Smashbox Try It Kit

I bought this little kit  about 4 weeks ago after lusting after it since Christmas. I heard great things about the Photo Finish Foundation Primer but at £25, I couldn't justify spending that much money on something I was simply curious about. However, after scrolling through the Boots website, I came across the Try It Kit for £19. I know there was a kit a little bit cheaper which had three primers in it (though I can't find it on the Boots site so maybe it doesn't exist anymore?) but I also wanted to try the eye primer so I decided to go ahead and buy it.

It took many trips to the Boots in Hull before they actually had it in stock so I think that proves how popular this kit is. For £19, you get five samples or mini's (whatever you want to call them) and I think just under £4 for a sample of a high end product is amazing. I loved the packaging for this product. The makeup came in a little box, proudly lined up inside the box so you can clearly see what you have got.

I will review these products in order of me least likely to buy in full size. The first thing I have is the Smashbox Limitless Eye Liner. Although I couldn't find fault with this eyeliner, I'm just not a massive fan of cream eyeliners; I much prefer liquid and gel. I think the reason for this is that they are so messy and seem to smudge everywhere, although this is a good thing if you're a fan of the smokey eye. I just can't seem to justify spending so much money on a high end eyeliner too, when you can get ones just as good at Superdrug or Boots for less than a fiver. I currently use one from Asda's that cost me £1.50 ad it's my third one! The price for a this product full size is £14 and although it's creamy and lovely to use, I just won't buy it in it's full size.

The second least likely thing I would purchase full size is Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss. Like before, I'm not a big lip gloss fan. I find it sticky and annoying and much prefer wearing lipsticks. Although, I actually liked this one. I loved the colour and it made my lips look bigger which I loved as I have really small lips. I think I would probably either find a dupe or start with cheaper glosses than head straight the high end one though. This is full size price is £15.  

I found it hard to put the last three products in order of least likely to buy as I loved all of them. However, in third place is the Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara. I absolutely loved this mascara- in fact I think it's better than Benefit's They're Real. My lashes looked bigger, they didn't clump and they looked curvier so it ticked all the boxes. But I own so many mascaras, it would be pointless buying another, especially as you have to use mascara up so quick after opening it (although I never stick to the three month guidelines, which perhaps is naughty of me, but I haven't had any problems yet.) For now, the sample will do me fine, and in the future I may purchase the full size but at  £18, I think it's unlikely it will happen any time soon.

In second place is the reason I bought this kit in the first place - The Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. I'm still unsure whether I like this primer or not which seems weird as I put it in second place. I've used it a few times but as there's so little product in the sample size - 7.1 ml- I'm scared to really try it out properly. I love the feeling of the primer, it reminds me of Benefit's Porefessional, the velvety, non greasy texture. And I do think it makes it easier for my foundation to blend into my skin. But my days are so varied, it's hard to say whether using this primer increases the staying power of my foundation, as I've found the staying power depends on what I'm doing that day. For example, if I'm up at half 4 in the morning for uni and rushing around all day, I will be more oily earlier on in the day than if I'm shopping or simply lounging around the house. I think I may purchase this in a few months, as I do like it, but I will probably try less expensive primers first. My advice to someone who desperately wants to try this primer, but aren't so bothered by the other products in this kit, is to buy the travel size. £12.50 for 12mls. The full size is £25 for 30mls.

Last but not least is the Photo Finish Lid Primer. I couldn't believe what a difference this made to my makeup! I always had a problem with my eyeshadow creasing, whether it was with low end branded makeup like the Fearne eye collection, which I wear a lot, or high end like Urban Decay which I also wear a lot. But since I've been wearing this, I've had absolutely no problems at all. My eye shadow stays put all day. Unfortunately, I'm already running out of this product. I'm down to the last drops which I think I will save for a night out, rather than a simple trip to uni. I definitely want to buy this in full size but at the moment, I'm trying out other eye primers to see if there are ones I like better or just as much. I think it would be silly to buy the full sized product at £15 when it's the first eye primer I've ever tried. I recently bought an MUA eye primer for £2.50 which I'm still making my mind  up on, and I really want to try Benefit's Stay Don't Stray. If you have any recommendations for an eye primer that's reasonably cheap, than please let me know :)

Overall, I think this kit is worth the money. You get to experience 5 high end products before choosing to buy them full size. I think this would make a perfect gift for any beauty loving girl out there. Are you a Smashbox fan?

