L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Matte....

This foundation has been my favourite for quite a while now. I picked it up kind of hoping that from the reviews i read it would provide my favourite matte finish on my dry skin without making the dryness worse, which of course is very wishful thinking. Most people i have come across who enjoy a matte finish have oily skin and like the opposite and i seem to be a bit of an anomaly by liking matte without the super drying effect. 

But this foundation really lived up to and even exceeded my hopes. It does set to a really nice, natural matte finish but feels really lightweight on the skin and isn't tacky at all. It has a nice medium but buildable coverage and provides enough coverage to cancel out any redness or dark marks on the skin without feeling heavy or cakey. The foundation does definitely last a really long time too without any need to touch up. When I'm having a good skin day, i can almost wear this all day with very little concealer or powder. 
As i have pretty dry skin, i can't make any promises on oil control but it has a really nice wear time and does not oxidise on the skin at all from my experience, which is a problem i know oily girls have with foundations. 

The 'Matte' claim is completely true also but without it being how i expected it. I half expected it to be super dry and uncomfortable on my skin and would sit as a powdery layer on my skin but this it totally different. It sets how i like it, not tacky at all but certainly not drying and i can wear it everyday for weeks on end and find it doesn't dry my skin out at all which is a dream. I do, as always, wear a light moisturiser before my foundation but some still are too heavy for my skin. This sits beautifully and doesn't cake up even when you build up a few layers. 

Another bonus with this is it is literally the best colour match for my skin i have ever had from a high-street brand. And as far as I'm aware they have a pretty large shade range. (For reference, my colour is 11 Vanilla). If i try another foundation and can think i love it and then I'll go back to this and suddenly realise how wrong the other looks on my skin. It is such a gorgeous colour and has both pink and yellow undertone selections, which is perfect as foundations always seem to be too much of either for my skin. For my everyday foundation, this is definitely a favourite. 


I don't have any qualms with the packaging either, i am more then happy to squeeze out my foundation and i find that i use a more precise amount if i do it slowly with the bottle. For me, it's somewhere between a pump and a bottle without a pump, so it's not too bad at all. I really like the little details on the back about the coverage and finish, it's a really nice touch to be able to make a choice whether the foundation fits to your criteria before you buy. I'd love it if L'Oreal brought out this across the whole brand as as far as I'm aware, it is just on this foundation.

L'Oreal for me is on the higher end of drugstore, it's not super affordable but it is worth a try in my opinion. This specific foundation is actually cheaper then i remember it, and it's currently on Boot's' website for £7.99. 

I would 100% repurchase this product and i really enjoy using this on a daily basis and don't feel like I'm wasting my money by using it so often. I hope you understand what i mean by that! 

I'm sorry for my recent hiatus from blogging, i am stocked well up with work recently and am struggling to juggle my everyday life with my work as it is, but I'll try and blog a bit more often in the next few weeks. I also hope i'll be able to blog in advance because i have lots of things i'm excited to tell you about at the moment so hopefully i'll be able to get it up as soon as possible.

Thankyou so much for you patience guys, i appreciate every read!

Jo x

In Shower Body Moisturiser, Worth the hype?

Okay, so first i should probably say I've only tried one of these products. But I've been totally converted by this Nivea product, it really does what it says and i love it for it. 
I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to try one as being someone with super dry skin and really hating that 'tight' skin feeling as it dries after showers, but also hating the greasy residue left by body lotions, you would have thought it'd be high on my 'To- Try' list. But i think i just had such low expectations of the in shower varieties of moisturisers, i didn't even consider it.

But then, as it always seems to happen, i saw this particular moisturiser on offer for about £2 which is less then half price and i thought why not? And I've been really enjoying it. For me, it makes showers a lot more relaxing as my skin always feels so nourished and silky when i apply it and when i get out and dry off, my skin feels amazingly soft and not at all tight. And it definitely lasts. My skin remains feeling really soft and clean throughout the next day or so until my next shower and I've even found that it works really nicely alongside a shaving gel to make shaving my legs much less irritable for my skin and helps my skin remain feeling soft with very little razor burn, much less then usual. 

