Poshe Super-Fast Drying Top Coat

Poshe Super-Fast Drying Top Coat £8.50 here

What They Say:

Poshé Super-Fast Drying Topcoat is a five-time Allure Editor's Choice winner, which for an independent brand that doesn't advertise is a serious achievement and testament to its effectiveness. This protective top coat has an extremely diverse, loyal following of beauty addicts and celebs, from Kate Beckinsale and Elizabeth Taylor to Jessica Simpson. Poshé stops nails from turning yellow and is even safe for cancer sufferers and those in remission to use as it's free from Formaldehyde & Toluene.

My Opinion:

Five-Time Allure Editors Choice Winner! You've gotta be kidding me! 

I've been using this for a couple of weeks now and feel like it's had a good enough road testing to be able to review. 

Firstly let me tell you I have tried to make this work! I started by using it as intended as a top coat, it chipped almost instantly. 

I tried again paying more attention to the tips of my nails, it still chipped a lot very quickly. 

I then tried sandwiching my nail polish by using it as both a base and top coat, the whole nail colour popped off in one!

There are cheaper and better quality top coats on the market. 

What I will say is that it is indeed super-fast drying but what's the point of a top coat that needs a top coat? 

I've given up trying to make it work, mine has gone in the bin! Don't waste your money on this one.

Rating:

♥♡♡♡♡

Have You Tried This?

What's Your Favourite Top Coat?

Disclaimer: Link provided for convenience, I am not affiliated with this brand or product
Image: Cult Beauty (It was impossible for me to get a clear photo myself)

Jouer Highlighter - Champagne

Jouer Highlighter - Champagne

After receiving a sample of Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint with a Cult Beauty order I tried it and was so impressed I purchased the full size that same evening. 

Whilst placing my order I decided I wanted to try more of their products and this highlighter took my eye.

It appears really pink in the pan but as you can see in the swatch below it shows up a lot more golden/beige on my skin.

It's a really lightweight formulation, it applies nicely with a stippling brush but I prefer to use my fingers as it just melts into the skin and leaves behind this beautiful sheen. Not to mention it contains vitamin e and shea butter which we all know are fantastic for our skin.

It lasted all day on my skin which is pretty dry at the moment however the way it melts into the skin I think will give it great longevity on oilier skins too.

Overall this is one of the best highlighters I've tried, I will be adding shade Tiare to my collection and trying out many more Jouer products, I can see them quickly becoming my favourite brand.

Jouer Highlighter £16 available here

(Link provided for your convenience, I am not affiliated with the company)

d.j.v. Beautenizer Mascaras Reviewed

Always on a quest to find the perfect mascara I spotted these in a duo set on Cult Beauty a few weeks ago and was intrigued. I googled them and read some varied reviews so I decided to try them for myself. 

I got a pretty good deal, both mascaras for £27. Cult Beauty no longer have the duo for sale however you can buy them separately. After this review you may only want one of the two anyway. 

I think the simplest way of doing this review is looking at one at a time. So let's take a gander eh? 

d.j.v. Beautenizer - Fiberwig LX £18 here

What they say:

Fibrewig is a hi-tech fusion of brush-on, false-lash filaments & a hypoallergenic, liquid-to-film lash coating that you apply like regular mascara. The glossy formula holds the volumising, lengthening fibres in place for lashes so voluptuous you'll cause a breeze when you blinc. You can literally sleep in it & it won't flake or smudge, but removal is easy, with a quick soak in warm water it just slides off without any rubbing. As long as still wet, you can build up & out as much as you want.

Lets look at the brush seems as this is probably the first thing we do when buying a new mascara. 

Fairly basic lengthening style wand, curved to fit your eye shape with fairly short bristles.

What does it do? Lets see!

No makeup. 

(I struggled for light it's been a miserable day I can only apologise for how deathly white and washed out I look I was literally squashed against the window)

Curled Lashes with One Coat Applied

Two Coats

My Opinion:

I'm not going to beat around the bush, I don't like it! I don't think it does anything special. 

My lashes are fairly long naturally although the ends are very fair (no idea why, my hair is nearly black and I'm olive skinned).

 I would get the same outcome by curling my lashes and applying any bog standard mascara except unlike this I would be able to let a bog standard mascara dry between coats and build volume too.