So Sue Me - Secrets to Blogging, Fashion and Beauty book review

As it's international woman's day, I've been thinking about who has inspired me over the past year and one of these women is Suzanne Jackson.

If you have never heard of Suzanne Jackson before, she is an Irish beauty blogger and I have been reading her blog (which you can find at sosueme.ie) for around 18 months now. I can't remember how I discovered her but I've got a feeling it was to do with the picture of the wedding dress she posted that went viral. I was in the beginning stages of planning my wedding at the time so I was instantly drawn to it.

Last year she released a book called Secrets to Blogging, Fashion and Beauty and I was lucky enough to receive it for Christmas from my boyfriend. I never asked for this (although I hinted badly) as I would have to order it from Ireland and the postage was quite expensive, but I'm so glad he got me it! He knows how obsessed I am with this blog; every time I buy something beauty related, he says 'does Penny wear that?' (He calls Sue 'Penny' because I watched her Penney's haul when he was in the same room as me. He also says it in a really poor attempt at an Irish accent too ;) And for people who don't know, Penney's is the Irish version of Primark.) 

The answer most of the time is yes; I've been introduced to so many new brands and makeup since I've started following SoSueMe. Before, I'd never even heard of the Urban Decay Naked Palettes (I know,so bad!) I didn't know what contouring was, I didn't even know highlighters existed. Since then, I bought my first Naked Palette (which I adore), and I own so much makeup that she has reviewed, whether it's a favourite of hers- such as the No7 Love Red lipstick, Maybelline Fit Me foundation, Balmi, L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara, Sleek Contour Palette, NYC Liquid eyeliner etc - to the products she's talked about only a couple of times such as the Bourjois Happy Light serum primer.

She signed it :)

I find this book so helpful as  it gives tips on everything from washing your makeup brushes to buying a new outfit. I also love at the beginning of the book, she has a chapter on her life, her jobs and how she got into blogging. Since I've been following her, I've witnessed so many great things she has got to experience and achieve through blogging - meeting Marc Jacob's, creating her own range of eyelashes, creating a limited edition set of makeup brushes, products selling out in Ireland days after she reviews them... The list goes on! Sue is part of the reason I started my own beauty blog.

Of course I could go on forever about why I like her blog and her book so much, but I'm not going to. I think you should find out for yourselves and experience the SoSueMe effect firsthand!

New blog name

Hi, I'm just letting the people who follow my blog that I am changing the blog URL to lucyjanewebb.blogspot.co.uk

Although I do love vintage, I feel like this is primarily a beauty blog, so for that reason I wanted to change the URL. Apparently all I have to do is post this and bloglovin will take care of the rest so you won't have to follow my new blog or anything.

Thanks for reading :)

Lucy xx

My first Lush purchases!

Before I start this post I want to say that I've learnt many new things this week, one of them is how easy it is to take photo's in day light as opposed to artificial light. Why didn't no one tell me this before?!                                

                   
Like most people, I assumed Lush only sold soap and bath bombs, and whilst they look beautiful, to me they're something you receive perhaps as a gift and I never considered buying anything for myself. Because of this, I've only been inside Lush a few times. Whenever I walk past, the smell is very overwhelming and the shop always looks so busy (and they're always so small too!) and this put me off.
                               
But after scrolling through instagram, I saw someone had posted a photo of a Lush lip scrub. Whilst it seems obvious to me now that these things existed, I've only ever encountered one lip scrub and that was in Superdrug by the brand Look. I have a lot of problems with my lips becoming dry and I tend to exfoliate by rubbing a towel on them or using my toothbrush but they leave me feeling sore. So after searching the Lush website, I decided to take the plunge and head over to Lush before I went to University yesterday.

