in

-Apply a thin layer of prep + prime transparent finishing powder

-Apply foundation

And voila! (Nearly) pore-less, flawless skin :)

BUT, THERE IS ANOTHER BUT...

This only works with certain foundations (I've tried it with four so far) and the ones I've found it to work the best with are the oily ones, you know the ones which are great but make you go shiny after a couple of hours. This stuff sort of mattifies them down, and soaks up all the oil. I also think it probably plugs your pores up to give you that silky smooth canvas. I know that doesn't sound great but I've had no break outs so far. Big thumbs up to that (Y).

All I'm gunna say is, if you dismissed this the first time round as a finishing powder like I did, maybe consider giving it another go as ... shock horror, a primer!

xxx

Barry M haul

Barry M Dazzle Dust £4.50

24 - Old Gold

83 - Green Silver

Barry M Fine Glitter Dust £ £4.50

9 - Pink Iridescent

10 - Yellow Gold

19 - Midnight blue

22 - Black Gold

Left to right: DD Green Silver, DD Old Gold, FGD pink iridescent, FGD Midnight Blue, FGD Yellow Gold, FGD Black Gold

Left to right: DD Green Silver, DD Old Gold, FGD pink iridescent, FGD Midnight Blue, FGD Yellow Gold, FGD Black Gold

Left to right: DD Green Silver, DD Old Gold, FGD pink iridescent, FGD Midnight Blue, FGD Yellow Gold, FGD Black Gold

Left to right: DD Green Silver, DD Old Gold, FGD pink iridescent

Left to right: FGD Midnight Blue, FGD Yellow Gold, FGD Black Gold

Dazzle Dust Green silver - A greeny teal colour with metallic silver sheen, nothing special but nice nonetheless.

Dazzle Dust Old Gold - Not too sure why this one is called old gold, it's more of a beige/taupe colour with really really fine Glitter. Despite the shimmer, this is quite a natural pretty colour.

Fine Glitter Dust Pink iridescent - Don't be fooled by how this looks in the pot, you can't tell from the swatch but as the name suggests this is a light pink base with lots of clear/iridescent glitter. Although this is visually pleasing when swatched I feel a bit like a 5 year old when I wear it properly and also the fallout from the glitter is horrendous, even UDPP doesn't help with the fallout from this baby!

Fine Glitter Dust Midnight Blue - A true Midnight Blue, not half as much glitter in this as pink iridescent so it looks more like a dazzle dust/ordinary pigment.

Fine Glitter Dust Yellow Gold - Yellow Gold with gold glitter particles, not much else to say really lol.

Fine Glitter Dust Black Gold - Charcoal black base with gold glitter. The glitters a lot finer in this one compared to the others which I like better, it makes it a lot more 'wearable' it also means there isn't a crazy amount of fallout if a good primer is used.

So. Overall..

Dazzle Dusts = good, Fine Glitter Dusts = a bit hit and miss. The dazzle dusts have a good pigmentation, come in a wide range of colours and are pretty cheap. whereas.. the fallout from the fine glitter dusts makes them impossible to wear without looking like you've got a whole pot of craft glitter and chucked it on your face. My advice would be to be careful when choosing from the glitter dusts as some, e.g. black gold, are really nice and have pretty fine glitter making them a lot easier to work with. BUT THEN, you've got the likes of pink iridescent, well, lets just not go there. Maybe these would be better if used with a mixing medium maybe?! Any thoughts?

xxx