Its not that Fiberwig does nothing, you can see little squiggly,  thin fibres on the ends of my lashes but I don't think that makes the lashes look longer, they just look a mess.

I feel that mascara is a very personal preference, I don't like it but that doesn't mean you wont. If you are already a lover of Fiberwig and disagree with me then please leave me a comment below. Tell me why you love it and how you use it and I'll give it a try.

d.j.v. Beautenizer - Volume Lash £18 here

What They Say:

Instead of fibres this mascara uses bodybuilding particles in the same 3D, film-coating formula as Fibrewig. Not for the fainthearted, this mascara gives you lashings of lashes so voluptuous & long they'll accentuate your eyes like a Manga cartoon. VL contains Panthenol for flexibility & definition, & a silk protein derivative for resilience. The formula is so budge-proof you can even sleep in it without smudging, plus it removes with a quick warm water soak so no rubbing or lash damage.

Lets have a nosey at the wand.

I'm a lover of voluminous lashes,  the more va va voom the better! I favour huge bristle wands as in my experience they're the ones that give you the most volume.

When I saw this wand I was really disappointed and wasn't expecting anything from it, lets see how I got on eh?

No Makeup

Curled Lashes, One Coat. 

Top - Two Coats Without Flash

Bottom - Two Coats with Flash

My Opinion:

The photos speak for themselves, I abso frickin lutely love it!

This is the best volumising mascara I've ever used!

The formula is like nothing I've used before, it's not dry but it's not wet. It's pretty thick but easy to work with. It's hard to explain the application but if I had to I would say it feels like dragging volume from the roots to the tips of your lashes. 

I usually wear one coat, I don't think it needs a second but that's just my preference. 

I will never be without this little magic wand for the rest of my life! I just can't see anything beating it, it's that good!

If you are wondering do they team up well to give length and volume? I experimented a little bit and this is what happened:

Volume Lash Over the top of Fiberwig 

Fiberwig Over the top of Volume Lash

My Opinion:

I wouldn't recommend using Volume Lash over Fiberwig unless it's Halloween! Again it's personal preference, you might like this look but to me it looks like tangled tree roots and I don't very much like to wear them on my face!

Fiberwig applies well over Volume Lash however to me it doesn't make enough of a difference to bother!  I'll just stick with my Volume Lash one coat wonder!

Have you tried either of these? How did you get on?

What's your HG mascara? 

Disclaimer: All products stated were purchased by myself with my own money. All views are my own. Links provided for your convenience I am not affiliated with any company spoken about. 

My Louise Young Brush Collection

I have been meaning to write this post since July of last year, however as you know I've been ill for a while and haven't gotten round to it.

Now I don't have a complete collection of Louise Young brushes (yet) but what I do have I love and use on a daily basis.

I feel I should start by telling you the top two brushes you see, LY02 and LY39 were given to me by Louise Young Cosmetics and the rest were purchased with my own money.

These two brushes were not provided for review purposes and will not affect my opinions. 

Let me explain, back in July of last year I was washing my makeup brushes and I tweeted that my MAC 224 brush had shed so much hair it was starting to look like my LY38a brush which is clearly alot smaller and is for more precise crease work not a blending brush like the 224.

Shortly after this tweet I was contacted by Louise Young Cosmetics to ask if everything was OK with my LY38A, which it was. I thought this was fantastic customer service and emailed them to say so. To thank me for my feedback I was asked for my address and a few days later these brushes arrived.

Now for the review, I thought the best way to do this was one brush at a time starting with order of use.

LY02, Foundation Taklon £24.50 here

Now firstly let me tell you that my preferred choice for a foundation brush would be a flat top buffing brush, therefore had I not been sent this brush I probably wouldn't have tried it and boy! Would I be missing out.

I'm sure I've told you already that my skin is not so much combination but more bipolar, it is either very dry or oily. 

As you know using a buffing brush to apply a base onto dry skin is asking for trouble and will create a flaky skin mess. Therefore on dry skin days I will reach for this beauty. 

The first thing I noticed about this brush was how soft and dense the bristles are. It has quite a large brush head although not their biggest, see LY34 Super Foundation Brush here.

The LY02 is so soft and glides over the skin effortlessly making light work of foundation application due to its large brush head. 

If these types of foundation brushes are your favourite then I totally recommend you give the LY02 a go.