This photo doesn't do it justice - it's a really bright pink.

I found the scrub straight away. There are three flavours to choose from; mint, bubblegum and popcorn. To me, these seem odd choices of flavours and I would have expected more conventional ones such as strawberry, citrus etc, but I guess you can't fault for originality. I fully intended to buy the mint flavour, but after smelling all three, I couldn't help but fall in love with the bubblegum one. It's smells and looks like strawberry slushy which reminded me of summer. I've only used it a couple of times, since I only bought it yesterday, but it tastes as good as it smells. I'm well aware I shouldn't be eating it, but as the main ingredient is caster sugar, you can't help but lick some off. This cost £5.50.

The next thing I bought was the Angels On Bare Skin facial cleanser. I came across this on the website too and thought it looked gorgeous- I absolutely love lavender and the ground almonds made it look like something you'd have for breakfast! A sales assistant at Lush talked me through the benefits of some of the cleansers and tested both this one and Herbalism on my hands. I told her that my main concern at the moment is redness and small dry patches I'm getting on my cheeks and between my eyebrows. Angels On Bare Skin is supposed to 'even out skin tone and give a natural glow' whereas Herbalism was more for balancing skin and preventing oily skin. I was torn between them both before she tested them on me, but the Angels On Bare Skin cleanser felt a lot more exfoliating and left a stronger smell which I liked, therefore I went with this one.

The price for this cleanser was £6.35 for 100 grams which I think would last at least a month, maybe even more.

The final thing I bought was Toothy Tabs in the flavour Dirty. I also discovered these on the site before I went in and as they only cost £2, I decided to give them a go. I love trying anything to do with teeth, buying new brands of toothpastes every time the old one runs out. I don't think I've ever purchased the same one twice, or at least straight after each other. I've used these tabs once already and I must say, I'm not really a fan. However, I will keep at them for at least a week and maybe my mind will change. To use these, you take a tab and nibble it between your front teeth until it starts foaming, then you brush as normal. I chose the flavour 'dirty' as it's spearmint and a flavour I'm used to, but it still tastes a bit weird. I will maybe review it in a couple of weeks, to give my overall verdict. You get 40 tabs which would last 20 days (if you brush your teeth day and night like you're supposed to.)

The last thing I received was a sample of Eau Roma Water Toner. I don't really use toners and told the lady this, but she was kind enough to put together a sample for me to see if I change my mind. This smells like Lavender too which I love so maybe I'll purchase this on my next visit.

Overall, I'm pleased with my purchases. I love that Lush is all natural products and that they are very vocal with the fact they are against animal testing. I also love the little touch of the sticker which tells me exactly who made the product. I think next time I would like to try a face mask, a foundation, lip tint and a shampoo bar but for now, these will last me :)

Have you bought anything from Lush before?

February Favourite's

So, I know it’s a few days late but I have never done one of these and really wanted to. At the moment, I’m really busy trying to write two essays due in for Friday, but I didn’t want to get behind on blogging now I’m getting into a routing of posting once or twice a week. Anyway, back to the subject of my blog post. These are my top five beauty products I used or discovered in February.

Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean - £8

I actually purchased this Soap and Glory cleanser mid January but it took me a few weeks to decide whether I liked it or not. At first I wasn’t sure on the smell; it’s a mix between peach and mint which a lot of people adore, but it took me a couple of weeks to decide whether I liked it or not. I wouldn’t say it’s the nicest smelling S&G product, but I can see why people like it.

