Butter London Nail Polish in Tea With the Queen Review

On a recent trip to Bristol, as I often am, I was tempted into Harvey Nichols and I promised myself I wouldn't spend any money. Upon entrance, the first thing you will see is a little stand of nail polishes -more high-end brands such as OPI, Deborah Lippman, Burberry, Seche, etc. After lusting over the gorgeous Michael Kors and Mulberry handbags and being amazed at how Creme de La Mer managed to make the generic department store fish tank look classy, I gravitated back to the stand of nail polishes.

I'd been admiring Butter London for their classy packaging for ages thanks to the many gorgeous photos of these on Instagram and the like - but I never dared buy one as:

• I don't paint my nails very often as I'm generally very impatient with letting them dry and the smudging really annoys me. 
• My nails are very brittle and the harsh chemicals of nail polishes do them no favours!
• They're £12 a pop! If I didn't like the formula then I'd feel very cheated as I could get 3 Rimmel 60 Second nail polishes for the same amount. 

But I was feeling adventurous and I went for it. I picked up the shade Tea With the Queen. And I was pleasantly surprised.

Firstly, I'll just mention that Butter London has the most amazing selection of colours! I always struggle to find nice, subtle colours - especially during spring and summer when I don't feel like rocking vampy red or purple nails. 

They have an absolutely darling range and I really struggled to choose just one colour. In the end, I settled for Tea With the Queen, as I said.

Butter London says...

"On the pink side of tan, very neutral, but never boring. Understated and exceptional for work, or, obviously, tea with the Queen." 

As with lipsticks, I'm constantly on the prowl for a dark nude as nearly all nudes give me that washed out corpse look - not cute. Most nudes match my skin tone and I think it has a strange effect; one that I'm not especially keen on. Hence I was seriously excited about the Butter London line as they have so many beautiful nudes that don't wash me out!  

Anyway, on to the formula.

As with most higher end nail polishes, the Butter London polishes are very runny and watery instead of being goopy and thick. This means they require more coats to achieve maximum opacity - a bit of a drag but it's definitely worth it for the colour range. I would definitely compare the formula of this to that of Chanel nail polishes but £6 cheaper!

Butter London also says...

"Butter LONDON is a three free company; products contain no formaldehyde, no toluene and no DBP."

This is great news for me as I'm very interested in seeing dangerous chemicals such as formaldehyde out of cosmetics! This is the primary reason I now love this brand. While I'll be loyal to L'Oreal for their right balance of the Holy Trio of Nail Polish(price, good formula, decent colours), I think Butter London is definitely worth an investment if you want a healthier way to get fabulous claws.

Have you tried the Butter London nail polishes? What's your favourite brand?

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Maybelline Superstay Better Skin Foundation REVIEW and SWATCH (in the shade Nude)

I received a sachet of the Maybelline Superstay Better Skin foundation in the shade Nude a few copies of Glamour ago. I never got around to using it as I am not a big fan of foundation - especially not heavy coverage ones! 

However, I finally gave it a chance today and I am still not sure about how I feel. 

Maybelline says...

"Our foundation improves the look of your skin every time you wear it. Skin looks better today, tomorrow and beyond. 
Better Skin reduces the appearance of dull, blotchy and uneven skin, leaving you with flawless, hydrated, even and glowing skin. 
It evens out discolouration and brightens dull areas, providing a healthy looking glow from day to night. 
The formula is suitable for sensitive skin, contains no perfume, and is non-comedogenic. It is tested under dermatological control."

A natural skeptic, I'm quite dubious of products which claim to have double effects that are completely different to each other - e.g covering blemishes but also improving the condition of skin. 
The product claims it requires repeat use for the user to be able to see any of the effects they promise, but as I only have one sachet and not a full bottle, I can't comment on that. 

As you can see, it just looks like your standard foundation before blended out. Basic skin coloured liquid, you all know the drill. The Nude colour looks very different to my natural skin tone (quite a bit more orange) before it's blended out. 

I thought that it was relatively difficult to blend out - as are most heavy and if you have blemishes, spot scarring, or dry patches, then this foundation might take quite a while to blend in. I would recommend using a brush or beauty blender with this product as I used my fingers and it took ages!

