REVIEW - MUA - Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter

Hullo Ladies!

I'm reviewing the MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter today and I have a lot to say about it!

Like every other blogger and their Gran I was super excited when MUA released the Undress Your Skin Range, this highlighter and the palette were the things I was most excited about so as soon as the release date came I high tailed it down to my local Superdrug in hopes that they had some in! 

Ten Minutes later I walked out of the store with my own Undress Me Too Palette (Reviewed Here) and the Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter. 

First I'm going to talk about some things I like about this highlighter. 

It looks stunning in the compact and is embossed in this expensive looking design that you see on those higher end products were all craving but at a great price - 7.5g for £3!

It also has great pigmentation and a gorgeous peachy/beige tone. 

Now onto what dislike about the product. 

This might be because of my personal skin tone (very pale and red) or type (very dry) but this highlighter just doesn't sit well on my skin, even after trying to blend it into my skin using my fingers, it  looks too unnatural on me and the pink shimmers stand out. 

From L-R - MUA Undress Your Skin - ELF Gotta Glow - Bourjois Eye Shadow in Blanc Diaphane

The MUA highlighter is more pigmented than the ELF one but not as smooth as my Bourjois one. I know the Bourjois one isn't a highlighter but It's what I use it as and hey...there's no rules to makeup! 

All in all even though I'm not 100% happy with it, I think it's one you need to try yourself to see how it looks on you. I am hoping they bring out some more of these with some different finishes and I also think it would be amazing if they brought out blushes in this size with that embossing! 

Have you tried this highlighter? 

Linzi xxx

REVIEW - Barry M Lip Paint - 153 Pink Ribbon

Hullo Ladies!

Spring is on it's way and I'm feeling the love for some brighter lipsticks!

I've been drooling over the Maybelline Vivid s collection all week but I'm a pauper at the moment and just can't afford them. So instead I searched through my whole makeup stash and found a bunch of lipsticks I've been neglecting the last couple of months. Pink Ribbon by Barry M was one of them.

I have a love hate relationship with Barry M lip paints. Sometimes their formula can be great and then other times it's down right terrible! 

Pink Ribbon has a wonderful formula though, very moisturizing and reminds me a lot like a MAC Cremesheen. 

It a lovely mid tone pink that has slight yellow tones which some people may think would not work to well with paler skin types but I have to disagree, I love it!

Now I've re-discovered this Lip Paint I'm going to be having a good look at the Barry M stand next time I'm in Superdrug :-) 

I find this to be a great transitional colour for spring, not too bright or neon but a lovely pop of colour that I've been missing these Winter months. 

Hope you have all had a great Friday! 

I've been re-reading the J R Ward Blackdagger Brotherhood series because the next book is coming out later in the month. I've been waiting four years for this book to come out so you may understand how excited I am for it! 

Linzi xxx

February Favourites 2013

Hey Ladies! 

Rimmel Match Perfection In Light Porcelain -  I'm in love with this foundation at the moment. It's a great colour for me, best I've found so far. It gives me a good medium coverage and looks very dewy on my extremely dry skin. 

N.Y.C HD Felt Liner - I reviewed this recently and I'm really liking it, I don't find it as easy to use as my gel liner but for the price it lasts a great time and looks really good on the eye!

The Body Shop Carrot Cream - I've used this cream for years, I'm basically trying everything at the moment to help my fry skin and I've re-discovered this one. Light and moisturizing and not too heavily scented. 

Dainty Doll Eye Shadow Base - A recent purchase for me! I've been using it as a base for my eye shadow for the last week and I love how it just brightens my eye and keeps my eye shadow looking great all day :-) 

MUA Undress Me Too - I've been using this palette ever since I bought it! I't a great palette for neutral shadow lovers. I've reviewed it here. 

MUA Brow Pencil in Brunette - Before this month I had never filled my brows, all I did really was pluck them but I've recently been wanting to try out some brow products and for a £1 this is one I'm really liking so far, I also want to try out the MUA Pro-Brow Kit. 

Dainty Doll Lipstick in Saucy Sailor - I love red lippy's and this is a beautiful one! I reviewed it here. 

Simple Purifying Cleansing Lotion - I've been suffering with bad skin lately, so I've been purchasing alot of skin care items. I've always heard a lot about the Simple brand but after trying the makeup wipes I wasn't that impressed. I recently splurged though and bought this cleansing lotion after I heard that using a lotion to cleanse can help dry skin. I'm really loving it and use it day and night. 

Roberto Cavalli EDP - One of my all time favourite perfumes ever! I know I love a scent when I feel like I could bathe in it and not get bored. It's a sexy oriental and I can't say enough good things about it. I'll be reviewing it soon! 