Like the smell, it took me a while to figure out how to use the product in a way that suited me. It says to use every evening (and morning if you’ve slept with makeup on) to melt away makeup. I currently do this, but I was simply squeezing the cleanser onto a flannel to scrub the makeup from my eyes. As you can imagine, my face got a bit sore doing this. So I eventually bought makeup remover and cotton pads to take my eye makeup off, and then I cleanse my face by massaging the product onto my skin with my finger tips. I don’t know if that’s how you’re suppose to use it but it works for me. I’ve noticed my skin is a lot softer and I don’t get dry skin as often. Before I exfoliated twice a day and I think this is what caused random dry patches.

Smashbox Try It Kit - £19

I’m going to write a more detailed review of the Smashbox Try It Kit but I absolutely love it. Five high end mini products for less than £20 is great value to me. And I’ve found a couple of gems that I will purchase in full size in the future.

Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in shade Audacious - £7.99

My boyfriend actually bought me this to say well done for getting a first on one my uni modules. I’ve wanted an orange lipstick for ages, and thought I bought one in my Fragrance direct haul, a couple of posts back. Unfortunately, it was just a gloss. I kept walking past these ColorBurst Matte Balm’s in Boots and really wanted the shade. After I got my results, my boyfriend said I could take advantage of the three for two offer and this was the first thing I picked up. It’s such a gorgeous colour and so easy to apply and I will definitely be buying more ColorBurst Matte Balms in the future.

EcoTools Bamboo 6 Piece Brush Set - £14.99

I really wanted some more makeup brushes to add to my collection and after reading a lot of reviews on these brushes, I decided to buy both these brushes and the face set as it was buy one, get the second half price. Although I love both sets of brushes, I definitely use the eye ones a lot more. I eventually want to invest in some more expensive brushes like Real Techniques, but for now, these do the job perfectly.

Carmex Moisturising Lip Balm - £1

Recently, I’ve been getting really dry lips and I’m probably noticing them more because I’ve been wearing a lot of matte lipsticks. I came across a review where someone said they preferred Carmex to the Maybelline Baby Lips. I love the Baby Lips, so when I came across this in Poundland for, you guessed it, a pound, I couldn’t resist buying it to test it. It’s not the nicest tasting thing in the world, but it actually has really helped my lips. And for a quid, you can’t really go wrong.  

My High End Wish List.

I've seen quite a few people do wish lists on their blog and I actually love looking at them so I thought I'd do one of my own. I chose six products as I could have gone on forever, picking out things I want. 

Urban Decay - Naked 3 Palette £37

The first thing I chose was a bit predictable. I think nearly every beauty blogger either owns or wants to own the Urban Decay Naked Palettes. I have the Naked Basic Palette as mentioned on a previous blog post, but hopefully by the end of the year, I will own the Naked 1, 2 and 3. I chose number 3 to put on my wish list as it's the one I've been hearing most about recently; probably because it's the newest palette released. I love the colours; I think they're perfect for Spring/Summer. This is probably the first palette of the three I'll buy. 

MAC - Lipstick £15

The next thing on my wish list is a MAC Lipstick. I don't own any MAC products and I think a lipstick is a good place to start. I can't decide between the colours Candy Yum Yum or Girl About The Town. I will probably buy this when I go on holiday as there is literally nowhere close that sells MAC products and I don't want to buy anything without trying it out first. Plus, they will be a little bit cheaper in the duty free :)

Nars - Blush £21.50

The third thing I added is a Nars Blush. I always see these in blog posts and I'm intrigued. I'd never heard of the brand before reading blogs. I'm not sure what colour I'd buy, so if anyone could recommend one, that would be great :) I just love the packaging on these- it looks so expensive.

Benefit - The POREfessional Agent Zero Shine - £23.50

Benefit's Agent Zero Shine is something that caught my attention as soon as it came out. Like most people, I suffer with oily skin, especially as the day goes on. I'm curious as to whether this is as good as it claims to be. I'm a huge Benefit fan, so I will definitely be buying this in the next couple of months. 

