Guest Review:- MakeBelieve Sunbeam Bronzer & Brush | #TFWOC

This week marks the last of the 3 reviews for Makebelieve for the 'Tans for Women of Colour' Blogger Project and their lovely scented products (Ok, you’ve had me obsess about their Self-tan for 4 weeks so I'm not going to go into it now). This week we are reviewing the Makebelieve Sunbeam Bronzer & Brush, which is another product from their Enhance Range designed to top up your tan and bring a glow to your face, as many people (me included) do not add tanning products to their face.

I’m not going to lie . . . I had a staring competition with this product trying to figure out the best way to use this. The matte formula of this bronzer paired with the fact that it was a few shades too light made this very difficult for me to review.

Sooooo I gave it to my blog wife Sam of Sam Ram Beauty to review for me and here is what she had to say:-

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Hey guys!
First, I just want to thank Annie for allowing me to do a guest post on her blog. I love her blog so I was super excited to be a (tiny bit) part of it =)

I will be reviewing the Make Believe Enhance Sunbeam Bronzer and Brush compact. On first appearance, I really do like the packaging. The black box and gold writing gives a glamorous feel, and we all love to fell glamorous right? When you open the box it comes with a decent sized mirror and a medium sized Kabuki style brush. The brush is super soft and cute. I love that it’s not too small and not too big. I always find kabuki style brushes to be rather big or they come out too much on the sides. This one is rather tapered and dome shape which is great for contouring too. The bronzer is a matte medium brown shade. This may be disappointing to some who associate bronzer with glitter, I on the other hand, was rather happy. I don’t like shimmery face products because I fear I will look like a disco ball.

Now I don’t actually ever wear bronzer or use products to tan. Partly because I feel that I am tanned enough and I really don’t understand how I could benefit from tanning. So with this mind, I tend to use bronzers to contour with because it gives you a sun kissed, summery, glowish look. Whereas if you just applied the bronzer all over your face, this could look like a mess, it could look unrealistic and it’s not really doing much for your face. If you apply the bronzer in the correct places, such as where you contour, this, to me, gives a more realistic tanned look. It’s an illusion of where the sun has kissed you. This is my personal understanding of it, anyway onto the post.

I decided to use the Sunbeam Bronzer as a contour powder. At first I was a bit sceptical because the bronzer is lighter in shade to what I generally use to contour with. I use the Sleek Contour Kit in medium and the contouring powder has a slight rich brown tone to it, whereas this bronzer is a dull washed out brown tone (If that makes sense). I assumed I would need to use quite a heavy hand but I was wrong. See the pictures below

No Bronzer Added

I first contoured my cheeks and my jawline. As you can see from the pictures, it gives a great colour. It gives a different look compared to my Sleek contour kit, and I actually prefer this look. I think the Sleek contour kit can look heavy, whereas this one is more subtle, blends in better with my skintone and looks more believable. Make believe with that!

I then decided to contour the sides of my nose. Contouring my nose is not a thing I’m good at. I still need to practice a lot more. I found this bronzers tone to work great against my skin and it really reduced the size of my nose. Always a bonus! The bronzer blended out nicely and didn’t look too harsh which my Sleek Contour Kit tends to do. Having said that, I still think it looks a bit obvious that I have contoured my nose. I’m trying to learn how to contour my nose without people thinking I’ve contoured it – if that makes sense.

Overall, thumbs up for being a great contour. As an all over bronzer, I would never personally do that. I actually like this more than my sleek contour kit (kill me). Where does one buy this from?

Answer me Annie!

You get it online dammit!!!! 

Don’t forget, I’m holding a giveaway right now so if you want to get your hands on Love Goddess from the Limited Edition MAC Marilyn Monroe Collection , then best get clicking!!!!

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Review:- MAC #163 Contour Brush from the Face & Body Collection

As there is nothing I despise more than MAC’s Face and Body (click here to read my review/rant on the coloured, watered-down foundation), I already knew that there was no way short of being brain-washed by a psychic alien moonlighting as a MAC makeup artist, that I was going to walk out the MAC store with any Face & Body foundations. I was just visiting to check out the Pro Sculpting Cream in Richly Toned as I had read a lot of lukewarm reviews on the pro sculpting crèmes and wanted to see in person how it worked.  Unfortunately my local MAC store only stocked the lightest 3 pro sculpting crème shades so I had to either go online or to another store to swatch it (how crappy!!!). A bit disappointed I started to play around with the #163 brush which I LOVED!

