Empties: Items I've Used Up in July 2014

First up is make up. I rarely have any make up empties because a) it lasts for ages and b) I have so much make up, I am always chopping and changing so never finish anything!

Laura Geller Balance N Brighten Foundation in shade Porcelain (RRP £28)
Would I repurchase? Yes, I have lots in my stash already!
This is my go to foundation and has been for several years. It is so easy to use because it is a baked powder formula and seems to last for ages. I keep thinking about changing to a liquid foundation because I feel it may be better for my fine lines but I really don't like the feel of liquid foundation on my skin. Perhaps I just haven't found the right one for me so, for now, this is my Holy Grail.

Elf Wet Gloss Lash & Brow Clear Mascara (RRP £1.95)
Would I repurchase? Perhaps.
I wasn't that bothered about the mascara side but perhaps that would be ideal for younger girls who aren't able to wear mascara to school. The brow side was fine and I did use it to set my brows. It didn't "wow" me but it did an okay job and at under £2 I can't complain. My only reason for perhaps not repurchasing is because I can only order online and unless I place a large order I would have to pay postage which bumps up the price.

Next up are my skin care empties.

Omorovicza Refining Facial Polisher (RRP £65 for 100ml)
Would I repurchase? No.
Since I've been using an exfoliant toner, I no longer use facial scrubs but I received this little sample so I gave it a try. It smelled lovely. It reminded me of Radox bath salts or Badedas bubble bath, a nice clean, fresh smell. It's green in colour which is a tad worrying when it is applied but it left my skin feeling clean and refreshed. The reason for not repurchasing is not down to the product, but down to the price!!! If I am going to spend £65 on a skin care item, it would be a moisturiser, serum or eye cream but not a scrub.

Pixi Skintreats Glow Tonic (RRP £16)
Would I repurchase? Yes and already have.
I have been using this for over a year now and it really seems to help keep my skin bright and I rarely exfoliate with scrubs since using this. My "Holy Grail" that I don't want to be without. The packaging has now changed and the new bottle doesn't have a pump. Luckily I still have one with a pump which I shall probably decant into because I do find it better.

Balance Me Balancing Face Moisturiser (RRP £24 for 50ml)
Would I repurchase? No.
Nothing wrong with the product, just not rich enough for my skin. I think it's probably better suited to an oily skin rather than my normal to combination skin. Did stop the shine on my forehead though. I just need more moisture on my cheeks.

Archeia Rose Rejuvenating Cream (RRP £47.99)
Would I repurchase? No.
I decided to choose a little 5ml sample of this in my You Beauty Discovery box last month. The main reason being was, because it is so expensive, I wanted to know why! Well this pot lasted just 1 week - 10 days and it didn't wow me at all. On the plus side, the rose scent wasn't string and overpowering, it was quite subtle. However at almost £50 for a 15ml pot. (I think that's the size - their site doesn't say!?), it would have to work miracles for me to repurchase.

Onto hair products:

Herbal Essences Bee Strong Strengthening Shampoo & Conditioner (RRP £3.99 for 400ml)
Would I repurchase? Yes, already have bought the conditioner and will buy the shampoo once my stash is depleted!
I believe I got these samples sachets inside a magazine. I was very impressed with them. They smell lovely and the conditioner left my hair soft and shiny. A winner from me!

Avon Advanced Techniques Celloshine Treatment 
Would I repurchase? Discontinued
I wouldn't repurchase even if I could! It said it was a hair treatment but did no more than a normal conditioner and not even a good one at that!

Finally, my bodycare empties:

Original Source Vanilla Milk & Raspberry Shower Cream (RRP £2.30)
Would I repurchase? No.
I usually love Original Source shower gels but not this one. It's fine if you like smelling of a raspberry milkshake, but I favour a slightly more sophisticated smell! I guess the clue was in the name of it. I love the smell of vanilla and I like the smell of raspberry, but together in a shower gel was not for me.

Champneys Spa Indulgence Distant Shores Body Scrub (RRP £10 for 200g)
Would I repurchase? No.
I did quite the scent of this but I felt I needed to use a lot in order to get a decent scrub. Therefore it is not very economical so for that reason I wouldn't repurchase.

Dove Visible Effects Body Lotion
Would I repurchase? Discontinued??
I did like this lotion. It was a free sample I received a whole ago and I felt it moisturised well and smelt nice too. Unfortunately I cannot find it for sale anywhere so perhaps it has been discontinued.

