Dr Jart+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm

I was lucky enough to receive a cute sample of Dr Jart + Water Fuse BB cream in my December GlossyBox. Unfortunately the shade was a TEENY bit light for me. So I decided to gave it to my lovely friend, Hera Awan (who I knew would appreciate the heck out of it). 

Lately BB creams have become a must-have for all beauty lovers. It's the perfect way to keep your skin moisturised and looking fresh without wearing a face full of heavy make-up. A BB cream is essentially a moisturiser, an SPF and a serum all rolled into one. Dr Jart has fast become a cult product in its home country of Korea.
The Water Fuse BB cream evens out skin tone nicely, lessening the need for foundation and concealer. It has an advanced Water Bead Technology which hydrates and maintains healthy moisture for a fresh and dewy look. It contains Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice which reduces water loss from the skin. It also has Portulaca Oleracea Extract which will calm skin and is great for anti-redness.

Hera has fallen in love with it and has been raving about it since I gave it to her:

"This cream feels really light weight - as if I'm not wearing anything on my face! It provides enough coverage for a natural look. If you want more of a flawless coverage you can apply more of the cream, without it looking cakey. I love this product! It's best for someone who doesn't have many blemishes and wants to achieve a pretty radiant look."

Dr Jart+ Water Fuse BB cream is available from Boots and is currently on offer for £12.00 (previously £18). 

~Nas~

Beauty Bash

Ok, so a month or two ago I had a "Beauty Bash" gathering with a couple of my friends. Basically my friend, Palak had the idea of getting some of the girls together and doing a couple of different beauty looks. So I called up some of the girls who would be willing to let me do their make-up and take a pretty picture or two. Even though I am not a professional make-up artist in the slightest, I do love putting make-up on people. I really enjoy experimenting with different looks and trying out new products. 

I want to give a massive shout out and thanks to Palak Bhatt who took the pictures and helped with the make-up application. Also, my gorgeous models; Iman Aden who also edited some of the ligh

I used a number of different products on the ladies, both high street and high end brands. I did however use the two same products on all the girls; The NYX High Definition Eye Shadow Base which is quite difficult to buy in the UK, it's only available online. I actually bought mine from  Love Make up, but they have run out. It's really good for making sure your eye shadow stays put. I also used Benefit's the POREfessional, which I think is every beauty girl's staple piece.        

Skin: For foundation I applied M.A.C.'s Studio Sculpt SPF 15 Foundation in NW43, which is my personal favourite. I love this foundation because it provides such good coverage  without looking too heavy or cakey. It glides on so easily and sits really nicely on the skin. I did a little bit of contouring with M.A.C.'s Coffee Walnut Pro Sculpting Cream. I'm not sure if you can purchase this product in this shade online. I bought this cream at the counter at Selfridges. This is a great sculpting product as it is super creamy and is real easy to control how much you want to apply to your skin. I also used a little bit of Sleek's Face Contour Kit in Dark which comes with a little contouring powder and highlighter. I mainly used the highlighter on Mel's gorgeous cheekbones and I swirled a bit of Clinique's Superbalanced Powder Bronzer in Shade 2 to the apples of her cheeks. The bronzer is really lovely because it has a turning shaver which turns the powder from pressed to loose. It comes in a pretty pink and orange floral drawstring bag, which makes it ideal for travelling. I set parts of the make up in place around the nose, chin and forehead with M.A.C.'s Studio Careblend Pressed Powder in Dark.

Eyes: I applied Korres's Eye Shadow in Brun all over the lid, this is a really nice burned brown shade which worked really well on Mel. I then used the brown and gold shades from Sleek's I-Divine Storm Palette and applied it to the crease and corners of the eyes to make them pop. As my eye lining skills have not yet been perfected, Palak lined Mel's eyes with Benefit's Magic Ink Liquid eye liner in Jet Black. I then fanned out the lashes slightly with Lancôme's Hypnôse Star Mascara. 

Lips: For the lips, I keptStunning Iman

For Iman, I decided to go for a dark scarlet plum look, with bold eyes and lips. I absolutely love this look because I am a MASSIVE fan of dark shades of reds and plums. Most of the products in my make-up collection consists of these colours. I have to force myself to purchase products of other shades. 

Skin: Iman brought her own foundation along with her, M.A.C.'s Studio Fix in NW43. I've never used this foundation before and I was surprised by how much I took to it. I'm not normally a fan of liquid foundations as I find the consistency to be too light and runny. Yet this foundation was really easy to use and went onto the skin really well. I then concealed around the eyes with another product belonging to Iman; Sleek's Corrector and Concealer in shade 5 which is another great discovery for me! This mini palette includes a little corrector, concealer and setting powder and is very handy for concealing on the go. I also contoured Iman's cheeks ever so slightly with Sleek's Face Contour Kit in Dark. I didn't apply a blusher as I wanted the skin to have a polished look. 

Eyes:  The M.A.C. Paint Pots are one of my favourite eye products. They're really good for building colour and can be worn for a natural day to day look or a glamorous night look. For this look I used the M.A.C. Paint Pot in Constructivist. I applied it over the lid as a base colour and then used the dark red shade from the I-Divine Respect palette, part of the Shangri-la Collection by Sleek and buffed it around the eye. I then pressed a very small amount of Illamasqua's Pure Pigment in Berber onto the top of the shadow. This product is actually on sale online for £5. It can be applied to either cheeks, eyes or brows and is a great little shimmer product to have in your collection. Palak then demonstrated her eye lining skills again and lined Iman's lids with Barry M's soft Intense Black Eyeliner Pen. This is a really nice pencil because it is smudge and water proof and lasts all day. For mascara I applied Lancôme's Hypnôse Star. 

