Aztec Indian Healing Clay Mask Review

Hey everyone

I'm back today with another skincare post. I recently bought the Aztec Indian Healing Clay Mask and I've been loving it! Although I haven't tried the Glam Glow mud mask (I just can't bring myself to pay £45/50 for such a tiny tub!) I've heard this is a dupe for it and so I wanted to try it out myself :)

BONDI SANDS UK: Fake Tan Review

As a fake tanning enthusiast I was so excited to hear that one of Australia's most popular tan's Bondi Sands was finally hitting UK shelves at Superdrug.

Bondi Sands 200ml Dark Mousse

After testing this product out  I really like it! Here's a few reason why:

• Not only does it give you a deep brown colour, there's not a hint of orange to this, phew! I also applied this to my face the first time using it (which is always a bit risky, but YOLO and all of that haha) but when I washed the guide colour off it look great, hadn't irritated my skin (St Tropez makes my skin crazy itchy!) and although it did leave that annoying fake tan hairline it wiped straight off with a towel which I loved!

• Another plus for me was the smell. As soon as I pumped this out on to my tanning mitt it instantly reminded me of house parties in the summer during my teenage years because of the strong coconut smell, which for me equals Malibu rum win! The smell does develop into that normal biscuit-y scent and is quite strong when you wake up the next morning if you apply it the night before like I do, but this doesn't bother me too much as I always shower the guide colour off the next morning. 

• The tan comes in at £14.99 which I think is fair, although it is a 200ml bottle, slightly below the average 240ml, but then it is still significantly cheaper to other high end tans. 

• My only negative about this tan is that I do feel it can start fading quite patchy unless you're super strict with your moisturising, which let's face it, not many of us are! But if you're okay with the upkeep then its the fade off is okay, but not as good as my Xen-Tan.  

Before Bondi Sands Application

One Coat Guide Colour next morning.

After Guide Colour Wash Off

After Guide Colour Wash Off - with flash.

I definitely do prefer Bondi Sands to the St Tropez Gradual Tanning Mousse as I  prefer the deepness of the colour better but I'm not sure if it will permanently replace my Xen Tan yet, I'll probably switch between the two since I get bored so easily.

I would recommend just ordering Bondi Sands online if you're interested in trying it out, I checked two Superdrugs, one didn't stock the tan yet and the other didn't haveany  of the dark lotion left. It's free delivery so it won't cost any extra! :) 

http://www.superdrug.com/Skin/Body-Care/Gradual-Tan/Bondi-Sands-Self-tanning-Foam-DARK-200ML/p/397101#.VQMRBnysXC8 

                                    

BEAUTY CHAMBER: WHERE TO BUY Z PALETTE UK, MORPHE UK, SIGMA UK

Hellooo,

So I just wanted to do a quick post about where I get my Sigma brushes, Morphe brushes and Z Palettes from in the UK because I think some of you may have done the same as me and slightly over paid for them! Or if the price put you off before you'll want to keep on reading... ;)

I've been planning on purchasing a Z-Palette for a while now as my make up is really starting to pile up and it's just such a convenient way to store everything. If your totally confused as to what a Z Palette is, it's a magnetic case to store make up in. You can pop out all of your eyeshadows/blushes/bronzers etc etc and pop in to this one case instead. Very handy whether you need to free up more room on your vanity, for travelling or just the convenience of having everything in the one place when your in a rush in the morning!

In America they range from $15 for a small to $20 for a large, which when you convert to pounds isn't too bad. At first the only place I could find them in the UK was Ebay and Amazon, and I purchased a small from the latter costing £15 for a small, very very pricey compared to the dollars! I also bought the infamous Sigma Flat Top Kabuki on Amazon too, but had been putting of paying £15 for an E25 blending brush.

I previously mentioned the UK website Beauty Chamber in my post about Morphe Brushes. At the time I also bought a large Z Palette and the Sigma E25 because I couldn't believe how much cheaper they were compared to Amazon!