Ellie Saab Le Parfum L'Eau Couture (RRP £31 for 30ml)
Would I repurchase? Perhaps.
This was a nice enough perfume, not my usual scent. I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase it, but if I had it bought for me, then I would happily wear it.

So out of my 12 product empties this month, I had 3 Hits, 5 Misses, 2 Maybes and 2 discontinued. Hmmm, not a very good hit rate there, but then aren't we always on the search for our "Holy Grail" perfect product?

Thanks for reading.
Enjoy your day.
Take care,
CJ xx

First Impressions & Swatches: Laura Geller Tuscan Sun Collection

The recent Laura Geller Tuscan Sun Collection TSV from QVC UK arrived in super quick time. In fact it arrived the next day. Well done QVC! 

Upon opening the parcel, my first impression was how nice the straw tote bag was! To be honest, I didn't even factor this into my purchase because it was the make up I wanted so to like the bag is an added bonus.

It's not as big as I thought it would be but that is good for me because now my boys are teenagers I no longer have to take the kitchen sink out with me! It has a couple of sewn in pockets inside which I suppose are meant for a mobile 'phone. I wouldn't use it as a handbag though, because I am too security conscious and prefer a zip closed bag.

Now onto the make up. First up is Balance N Brighten. I chose the shade Porcelain which is the palest shade it comes in. This is a pink toned baked foundation and is ideal for my pale skin. I often think, now that I am above 40, that I should switch to a liquid foundation because it would probably be more forgiving on my fine lines. However, I really don't like the feel of liquid foundations on my skin so for now, this baked foundation is my Holy Grail and I have many (too many!) in my stash. I like this foundation for its colour correcting properties. In the summer months I use it in conjunction with the shade Fair which is darker with more yellow tones. I have tried to swatch it below, but as it is so pale the camera hasn't picked it up very well.

Now I need another blusher like I need a hole in the head! I have so many! This is a Baked Elements Blush infused with Italian Spring Water no less!! I wasn't sure at first when I saw the shade Siena in the pan because it looked too orange for my complexion but it is actually a lovely apricot colour when applied. I love that this blusher comes with a little brush underneath the compact too. Not the best brush but ideal for when you're out and about for quick touch ups.

The Baked Brûlée Highlighter in Honey Lavender is a lovely, subtle shade, not too shimmery. Laura says it can also be used as an eyeshadow so I shall have to give that a try too.

A new product in the range is the Lasting Love Lip Stain. This set came with the shade Tuscan Peach. When I saw this stick in the set, the packaging colour looked quite orange and I didn't think it would suit me at all, however upon application it is more of a mid pink than orange - see swatch below. I will do a full review of this regarding longevity, etc once I have had time to try it properly.

Finally, the kit also came with a Spackle Primer with SPF 30 and a double ended brush. I have tried a different formula of Laura's Spackle and I wasn't too keen so perhaps I will give this one a try but not too sure yet. The brush I probably won't use, it has a brush one end and a large sponge applicator the other end. I'm happy enough with my Real Techniques brushes, so shall probably pass this on to my mum.

Overall my first impressions on this set are very positive and I have signed up for the Auto Delivery option whereby I get the same set (but with a different blusher and lip stain colour) in October and January but at the special TSV price.

I purchased this set from QVC for the special price of £38.96 plus £4.95 postage. This price was just for 24 hours and the price has now increased to £49 plus £4.95 postage but if you are still interested in purchasing it is still available here.

Have you tried any products from the Laura Geller range? What are your favourites?
Thanks for reading.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care,
CJ xx

**purchased with my own money.

Quick Heads Up! Laura Geller TSV on QVC UK Wednesday 23rd July 2014

Today I received a postcard through the post from QVC with details of their Laura Geller TSV which launches this Wednesday 23rd July at midnight (so it looks like a late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning for me!).

The TSV is called the Tuscan Sun Collection and it contains the following products:

Balance & Brighten baked foundation in choice of shades - Porcelain, Fair, Medium, Tan or Deep.
Baked Elements Blush (shade possibly Siena?)
Baked Brûlée Highlighter (shade possibly Honey Lavender?) 
Spackle under make up Primer with SPF 30
Lasting Love Lip Stain in shade Tuscan Peach
Brush/applicator
Plus it comes in a lovely straw shopper bag (not pictured) but there is a link to it here. 

The postcard doesn't state the price but I am hoping it is around the £40 mark. If it is more, then I may have re-think buying it because I have several Balance & Brighten in my stash already and I also already own the Honey Lavender highlighter if it is that shade in the TSV.

