REVIEW | MAC Strobe Cream

I purchased the MAC Strobe cream last year in August and it has now become one of my favourite moisturisers. It was an impulse buy, normally I like to read reviews and feedback for makeup products before buying them, but I was going away and I had forgotten to pack my moisturiser after using it, bit of a lame excuse to go duty free shopping, but we’ve all done that at some point or the other right?

I don’t use it on a daily basis as I suffer from dry skin during the winter months, to help with that I use Cetraben Emollient Cream which I have been using for the last five years, it is cheap, does the job and available at local pharmacies, it can be brought on prescription or over the counter. Let me know if you would like me to review this, and I shall do a blog post.

Back to the Strobe cream, I have been using if for about six months now, it is a great base for make up on a night out, it leaves me with a luminous glow, and flawless finish. I definitely notice the difference to my make up when using the strobe cream. I think it holds my make up a lot better, and gives me a better finish then a normal moisturiser.

Not only does this leave your skin looking fresh & bright, but it’s also packed with a whole lot of good stuff, I personally didn't know this before purchasing, but it makes me happier with my purchase knowing that it contains vitamins, green tea and antioxidants, it may have said it on the packaging, but as I was aboard I didn't take too much notice. 

It’s only just now when I visited the Mac website to see how much it was priced I came across this information.

The cream is white and has a pearly sheen because of the iridecent particles it contains, this can be seen below:

 I think I picked this up for about £18, it is available on the Mac website for £23.50.

As always would love any feedback or comments

Have a great weekend!

REVIEW Ben Nye Banana Powder

Today I wanted to share with you my review on the Ben Nye Banana Powder, I use this as a make-up setting powder and it works a treat. The shade is so perfect for my skin you can barely see it. 

I have previously used other setting powders that are great at giving me a matte finish, but I find it leaves me with a yellow tan look, and I prefer to be my own skin colour, The Ben Nye banana powder, gives me that natural warm smooth finish.

It is available in four different shades: Banana, Buff Cameo and Beige Suede. It has become a staple in my everyday kit and I use it most days when I want to set my foundation, as well as when I highlight and contour. 

The only downside of this product is the packaging, as the powder is very finely milled it makes it difficult to use it without spilling as you can see below the holes are far too big, and it’s impossible to apply an even amount on to a brush straight from the bottle.  

I purchased this at makeupmania.com (Click Here) at the time there was a special offer on and it cost me less than £12 with delivery.  I don’t think I have seen it in any drugstore or other shops for that matter but it is widely available online, and on ebay.

A little product goes a long way so I figured if I purchase the largest size (the 3Oz/85gm) it should last me a lifetime. (Don’t think that will happen considering the amount I spill every time I use it).

There have been lots of reviews on this in the past, so I thought I would keep mine to a minimal,

Please feel free to leave comments.. Have you used any of the Ben Nye powders?

   

And the Best Dress of the night award goes to...... Beyonce

I am sure everyone remotely interested in fashion has checked out the gorgeous dresses from the Grammys on Sunday night.

My favourite on the night has to be Beyonce, I am sure a lot of you will agree,  she opted for a sheer white gown designed by Michael Costello,  it was without a doubt the “dress of the night”

She teamed the dress with a dark red lip and minimal make up, hair was also kept quite simple with a middle parting and soft curls on her blonde locks.

Although the dress is quite revealing Beyonce managed to pull it off very elegantly.

Here are some images from the night:

L'Oréal - Drugstore Foundations

Hey Ladies,

I hope you are having a great week,  the weekend is almost here, hang in there.

Today I wanted to review two products which I have been using for about six months now, they have slipped into my everyday essentials, so I though why not blog about them, and share my feedback with you all.

I have blogged about my fav drugstore foundations before, The Rimmel collection, and I am still a huge fan of these in particular the Rimmel Wake me up both foundation and concealer are very good.

I wanted to try something else as I have been using the various Rimmel foundations for the last few years, I tend not to use high end foundations as I find that every time I go to get matched up mainly at Mac, the queues are just so long, and I don’t like hanging around.

I am not sure about any other high end beauty products? Please feel free to leave suggestions.

Back to my drugstore foundation haul, I decided to go for the L'Oréal Paris True Match Foundation & and the L'Oreal Lumi Magique Foundation. I have been using both products for about six months now.

 

Starting with the True Match I find that this blends very well with my skin so I guess the True Match technology does what it says on the tin, the coverage is also good enough for me.

I would say it is medium coverage, the foundation alone does cover up any small blemishes I may have. but I do tend to use concealer under my eyes due to my dark circles.

It leaves a dewy finish, however I do normally need setting powder after an application. I think that’s just down to the fact that I have combination oily skin, especially in my T zone area. I purchased this from Superdrugs and it was priced: £9.99

In comparison the Lumi Magique again blends very well into the skin, and it’s consistency is not to thick and not to watery, I feel that my skin can breathe with both of these foundations.

The Lumi has a luminising finish which really flatters my skin, and gives me a very natural glow, both the foundations were purchased in the same shade, but the Lumi is a little more rose/yellowish on my skin.

I normally use the Lumi for special occasions as it gives me that flawless finish. I also use a setting powder when using this foundation as well as a concealer under my eye area. (I must stop with all the late nights). I find the Lumi gives more of dewy finish then the True Match. This was purchased in Boots for £10.99 

Here is a swatch of both the foundations the right is the Lumi and the left is the True Match, they are both in the same shade Rose Beige, notice how the Lumi is a lot brighter and more yellow toned whereas the True Match is more Pink, I don’t normally use the yellow toned foundations as they make me look far more tanned then I would like, this however blends very naturally into my skin, without the tan effect.