I felt that the flat-topped contour brush was just sooo soft and despite playing around with the tester, I didn’t experience any shedding. I already knew I didn’t have a brush like this in my collection but once again they didn’t have it in stock!!!! Now the MAC artist (who probably gets the majority of her commission from me and my hoarding ways) saw how crestfallen I was  . . . and how I started inching towards the door with the MAC brush in my clutches, wrote down a list of the stores she thought might still have it as well as told me to go online as she knew there were still some left in stock.

After an agonising 4 day wait. Its finally here!!!!!

The 163 brush has synthetic bristles which are feel, firm, silky and soft to the touch. So far from playing around with this I have learnt than you shouldn’t even bother trying to blend with this brush . . .it’s not a blender, it’s a placer, which does make it a very good contour brush. The main thing I’ve learnt from playing around with this is too be careful how much product you pick up with this brush as the dense, short bristles can make this a nightmare to wash.

Personally I’m super happy with my purchase and I’m waiting for AJ from The Sunday Girl to review the Pro Sculpting Creams so I can decide if its worth a purchase or not.

Don’t forget, I’m holding a giveaway right now so if you want to get your hands on Love Goddess from the Limited Edition MAC Marilyn Monroe Collection , then best get clicking!!!!

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Review: Makebelieve Enhance Glow Tinted Moisturiser #TFWOC

Time for part TWO of the Makebelieve and TFWOC reviews. I told you last week that Makebelieve were absolutely angelic and provided 3 products towards the Tans for Women of Colour Tanning Blogger Project that Laalaa and I have put together with these lovely ladies donating their blogspace to posting reviews.

Grace All That Slap

Safiyah FrootiBeauty

Tass Une Tasse

Hafsa Muslimah Beauty

Sophia Tattooed Tea Lady

Stephanie Nerd about Town

Dija Dija’s World

Lola LolaStar Heart

Last week I reviewed Makebelieve’s Self Tan Lotion with Bronzer; which I am still perving over (smell wise), and this week it’s their Glow Tinted Moisturiser, which is part of their Enhance Range. A range that has been developed to support your tan by enhancing it, so you can expect to find bronzers, tinted moisturisers highlighters and even illuminating concealers within it.

Makebelieve Glow Tinted Moisturiser is described as a hydrating and lightly tinted moisturizer that can be used on your face to get a ‘luminescent facial glow’. To be honest, I don’t think this should be described as a moisturizer as I don’t find it to be either hydrating or moisturing I thought that this much too heavy and thick.

Colour-wise (or tint-wise) when applied all over to my face, this product covered my face in shimmer (which was great) but the tint was so strong that I came off looking a bit cakey and scary. So like with everything I get that doesn’t work exactly the way I want it to . . .I experiment!

Here are some of the best ways I feel that you can experiment with the Glow Tinted Moisturiser; especially if the tint doesn't work that well with your skin tone, to get your moneys worth  

Experimentation 1.1

Use Tinted Moisturiser as a Highlighter

This is how I would use the glow tinted moisturizer as it gave a bit of a shimmer to my everyday dewy look

Experimentation 1.2

Use Tinted Moisturiser under Foundation

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Overall I do stand with my original point that the Glow Tinted Moisturiser is not the best moisturizer on the market but makes an AWESOME highlighter. The shimmer gold tones are easy to work with, when mixed with something and becomes an added bonus to darker skin tones

Have you tried the Glow Tinted Moisturiser? What way have you used it that I could add to my experimentation methods.

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BB Cream Wars: Gosh Cosmetics vs. Sleek

It seems like forever that I have waited for a bb cream to be available in the UK in a colour that I can actually wear without looking like a pasty ghost.

 Cosmetics Companies, would it kill you to release all the shades at the same time???

After waiting for what seems like forever, two BB creams are finally on the market for the darker ladies and surprisingly they are BOTH drugstore and exclusive to Superdrugs.

Up for the BB cream wars today, fighting for your love and money are the Gosh BB Creams and the Sleek Makeup BB Cream so lets dive into the arena (yes I am in a Hunger Games mode, and yes I am having fun writing the review this way)

Standing at 30ml, in a glossy, black packaging with a RRP of £9.99, we have Gosh Cosmetics’ BB cream.