As you can see, my hands have a lot of fine wrinkles. The foundation was good for a few hours but then it began to sink into the wrinkles whilst disappearing on the rest of my skin. 
Also, my hands don't have any dry patches but my face does. Due to the clingy nature of this foundation, I would suggest that girls with drier skin stay clear of this as I can see it lingering around and highlighting any dry patchers you may have. 

Overall, as a girl who prefers the lightest foundation possible, I'll be giving this one a miss. However, I'd love to know if the apparent blemish reducing effects are actually as good as Maybelline claims - have you tried this before? What did you think?

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That '90s Look: Mac By Request range for Spring 2014

Thousands of Mac Cosmetic fans across the country have been voting in anticipation of the new Mac By Request range for spring 2014.
The official Mac Facebook page gave lovers of the cult beauty brand a chance to vote for some of their favourite products of the past to be sold again.

Frustrated with the lack of colours that could be captured well in photographs, makeup artist and photographer Frank Toskan and beauty salon owner Frank Angelo set about creating a line of cosmetics which would fulfil their professional needs. Originally a cottage industry, Mac launched officially in March of 1984, their debut products lined up neatly on a single counter in a department store in Toronto.

Years later, their products are craved by beauty addicts globally. Anyone who has ever visited a Mac counter will tell you that they bear a mind-boggling spectrum of products in a vast array of different finishes and colours. But there are many products and colours which the company discontinued in the past - and they're bringing some of them back for a limited time only.

Based on votes on a selection of discontinued products from the 1990s and the early 2000s, fans eagerly clicked away to bring back their favourite shades of yesteryear.

Three lipsticks, three Lip Glass lip glosses and three eye shadows are travelling back in time from nearly two decades ago to delight Mac lovers old and new.

Image from VampyVarnish.com, not owned nor taken by me. 

From left to right:

Pink Poodle - a vivid, bright fuchsia pink in Frost finish

Hoop - a mid-tonal peachy rose in Matte finish

Glam - bright pink scarlet in Matte finish

(Matching Lip Glass lip glosses available in the same shades)

Fiction - a muted green with shimmer in Frost finish

Diesel - an icy, grey denim in Frost finish

Butterscotch - a warm, toasty beige in Matte finish

This gorgeous online-exclusive collection is available for a limited time only at http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/.

Do any of these take your fancy? Are there any discontinued Mac shades you'd like to see made available again?

Worth it? Mac Kohl Power Pencil and Pro Longwear Eyeliners [ Swatches of Feline, Devotion, and Raven eyeliner ]

The Mac Kohl Power Pencil eyeliner in Feline was my first eyeliner. Well, I say my first but what I actually mean is that it was my mother's eyeliner of choice at the time and I just happened to pinch it now and again. I had grown out of lime green and lilac Barry M dazzle dusts and wanted to wear actual proper makeup. I didn't know anything about makeup at that point, being a clueless 12 year old and all, so I assumed Mac was the Holy Grail of All Things Makeup. And, when it comes to some products, it is. But years of wearing these eyeliners have taught me that I was wrong.

As you can see above, I only own three Mac eyeliners. (I'm on my third Feline pencil though)
I'll be giving a little review of each as I feel they perform differently.

Let me get Devotion out of the way first. This isn't a Kohl Power one like the other two, this is from the Pro Longwear range. Obviously, the staying power is far better than the standard kohl pencils. 

As for the shade, Devotion is a described by Mac as a "deep army green". It's very metallic, as you will see in my swatch. I'd probably pair this colour with hazel or brown eyes as I think deep greens go better with those than blue or grey eyes. However, the colour is very very dark - it looks almost black until you see it in the light and it's the most beautiful emerald green. 

I don't mind the Pro Longwear range of eye pencils, they stay for ages in comparison to the normal ones and they can withstand a lot of rubbing!

Here's Feline. And here's where my complaints begin. 

These pencils drag along your eyelid rendering it impossible for you to be able to achieve a perfect line. Be it cat flicks or the perfect slimline, this product will hinder you! 