LY39, Domed Shadow Brush £17 here

This brush I use daily for applying shadow to my lid, the shape, size and density of the brush head makes it perfect for both sweeping shadow across the lid and also packing the shadow on. 

The LY39 is not as stiff as say the more popularly known MAC 239, I love this as it can be used as a one brush wonder to apply and blend out your eyeshadow when you're in a rush or like to keep it simple.

Overall this is my favourite of my Louise Young brushes due to its precision and flexibility. 

LY38a and LY38b - Tapered Shadow Brushes £16 and £15 here

I said I would review each brush individually however as you can see these are both variations of the same brush. The difference being the LY38b is a smaller version of the LY38a.

The paintbrush style tapered brush heads make these brushes the perfect choice for detailed crease work and cut creases. The tip of the brushes can also be used to highlight the tear duct area, under the brow bone and smaller areas like the cupids bow.

I don't have nor have I seen any similar brushes from other brands, I'm not saying they don't exist just that I'm not familiar with any.

These have become firm favourites in my brush collection and I recommend everyone should have at least one of these brushes in their collection. 

LY25, Synthetic Eyeliner Brush £8 here

Firstly, let me apologise for the dried liner on the ferrule, the brush itself is clean but I do not want to scrub the dried liner off for fear of water or brush cleaner getting into the ferrule and dissolving the glue or damaging the bristles of the brush.

Before I got this brush angled liner brushes were my tools of choice, once I started using this brush that instantly changed. Both the handle and the brush are so dainty it is perfect to use around the small eye area and allows you to control the thickness of the line easily. 

As you can see the price of the brush is very reasonable also.

Overall I love these brushes and would recommend them all. If for any reason I was to lose one of these brushes they would be missed in my collection and I would repurchase them immediately. 

I'm looking forward to trying more brushes from Louise Young,  have you tried these brushes or others from the brand? How did you find them? I would love to hear your recommendations. 

Please comment below xxx

Karl Lagerfeld for Shu Uemura Prestigious Bordeaux Palette

Unless a lottery win is on the horizon I doubt I'll be purchasing any Lagerfeld designs anytime soon, so when the Lagerfeld for Shu Uemura collection was released I had to have it! 

This little beauty caught my eye immediately, however being a mother with Christmas presents to buy I couldn't justify the purchase and had fingers crossed it would still be available afterwards. 

Well imagine my elation when browsing through the Selfridges online sale and coming across the object of my affections for.....wait for it.....HALF PRICE!!  Well I shimmyed my onesie clad booty round the living room doing a rendition of the Birdy Song then promptly made my purchase before it was sold out which I now believe it has as I can't find it on the website.

The packaging is beautiful and totally unique, exactly what you would expect from two such prestigious names. Lagerfeld and Shu Uemura were close friends. Lagerfeld has used Shu Uemura shadows for 20yrs to sketch his designs claiming them 'better than pastels' a statement I totally agree with. I don't feel i'm articulate enough to describe just how amazing the texture and pigment of these shadows are. I swatched them with my fingertips and I would liken the sensation to the feel of pure silk. I barely touched the palette yet the colour on my tips was so intense, they're packed with pigment. 

(Top with flash,  Bottom no flash)

As you can see the shadows swatch true to colour. This particular palette caught my eyes as all the shadows are fantastic for enhancing green eyes .

I have created a look using this palette (below) however I left it too late and could not find good enough lighting to show it up properly. I will therefore add another post using this palette when I have taken photos in daylight.

I used the gold shade over the lid with the bronze on the outer corner, I then used the deep purple shade through the crease and intensified this with MAC Nocturnelle. I used the purple shade on my bottom lash line and Avon Supershock gel liner on tightline and waterline. I applied gold glitter over the lid mixed with Illamasqua sealing gel to keep it in place and prevent fall out. Finally I lined the top lashline with Clinique brush on cream liner in black and finished with 2 coats of Maybellines The Falsies.

Overall Rating: 5/5 (I adore this palette)

Have you used Shu Uemura products?  What shall I try next?

Happy New Year Everybody,  I wish you love, luck and happiness for 2013 xxx

Elemis Majestic Beauty Set

So I decided last week I wanted to change up my skincare routine as I was looking pretty dull and had some stubborn patches of dry skin that wouldn't budge regardless of how much I exfoliated.

Whilst having a browse on asos the Elemis Magestic Beauty Set caught my eye. Being an Elemis virgin I thought this would be a great opportunity to try a range of their products.