Lips: Iman has such beautiful lips and I wanted to make her pout the focal point of the look. I first lined and coloured in the lip with Sleek's Eau La La liner in Raisin, which is a pretty berry colour. I then went onto applying two lipsticks, first was M.A.C.'s Amplified Dark Deed lipstick which is from the Venomous Villains collection. Unfortunately this collection is no longer available in the UK as it was a limited edition. I absolutely LOVE this lipstick as it is a gorgeous black red. Also the packaging is beautiful, with a little image of Maleficent, who in my opinion was the scariest witch ever. I still can't watch her scenes from Sleeping Beauty without feeling a little bit freaked out. I then went over the lip colour with Sleek's True Colour Lipstick in Mulberry which is a seriously dark black plum. It's a very moody and gothic shade and looks really beautiful on Iman (as you can see above). These two shades really complimented each other and finished off the look beautifully. 

What Iman thought: "I really liked the lipstick(s) the best because of the bold colour."

Hope you enjoyed this post. I should hopefully be doing another one of these "Beauty Bashes" soon :)

~Nas~

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palate Review

I know I am very late when it comes to the Urban Decay Naked palates, so this is going to be a very quick review. I have wanted to get my mitts on the Naked 2 palate for a while now and was finally able to thanks to my lovely girl, Amina :).

For £36 this gorgeous palate comes with 12 lovely neutral shadows of beige and taupe and a pretty mini Lip Junkie lip gloss. This palate also contains a handy mirror and a handy double ended shadow and crease brush.

These colours are absolutely beautiful and suit all skin tones. I had a little play around with the shades and I love how easy it was to blend them together. I also really love how easy it is to build the colour. You can get a lot of different looks out of these shadows and they’re ideal for a pretty day to day look or a night out. My favourite shades are Busted (a dark brown shimmer), Verve (a pearly shimmer) and Suspect (a light gold shimmer).

If £36 seems a bit expensive to you for this palate then there are a number of dupes you can choose from. Benefit’s big beautiful eyes is £24.50 and only includes three shadows, but you’re still able to achieve a gorgeous smoky eye look.  Also The Body Shop does a really nice Smoky Eye Palate in Smoky Moonstone (£14.00) which contains four shimmery shadows. The only reason I wouldn't purchase the Naked 2 Palate is because I have a number of palates (including the ones mentioned above) which include a lot of the similar shades.

The Urban Decay palate that I've got on my wish list is the Naked Basics palate (£20), which includes 6 matte shades for a sophisticated chic look. I can't wait to get this one! 

~Nas~

A Belated Happy New Year & My Current Favourite Lip Products

HAPPY 2013!

I have been a bit quiet on the blogging front lately, the end of 2012 was very hectic (as usual). 

Anyway, I thought my first post of 2013 would be about three of my favourite lip products at the moment. I can't get enough of these lipsticks/stains and thought I would share them with you. I have chosen from three brands; Max Factor, Revlon and NARS, so that you have a choice between high street and high end.
One thing you should know about me is that I am a MASSIVE lipstick/stain/lip balm/lip gloss hoarder. Lip products are most definitely my favourite and I can never have enough. This is mainly because my lips have a bit of a dull colour to them, so I always want something to brighten them up a bit. It's also because I believe that a great lip colour has the ability to change your look dramatically.
I also love lipsticks that come in the form of oversized pencils, because they allow for a more controlled application and they're just a bit more fun.
My favourite shades are cranberry reds, deep plums and cherry pinks. These are normally seasonal shades that are seen mostly during Autumn/Winter. However, I tend to wear these colours all year round because I adore them too much.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Crush
This is such a lovely lip product to use as a day to day lip stain. The best way I can describe it is as a dupe of Clinique's Chubby Stick, which was no doubt the inspiration for this product. I have been wearing this lip stain every day since I bought it.  I chose this product in the shade Crush, which is a gorgeous cranberry shade. It goes on easily and instantly stains the lips and the need to reapply the colour is not really required. I also love the fact that this lip stain has a really nice minty flavour, so it doesn't even feel like you're wearing anything. Brilliant for everyday wear and doesn't burn a hole in the pocket.

NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Train Bleu
This lip pencil has quickly become once of my staple lip products. I am obsessed. The colour is that of a deep, black plum and is super dramatic. And I am all about the drama. What's great about this pencil is that it's matte and the colour is really pigmented and lasts for hours. Of course if you prefer a more of a less dramatic look, you can press the colour lightly onto your lips. It's great for a night out or a special occasion and one application is enough. Also, as it is a lip pencil no lip liner is required, unless you want a really defined pout. It is a tad pricey, as it is NARS after all, but it is a worthy investment. Mad love for this lip product. Below is a picture of me wearing this lip colour (this was a look I wore to my Christmas work dinner). I didn't apply too much of the colour, as I wanted more of a light stain.

Max Factor Flipstick Colour Effect in Swingy Brown
This is a really interesting lip product as it is a dual ended lipstick which allows you to create a sort of orchid lip. I really like this lipstick because I can create a number of looks with this. I also really like how I can wear the shades together or alone. The colours of this flipstick are a sort of golden brown and nude, which are not colours that I would normally go for, but that's why I like them. The shades are very 90s and I absolutely love it! This is more of an experimental lip product, so it's something that you can have a lot of fun with.

www.narscosmetics.co.uk
www.revlon.co.uk
www.maxfactor.co.uk

~Nas~