Sleek Make up Haul

Hi everyone,

So it's been nearly a year since I've posted, oops! I'm really getting back into my make up at the moment and can't stop myself from buying beauty bargains.

This month I treated myself to a brow kit and some blushes from Sleek Make Up. Sleek has received rave reviews from all different kinds of beauty websites and bloggers, with different skin types, skin tones and tastes in make up. The only thing I have from them so far is their lipstick in Cherry, which is a beautiful dark red and I thoroughly recommend! At £4.99, the colour, quality and staying power is amazing. But back to my most recent haul:

Here they are, unopened in all their newness. From left to right:

• Sleek Make Up Blush in Rose Gold - £4.49
• Sleek Make Up Blush By 3 Palette in Californ.I.A - £8.95
• Sleek Make Up Brow Kit Light - £8.07

I bought these from the official Sleek Make Up Amazon UK store, so I got a couple of the pieces a bit cheaper than from in store (you can buy them in Boots or Superdrug), and the delivery was free.

I chose these out of their whole range as firstly, I am terrible at doing my brows! My eyebrows are really pale, I don't have much hair there and what is there flies in every direction. I don't have loads of money to spend taming them and I'm quite reluctant to buy eyebrow products as even blonde ones have been too dark in the past. I have heard that this brow kit is a fantastic dupe for Benefit's, and even though I couldn't find many swatches on line, it just about looked light enough. As you get brushes, tweezers and two colours (wax and shadow) for under a tenner, it had been on my wish list for a while. I'm excited to try it out!

As for the blushes, I am desperate for some variety in that department as sadly I only own two! I haven't heard a bad word about Sleek's Rose Gold blush, famously a dupe for the beautiful but expensive NARS Orgasm, so I just had to try it out for myself. 

I had never heard of Sleek's California blush palette until I started looking on the Amazon store. Again, I couldn't find many swatches online so I'd like to add own to what's available, and I chose these because they look perfect for an every day pretty, natural glow, and I thought they'd look good with my pale winter skin and with a tan. I hear cream blushes are much harder to apply than powder, so hopefully I don't have too many problems.

Over the next week or so I will post detailed swatches, pictures and tutorials on all three of these products, so keep checking back and remember you can follow me on the sidebar to the right!

I also have a brand new Instagram account: beautygemsbog, so you can get your make up fix through insta and find out when my newest posts are up :)

Love,

Gem

John Frieda Blonde Go Blonder Controlled Lightening Spray Results and Review

Hi girls, I hope you're all making it through this very cold and wet weather. Surely it can't last much longer now?

Today I wanted to share with you my results for John Frieda Blonde Go Blonder lightening spray because it's worked really well whenever I've used it over the last couple of years.

This product is a great alternative to home dying which I used to do this a lot, when even though you had pictures on the boxes to go by you could never tell what it was going to come out as! So if you want your hair brightened up a bit or gradually want to turn it lighter, this could be the product for you - IF you have naturally blonde hair already.

My natural hair colour is a dull ash blonde and has natural highlights and lowlights in it already. I took the 'before' picture a couple of months ago when I had just got my haircut and the only dye that was on it was the remnants of the last time I used the spray which had grown out about half way. The 'after' picture shows two uses of the spray and I tried to take it in the same location and lighting.

The photos don't do much justice really as it's more noticeable in person. However I think you can tell that where my hair was darker before at the roots it's been lightened all over while still keeping my natural highlights. Again, you can't really tell from my bad quality photos but I found the photos on the side of the box below really accurate and my hair colour lightened as I expected it to judging by these - whilst also lightening my hair it gave it more of a golden tone..

I used a lot of spray each time as I really wanted to make sure I had covered my whole head. The instructions state that the more heat you apply when drying and styling your hair, the better results you'll see. I blow dried and straightened my hair both times with medium settings as I didn't want to use heat protection spray along with the lightening spray. One of my friends who also used this product said it really dried her hair out, so I wouldn't go too crazy with the first application just to test how your hair reacts to it. From my experience it my hair dried out ever so slightly, but I think that's down to the heat application more than anything and giving it a good conditioning the next day sorts it out.