Have you used these foundations before? What were your thoughts?

Please leave your comments also any suggestions for high end foundations, I would be very grateful :)

Bubble Barrelled by Soap & Glory

Today I will be reviewing yet another Soap & Glory product, for those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that I absolutely love anything to do with SOAP & Glory.

I was on the hunt for a birthday gift for my sister in law, so I popped into boots as they normally have a good range of gift sets, I am very fond of the Soap & Glory range, they have a lot to offer and the gift sets are very varied in particular I like the themed birthday box as well as the make up set’s and also the “his” range.

I came across the Bubble Barrelled gift set which I thought was the perfect gift, along with the mini bag (in comparison to Decembers special one) it contains a selection of travel size goodies. Seeing’s as I have a few holidays planned early this year I thought I would get myself one to. The one issue I have with the Soap and Glory normal size products is that they are often quite large to carry on holiday so this is a great alternative.

The packaging is super cute, two products each were wrapped in tissue paper which makes it all that much more exciting to open. (Especially if it is a gift).

It comes with a selection of 7 products:

Soap & Glory’s CLEAN ON ME™ Shower Gel,

HEEL GENIUS™ Foot Cream,

THE RIGHTEOUS BUTTER™ Body Butter,

THE SCRUB OF YOUR LIFE™ Body Buffer,

HAND FOOD™ Hand Cream,

GLAD HAIR DAY™ Daily Shampoo and a

Soap & Glory HEADBAND.

It is available on the Soap & Glory website for £18.00 http://www.soapandglory.com/bubble-barrelledtm-gift-set here is the link for anyone who is interested. I purchased mine in boots.

It would make for a great gift for someone, especially if they like Soap & Glory Products.

Favourite Bronzers of 2013!

This is just a quick review on two products which have remained in my makeup kit during the last year, be it on holiday or a night out these have been a staple in my kit all year round.

The first product is the Face Contour Kit by Sleek Make up, this is a compact duo with a bronzer & a highlighter.

(Please excuse the dusty mirror) :-)

It is available in three shades: Light, Medium & Dark. I opted for the Medium shade. It is priced at £6.49 and available from sleekmakeup.com as well as Superdrugs. Considering the quality of the packaging and the product I think it is a very reasonable price for a drugstore brand. Below is a swatch of the sleek highlighter and contour.

As you can see the highlighter is very pigmented and shimmery, the bronzer is quite subtle and this is how I prefer it with some definition but not very bold. It is a matte bronzer and the staying power is also pretty good.

 

The second product I am going to review is the Nars Laguna bronzer I had heard a lot about this during the end of 2012, I didn't have the sleek kit at the time and thought why not treat myself, so I picked this up from Selfridges in Oxford street I think I paid £25.00 for it, it has now gone up and is £26.00 pretty much most places.

Again as can be seen in the above pic, this shade is quite subtle some people like to contour with a really dark shade, and there is a variety of different shades to choose from, but I think this works the best with my skin tone. The packaging is very light and good quality, in comparison to the Sleek it is slightly bigger so if you have a small make up case it can take up a little too much space especially in my everyday make up bag.  

Below you can see a swatch both the Sleek & Nars bronzer:

The NARS is on the right and the Sleek on the left. The laguna is slightly shimmery in comparison to the Sleek.

Which one is your favourite?

Please leave me a comment as I would love to know your thoughts and opinions.

The best Drugstore liquid liner (With great staying power)

Hello Ladies,

I hope you had a great weekend.

I wanted to share a new eye liner I came across during the Christmas break, it was reccomended to me by my sister in law who recently put it to the ultimate test while being away on holiday and used it whilst swimming & showering and it lasted the full 48hrs as it says on the tin. 

It is the "Tattoo me" Seventeen semi-permenant liquid eye liner and can be purchased in Boots.

The staying power on this is sooo good, I could not believe how long it lasted. When I initially saw it in her make up bag I was quite intrigued as I have never seen a semi permenant liner before (not that i ever looked for one), so I thought I would swatch it and see how long it lasts, this is the first swatch:

Sorry for the shadow, bad lighting.

After a good scrub and exfoliator:

The next day:

I must say I was very impressed, the brand Seventeen is exclusive to Boots and is priced at £4.99, and is only stocked at the bigger boots stores.

One word of advice when using this, once applied it is very difficult to correct so I would advise you to draw on your line first with a pencil and then go over it with the tattoo me liner, the shade I purchased is called Raven Black.

Please feel free to leave a comment if you have used this before, also don't forget to follow me on twitter and Instagram, links can be found below. Thank you 😊

Have a great week!

xxxxxx

www.twitter.com/sasoomcouture

www.instagram.com/sasoomcouture

Asiana Bridal Show 2014

Hello Ladies,

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!!

This is my first blog of the year, I have a lot of exciting topics to post about, so stay tuned.

Those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that I was lucky enough to receive two free tickets to the Asiana Bridal Show 2014 on Sunday 26^th Jan 2014 at the Park Plaza, Riverbank Hotel.

This is a good opportunity for anyone who is planning a wedding in the near future, to meet wedding specialists such as make up artists, hair stylists, caterers, photographers, dj's etc. 

There will be fashion shows featuring bridal wear, as well as lot's of food and drink options. 

Please see below the official flyer:

Give me a shout on my twitter: @sasoomcouture if you are coming down. You can also follow my blog on bloglovin.

For more information and to book tickets please log on to: http://www.asianamag.com/#!asiana-bridal-show-2014/cgml

Hope to see you all there, and enjoy the rest of your week!

:-)