The large Z Palette cost around £15 (when it's around £23 on Amazon!) and the Sigma was £4 cheaper at £11, but hey, every little helps right?

I really like this website as its stock is so different to all the usual UK make up sites, plus I had absolutely no problems with payment or shipping, so it gets a big thumbs up from me!

If you interested they also stock a really large range of Sigma and Morphe make up too, I really want to try out some of the eye shadow palettes as i've heard loads about them! And they aren't too pricey either. I would still double check if Amazon is cheaper because I think my Sigma F80 was slightly cheaper on there.

Annoyed with myself for paying over the odds for the small palette but hopefully this will help out anyone looking to purchase one, they really are fantastic! Let me know down below if you get one :)

https://www.beautychamber.co.uk/z-palette-c-322.html

MORPHE BRUSHES UK: Rose Gold 7 Piece Set Review

Hey everyone!

EDIT** - Here's a link to my update and review of this brush set one year on.
http://jennifermcfadyen.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/morphe-7-piece-rose-gold-brush-set-uk.html

If your anything like me it gets really annoying hearing your favourite Youtubers and bloggers raving about products that you can't get here in the UK, it's so frustrating!! After months and months of hearing many American's talking about Morphe make-up brushes and not being able to try any out (unless you wanted to pay a small fortune in tax and shipping fees!), I finally found a UK site selling a wide range of their brushes and at very reasonable prices! 

After checking out the range, I decided to go for the rose gold 7 piece set, because not only did it seem the most economical I'm a sucker for anything in pretty packaging, typical. 

        

It was £24.95 for the 7 piece set which I thought was a steal as I had been eyeing up the Zoeva rose gold sets at £60 odd. The packaging is beautiful on these brushes and they come in a really handy case which is great for sitting on top of your vanity or for travelling with. Negatives I would say about the packaging is that it doesn't say the names of each brush on it, so I couldn't say if they can each be purchased separately which is slightly annoying - but not the end of the world! Also within the set the only brush I would say you could use for foundation is the traditional paint style brush which I'm not a huge fan of to begin with. The rest are all powder and eye brushes.

So with that said let's get my least favourite brush out the way first. I never use this type of foundation brush as I find it gives a fuller coverage than I prefer and takes too long to apply. I will probably find some use for this brush, maybe to apply cream contour or blend out under eye concealer!

Next up is this fluffy slanted brush. I really like this brush as it's great for contouring but you could use it for blush or highlighting too. I don't like however that the hairs on the brush are not all even, which you can't really tell from the picture. I also wish it was black so it doesn't look as terrible sitting out with brown contour colour all over it haha, i'm just being a bit picky though!

One of my favourite brushes is the powder brush as it's great for applying bronzer or setting the face with. Again, when I received this brush some of the hairs were already sticking out the side of the brush which makes me nervous about how they will retain their shape after a few washes. But we'll see!

And now on to the eyes. A definite stand out brush in the kit is this one here, it's fab and a total dupe for the pricey Sigma E25 blending brush. They're almost identical! This is great for blending out eye shadows seamlessly across the crease. Bish bash bosh and your done. Love this brush!

The rest of the eye brushes in this kit are also really great and there's enough for an entire eye look. The fatter shader brush is good for packing product on the lid while the shorter shader brush is ideal for putting product on the lower lash line. The small pointed brush I'm a little disappointed in, I'm going to try wash it to see if that will soften it up a bit as it's quite jaggy to touch and I don't actually want to put it near my eye just yet as it seems like it will be very harsh on them.

Overall, I do like this set. I am always a little sceptical of vloggers fiercely promoting brands when they get commission for purchases if viewers use their codes which is why I wanted to try them out and put out a completely unbiased review. I also want to try out some of their single brushes to see if the quality is better than the sets, which I feel it might be. I haven't washed these brushes yet but I'm really hoping they retain their shape and don't shed as i'm not completely convinced on the quality yet compared to my real Techniques which I love (I just wish they would would come out with a wider range of eye brushes!). I'll post any updates if I find this does happen, as I wouldn't recommend them if they do. 