The packaging also states that you can use the product up to 10 times, but I think I have quite a noticeable difference with just 2! I do have very thin hair though, so having a lot of thick hair may need more sprays.

So far I've used about a third of a bottle in a couple of years, seeing as the lightening is permanent and I have really thin hair. If you don't want to spend up to £6 every time you want to dye your hair when your roots grow out or simply want a subtle change, this is a great option as you can lighten your hair to your taste, or only spray your roots if your previous colour is growing out. The spray is £6.99 from most popular drug stores.

Gem xxx

Models Own 50% Sale Haul

If you've never tried Models Own, what are you waiting for? I am a bit of a nail polish obsessive, and this is my favourite ever affordable brand (I like their make up too). As well as normal colours, the company makes all kinds of incredible glitter polishes, a large variety of nail art pen colours, and special polishes like their matt top coat and duo artistix for easy nail art.

I was so excited about their 50% off sale and had my basket ready for checkout the moment the sale went live. My order arrived the next morning which was amazing, and I wish I had bought more now! I bought £40 worth of products, which came down to £22.95 as I had to pay for postage on top of the discount. Here's my box of goodies:

I'll start off with the angled blush brush. This came down to £4 in the sale which is excellent value as I haven't found one under £10 in Boots or Superdrug. I love the neon orange as it's always nice to have pretty colours in your make up bag! The website or packaging doesn't say what the brush is made from but it feels like synthetic hair, and as you can see in the second picture the bristles are tiny and soft. I normally use a round brush to apply my blush and it does tend to cover my whole cheek and not contour very well, so this seems to be doing the trick so far!

There are loads of beauty bloggers raving about Models Own Lip Stix, and after trying on a raspberry coloured lipstick earlier on in the year I was really keen to buy Raspberry Cool. The product as a whole is great because it's really sturdy - it would be hard to break apart from the tiny cap, and the packaging is a nice change from normal lipsticks.

The colour was a bit more pink than I first imagined, and it applies like a coloured lip balm, but after a while it becomes more matte and a bit darker, and you can add more layers. Even though it dries to a matte consistency it feels really nourishing and doesn't dry my lips out at all. Overall it's a really unique product and their 10 shades are all completely different so there's a flattering shade for everyone. Oh, and at £5 each they're a steal!

Although the Pinky Red (top) and Hyper Matt Bright Hawaiian Pink (bottom) lipsticks look very different to each other in the photos, they look quite similar on and Pinky Red is so vibrant that it could pass for a Matt Bright too!

Pinky Red is exactly what it says it is, and is a shade that I find hard to get hold of, and Hawaiian Pink is the most beautiful shade of deep bright pink. Even though they are both matte shades, they aren't thick and dry, they apply really easily and don't dry out my lips either. They are normally £6 each, so are fantastic additions to a lipstick lovers collection as both shades can be worn during the day or for a special occasion. (For a daytime look I normally apply a small amount and dab it to cover my whole lips, then apply a balm over the top). The lid clicks on really firmly too, so you'll never have any handbag accidents.

I'm really pleased with the quality of all three of these lipsticks and would recommend trying them as the shades are so unique.

As for my new Fruit Pastel collection, these are quite simple the cutest polishes ever! Models Own bottles always showcase their colours really well, but the scratch 'n' sniff label on the top makes it adorable, and also easier to find in a mountain of other polishes. I bought Apple Pie (mint green), Strawberry Tart (pale pink) and Grape Juice (lilac).

All three of the polishes have quite a thin consistency, but a thin bottom layer and a thicker top one works just fine. they all smelled like normal polishes as I was applying them, but when they dried they started to smell amazing, and strong too! Both Apple Pie and Strawberry Tart I could smell the whole two days I had them on (although it's a bit weird smelling your fingers and asking people to smell them...), but I didn't find Grape Juice as strong. However, their smell is just a bonus as they are all wonderful shades too.