Acting as a 3 in 1 solution (Foundation, Primer and Moisturiser) with an SPF 15. The Gosh BB Cream in 05 Espresso is spot on shade wise for my skin (MAC reference NW45) and with added mineral pigments to the formulation. It promises to adapt to your skin tone.

 Personally I don’t actually LOVE this BB cream, which is a real shame for me as it is the only bb cream I’ve found in my exact shade. I used this for the best part of two weeks; ditching my everyday Illamasqua Skin Base, and honestly I don’t find that this moisturized my skin at all. I feel that it dried it out and also made my pores on my face a lot more pronounce and broke me out.

Now I do believe that it adapted to my skintone, so on other girls who happen to be a similar skintone to me, this is a great choice but I am starting to think that I don’t have a positive reaction to Gosh skincare products in general, so if it wasn’t for the slight reaction I would be preaching the benefits of this product

And in this Corner, in an sleek (pun intended). black, glossy packaging, we have have Sleek’s

The Sleek Makeup Blemish Balms come in 4 shades and unfortunately for me I seem to be situated in between the medium shade and the darkest shade and while I have a peeve of mixing foundations (I mean REALLY? Who has that kind of time?), I can’t lie that I was tempted to get both, but I went for the medium instead.

The medium is a shade lighter that what I normally go for, so straight off the bat it didn’t look great on me. I looked a bit pale and chalky but I find that it blended well and had a firmer consistency than the Gosh foundation.

Infused with Vitamin C and promising to reduce skin discolouration as well as gradually repair damaged skin. I do feel that this was the most moisturizing of the two and although I didn’t dare leave my house with it on (didn’t want to scare the kiddies), I am considering getting the Dark Shade so I can mix the two foundations together so I can get my moneys worth out of it.

At  50ml, it is 20 ml more than the Gosh foundation and also a £1 cheaper but I found I probably used more of the Sleek BB Cream trying to blend it into my skin than the Gosh one.

 Anyway this is my jumble review of the Drugstore BB Creams. Since there is no real clear-cut winner for me, let’s just assume that they both managed to knock each other unconscious at the same time.

Which BB Cream works for you? Would love to know how it worked because my skin just seems to be having an off month lately

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Review:- Becca Stick Foundation in Almond

What I love most about being a beauty blogger is running across different brands and products that I would be never have heard or thought about, which are actually perfect for me and my skin. To be honest I didn't know anything about Becca Cosmetics until last yeast which is a real shame as they are an Australian Brand in the UK best known for having a shade match for virtually every skintone.

 They offer 30 shades in a variety of coverages and undertones, and stock foundations at least 4 shades darker than what I wear (FYI that is a very BIG DEAL)

I picked up Becca’s Stick Foundation in Almond and their Foundation/Concealer Brush in #58 (which works as a perfect tool for this foundation) at the Keziah Connections Event held at the Becca South Kensington Flagship Store and I’ve said this on twitter, instagram and to anyone who has asked about my makeup in the last few weeks, this foundation is literally my skin colour cloned and stuck into a foundation tube. It is just flipping spot on!!!!!

You might think that I’m hyping up yet another product and being a bit over the top but just look at the swatch I took it’s virtually undetectable!

So I decided to try and give you another view of how it looks like on my face

 The Becca Stick Foundation has a controllable sheer to medium coverage with a SPF 30 (it’s Australian Remember), has a non-powder based formulation and has the added bonus of containing anti-oxidant vitamins A,D & E.

On one hand I am surprised that there aren’t more reviews on this product online as I feel its flipping fantastic but on the other hand with a price tag of £35 it is very expensive. I got this foundation on a 20% offer on account of the event but regardless it is one of the most expensive stand alone products in my collection

But then again, is price really an issue? How much would you spend to get a foundation that was so on point with your skintone that you can’t even tell which areas of your face you’ve used it on? 

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Products I HATE:- MAC Face & body (N9)

What is up with everyone’s love for MAC Face and Body Foundation??? I absolutely HATE this product and in my opinion, it is just expensive coloured water!!!

I (regrettably) bought the Face and Body Foundation on the back of many blog and YouTube reviews that sang it’s praised and claimed it was the best foundation for a natural coverage as it’s water based so it’s light and airy . . . .Honestly I think MAC just one-upped it’s customers and sold us a foundation mixed with water (water-based foundation, my back foot).

