CHARLI B

A British Beauty & Lifestyle Blog

Skin Camouflage

Skin Camoflage

Gosh, it seems like forever since I have blogged! Well, I have had my birthday since then and I also had a mad moment of deciding to decorate everything, so I’ve ripped down the wallpaper and am attempting to redo it all… A hard task I can tell you that!.

Today I am bringing you a review of the Skin Camouflage kit*; a kit that contains everything you need to conceal away any skin concerns from scars to tattoos. The kit consists of 4 concealers, a setting powder, mixing pot, 3 brushes and powder puff. Everything you need to create a flawless base.

I have some hyperpigmentation on the side of my face, a scar that runs from my lip to just below my nose, three scars on my forehead and a scar that goes from the start of my nose, through my eyebrow and onto my forehead. All of these I am pretty self-conscious of and I won’t even be seen going to the shop without make up on.

The Skin Camouflage Kit

The kit itself was really easy to use and mix up to make a shade that matched my skin. One of the things I loved is the fact the mixing pot was quite large so your mixture lasted you quite a while. It covered really well and flawlessly, it didn’t at all feel cakey or like my skin couldn’t breathe at any time. The setting powder was lovely and gave a lovely look to the skin as I can find that the concealers on their own can look a little ‘sheeny’ but this made the skin look almost skin like, plus helped them stay in place for hours.

One thing I hate is waste and obviously with a kit like this you don’t have use for all the colours. I decided I would have a play about with using the darker ones for a contour and making the lighter one a little lighter with the white for a brightening concealer. It worked a treat and I definitely felt like I got a lot more use out of the kit this way.

I did try to see how well it covered tattoos as it claims that it can, it covered them fairly well but I could still see traces of them underneath. I have read online though that colourful or dark ones may need a counter colour put on before adding the concealer over so this could be the case as to why I could still see mine as the ones I tried to cover were purple stars on my foot and a infinity sign of pink and purple butterflies with grey bubbles and Tapanga’s name on the inside of my arm.

Over all I think it’s a great kit, especially if you have skin concerns on your face.

Skin Camouflage is available from Ideal World.

NARS Sheer Glow – Deauville

NARS Sheer Glow Foundation NARS Deauville NARS Sheer Glow Deauville

Can you believe the whole time I have been a beauty lover I had yet to try NARS Sheer Glow*. I was shocked at myself, especially as I am such a huge NARS fan. I’m not sure why I hadn’t, possibly the fact the name ‘Sheer Glow’ had put me off, I mean I’m all for a lovely glow but I am not about sheer coverage. Alas, I discovered that Sheer Glow was not a sheer coverage foundation, but more of a medium one and I was sold.

The Foundation

NARS Sheer Glow has a really silky texture, with a satin matte natural looking finish. Despite the name it doesn’t leave you looking overly glowy but instead leaves a lovely luminous look to the skin. It has a good medium coverage, which can easily be built up to full without looking cakey.

One layer of foundation was all it took to take away all my minor concerns, another layer covered completely everything. I also have to say a little goes a long way, so the bottle should last a really long time. A down side is there is no pump, so you would have to purchase separately.

I have found my favourite way to apply it is with either a buffing brush or an oval face brush. Both of them give a flawless application. I have found wear time to be great but it does start going patchy on my forehead and chin after around 6-8 hours, sometimes sooner if it has been warmer.

I can really see me getting on with NARS Sheer Glow, simply for its ease of application and weightless feel.

NARS Sheer Glow comes in 20 different shades and is priced at £31 on the House of Fraser Website

 

Benefit ASOS Exclusive Contouring Kit

ASOS Benefit Contouring Kit ASOS Benefit Contouring Kit Swatches

ASOS are hitting up their beauty section with an Exclusive Contouring Kit* from Benefit. A kit that contains 5 items, saving a whopping 33% on RRP when bought together.

Whats in the contouring kit?

  • Hoola Bronzer (Full sized) – A perfectly matte, warm tan bronzing powder which is perfect for contouring – I adore Hoola just simply for the fact it’s matte and looks so natural. You can really build the colour as deep as you want without it ever going orange and it’s never chalky.
  • Dandelion Shy Beam Highlighter (Full Sized) – A soft-matte, nude pink, liquid highlighter – I can’t express how much I love this! I’m normally all about the shimmer on my highlighters but this gives me such a lit from within look that I can’t get enough of.
  • 2 Boi-ing Concealers (1.3g each) – 1/2 Light and Light/Medium – Industrial-strength Concealer – I’m a massive fan of Boi-ing and find it really helps to cover my imperfections, especially my bags under my eyes.
  • The POREfessional, PRO Balm (7.5ml) – Primer – Sadly I don’t get on with POREfessional at all. I do know others who absolutely love it and swear by it!.

Over all the kit is amazing and I would highly recommend it. One of the things I love the most is the fact Dandelion is a matte highlighter, it is truly beautiful.

If you want to pick up the Benefit ASOS Exclusive Contouring Kit you can for £43 on the ASOS website.

 

 

A Face Full Of Make Up For Under £10

Make Up Gallery £10 Make Up Challenge The £8 Face

Recently I became a Make Up Gallery Ambassador. If you don’t know who Make Up Gallery are then let me fill you in, they are the make up line from Poundland. Yes, Poundland! The one stop shop where everything is a pound. They do everything from nail varnish, mascaras, brushes and even make up bags all under the Make Up Gallery branding.