My skin has been feeling the benefits over time as well. I had some really bad dry patches on my shoulders from scarring and nothing i ever did seemed to truly do much for this. And for the first couple of times of using this moisturiser, i must admit it did very little to relieve this. But over time, i have noticed that it's gotten much better and much less noticeable which is always a huge bonus for me, and makes me feel like it does do something worthwhile and has a lasting nourishing effect for my skin. 

The cream itself has very little scent. It's supposed to contain cocoa butter and i can for sure say that it does have a very very mild smell of chocolate but overall nothing overpowering or at all sickly. You can barely smell it when you apply it in the shower and it might as well be scentless which is a good thing for me as i like to be able to smell my amazing body shop shower gels and I'd have to swap these out if the smell of another body product was overpowering or obscuring the fruity scents. I'm sure if you had a good look round the store, there would be different scents available and I've seen a honey one i have my eye on from the same line as the scent is so subtle, i don't mind trying something different. 
 It's a very thick consistency but when it is applied onto wet skin, it spreads really lovely and feels really gorgeous on the skin. I like to leave mine on for about a minute or so once applied so i can feel the full benefits afterwards but it works very well when I'm in a hurry as well.  It is as easy as apply, rinse and dry and it is effective.
My only bug bear with this product is that it is quite pricey and you don't get all that much. Don't get me wrong, it's lasted me a while. But it's only for me. If you were sharing it with your family or partner, this would not last long at all. And for the full price, i would like a little more product. But i can't argue as i got it so cheap on offer, but i will be on the look out for a bigger product or a cheaper version that's just as good, as i feel like it's quite a simple product and although i wouldn't be without it, i'm still a bit of a skin flint when it comes to skin care and shower products. 

Overall, this has completely overhauled the way i shower and apply body care after and i couldn't be without it anymore. I'd definitely recommend these products and I'm going to try and pick up a few others over time to see if it is pretty consistent across the brands or whether it's just this product from this specific brand. 

Thanks for reading guys, 
Jo x 

Protection Palette: Does it live up to it's name?

I bought this a while ago for everyday, keep in my handbag kind of use. I must admit for the price i wasn't expecting too much and although i knew i already had a soft spot for Makeup Revolution, i still had doubts whether this would live up to my expectations.

And to be honest, it did and more. The palette itself contains three concealers, a powder, a blush, a bronzer and a highlighter and is supposed to be for on-the-go touch ups throughout the day, which is exactly how i use it. The pigment in all the products is amazing, they all have great pay-off and give really nice finishes.  The product i use the most in this palette is without a doubt the concealers. I generally use the darkest for spots and colour correcting as it has a very strong yellow undertone and the medium colour for under my eyes and highlighting. The lightest colour is super, super pale, like i'd have to really blend this to stop it looking completely insane, so i don't normally use this one. But the others i have hit pan on both as i get so much use from them. They are super creamy, blend really well even with my fingers and are super opaque so have a really good coverage which is great for on the go touch ups. They are a little dry and do cling to dry patches a little but all in all the concealers are a really good product.

The powder is also really lovely, reasonably finely milled so doesn't look too cakey even on my dry skin. I can apply this with my fingers if need be and it still looks really natural on the skin. It's a translucent powder, so you're not going to end up with it being too dark or too light on your skin, it's a really forgiving shade, and I also feel like there is a slight glow to the powder, nothing too visible but it definitely illuminates which I really like, as it leaves a really nice finish on my skin. It keeps shine at bay for a good couple of hours without touching up, so for a person with oilier skin then me, this may be a bit less but still for such a decent product, you get quite a lot for the money.

The cheek products are also really good quality. The highlighter is a really subtle pink toned glow, that can be built up to give a much more intense highlight. Again, the powder is finely milled and blends really easily, it has got a slight iridescence so if you're not a huge fan of sheeny cheek products, this might not be for you.

The blush is a very wearable pink, and is just the right amount of pigment. It can be blended out really nicely or built up to a more opaque colour. The powder is a really lovely formula and leaves a nice finish, and it is a nice everyday shade that I think will look good on most people.