If you want to try out this set, I purchased mine from Beauty Chamber:

https://www.beautychamber.co.uk/morphe-rose-brush-p-3103.html

Let me know in the comments section your thoughts on these brushes if you have them, or are thinking of trying them out! :)

LONG THICK LASHES: Mascara Tutorial

Hey guys!

If you're a fan of long, voluminous lashes and prefer a slightly clumpy look to spidery lashes and want to know how to get them then this is the post for you!

Close Up

LONG THICK LASHES: Mascara Tutorial

Hey guys!

If you're a fan of long, voluminous lashes and prefer a slightly clumpy look to spidery lashes and want to know how to get them then this is the post for you!

Close Up

Rapid Lash Review: Before and After

Hey everyone!

Over the last year I've had a tonne of compliments on how long and voluminous my lashes have been looking, and while I have changed up my mascara routine I've found a huge difference in a product called Rapid Lash.

I first noticed this product in Boots, but at a whopping £42 (roughly!) I just couldn't bring myself to try it out, especially since I hadn't really heard anything about the product before. But to my delight, nearly a year ago I found this little gem on Amazon for around £20 (it tends to vary from £20 to £25, so my advice would be to keep an eye on it if you're thinking of trying it out!) What tipped it for me, aside from the price, was all the fab reviews about the product. 2 bottles later and now i'm giving my review!

Yes you read that right, I loved this product so much that I bought a second, it really is that good and I hope my pictures do it justice! For the first few months using the first bottle I made sure to apply it near enough every night to my top and bottom lashes as I was desperate to see the results. Sure enough after a few months of using this product people really did start to notice the difference and I had so many compliments on them and questions on what I was using. With my second bottle however I only use it two or three times a week to maintain my lashes and keep them healthy. I also think it's worth mentioning that I have't noticed any side effects using this product and will definitely be purchasing a third!

There's also a brow treatment from this company too, if anyone has tried that let me know down below if it's any good or not :)

Rapidlash - http://www.amazon.co.uk/RapidLash-Eye-Lash-Enhancing-Serum/dp/B0097G3XDY

                                                                START MARCH 2014

                                                                         START APRIL

                                                                           MID APRIL

                                                               
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                                                                          MID JUNE

                                                               3 MONTH PERIOD 

NARS: Audacious Lipstick in Raquel

Last month I was lucky enough to snatch up the Nars Audacious Lipstick in the colour Raquel. It seems to be permanently sold out online at Space NK so when I noticed it was back I ordered it straight away to see what all the hype is about!

OILY SKINCARE ROUTINE: Paulas's Choice and Oz Naturals

Hey everyone! 

Today's post is going to be all about my daily skincare routine. Just a bit of background on my skintype before I start, I have oily skin, larger (easily clogged!) pores, laughter lines and quite a bit of redness on my cheek area. 

The products I've been using the last few months have really seemed to help with all these issues (and particularly with oil control!) so I thought I'd share my tips with you all.

Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Oil Reducing Cleanser - £18.50

Oz Naturals Vitamin C Cleanser -  £19.09

Clarisonic Mia 2 - £125

Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Pore Reducing Toner - £19.50

Oz Naturals Anti-Aging Serum - £15.95

Oz Naturals Professional Moisturising Serum - £12.39

Oz Naturals Sea Infused Herbal Moisturiser - £17.79

So first up, after using a wipe to remove the majority of my makeup, I then go in with a cleanser. I've been using Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Oil Reducing Cleanser which is marketed at normal to oily/combo skin. I really love this stuff as its a foam consistency, doesn't have a noticeable scent, doesn't irritate my skin and removes any excess oil. Every maybe second day, I use this with my Clarisonic. Although the Clarisonic is eye wateringly expensive to first buy, I would highly recommend it as it's a great skin care investment. I've noticed a big reduction in the noticeably of blackheads around my t-zone area, although I wouldn't say it has removed them completely and it does remove all of your excess makeup, you'll be surprised when you look at the brush after it's first use to see how much makeup you've actually missed all those years! I also switch up my PC cleanser with the Oz Naturals Vitamin C Cleanser. I do enjoy using this cleanser, it has a gel like consistency and a really nice orange-y smell, but I'm not sure if this is one I would repurchase as I love my PC cleanser more! 