Personally, I can't deal with this in a product. But wait, it gets worse!

No matter how much primer or concealer you apply under your eyes, it slips down your face! 

Not at all worth the money. Try anything else - I guarantee it'll be better than this! I'm really not a fan. 

The formula is just the same with Raven from the 2013 Winter Divine Night collection. However, I am willing to forgive this one because of it's gorgeous colour! As it is not pitch black like Feline, it is more subtle so the jaggedness of application won't be as visible - if at all! The colour is a taupe-y red-purple-bronze, if that makes sense. In case it doesn't, here are the swatches. 

I hope my description of Raven makes a bit more sense now! Feline looks a little blue-toned here, but it's really black in reality.

In conclusion, Mac do some gorgeous shades of eyeliner, but I certainly wouldn't invest in Feline! There are plenty of other great black eyeliners on the market that are much better.
However, they have many beautiful metallic shades that might be harder to find dupes for. If you think you can handle the downwards slip of eyeliner down your face then go for it! But otherwise, I'd give these a miss.

Have you tried Mac eyeliner pencils? What did you think?

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Lush Black Stockings Solid Body Tint [Review and Swatch]

Last year, when I first discovered Lush, I bought the Lush Black Stockings Solid Body Tint. I was hoping it would give me a gorgeous summery glow so that I could maintain my fast-fading natural tan after the holidays were over. I wasn't disappointed!

In case you didn't know, the solid body tints are buttery bars of pigment - a bit like the solid moisturisers they do! Instead of moisturising, the tints give you a lovely sheer lick of colour and a decent glow, too. There are two in the range, this one (Black Stockings) and its glittery, paler sister Shimmy Shimmy.

I feel the need to reiterate that I am extremely pale! While I tan very easily, my normal skin colour is like a sheet of paper. I have tried even the most promisingly subtle of 'gradual tan' moisturisers (yes, Dove and Garnier included!) and they have all turned me orange! I should really just be patient and wait for summer so I can develop a thankfully easy natural tan in the sun. But these sorts of products are worth a try, nobody wants to see my bare paper white legs in the winter months!

This product is not remotely orange! It has a lovely Nars Orgasm-esque tint to it, peachy but with enough red and brown undertones to create a fabulously natural looking tanned flush. You just rub the bar on your skin and then blend the tint in accordingly. I love to apply this to the muscle dents of my calves so that it looks like I'm toned - don't knock it 'til you've tried it, it really makes your legs look slimmer! Perfect for if your summer was more ice cream than it was swimming - like mine are generally!

As you can see in the swatch, it appears quite metallic but once rubbed in, it doesn't show. It has a peculiar clay-like scent, much like some of the face marks that Lush produce. This fades when applied and is not noticeable at all unless you pressed your nose directly into the applied area! As for the consistency, the bar is quite hard and I would recommend leaving it in the sun for half a minute before applying it as it can be quite hard to rub in evenly when it's at room temperature. This is definitely a buildable product. While I prefer one layer, it is not at all thick or clogging when on and I completely forget that I've applied it as it's so light!

This is well worth the £7.95 as it lasts for ages and doesn't go off very quickly as it is solid!
To any pale girls wishing they could hold a summer glow better reading this, I'd definitely invest in one of these, I don't think you'll regret it!

Have you tried this before? What's your favourite Lush product?

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Products I Wouldn't Repurchase (featuring Rimmel, Lush lip tint, Maybelline Baby Lips, etc.)

As with any beauty obsessive, there will be many hits and misses with purchases. And, unfortunately, many of these cosmetic misses are our own fault. Sometimes a product just doesn't sit with us. This is the case with the following products. I bought them for various reasons and they didn't live up to my expectations - sometimes because they are just genuinely disappointing, sometimes because they don't suit me.

I don't usually have many disappointing products as I'm very careful with what I buy. Wasting money is the worst feeling, especially when you can't even return the products afterwards!