So those are all the products I've been loving this month! 

What have your been loving?

Linzi xxx

REVIEW - Dainty Doll - Lipstick - Saucy Sailor

Hey Ladies!

I've always been a fan of red lipstick but for a long time I actually only owned one, which was M.A.C Red. So when I bought the Dainty Doll bags from TK Maxx without knowing what was inside them I nearly did a happy dance when I saw that one of the lipsticks was a bright firetruck red. 

This is a great quality lipstick, it's creamy and pigmented and after it's been on your lips for a good hour it leaves an even stain. Which means that instead of reapplying the lipstick through the day I could just re-apply a gloss or balm. 

That isn't me though, I just love putting on my lipstick :-) It's nice to have the option either way! 

Sadly due to lighting my camera couldn't pick up how bright the lipstick actually is. 

So I'm including a picture of me wearing it when I went to a Charity Gig last weekend with some friends! I'm the one on the far right with the bright red lips :-)

It's safe to say that I'm in love with this lipstick, it doesn't show up my dry patches and stays around for good few hours. 

You can buy this lipstick - HERE 

Do you have a favourite red lippy? What is it?

Linzi xxx

REVIEW - NYC - High Definition - Liquid Liner - Extra Black

Hullo Ladies!

If you've been reading my blog for awhile you may now I'm a big fan of the Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Liners. That and my MAC Fluidlines are the only thing I like to wear.

I have tried other liners over the years. Some of them liquid. 

I've been reading a lot of reviews lately on Felt Liners though, ones that have the look of felt pens and apply like one too. 

I heard of some good ones from Brands like, Soap and Glory and Maybelline but didn't want to spend too much money on one until I knew if I liked how a felt liner applied first. If I found it easy and usable. 

In the end I picked up the NYC High Definition Liquid Liner in Extra Black. What I found strange was that on the Superdrug Website and in the store it's called the High Definition Felt Tip Liner but on the actual packaging It's called the High Definition Liquid Liner....Strange! 

On to the liner itself, It took me a few goes to learn how to do it, which may sound silly to you but I can be very fussy with how my liner looks. 

At first I could only create really thick lines like in the picture below because I kept making mistakes and had to go over them by making my line thicker instead of wiping it of and starting all over again! 

I realized soon after that this might have been my fault, I was using it like I would my gel liner, not taking into account that I needed to put slightly more pressure on the pen to create a neat line. 

It's not the blackest liner I've used but it has great pigmentation and doesn't go on patchy at all. 

I don't find problems with slow drying either, I have a habit of blinking when applying my liner and sometimes when using a liquid liner or ever a gel one this could mean that I end up with my liner nearly touching my brow bone! 

That is one of the reasons I love my Bobbi Brown so much and also why I like this, It dries very quickly and doesn't budge easily. 

I applied this liner around Twelve this Afternoon and took it of seven hours later and It looked the same as when I applied. 

I do not suffer with creasing or oily lids naturally so that may be why It sticks around for so long but if you do have those problems then It may be wise to use a primer/base of some kind first. 

All In All, I really like this Felt Liner, it's good quality, inexpensive and It's great for everyday wear when I don't feel like using my more expensive gel liners. 

You can buy this product for £2.99 in Superdrug - HERE 

Have you tried any good Felt Tip Liners recently? 

Linzi xxx

My Foundation History

I've just read a great post written by Maeve from Thrift O'Clock ! 

It's A Make Up History 'Tag' where you just talk about certain products you've tried throughout the years. At the moment though I'm just going to be doing my Foundation history as its really the only part of my makeup history that I can remember what came first! I can't imagine trying to do my lipsticks....it would take  me forever!! 

I'm sure we've all been through it, trying out foundation upon foundation trying to find that one that fits us. One that would fit me perfectly is something that would be light in colour and stay that way, wouldn't show my dry patches too much or make them worse and would also have a good medium to full coverage to help cover redness and blemishes.  

15 years old -  At this point I wasn't really interested in makeup but I was going to gigs with friends and didn't want to be the odd one out so I asked my mam to take me to Superdrug and buy me some goodies. The foundation I picked up was the Maybeline Dream Matte Mousse. 

It was a long time ago so I can't be totally sure on what colour I picked up but I can imagine it being ivory. I remembering it being very cakey on my and drying. Slightly orange toned too. In fact I think I only wore it twice before I gave up on it. 

18 Years Old  - I didn't wear any makeup for a long time after that but not long after my eighteenth birthday I started to experiment with makeup and through the internet read lots of great reviews on the Rimmel 16 hour foundation. I bought it in store and although it wasn't a perfect match for me it was usable. That was until it started breaking me out. Not fun!