 This baby has the superpower to transform my normal skin into a shiny and sweaty looking mess, with the added anility of leaking off my face and onto my clothes like you would not believe.

Despite the many great reviews, I honestly would NOT recommend you buy this foundation!!

1.  It’s like slapping coloured Vaseline on your face 
2. NO SPF Factor – So if you are using this in the summer . . . that’s just skin damage
3. I’ve had this foundation for 2 months and the formula has already started to separate
4. It's just a slippery mess 

I am still trying to figure out what I’m going to end up doing with this at the moment, I don’t think it’s worth even using on the rest of my body as a bit of coverage but it makes a very good paper weight.

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Review: L’oreal Paris Studio Secrets Smoothing & Resurfacing Primer

I can’t believe I’m saying this but after complaining about how bad the weather has been in London recently and wanting the sun to come out, I am so happy to see the sun go.

I just couldn’t deal with the heat wave that hit London for the best part of this week. I was just hot, sweaty, uncomfortable and frankly a bit nauseated from the stink of sweat and body odor radiating off some people on the underground. So with the choices of having my foundation melt off my face *cue in creams of ‘I’m meelllltttiiinnngggg’* or powder my face til I look airbrushed, my makeup for the last few days has been minimal to none-existent as the thought of weighing down my skin with anything was just not comprehendible.

I have quite good skin so leaving my house without any makeup is not really that big of a deal, but I really hate how huge my pores look when I don’t wear any foundation; It’s like I’ve got an advanced level minesweeper minefield all over my nose, so I’ve just been using a primer to try and even out my pores.

 L’oreal Paris Studio Secrets Resurfacing Primer is my choice for a primer to use in the hot weather mainly because it is not a liquid or gel, and comes in a baby pink, air -whipped, matte mousse formula; which as you can imagine is quite light.

Right on cue, this primer does what it says it would do and seems to ‘fill in’ my pores and makes them less obvious to the eye. It lasts roughly all day and I find that if I use it on specific target areas, I do not look as hot & sweaty as I did sans primer.

For a drugstore/highstreet product this is very expensive. You only get 15ml of product in a teeny pot, which could probably be used up in less that a month if used regularly. My only negative points are that I find that it can make me look quite pale (but this might be more me using a heavy hand than the primer itself) and that it takes absolutely ages to blend foundation over this without getting a weird streaky look.

Have you tried this primer before? Did you think its a summer essential? Leave a comment and let me know what you think of this tiny product.

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Review: MaryKay Botanical Effects Range for Normal Skin

First things, first, I have super sensitive skin and I break out like crazy when my skin comes in contact with naturally derived products; hence why you will probably never see me do a review on any Lush products – The rash I got was unbelievable!!! (Is that too much information?).

I was VERY apprehensive about trying out this product set, even with its guarantees of being sensitive and friendly to skin because let’s face it, a lot of brands claim that and I still end up looking like a pin cushion, but Mary Kay’s Botanical Effects Product Set gets my full recommendation as I haven’t reacted once!!!!

So let’s get on with the review . . .

So I have been using the MaryKay Botanical Effects Products that I received from the Mary Kay Botanical Effects Event as my main skincare products for the last month and I thought that it might finally be time to review it, especially as I’ve used it so much that it is starting to feel CONSIDERABLY lighter that when I first got it.

 Catering to the 4 skin types within their 2 Botanic formulations; Normal to Dry and Combination to Oily, each Botanic Effect Formulation Range includes a cleanser, freshener mask and moisturiser which promises to cleanse, freshen and hydrate your skin. The Normal to Dry line, which I am using is packed with Flaxseed extract and Sea Kelp, as well as an exclusive and special anti-oxidant rich complex that includes Silymarin (milk thistle) and Luo Han Guo, which are both power antioxidants that help to defend environmental damage and promote healthy skin.

*Did I just use the Lotion to wash my face instead of the Cleanser??*

I kid you not! This actually went through my head the first time I put the Mary Kay Botanical Effects Cleanser (rrp.£13) to work. With no exfoliating beads or bits in its formula, it could be quite easy to confuse with the Mary Kay Botanical Effects Lotion when in an early morning daze.

At first I was a bit upset that it didn’t have an exfoliating beads in its formula because I quite like giving my skin a good scrub in the mornings but as the weeks went on, I realised that I didn’t want any beads near my face. The cleanser feels just like moisturising milk and gives my skin a silky wake-up.

