Okay, so I know December is supposed to be the month of giving, but I was hit with one of those months where ALL of my makeup ran out at once. All of it. Every last bit (well apart from my Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade because that stuff will outlive the cockroaches). So I therefore had to go and treat myself to a few bits, employing the “one for you, one for me” method of Christmas shopping. Hugely successful. View Full Post
I admit, when it comes to beauty products, this ho ain’t loyal. One of the major perks of blogging is trying new products and, even when I really love something, it’s never long before a shiny new version comes along that I want to try even more. So if I end up actually buying a product again and again, forsaking all others, then you know it’s a really good one.
I don’t think there’s a woman out there who doesn’t love contouring – the ability to give ourselves skinnier faces without giving up Hobnobs? Hell yeaaaah.
I wrote an Idiots Guide to Contouring earlier this year, and my routine and products have been much the same since then. However, I recently caught wind of a new contouring kit from Seventeen and of course HAD to give it a whirl. Seventeen is one of our favourite drugstore brands and they’re always bringing out pretty innovative stuff.
I picked the Define and Conquer Contour Kit up the next time I was in Boots for the teeny tiny price of six quid. Packaging-wise, it’s sleek and sturdy, and has a big mirror in the compact for extra super handiness.
What really appealed to me about this contour kit was that both shades are matte. Highlighters in contouring kits are usually shimmery, which is fine for cheekbones and the bridge of the nose but can lead to a serious case of sweaty upper lip syndrome – and who the devil wants that? The Seventeen highlighter is a matte, light powder, which is more pigmented than a finishing powder but still quite subtle. 
Unbeknownst to me, I picked the kit up in shade Medium. How was I to realise there are two options? My mind is busy thinking about important world issues such as who my favourite is on X Factor and when exactly tortilla chips become nachos. Anywho, the two-shade option is really good, because my only criticism of this product was going to be that the highlighter may not be light enough for those with pale skin. It suits my perma-tanned face just fine, but the contrast would be much more pronounced if I had the lighter kit. I’d recommend actually using your brains and your eyes to see which palette best suits you before buying.
The kit comes with a handy little guide showing you where to apply the powders in order to get the shadow and highlight that contours your face. I will say that the one thing I’ve learned about contouring is that everyone’s bone structure is so different that one technique doesn’t really fit all in this way, but it’s still really useful for those brand new to contouring.
Overall, I really like this product. I tend to go for a more matte makeup look in winter, so contouring with powders as opposed to cream products as I was before suits me really well. I also think the pigment of powders makes contouring smaller areas like the nose much easier as you don’t end up with a look so subtle it’s actually unnoticeable. The highlighter also has the extra benefit of covering pores really well, making the skin look much more flawless.
I do have one additional little niggle, and that’s how quickly I’m getting through the highlighter. As you can see from the picture, I’m already seeing the pan and this is only after like two weeks of use. Maybe it’s me getting carried away with all of the pore-hiding goodness, or maybe there needs to be a bit more product. WHO KNOWS, EH?
If you’re in the market for a new contouring kit, then I would definitely recommend giving this one a go. You can pick it up in Boots stores or on their website. There’s currently a three for two offer on across all cosmetics in Boots so GO GO GO, little monkeys.
Have any of you tried this product?
Anyone who knows me and Claire at all will know that the quest for the perfect mascara is always present. From Benefit’s They’re Real to horrible excuses for mascaras like Rimmel’s Scandaleyes Rockin’ Curves, we’ve tried and tested so many different brands with varying degrees of success. I like to try and buy a different mascara each time I run out because to frankly, I haven’t found anything that has made me think ‘Zut Alors, I must give up my life as a rather short, stumpy ginger girl and dedicate it to this here tube of mascara’.
Unfortunately, Seventeen’s Back Lash Mascara hasn’t quite done that for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it, it’s just that it doesn’t wow me (…who do I think I am? Simon Cowell?). So without further waffle (I want a waffle), here’s my Seventeen Back Lash Mascara review. With bells on.
