The Body Shop 'InstaBlur' Review.

Instablur // The Body Shop // £14

All hail my make up bag's new holy grail - Instablur, the Perfecting Primer from The Body Shop! This little number is my new daily essential that has firmly found  it's way into my everyday make-up routine - one of those products that you buy and wonder how you've ever lived your life without, ya' know?

Let me start off by saying my past experiences with Primers haven't been the best. Either too greasy for my oily/combination skin, or too thick to use on a day-to-day basis, I've tried my fair share and figured they must not be for me. That was until recently. I found The Body Shop's beauty card in my hands after purchasing a few make up brushes and as a member got a heads up of Instablur's release. The introductory promotional price was pretty arm-twisting so naturally, the deal-hunter in me thought it would be worth giving it a go! I went in on the second day release and it was pretty much sold out bar the odd tube left! The lovely lady in my local store applied some to my face and the instant imperfection blurring effect was amazing. So I popped back home happy as larry with this new toy to play with. 

The Effects: An All-In-One, 5-Action Perfecter, the texture of InstaBlur is fairly thick and velvety as you squeeze it out the tube. For day-wear I usually apply a pea-sized amount to freshly cleansed skin and blend it in over my face. It notably softens, smooths and is absorbed quickly by my skin and instantly feels soft to touch and matt-ifys my complexion. Any un-even skin tone is corrected and I find that imperfections are less noticeable. Now the real bonus for me is I find applying my make-up is much easier and I really feel like my foundation 'stuck' almost to the primer. It also helps prevent my make-up from budging over the day's work and doesn't clog my pores or leave me with an oily/shiny complexion! Hurrah!

Would I buy it again? Ohhh yesser. You're not going anywhere Instablur. 

Have you tried Instablur?

 

Benefit Fake Up Concealer Review & Bloggers Event!

Last Thursday I went to the Benefit Fake Up bloggers event in Bristol! (I feel like I partly live in Bristol these days haha!) I had read a few event/product reviews of the new concealer on other blogs so was super excited to see they were having an event in the South West! There was only a small group of us beauty bloggers that went including my gal Vicki, so it was lovely to meet a few other bloggers like Georgia Poppy Male (who has a fab outfit instagram account, check her out @poppylovesfashion.)  I have always been a fan of Benefit products, I remember the Hollywood Glo, Dandelion Blush and High Beam being my personal faves from my teenage years! I mean the Benefit packaging is amaazzzinngg as it is so it's hard to say no when you visit the counter!

When we got there the two lovely Benebabes who hosted the event had prepared a table of goodies for us all with Benefit products dotted about, yummy party rings, wafers and cupcakes which or course are always welcome in my eyes! After telling us a bit about Fake Up they demonstrated the new concealer which is a pretty clever little product! As a hydrating concealer it gets rid of dark circles and adds a beautiful glow to the skin so it can easily be used as a great little contouring product too. The ladies were applying it not only below the eye but above the eyebrow too to add more definition to the eyebrows. After trailing it I can personally say I really loved it as because of the waxy outerlayer which hugs the concealer colour inside, its so easily applied with a smooth finish and has great coverage!

We also had a bit of a play around with the new primer 'Porefessional' which I have previously trailed with a tester from my local counter. We added the pore minimising primer to half a lemon to see the effects it would have on that and you could see a noticeable difference! The lemon surface was smoother, softer and had a more even appearance! So ladies if a lemon can feel the benefit you can imagine how it works on your skin! I've found if I'm in a rush I can wack a bit of it on and go foundation-less as it zaps such a fab glow to your skin! Win!

After a few fun games including a Bene-product test and a bit of hide and seek with a few of the products, we had a chance to have some brow mapping done by the lovely hosts. I currently use the MUA Brown Definer, but was really interested to see how 'Brow Zings' would work on my eyebrows. Bearing in mind my eyebrows are very much in need of a threading session I loved the look of them after they had been done! I don't think my eyebrows had ever looked so defined!

Vicki having her eyebrows mapped!

I had such a fab eve so a big thank you to the lovely Benefit Bristol ladies!!

 

Make up & Hair for A/W 12/13

Happy Saturday everyone! I've been recently looking through a lot of the make-up and hair trends for this year's autumn winter season! A bit premature I know considering the summer has yet to start, but with all these different projects for uni going on at the moment I've found myself kind of emerged in it all so thought I would share!

On a general note, make-up appears to be channelling a gothic vibe, with thick bushy eyebrows and  smokey eye-liner. Lashes are dark and defined with lengthier lower lashes. Complexions are pale and creamy with pinky/peachy blushes,and often teamed with neutral and nude lip bases. However if you fancy injecting a bit of colour there are definitely some new shades being embraced such as electric blues! I'm personally loving the deep merlot lip colours!

On to hair styles, the looks from the catwalk are unruly and messy showing there is definitely no room for the prim and proper! Loose ponytails with backcombed volume and in-twining plaits make for a very textured look. It seems as thought the hair brush has been made redundant! Hurray for the low maintenance, especially if you're like me with uncontrollable waves!

I hope you all have lovely weekends whatever your doing! It's my housemate's 21st today so we're off for an afternoon of champagne and cupcakes and a night in Manchester, students living the high life or what?! As far as my outfit goes I've been loving the concious collection at H&M  recently and ended up  buying the pretty pink lace dress that was in Vogue the other day, so here's hoping I'll fit in to it after all the cupcakes!