The set contains:
Melting Cleansing Gel 125ml (Full Size)
Papaya Enzyme Peel 15ml
Cellular Recovery Skin Bliss Capsules x 14
Pro-Collagen Marine Cream 30ml
Pro-Radiance Hand and Nail Cream 100ml (Full Size)
It is presented beautifully in a purple, velvety zip bag.

Clearly this is not a review of the set as I haven't been using the products for long enough to provide an accurate analysis; however I really wanted to share my first impressions of two products from the set.
I will give a full review when I feel I know all the products well enough to judge.

Papaya Enzyme Peel:

Like I said earlier my skin has been looking pretty dull with stubborn dry skin patches. I also have psoriasis and fairly sensitive skin. I had been wanting to try an enzyme peel for a while but thought it best to speak to my dermatologist first. She gave me the go ahead and I had this particular product in mind. 
This is the product that sold me the set and although I have only used this twice I am not disappointed. I can already see a significant difference.
My skin looks a lot brighter, fresher and the dry skin patches are no more. 
My skin feels so smooth and soft to the touch however admittedly this could also be down to any of the contents of the set.
The product itself is a cream consistency. It spreads evenly and a 50p sized amount is ample to cover the whole face.
I was expecting it to feel uncomfortable whilst it was working but actually its very gentle and all I felt was a few tingles/tickles. Containing both Papaya and Pineapple enzymes the scent is uplifting, fresh and not at all overpowering. 
After 15mins on the face it is easy to remove with a damp washcloth and I saw instant results.
Overall I am really enjoying this product and if I had to pick a fault the only thing I can say is that I would have liked a slightly larger size tube. I'd have preferred to have a slightly smaller cleanser and hand cream and more of this.


ProRadiance Hand and Nail Cream:

Firstly lets address the name, I personally don't know anybody with 'radiant hands', have you ever complimented somebody with "wow! Your hands are glowing" I'm thinking no!
Apart from nit picking about the name the product itself is really rather lovely. The scent is delicate and pleasant and the consistency of the cream is perfect, not too thin were it drips whilst applying or too thick that it takes a decade to absorb. It absorbs into the skin quickly and leaves skin looking plumper and feeling softer and moisturised.
Being a mum of a toddler I have my hands in water a lot (no time for marigolds with a toddler) because of this they're often dry and can be irritating therefore a hand cream is a necessity for me. This little beauty has replaced my longtime favourite Soap & Glory - Hand food already.

Overall I'm really enjoying all the products in this set and will give a full review when I feel I can.

Have you tried any or all of these products? If so how were they for you? 

Lots of Love

Julie xxx

Photo Source Google Images, note: I'm having problems uploading my photos the hubby is fixing the issue and I will edit the post once I have them.

Favourite Nail Polishes at the Moment

I am absolutely loving these at the moment, they are both from the Nicole by O.P.I range Kardashian Kolors.
They don't seem to be showing up very well with my camera but i'm sure there's hundred of pics online already. They all have the usual O.P.I cute names incorporating the Kardashian girls names. Both of my faves are the Kylie Jenner named polishes.
In the UK they're available from http://www.lenawhite.co.uk/store/nicole-by-opi, in the states at Walmart and Ulta not sure of other worldwide stockists but that's what googles for right?

Read to bottom for tips on removing glitter polish.

Rainbow in the S-Kylie:

This is beautiful it has all different sizes and colours of glitter in it. Green, gold, silver and turquoise to pick out the most prominent. Best effect is acheived after two coats, I would recommend dabbing this onto nails rather than sweeping it in the usual way as it builds and shows up better.

Wear Something Spar-Kylie:

This is probably the best glitter polish i've ever used, its not your average glitter polish which is usually coloured nail polish with glitter in this is glitter polish, so much glitter in the polish there are no gaps between the particles. Its hard to explain sure you will understand my ramblings when you see the photos. This is so quick drying that the first nail is ready for a second coat by the time you've reached the last nail on that hand.

Tip For removing glitter nail polish; soak a cotton wool ball in nail polish remover and place over the nail, take tin foil/aluminium foil and wrap this around the cotton wool to keep on the nail. After five minutes remove the foil and cotton and voila. 

Dont forget to comment and follow, I will be uploading more makeup tutorials later today.

¡hasta luego! xxx