After having some problems with drugstore foundations I decided to treat myself to something a bit more high end. I went into Debenhams and started chatting to a Clinique MUA. I told her that I was looking for a foundation that helped with redness and she tried the Clinique Even Better foundation in Alabaster on me and I really liked it. It wasn't the exact colour match but with blending worked great. I used that foundation for a long time but was still trying to find a cheaper alternative. 

19 Years Old -  Not long later I heard about a very pale foundation on some Youtube videos and decided to give it a try, It was the GOSH Exceptional Wear In Porcelain  Nearly a great match for me. Some days it would look great the overs it would make me look ill it was so pale. So I decided to try the next shade up and that was too dark. I mixed the two and used them until they where empty. I liked that they gave me good coverage and lasted a long time on my skin. What I didn't like is that they did show up my dry spots and make my look "flakey"  at the end of the day - Ewww.

Then in the Summer me and my family went on a holiday to Spain, in the Airport on the way home I was dying to pick up some High End makeup. I had heard so many great things about Estee Lauder Double Wear so that's the counter I went to first. I was approached buy a MUA and we swatched some colours and because I was slightly tanned at the time I choose a darker colour than I usually would, but in the winter I just add a lighter foundation and mix them to get a closer match whilst still keeping that full coverage. I love this foundation and hope to be using it for many years and hopefully be matched with my correct shade one day!


Not long after I decided to keep looking for a drugstore foundation I'd love, I came across the Maybelline Superstay 24 hour foundation. I picked the lightest shade they had and although it was slightly too yellow toned at first it worked fine. Then I noticed that after about 30 minutes on my skin it oxidizes badly. Making my look almost orange in colour! It also clung to my dry patches making them look flaky.


20 Years Old -   After hearing so much abut the famous Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealor I decided to try it out, when I got to the store I saw that they also did a foundation In the range - also called Lasting Perfection - and picked that up too. I got the lightest colour but when I got home it was too dark for me, I mixed it with a lighter foundation and wore it for a few weeks. It's definitely medium to full coverage. I've started to believe it was breaking me out though and have stopped using it. I suggest giving it a go though, If you need a fuller coverage and you can find your colour match. It may not do to you what It did to me.

My latest foundation purchase is one I'm very excited about, It's the Rimmel Match Perfection foundation in Light Porcelain. I've only been wearing it a few days so I can't tell you much or if it breaks me out like my other Rimmel foundation but what I can tell you is that It's my perfect colour match, It doesn't cling to any dry patches If i'm using my moisturizer and it covers my redness! I'll be reviewing it fully in a week or two so keep an eye out     :-)

So that's my foundation history/timeline there's no doubt a few I've missed but If I can't remember them they probably were not that interesting!

I loved writing this post and I hope someone gains something from it, whether it's to help buy a foundation or to stay away from one and remember that this is my personal view on these foundation but as we all have different skin types, may not be yours.

Linzi xxx

REVIEW - Dainty Doll Blusher - Money Talks

Hullo Ladies!

I hauled some Dainty Doll products a few days ago and I've been trying them out for you so I can write up some new reviews :-) 

Dainty Doll Is a brand that was created by Nicola Roberts.....in other words the pale one from Girls Aloud!

I grew up watching these girls become the band they are today and in the beginning I always thought Nicola was the prettiest, I loved her hair and how pale she was...then something horrific happened. Someone important didn't agree with having such a pale girl in the band and Nicola was told to wear fake tan. 

Images taken from Google.com

I think the photos above show just how important it can mean to embrace your natural skin colour. 

I never really understood the reason why so many girls go to, sometimes, extreme measures to change the colour of their skin. 

It doesn't help that make up brands have been neglecting certain skin tones for years, those of us that are very pale and those that are very dark. For some reason they apparently believe we should all just be some colour in between. 

Like many of us, Nicola Robert's disagreed with this idea and brought out a brand of make up that suited her and a whole lot of neglected faces! 

Money Talks is a subtle bronze/taupe colour that gives me a gorgeous glow. 

It's very pigmented so I make sure to be light handed with my brush.

I've never worn a Bronzer that I haven't immediately wiped of my face so I was pleasantly surprised with this product. 

 Blended out swatch  and  heavy handed swatch

One thing I noticed very quickly about this powder was how soft and finely milled it was. It's very high quality and worth the £13.50. Although you can get them much cheaper from some places. I know that Boot's sometimes have the brand on sale. 

I'm having a lot of fun trying out the Dainty Doll products I've bought and will be reviewing the others soon! 

Have you tired this brand before? 

Linzi xx