Out of the whole Botanical Effects Collection, the MaryKay Botanical Effects Mask (rrp. £15) is what I would sacrifice half my makeup collection for (and honestly that is saying A LOT!!!). This is the only thing I have that makes my skin happy after a peak time session on the Central and Northern Underground Line.

I love it, I love it, I LOVE it!!!!!!

As a mask, this works excellently. I use this about once or twice a week for 10-15 mins, just before I go to bed and it just makes my skin feel amazing! It feels like it stripped off the gunk off my face and I cant accurately describe the feeling but it felt like my skin was finally allowed to breath. 

*How the flip do I use this??*

Beauty products don’t normally catch me out but I honestly had NO CLUE how to use this properly. The lack of clear directions and the name ‘Freshener’ actually threw me off because I couldn’t work out how exactly it was supposed to freshen my skin.

At first I assumed it was a makeup setting mist . . . word for the wise. . it is NOT! A jet of product almost hit me in the eye!!

So with a little bit of trail and error, lots of Google research and an email to the PR, I worked out that the Mary Kay Botanical Effect's Freshener (rrp. £13) actually works as a toner.

Out of the 4 products in the range, I barely actually used this one mostly in the first few weeks because by the time I had worked out what it was for, I felt the Freshener was a bit unneeded but after reading an article lately about the importance of using a toner, I jumped back on the toner wagon and I found that it actually takes off any makeup that seems to be lurking around after my cleansing and mask.

The Botanical Effects Lotion (rrp. £19) is light, hydrating and unlike many lotions does not leave a waxy residue on my skin. Hands on my heart I could definitely see myself repurchasing this lotion over and over again. At first this got relegated to night-time duty because doing the day it looked like a flipping shiny beacon went off under my foundation. The shine was intergalactic! However it turned out it wasn’t the Botanical Effects Lotion giving me the shine but rather me attempting to put on my foundation with my Real Techniques Stippling Brush . . . so back on Day –duty it went.

This lotion is lightweight but not too lightweight that it vanishes in 5 secs and you find yourself wondering if you put on lotion on in the first place and  it doesn’t leave a waxy finish

So Summary = Light weight + Hydrating 

So that’s my review of Mary Kay’s recently launched Botanical Effects Range. You can buy the whole set or individual products on the Mary Kay website. I can see myself repurchasing at least two products in the set, and if I was pushed to only make one choice. The Mask is definitely the winner.

Do you think brand skincare sets should only work together or you should pick what you like and know you will use it?

*Disclaimer:- I did not purchase this product. It was either given to me to review or given in an event goody bag. This is no way or form affects my review

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Review: Biore's Make-up Removal Wipes*

I'm forgetful. 

I know this and I accept this about myself 

*Hugs Self*.

This will probably sound really bad coming from me as I do know what doing this does to my skin but I always find myself falling asleep with my makeup on. I know it's bad and the makeup gods would smite me on the spot for this but when it comes to taking off my makeup at night, I tend to forget.

That's why when it comes to taking off my makeup at night, it needs to be done quickly. I need to know that whatever I'm using works quickly and will take off a day's worth of mascara and black eyeliner.

While I do love my Garnier Cleansing milk, it does more hydrating that removal and let's face it, your face isn't really clean unless you get all you rmakeup off, otherwise it's a half-hearted effort.

Newly re-packaged, Biore's Makeup Removing wipes are a highstreet dermatologically tested and ophthalmologist tested solution to instantly and effectively remove the most stubborn parts of your makeup routine.

What really won me over with these wipes (apart from the fact that they are hypo-allergic)  is that they are quick, affordable (£1.99 people) and don't dry out my skin, however and I do find this a bit odd . . . it seems to only take off certain brands of waterproof mascara.

As many beauty hoarders, I tend to switch up the products day to day. I found that the Biore wipes; 4 out of 5 times, took off all my eyeliner and mascara and scrubbed my face clean but once . . it didn't. I still had  a bit of mascara and lash glue residue stuck to my lashes.

I don't know what happened. I'm assuming that the mascara formula I used on the day, just wanted to be stubborn and deny the influence of my cleansing wipes but on the whole these wipes are amazing and better still, 25 wipes come in a pack.

How do you take off your makeup at night? So you tend to pamper yourself or rather just get it over with?

*Disclaimer:- I did not purchase this product. It was either given to me to review or for my own personal enjoyment*

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