Lets get started with the brush. I’m a fan of most brushes. Claire’s partial to a nice plastic brush that separates the lashes properly, but I’m not too fussed whether its fibre or plastic. Although there’s a hugey caveat on that. If it’s fibre, it can’t be rubbish. While Seventeen’s Back Lash Mascara isn’t exactly rubbish per say, it’s a bit on the weak side. As you can see from the before and after pics below, it’s tends to clump my eyelashes together a bit. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
On the other hand, it doesn’t flake off and lasts really well. I also hugely enjoy the silver packaging, it makes me feel mega jazzy. If I ever get stranded at the discoteque without a glow stick, I would quite happily whip this bad boy out and flail around.
I just can’t agree that it gives me over 100% greater lash impact. Maybe like, 23% greater lash impact but lets all be honest, that’s not particularly hard since I have the blondest eyelashes known to womankind. Any mascara would give me a greater impact, in the sense that it would actually make my eyes visible (fun fact, my aunty once told me that I should get my eyelashes tinted because they made my face look piggy. Cheers hun).
So would I repurchase Seventeen’s Back Lash Mascara? Probably not. But its handy enough to make me look less piggy eyed, so for that I will thank Seventeen profusely, and perhaps ask them to send a letter to my aunt in South Africa explaining that.
If you’d like to buy this silver tube of relatively alright mascara, you can do so for £6.49 at Boots.
Have you tried Seventeen’s Back Lash Mascara? Do you think its aight too?
If you read our blog regularly then you might know that Seventeen are one of our favey brands of the past year, after seriously upping their game following their re-brand and a release of a plethora of bangin’ new products (you can check out all of our Seventeen reviews by clicking here if you so wish). During a recent Boots trip I was hugely excited, then, to see a couple of new releases. In fact, I might even have done a bit of an excited dance right there and then in the aisle.
I picked up the Instant Glow Cream Bronzer, a contouring product ‘for face and décolletage’ (ooer).
It might look a bit daunting in the palette, but rest assured that the bronzer’s actually very lightweight upon first application, so the fact that it only comes in one shade shouldn’t be an issue for paler girls out there. It’s also buildable for when you’ve got more of a tan, and never feels too heavy or remotely greasy despite its cream texture.
The best thing about the product is its blendability. When you use powder bronzers to contour with, it’s easy to put far too much on and end up buffing away like a lunatic to avoid looking too Snog Marry Avoid-y. The cream formula is much, much, MUCH easier to work with, blending with foundation and concealer like an absolute dream. I’ve been applying with my fingers and then blending with my Real Techniques Beauty Blender, but you can do whatever you like because it’s your life and I’m not here to tell you how to live it.
Here’s a terrible iPhone snap to give you a vague idea of how the bronzer looks under the cheekbones and down the side of the nose. Decided to leave the décolletage out of it; it’s only Wednesday after all.
Overall I’m madly in love with this product, and it’s another roaring success for Seventeen. At only £4.99 it’s a downright bargain, and Seventeen also have a 3 for 2 offer on at the moment so you should make this a staple of your makeup bag immediately. You can pick it up online here or get off your lazy bum bums and go into your nearest Boots store.
Until next time, ratbags.
Have any of you tried the Instant Glow Cream Bronzer yet? What are your thoughts?
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Ello chums!
It has been a looooong time since I’ve nattered away on Stylingo, but unfortunately I have been very busy drinking and being festively merry with my fam and pals. I hope everyone had an excellent Christmas and is looking forward to partying tonight…I, for one, am sitting in bed with a cider listening to Miley. It’s a hard life, eh??
Has anyone else noticed how WUBBISH the sales are at the moment? I went shopping on Sunday fully expecting to spend all of my hard earned dollar and I couldn’t find one sale item I wanted to buy. So so so tragic. I was forced to comfort myself with some Seventeen purchases. And 2 pairs of shoes.
Anywhoo, I’m sure I will feature my new shoes in an OOTD post soon (probably not at the same time, but you never know) but here is what I bought from Seventeen. As you may know, Claire and I are hugey fans of Seventeen and absolutely love their new product launches. I’ve been pretty much universally impressed with what I’ve bought in recent months, so they’re swiftly becoming my go-to highstreet makeup brand (sorry Rimmel).
When I got this, Claire quite rightly said ‘YES BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT YOU NEED, ANOTHER BROW KIT’. Well, a gal can never have too many brow kits, and technically this one was a free gift. That’s right gals, if you spend over £8 with Seventeen, you get a free Brows That Brow Kit. You basically can’t say no to that, can you?