The contour/bronzer is the only disappointment with this palette for me, and even then, i wouldn't call it bad, it's just wrong for my skin tone, so it will suit other people perfectly. It's a bit too orangey for my pale skin, but if I really blend it out, it is wearable, and I am going to try to use it more often because it has such a nice texture. It feels quite silky, and I am glad that it's in this palette, although it's not quite the right colour.

I must admit, I'm not sure I'm happy that the cheek products are in this palette, as I don't know about you, but I don't tend to top up my cheeks throughout the day. As a result, I don't tend to reach for them as often because this palette usually lives in my handbag, and it's just a bit of a faff getting up and finding it when I'm at home because I have other colours available in my collection to hand, but overall, for the price, I really can't complain. I really love the palette as a whole and I would definitely repurchase once the products start running out. I'd highly recommend this as a really good on-the-go product. The packaging is compact, light, and has a fantastic mirror built into the lid. It feels sturdy, and it doesn't make me feel nervous about just throwing it in my bag and carrying it around with me on a day to day basis. I definitely recommend the palette, and the £6 is worth every penny (at the time of writing, this palette is on sale for £4 on the Makeup Revolution website, and I seriously suggest that you snap it up for that price!), and I'll definitely be buying a backup.

Thankyou so much for reading guys! I'm sorry my posts have been a bit irregular recently, I've returned to school and it's all been a bit hectic. I hope it'll all settle down and that I'll get back into a bit of a routine again, so bare with me.

Jo x

Perfect highlight in no time flat.....

Back to normal guys! 

First off, let me apologise about the lighting in these photos, I'm not sure why but they came across very yellow when i uploaded them to my computer so I'm sorry but i promise the product is not super yellow in person.
So...Let's get straight into this; so this is a super damn love of mine that is such a recent buy but such an amazing one. 

Maybe last week i headed into boots with my best friend for the first time since she got back from Germany and we, naturally, had a little scout round the make-up. Funnily enough there wasn't that much that really jumped out and screamed "BUY ME!!!" (trust me that's a true problem), so just as we were about to head off, my friend picked up this highlighter and swatched it. I wasn't that convinced at first as I'm a little sceptical of cheaper brands like Collection but once we tried it, we both instantly fell in love. 

My friend who is very into contouring, much unlike me, was completely taken with this and on her slightly darker, olive tone skin, this looked incredible. On my pale yellow toned skin, this looked a little less impressive but for the super affordable price and for the love of the super creamy, none sticky formula, i picked one up. 

And since i have been using it none stop ever since. The highlight is in a stick format as you can see in the picture and the colour is very subtle but build able and it's just as easy to have a very slight glow then to have a full, strong highlight. This, to me, is all down to the formula and colour.




The colour is so beautiful, like a pearly glow, with very very little shimmer and in a cream stick formula, it's so blendable and easy to smudge out so you don't just have a stripe down your face, Not cute. It's dry enough not to be sticky and to be super comfortable to apply and wear but it's creamy enough not to pull up all your base and make a mess of your foundation.


The application is so easy due to the stick format. Just one swipe, blend. And for a more intense pay-off, repeat. And it's really that easy. You really can't go wrong with this product which is so awesome as i generally struggle to blend properly. 

And the best part, my absolute favourite highlight of the moment and potentially ever is only £3.99 at Superdrug. And at the moment it's even on offer for £2.66. You get so much product for your money and you can't go wrong for trying with this highlight it's so cheap; It's worth a shot. 

Thanks for reading, 
Jo x 

7 lips in 7 days: NYX Butter Gloss "Tiramisu"

Day 7

I'm so so sorry about my serious failure with this series. I'm really disappointed that i didn't keep up with the series properly as i wanted to, but a lot of things happened this week that really had to take priority in my thoughts, I'm sure you understand. I'll go into a little more detail at a later date once everything is properly sorted but I've had a lot on this week, so forgive me but I'm going to shorten this series to a 7 lips in 7 days and finish it today so i can start a fresh page next week with all my blogging which is desperately needed at this point. 