Once I've cleansed I normally then go in with my Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Pore Reducing Toner. This stuff has lasted me ages and again, doesn't break me out or cause any irritation to my skin. Would I say I notice a drastic difference using this product? Not particularly. But then to be honest I don't normally notice much difference in any toning product I've ever used. If you have any suggestions for a good pore reducing toner please leave a comment below so I can try it out! I do use this every night though and just hope that it is doing some good haha. 

And then this is the part that I feel has really changed my skin over the past few months, and can be very scary to try for anyone with oily/combo skin, and that's face oils. I've tried a whole host of different products in an attempt to stop looking like a oil slick across my t-zone over the years and if anything, all of these products drying out my skin made it ten times worse. While doing my research online, I found the theory that by putting oils on your face, this seems to trick the skin into producing less oil because it feels there is enough already, which I thought was crazy at first but decided to give it a try. I had a looks on amazon and found the company Oz Naturals, whose face oils and serums were the top selling product of its kind on the site. After looking at all the 5 star reviews I still wasn't to sure because I noticed most of the reviewers had actually been sent the product rather than buying it themselves (although, studying communications at uni I thought this was an amazing marketing technique to get higher listing on amazon, I guess the same way in which companies use SEO and google to rank higher on the search engine.) But anyway, I decided to give them a go and purchased both the Anti-Aging Serum and the Professional Moisturising Serum. I apply the Anti Aging first, after my my toner, wait a few minutes then apply the Moisturing Serum and I have to say (as someone who purchased these with their own money!) I absolutely love them! Not only have I noticed a massive reduction in the amount if oil produced throughout the day, it has really helped with the age old problem of foundation sinking into laughter lines. You only need a few drops of both to cover the entire face and it sinks in so quickly which I also love as I hate that sticky moisturiser feel which is why I really like using these under foundation in the morning as they dry so quickly and don't leave that greasy feeling to the skin. It also leaves my face feeling super soft and hydrated a definite win for me! Don't get me wrong, I do still have to blot throughout the day but much less frequently than before. Honestly if you have trouble with your oily skin, try these out, you won't be disappointed!

And finally at night I use the Oz Naturals Sea Infused Herbal Moisturiser. Again, this product doesn't break me out or irritate my skin but I don't think I will be repurchasing it. It takes a very long time to sink into the skin and I'm really not a fan of the smell. Although it's not a chemical smell (it does smell of natural ingredients, maybe the seaweed? It's hard to describe!) I'm just not a huge fan of it and find it very overpowering. I think I'll be looking into purchasing the PC gel moisturiser for oily skin instead. 

I also use Rapid Lash on my eyes at night and use the Aztec Indian Healing Clay weekly, but I'll save those for another post! 

Although these products are a bit more pricey, I really do believe in spending a bit more on skincare as a lot of the products I've used from the Boots/Superdrug (aka. the drugstore) have really irrated my skin have been a waste of money as I always go back to higher end products. 

I also just want to mention that if you have dry/normal skin, I really recommend trying out the Oz Natural Serums as they are fab for hydration skin and having a look on the Paula's Choice website. Many of the higher end, more reputable brands could really learn a thing or two from Paula's website. Everything is just so well laid out with the entire range of products (and there's a lot!) categorised into each type of skin care problem and type so you know exactly what to buy for your needs. I'm not a fan of skincare brands who claim one cleanser, moisturiser etc will work for every skin type and need, it just doesn't seem possible to me! 

Anyway I think I've rambled enough today. Let me know if you try out any of these products, have nay questions or  any recommendations as to what I should try next! 

www.paulaschoice.co.uk

I bought my Clarisonic Mia 2 from Debenhams.

www.oznaturals.com (although I buy mine from amazon uk)