I have a lot of pink nail polishes already, but Strawberry Tart is now one of my favourites because it manages to be pastel coloured and vibrant at the same time. The same can be said for the other two as well, because I have never liked a pale green or purple shade of polish enough to buy either before.

My only negative comment about these polishes is that when they start to chip, they do so in big chunks. Hopefully this will be solved by a good top coat (at the moment I use Nailene Acrylic Strong Protective Top Coat which I got in a French manicure set in Boots).

So that's it for today! I think that's my Spring make up sorted. Models Own have started setting up Bottleshops around the UK which stock over 200 colours, but if you want to save some money Boots and Superdrug both stock the most popular colours and collections and usually at least one of them has a 3 for 2 offer on.

Gem xxx

New Look Sale Haul Bargains

Hey guys,

So I went into town to sort out my phone contract a couple of days ago and afterwards couldn't resist popping into New Look next door. I can't wait to see what everyone's getting in for Spring and they had a few lovely pieces already, but I also found they still had a lot of really lovely things left in their sale. With my mum getting an extra 10% off on her Lloyds card too, I picked up some massive bargains. Here's what I bought:

Texture Triangle Ring 

This cute little ring was only £1. As always with rings I put clear nail polish around the inside so it won't make my skin go green. I haven't taken it off since I bought with as it matches really well with my watch.

Spike Triangle Drop Earrings

Geometric earrings were very in last year, but somehow I can't see them matching with the pastels and florals that are now coming in for Spring. Regardless, these £2 gems will look great with the black leggings and big cosy jumpers that I always wear in Winter!

Toggle Friendship Bracelet

I couldn't resist buying this cute little bracelet for £2. I don't normally wear many fake diamantés but I thought this design was simple but a little bit different too. Unfortunately I have to knot it below the toggle for it not to slip off, but it still makes a nice subtle difference to an outfit.

Tooth Spike Bracelet

For £1, I thought this bracelet was a bargain. Places like Topshop sold similar pieces to this over the Summer for a lot more money and I have no doubt that spiky Aztec style jewellery will be in again next year! I think it will look great with some gold bangles worn with a printed dress.

Enamel Shard Statement Necklace

The statement necklaces I already own are are all spikes and metal, and are worn to make outfits a bit more edgy, so for £3 I thought this was a great piece of jewellery to have in case I need to jazz up a more elegant outfit.

Tapestry Spike Statement Necklace

I've saved the best 'til last! I am in love with this necklace and can imagine it perfectly with a little black top and high waisted shorts in the Summer. I think it looks much more expensive than £3 too.

Grey Slub Tee Dress

For £10, this is a great year round staple, from wearing it with tights, boots and a leather jacket when it's cold, and on it's own on lazy warm days. It's super flattering for curvier girls too, as it's tight around the top half and loose from the waist down, has cap sleeves and isn't too short. I have a feeling I'll be wearing this a lot!

Turquoise Zip Vest £3

The last thing I picked up was this top for £3. I think it has just enough detail to wear with plain bottoms and still make an interesting outfit with the right accessories. This colour looks good on blondes too!

Including the £10% discount, I managed to grab everything here for just £22.50 - that's less than the price of a piece of clothing in a place like Miss Selfridge or Topshop! Buying lots of jewellery is a great way to change up old outfits, so hopefully this haul will keep me from spending too much money shopping for a while. I also learnt that it's worth heading into the smaller stores belonging to a clothing chain, as the great bits get snapped up quickly in the more popular/bigger stores and you're more likely to find a bargain that's been overlooked when a shop has less visitors.

Although I love New Look's clothes, I haven't bought much jewellery from there before. Does it wear well in your opinion or is it not great quality?