It’s a great little kit actually, and I have swiftly replaced my MUA Brow Kit (which had it’s faults) with this. You get:
It’s £6 from Boots, which, for the quality of the product and for what you get in the palette, is absolutely amazing. The colours are not too dark and would suit most complexions, I think. What I like most is that it’s really similar to Sleek’s Brow Kit in the sense your eyebrows literally don’t go anywhere. With the MUA kit, I found my eyebrows tended to wander around my face, probably in search for a small snack. They didn’t last well at all and if you accidentally touched your face, your eyebrows would be gone (sob).
I’m a big eyeliner fan, particularly after a lad at work said ‘ARE YOU OK, YOU LOOK ILL’ when I didn’t wear any the other day. I’m usually more of an eyeliner pen or tube kind of girl, but I thought I’d give this gel eyeliner a whirl as my current Rimmel liner was running low. It’s described as having all of the staying power of a liquid eyeliner with the smokiness of a pencil. Wizardry? Basically yes. It somehow manages to be soft yet you can define your eyes properly too. I highly recommend this little pot, chums. It’s incredible!
Deconstructed Suede Nail Polish & Lasting Fix White Nail Colour
This was a bit of a ‘pardon me, what on earth is this nonsense’ purchase more than anything. We’ve all heard of velvet nails, fur effect nails, 3d nails…but suede nails?! I wasn’t too sure if I was being a bit of a dongle and ‘suede’ was the name of the nail polish colour, but it actually comes out a little bit suede-y. It’s much more pleasant than it sounds. It’s sort of a matte, slightly metallic silvery grey – really lovely. I’ve tried to take some snaps on my falsies but I’m not sure if the suede came through.
I wasn’t actually going to feature this in my mini-haul because it’s actually quite boring. HOWEVER. This is an amazing white polish and I definitely didn’t expect such fab quality for such a bargain price. I only needed to do one coat and so far, it hasn’t chipped after 3 days (on my toes at that). It’s quite a pearly white, which is a bit different to Barry M’s white polish (which is a little thick and Tipex-y). Thoroughly recommend this white polish too, gals. Top marks again, Seventeen.
Well chums, I hope you have a wonderful NYE and both Claire and I can’t wait for what the new year is going to bring. I can safely say, probably more clothes, more makeup and most likely a hint of fake tan.
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Merry Boxing Day boys and girls! Today I’m finally getting around to reviewing a product that has been sitting unopened in my makeup bag for a couple of months now. The lovely ladies at Seventeen were nice enough to send us over a box of goodies a while ago, and one of the delights in the box was this Stay Pout lipstick in the shade ‘It’s A Kiss Off’.
The Stay Pout range only launched a couple of months ago, and contains 15 shades that all promise to be long-lasting lipsticks with a touch of stain for ‘hours of kiss-proof colour’. Ooer.
From the sticker on the packaging, I thought that It’s A Kiss Off was going to be quite a bright pillar box red, which was why I hadn’t got round to opening it because I already have a fair few reds in my collection. But it’s actually a much pinkier red when swatched, making it a much more wearable shade for people who find a full red lip a bit intimidating. It’s also got a slightly frosted finish, which should appeal to people who like a bit of shine in their lipstick as opposed to a matte look.
The lipstick applies really nicely, giving a good slick of colour with one swipe. Once on the lips, it feels smooth and moisturising, without that dreaded flaky feeling you can get with other lipsticks.
As far the ‘kiss proof’ claims of the lipstick, I HAVE NO IDEA OBVIOUSLY (Christmas single bitterness, me? No…) but I found that it does transfer onto glasses and things quite easily (who needs a boyfriend when you have Lambrini?)
This isn’t too much of a problem though, because the stain aspect of the product meant that I was left with a good amount of colour still on my lips despite eating and drinking.
Overall I prefer lip products to be either very matte or very glossy, so the finish of this lipstick isn’t really to my taste. In terms of the quality of the product itself though, I can’t really fault it and I’d be keen to look at other shades in the range to find ones that suit me a bit better.
You can buy the Stay Pout range for £4.49 from Boots, which I think is a really reasonable price for a high street lipstick. It’s also worth looking out for a lot of the great offers there often are on the Seventeen brand – for example, I think right now you get a free brow kit if you buy £8 worth of stuff. Boxing Day bargains galore!
Have any of you tried the Stay Pout range? What do you think?
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