So for my last post, i thought I'd talk about something that I've been wearing a lot more recently and i can see myself getting a lot of wear out of in the future and it's this NYX butter gloss. NYX is not a brand that is readily available in the UK so when i went over to Germany a couple of weeks ago i picked up a few products to try out and I'm still intending on doing a sort of haul review soon on all the German products i picked up from brands i hadn't tried before like NYX and Kiko. 

But this is one of the highlights of the products i picked up. It is a gloss, which is generally something that would instantly put me off but when i swatched this in store, it felt so different and unique to all the other glosses I've tried that i decided to take a bit of a gamble and pick one up. I went for the only non-pink in stock which was this sort of nude brown colour called Tirimasu which is a colour i really like. But the colour itself when applied is a really nice wash of colour, but there is defiantly a lot of pigmentation to it which is unlike many other glosses i have tried before now but it's the texture that is particularly special.




They have a super creamy rich formula that really glides on really smoothly and effortlessly. I don't find mine particularly tacky but more like a liquid lipstick consistency, just very creamy smooth finish on the lips. They are reasonably long lasting as glosses go and do as the name suggest feel buttery and thick but very creamy at the same time. They are very moisturising, i love reaching for this when my lips are dry and need a bit of nourishing but with a little hint of colour that evens out my lip tone and looks slightly glossy but not anything hugely offensive, enough for me to wear knowing i am fundamentally a matte lip kind of girl. 


It smells lovely, a really subtle sweet scent but nothing again, too strong but a kind of comfortable, but appealing scent to go on the lips. These are not that expensive either so if you see these about, or are in a country where NYX is sold readily, I'd try one sometime if your looking for a nice everyday lip product. i believe they come in a lot of colours so there is something for everyone and i would definitely pick another up given half a chance.

So in all, I'd recommend these without a doubt. They're comfortable and really lovely texture and a good colour range at a good price at £5.00 on their UK online store and i'll be picking some more up in the future. 
Thats it for now of these lip posts but i have a couple of products I'd like to talk about in the next few weeks that are very exciting for me but thank you all very very much for reading i really appreciate it, it means a lot.

Jo x 

7 Lips in 7 Days: Freedom Pro Lipstick "Juicy Lips"

Day 5:

So, we're up to Day 5 and this is kind of a weird one for me. I really like the colour, i really like the formula but i really, really dislike this colour on me. 

I picked this up a while ago when Freedom first launched in a really great deal for 6 for £5 or something like that, i forget. Anyway, it was actually one of the ones in the set i wasn't hugely excited about from the image online but when i got it, i instantly fell in love with it. It's a vibrant coral/pinky/orangey colour that is such a lovely colour for summer but something about it, just is not flattering with my skin tone. I've mentioned before but i have very pink lips which makes buying nudes or lighter lipsticks a bit of an issue and this is one of them. On me, it looks kind of wrong as because it is reasonably sheer, you can still see my natural lip colour underneath. This really emphasises every imperfection on my lips and somehow makes my lip line stand out very brightly so there is absolutely no room for error. It makes me look like i have food round my mouth which is never ever a good look. 

But putting that to one side. It's a beautiful colour, that is a really nice formula, super creamy and not super glossy or too sheer (although it is for me, but I'm just a bit odd) to be unwearable unflattering. It's a lovely summer colour and i think it's really worth the building up to get an opaque effect once in a while to really show off the colour.

Okay, so it's not going to last all day, it does need topping up every so often, perhaps more then normal, but in it's defence it does wear off really evenly so its not messy. I'd recommend a liner to make it last longer, as this does work. 

SO basically, if this colour suits you, it's an amazing colour for the summer. The packaging is sleek and simple but practical and feels sturdy and they are almost identical to the MUA and Makeup revolution lipsticks. 

And the best part is that these lipsticks are available for £1! Or like me you can get a set for £4-5. SO if one takes your fancy, I'd definitely recommend giving these a try or anything from the Freedom range so far as I've been super impressed with everything I've tried as of yet. 

Thanks for reading guys and I'll see you tomorrow!

Jo x