Lush Santa Baby Lip Tint

Ah, a Lush special edition. Only available at Christmas, this coca-cola scented tint was a terrible waste of £5.50 for me. At the time, I was um-ing and ah-ing over whether to buy this or one of their famous lip scrubs (read: tiny jar of caster sugar with delicious tasting esters). I made the wrong choice. This dries my lips out like nobody's business! The tint is extremely matte and while it has decent staying power, it highlights every single dry patch or crack in your lips - not cool. It also needs warming up before you can put it on, which is a pain as you end up with a scarlet finger and a very grotty tin of product. It's ok, but it's definitely not on my April wishlist. 

Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me
Don't get me wrong, I love the Baby Lips line. Ever since I heard they were bringing them to the UK at the beginning of last summer, I was gagging for one of these. I love it, it's a gorgeous sheer tinted and moisturising lip product. A pleasure to use. However, I love my Korres Lip Butter stick a lot more! I wouldn't repurchase Maybelline's Baby Lips simply because I have found something I prefer despite it being more expensive. However, if I end up with major cash flow issues, I'd have no problem returning to Baby Lips.

Mac Mineralize Eyeshadow in Frost at Midnight (part of the Apres Chic collection for December 2012) 
It's gorgeous, I know. As with most Mac Mineralize products, it's visually pleasing. However, I have no use for this colour! The formula is great, the finish is pretty.. I just don't use this sort of metallic purple very often! I wouldn't repurchase it based on that alone - and I don't think I'll ever finish it! But it's a lovely product and I can't fault it. The fact that I wouldn't repurchase is completely my fault!

Rimmel Scandaleyes Eyeshadow Stick in 003 Bad Girl Bronze
I'd seen many rave reviews about these, so I just went for it. Unfortunately, they're not for me. I thought this could be used as a thick eyeliner which I could then smoke out. I was wrong. I know they have other colours in the range that are lighter, but this was too dark to use as a base lid colour for me, and it didn't have the desired smokey effect. I can't really fault the product, I think this was just a poor choice for me.

Maybelline Megaplush Mascara
As my readers will know, I have very thick and short eyelashes - bad combo for a girly girl who loves a fat flutter! I had tried the incredibly hyped Falsies mascara and liked it, but I thought it made my lashes way too brittle. The advert for this claimed that it wasn't brittle and as that was my main problem with the Falsies, I was sold! This didn't deliver the length or volume I expected. However, I think this would produce a lovely subtle look for a girl with thinner or longer eyelashes. There's nothing wrong with it so to speak, it just doesn't suit me.

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think of them?

Garnier Moisture Match Goodbye Dry Moisturiser Review

As with most months, a copy of Glamour was dropped onto my doormat today and with it was a sample of Garnier's Moisture Match Goodbye Dry moisturiser! I'm bad with sample sachets, they linger in my makeup bag for months on end before I realise they've gone off and finally chuck them out. However, considering that I'm already a fan of their Moisture Match range, I decided I'd go for it and use the sample immediately.

In case you didn't know, Garnier's Moisture Match line is five different moisturisers designed for various skin types eg. very dry, oily/combination, dull skin. They come in three different formulas - some are creams, some are gels and some are lotions. They all retail at £3.99 from Boots which I think is a very reasonable price for the amount (50 ml). I own a full size version of the one for dull skin as I like a boost of radiance in the morning, and it has lasted for far longer than I'd ever initially expected.

I probably shouldn't have taken such a macro photo, the high resolution really does show off my wrinkly hands - oh dear. Anyway, this is what the product looks like. It's just a fairly thick but not sticky white cream and it has a lovely fragrance. I can only describe the scent as like perfume! It's not floral or sweet, it just smells like any generic perfume might although you wouldn't notice it after you've rubbed it in. 

Speaking of, this is how the product looks once it has sunken in - barely there, just left with a nice glow. I used this on my chin, jawline, cheeks, the corners of my mouth and my nose. Seven hours later, my skin feels pleasantly hydrated - a first for me! I have to recommend this to anyone with dry skin, I can't believe how long it lasts in comparison to more expensive moisturisers! I will definitely be purchasing a full size version of this product. A moisturiser that does the job all day (especially for dry skin) is not something to be ignored! 

Have you tried any of the Garnier Moisture Match moisturisers?

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