I think the products are such great quality especially for the price, and I am not just saying this because I am an ambassador. If you guys have been reading for a long time you will know I am always honest and would only support something I truly believe in. All you have to do is take a look at my Poundland Do Make Up Post and my Make Up Gallery Foundation Sponge Review to know that I do love the products myself.

The Challenge!

One of the first tasks of being a Make Up Gallery Ambassador was being set a challenge of creating a look for £10 or under. This set alarm bells through me as I love to use a lot of make up!. I’m talking primer, foundation, concealer, setting powder, contour, highlight, blusher… The list feels like it’s never-ending. I only had £10 and although Make Up Gallery has a wide selection of products they didn’t have everything. Improvisation was needed and the bare essentials had to be bought.

In the end I opted for…

  • Gorgeous Flawless Long Lasting Foundation in Ivory
  • Smoothly Does It Pressed Powder in Honey Beige
  • Feeling Blush Blusher in Soft Blush
  • Colour Story Eye Shadow in Pink Champagne (frost)
  • Colour Story Eye Shadow in Cappuccino (matte)
  • Pro Liquid Eyeliner in Black
  • Plump Up The Volume Waterproof Volumising Mascara in Carbon Black
  • Shine On Intense Colour & Shine Lip Gloss in Nice & Nude
  • Shine On Intense Colour & Shine Lip Gloss in Cherry Pop
  • Double Ended Eye Brush

I shall be honest with you, the only reason I bought the eye brush was because I couldn’t find another product to buy. The Poundland I went to didn’t have much selection on their Make Up Gallery stand and I thought this was a good way to test out another tool. To make sure I kept my face within budget I didn’t use any other products on my face other than these, my daily moisturiser and brushes.

The Outcome.

I started off with the foundation which I found to be more mousse like than cream, although it is on the dark side for the lightest shade but suited me just fine. In terms of coverage it lays somewhere between the medium and full scale, the finish is very dewy and tacky. Once powdered down it is perfectly fine to apply the rest of your make up over.

The pressed powder is really lightweight for what it is and glides on well, leaving hardly any fallout in the pan. This gives me quite high hopes that its going to last quite a long time. It leaves my base feeling really smooth and flawless ready for the rest of my make up.

Now comes the part that I was most excited about, getting all the other products to work for a full face of make up!.

I used the eyeshadow in Cappuccino as a light contour and in the crease of my eyes. I then dampened my eyebrow brush and used the same shade for my brows to get a darker colour. The other eyeshadow Pink Champagne was then again used all over my lid and as a highlight for my face. Real multitasking products there with excellent colour pay off.

The blusher was a surprise product as it is such a beautiful colour when applied. Yet again it had next to no fall out and it’s a product that I look forward to using again. The mascara and eyeliner are both products I have used before and are still as wonderful as ever. The mascara gives great definition and length to the lashes, while the eyeliner gives a strong precise black line.

I opted to use Cherry Pop from the lip glosses I bought as I love a pop of colour. What surprised me about this was the colour in the tube was bright red, but on the lips more pink. Another thing I was really surprised about was the fact it’s a wearable gloss unlike a previous gloss I’d tried.

Over all the whole look ended up costing me £8 and I am pretty impressed with the end result!

If you want to get your hands on some Make Up Gallery Make Up just look in your local Poundland or on Poundland Online. Prices are of course £1 each.

Holiday Make Up Essentials

Holiday Make Up Essentials Holiday Lipsticks

My favourite part about packing for my holiday has definitely been choosing what make up to take, I get all giddy and excited because I get to swatch things and see what I really want to use. It’s a right test as I am someone who relishes in the fact that I can go to my draws and choose from a variety of blushers, eyeshadows, highlighters and lipsticks; choosing ones that I have to commit to for a whole 10 days has been seriously hard.

Obviously primer and foundation was easy to choose as I use basically the same one every day. I have been using the Nivea Post Shave Balm as my primer, if you haven’t tried it yet I urge you to go out and grab a bottle just to try as it really is amazing!. Yes, you do smell a little manly for a little while after but you will have the most flawless base that stays put through absolutely anything. My foundation is my trusty Loreal Infallible which I mix with MOA Aphrodite Facial Oil to create the perfect foundation for all occasions, I’m just hoping that it will fare well in the heat.

My concealer that I use is by Younique and its completely waterproof which is great, it’s also heat-resistant which means going out on the warm humid nights I know my make up is going to stay in place. My setting powder is the NYX HD Powder, I’m still unsure about how I feel about this powder but I really want to like it so I’m hoping a change of environment will give me better results.

I’m taking along my trusty NARS Blush Duo and my new-found favourite from Mii Cosmetics the Celestial Skin Shimmer in Rose Quartz. Along with both of them I am taking my Naked Palette as it has some really great colours in for day and night, an Avon bronzer, MAC MSF in Soft & Gentle, Anna Sui Mascara, Maybelline Eyeliner, Mii Cosmetics Eyebrow Pencil and Eyeshadow Pencil and the best eyebrow kit I have ever used – Kiss Cosmetics Eyebrow Kit.

Normally I end up taking over 30 lipsticks so I have really honed it in this year and am just strictly taking these – Diego Dalla Palma Lipbalm, MAC Girl About Town, Zoeva Cooling Passion, MAC Impassioned, AVON Matte Lipstick in Peach Flatters, Avon Matte Lipstick in Ruby Kiss, MUA Shade 3, Charlotte Tilbury Bitch Perfect, Younique Lipstain in Sultry and Essence Liquid Lipstick in Show Off.

What is in your make up bag when you go away?