So fingers crossed it will be under £40 because I do like the look of the blush and lip stain and the bag!
Do you like Laura Geller make up? Do you think you will be purchasing?

Thanks for reading.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care,
CJ xx

Review: Laura Geller Baked Confections - eyes and lips

Hi,
I see I now have a few followers!  Thank you so much for taking a chance on my new blog. I hope I won't disappoint.

Well I've finally had the chance to play with my new Laura Geller Baked Confections TSV and I love it so here is my review of the eyeshadows and lipstick.

First up is the Baked Eye Stripes in Plum Torte.  I found them very easy to apply with minimal fall out.  On my first impressions post I said I thought that I would need to apply the pink shade "wet" in order to get any depth of colour.  I was wrong!  I applied the pink colour dry and it was easy to build up.  I then used the taupe colour on my crease and the plum colour on the outer eyelid.  All these were used dry, although I did wet the plum at the end to  line the outer eye.  They were all easy to blend.

I wanted to see how long they lasted throughout the day without any touch ups.  The picture below shows my eyelids after 9 hours. I did prep my eyes first with Urban Decay Primer Potion.  It did crease a little and has worn slightly on one eye but overall I was impressed by it's staying power, especially as it had my lines to contend with!  It's a shame my under eye concealer didn't hold up as well as this!

So I am pretty impressed with this eyeshadow.  The beauty of baked shadows is that they can be applied wet or dry but other than to line, I really can't see me needing any more depth of colour than this so shall probably use them dry most of the time.  Really pleased with these shadows and they make a nice change from neutral colours.  Oh and the pink is a great match for my much missed Clinique Seashell Pink shadow!

Now onto the lips...

I have several Laura Geller lip glosses and lipsticks but this is the first Laura Geller liquid lipstick I have bought.  Although the packaging is very much like a lip gloss, with the sponge wand applicator, there the similarities end.

This has a creamy, matte consistency. It applies well but I did need a couple of coats.  It looks very much like a lipstick once applied and is a lovely natural shade.  It feels very nice on the lips and I think I will get a lot of wear out of this. After about 7 hours wear, there wasn't much colour left, just a slight outline on my top lip, although I don't think the camera picked it up very well in the picture below.  However, Laura makes no claims that is a long lasting lipstick and it had to endure drinks and a lunch of chicken salad and usually I would re-apply after eating but didn't so I could do a proper review.  

I am very happy with this lipstick and I didn't expect it to last through eating a meal, in fact in my opinion, many lip stains don't fair much better either!

There won't be a review for the baked blush or Spackle as I have decided not to keep them. I took another look at the baked blush and it looks lovely in the pan but it just doesn't suit my colouring.  I have lots of Laura Geller blusher which I love, but this colour just isn't for me.  As said in my previous post, Spackle just doesn't do it for me.  Sorry Laura!

Finally, before I go I must give an honourable mention to the large angled kabuki brush that came in this kit.  The photos below show the original kabuki brush on the left and the new large brush on the right.

Please excuse the dirty brush, if I had known I was going to take a pics of it, I'd have washed it first!  Slapped wrist - must wash brushes more often.

As you can see, the new brush is considerably larger than the old one so it cuts the time it takes to apply Balance and Brighten.  I do like this brush A LOT!  And it's retractable so great for travelling too.  I love kabuki brushes.

So all in all, I am very pleased with this Laura Geller TSV.

Have you tried any of her products?  Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading.

Take care,

CJ xx

First Impressions & Swatches: Laura Geller Baked Confections TSV

Hello,
Well I'm back again with my first impressions on the recent Laura Geller TSV from QVC.
It's called Baked Confections and the colour option I chose was Porcelain.

On unboxing I was a little surprised on the colour of the blusher and the lip colour because to me they appeared more pinky toned on the television but more on those later.

First I swatched the eyeshadows. 

This trio is called Baked Eye Stripes in Plum Torte. 