Gem xxx

Rimmel Lasting Finish Blush and Volume Flash Mascara Reviews

Hi everyone,

I’m very excited to write my first post here and my first review, with hopefully many more to come. Please see my About page to find out a bit more about myself and the blog 

Last week my blusher that lasted me nearly two years ran out, so I decided the time has come to start picking up a few different shades and start experimenting. I also happened to need a new mascara this week, but being the end of the month I didn’t exactly have a big budget. I saw Rimmel had a 3 for 2 offer in Superdrug so bought their Volume Flash X10 Extreme Black mascara, which is on the cheaper end of their mascara range at £5.99 (I was previously using Collection 2000′s Does It All 5-in-1 mascara which I absolutely loved, but it didn’t last very long and they didn’t have a good selection of blushes). I also picked up their Lasting Finish Soft Colour Blush in 010  Santa Rose and 050 Live Pink. My sister helped me pick out my first blush but this time I was on my own, so I chose the colours by purely guessing which ones would suit my fair skin.

Volume Flash mascara claims to give you up to ten times more volume instantly. The first thing I noticed when I opened the it was that too much product came out on the wand for me, so I had to wipe as much as I could off on the inside of the tube.  The wand consists of simple bristles all the way round like a pipe cleaner, but they are very soft so I found it hard to get between the lashes. As a result my lashes stuck together a LOT, even after wiping the excess product off, but there wasn’t too many clumps considering how much of the product came out. I assume this is because the bristles on the wand are so fine and the product is quite thick that the mascara gets stuck between the fibres so you can’t manipulate or separate the lashes properly. However, a massive plus for me was the colour – I know all black mascaras are essentially the same colour, but maybe because of how much mascara is in the brush as you use it, it really did seem extra black and it looked great and widened my eyes without wearing eyeliner or eyeshadow. 

I’m not a fan of spidery lashes so I don’t really like the look of the mascara up close, but it really stands out from further away. I have fairly small eyes so always wear liquid eyeliner but I was really pleased with how it looked on it’s own. I’d say this is more of a lengthening mascara, as because my lashes couldn’t separate I couldn’t get a sense of the volume! Compared to some other mascaras it does give more length rather than making lashes look fuller. I’m hoping that when the product dries out a bit it might be easier to use, but overall I think the cheap wand lets this mascara down.

My blushes on the other hand I LOVE, and will definitely be trying more! They are £3.99 each at Superdrug at the moment, and as they were in the 3 for 2 offer I got one for free – result! Firstly, I love the design of these products with the union jack pressed into the powder and their crown logo in the plastic on top. At first I thought they were a bit small but after trying them there is no problem getting the powder evenly on my brush and I think it’s great that they don’t take up much room in my make up bag. The packaging is pretty sturdy apart from the clear plastic on top, which feels like it could break if you sat/stood on it by accident so be careful where you leave them. But for that price you can’t really complain anyway. In the picture below, Live Pink is on the left, and Santa Rose on the right.

Santa Rose was the first colour that stood out for me as I normally use beige coloured foundation and it looked like a warm, natural colour that would match it well and also look nice with a tan! The colour is quite hard to describe, I’d say mainly peach but with a hint of pale rose  pink, but it could also pass for coral/peach if wearing a bronzed look. It’s also not completely matte and has teeny tiny glitter particles in it, so it doesn’t look glittery on, just slightly glowy. I’d say it’s medium/high pigmented as you only need a tiny dab on the brush and I only needed a quarter of what I put on compared to my old one, but it blends in easily on top of my foundation and stays on brilliantly the whole day. 10/10!

Bright pink blushes have always looked scarily bright to me but I’ve seen plenty of tutorials where it comes out looking much more natural on skin. Live Pink is a good colour for an evening look but is not so bright that you couldn’t wear it in the day either. As you can see it also has a subtle glitter to it which isn’t noticeable when it’s on. This one again has great pigmentation and is really easy to blend. Like Santa Rose it stayed on all day, and as I caught glimpses of myself in mirrors all day I realised I’d been converted to pink blush!

I don’t have many Rimmel products so which ones would you recommend?

Wearing Live Pink blush with Volume Flash Mascara