I loved the look of these in the palette, especially the pink shade.  My favourite eyeshadow in the late 1980's was a Clinique shadow called "Seashell Pink".  How I loved that eyeshadow and I always got compliments when I wore it.  Imagine my despair when it was discontinued. My search then began for a replacement.  It took years for me to find a similar shadow but eventually in the 2000's I found one in Virgin Vie called "Pink Opal" which I felt matched up.  I was happy again.  Then a few years later Virgin Vie folded and along with it my pale pink eyeshadow was no more.  Fast forward to about 2 years ago and I was

perusing Superdrug and a little eyeshadow trio called Pink Sorbet caught my eye by MUA Professional no less!  It was £2.50 so I thought it was worth a try, although due to the price I didn't expect much to be honest. Got it home and tried it and voila!  I had found my replacement Seashell Pink/Pink Opal.  However this time I didn't want to get caught out so I rushed out and bought 2 spare palettes which I still have in my stash, although it hasn't been discontinued yet.  

Anyway, I digress... 

When I saw the pink in this Laura Geller trio it reminded me a lot of that pink, so I was a happy bunny.  The taupe middle shade also looked nice and a girl can never have enough neutrals.  Then the plum shade also looked lovely and I don't have one that colour so again I was pleased.

The swatches above are dry, straight from the pan. The pink is hard to see because of my pale skin but it is there! The plum colour was more of a dark damson on the skin, whereas it looked like it had more of a blue tint in the pan.

Now those familiar with Laura Geller's baked products will know that the beauty of them is that they can be used wet or dry. Above are swatches of them wet.  As you can see the intensity of them is much stronger and I think I prefer the pink wet rather than dry.

I have been using Laura Geller's Balance and Brighten for years and it is my "go to" foundation.  It is so quick and easy to use.  Sometimes I'll get out a liquid foundation, but they seem to feel so heavy on the skin that I always return to my beloved B&B.  I used to wear Fair as it was the lightest shade Laura did but it was always a tad too dark and yellow toned for me (blue eyed redhead) so when she added Porcelain, a pink toned B&B to the

range I was thrilled as it is perfect for me.  The large angled kabuki is a new addition though, so I am looking forward to trying it out.  Sorry there is no swatch but  it was too pale to show on my skin!

The baked blush is called Baked Brûlée Apple Custard.  It looks lovely in the pan, swirls in pink and brown and has a slight shimmer to it.  When I swatched it, I was disappointed that it was more brown than pink on my skin.  I'm not sure if I will keep this because it is a bit too "gingery" for my colouring I think.

Finally we come to the lip colour, Lucious Lips Liquid Lipstick in Cherry Almond. This seemed smaller than all the previous Laura lip glosses I have purchased, but upon application I realised it is more of a lipstick than a gloss.  Clue was in the name! I thought this appeared more pink toned on television but it is in fact, despite the name, quite a neutral colour. It does look quite brown in the swatch but perhaps that is because it is against my pale skin. It is a matte texture and I do like it.

You  may notice that there is no swatch of the Spackle Primer in Ethereal.  I do currently have a Champagne Spackle open and it is the only Laura Geller product, so far, that I'm not keen on.  Perhaps I should give it another try and, if I like it, try the Ethereal but at the moment I'm not planning on keeping the Spackle, hence no swatch.  Sorry!

I haven't had chance to have a proper play with this set yet, but first impressions are all good and I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

It is currently out of stock on the QVC website but the item number is 204156 Laura Geller 5 Piece Baked Confections.

Sorry if I've waffled on too much and that my photographs are not of the highest standard but hopefully with time I shall improve!  Would love it if you took the time to comment. 

Thanks for reading.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Take care,

CJ xx

Laura-Geller-5-Piece-Baked-Confections-Colour-Collection

Hello! New to blogging.

Hi there!

I am new to blogging, so please be gentle!
I am 43 years old, married and mum to 2 teenage boys.

Being in an all male household, the only way to have my "girlie" fix is by reading beauty blogs and watching lots of beauty related YouTube videos.  However, one thing I noticed was that the majority of them were by young, gorgeous 20 somethings.  I do still love watching them and learning from them but obviously my needs in my 40's differ greatly to those in their 20's.  With that in mind, I thought I would have a go at blogging myself (too much of a coward to attempt YouTube!).  I have no beauty training whatsoever and I still make lots of beauty mistakes but it is all a learning curve.  I am hoping to use this blog to review any beauty products I have bought - the good, the bad and the ugly.

Sorry for the naff photo above - I was going to spell out "Hello" in lip glosses instead of "Hi", and I could fib and say I didn't have enough lip glosses to do that, but the truth is I wasn't sure if I'd fit the word on my bed!

Anyway, that's enough waffle for my first post.  
Thanks if you've managed to read this far.
Have a great weekend and I hope to be back soon with my very first review which will be the recent Laura Geller TSV from QVC.

Take care,
CJ xx