Too Faced - The Return of Sexy Eye Palette - £38.50

The last two products on my wish list are both by the brand Too Faced. Unlike the rest of the products, I actually have seen this close up in the Boots in Hull. Every time I walk past the Too Faced counter, I swatch the eye shadows from the Sexy Palette. I absolutely love it; however, it is probably something I would ask for my birthday or Christmas (I can't believe I've used the C word already!) rather than buy it myself as it's quite expensive and only something I've been lusting after the past couple of months. But I never know, I might find myself in a really well paying job after I graduate and can buy as many expensive eye palettes as I want. Here's hoping.

Too Faced - Sweetheart Perfect Flush Blush - £24

The last thing on my list is something I only discovered a few days ago. After stopping by the Too Faced counter for the twentieth time this month, I decided to look what was actually underneath all the sparkly eyeshadows. Straight away this gorgeous blush caught my eye. I know it's long past valentines day, but I couldn't help thinking what a perfect gift that would have been for any makeup loving girl. There's three different colours in the one blush that can either be blended together or used separately. At £24, it's expensive, but that's why I've called this a high end wish list.

What high end products are you lusting after? 

Fragrance Direct Haul

So in the early hours of Sunday morning, I stumbled across a website called Fragrance Direct. At first I was skeptical; I didn't believe that they were selling genuine products for so cheap- brands that I love such as Maybelline and Bourjois. Anyway, I did some research and found lots of good reviews for the site, so I decided to take a risk and place an order. I ordered the following night around ten o'clock so my stuff got dispatched the next next day -Tuesday. It arrived Thursday so only took two days to come, and that was with the £2.99 delivery. My stuff came in a padded envelope so I was quite happy that nothing was broken.

A summary of the products I bought and prices are at the bottom of this post. Overall I was very pleased with what I bought, I just wish the site had some more shades of each products, but for the prices I paid, I can't complain at all.

My Goodies :)

The first thing I placed in my basket was a Max Factor blusher brush. I'm slowly but surely building up my makeup brush collection, much to the puzzlement of my father who frequently asks why I need more makeup brushes when he bought me some for Christmas (the No7 5 piece brush set that came out in Boots around xmas, one of which was broken grrr.) I didn't get a blusher brush in my set anyway, and although I love the Ecotools one I bought a few weeks ago, I couldn't resist buying this one for £2.99.  

The second thing I put in my basket were the Maybelline EyeStudio Color Tattoo 24hr Cream Gel eye shadows. I've always wanted to try them after hearing such good reviews on other blogs, but never got round to it. I was very excited to find them on Fragrance Direct for £1.50 saving £3.49. They only had two shades, Endless Purple and Timeless Black so I bought them both.

The next thing I chose was this Dainty Doll Eye shadow. I've never heard of this brand before but I was drawn to the name so decided to try one of the eye shadows. After a little bit of research, I found it was a brand developed by Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud and suited to people with paler skin types. I'm quite pale anyway but I don't think it matters so much with eye shadows. They had six shades to choose from and I chose the shade Teach Me Tiger which is a dark peachy colour. I love the packaging on this, it looks so expensive and I'll probably include a couple more shadows in the next order depending on how I find this one. This cost £1.99 reduced from the RRP of £11.50.

 

I also included a couple of lip products in my order. The first was the Maybelline Colour Sensational Pop Stick in shade Orange Crush. I didn't really read the description of this product before I bought it and was quite surprised when I received it and found it was more of a gloss than a lipstick. However at £1.99, I can't really complain. I've never seen these in the shops before but after a quick google, apparently they sell them on Superdrug? Anyway, the colour is orange but it's a sheer gloss with specks of glitter through it. It tastes amazing but I probably wouldn't buy another one of these.

The second lip product was Maybelline Color Sensational Lip Stain in shade Blushing. This also cost £1.99. I haven't really used this yet but I love the colour and the applicator which is almost like a felt tip pen. I don't own anything else like this. It also smells amazing, it reminds me of a sweet drink I used to have when I was younger but can't quite put my finger on, ha!

The next things I placed in my basket were these boxed powders from W7. I read a review where someone compared Honolulu Bronzing powder to Benefit's Hoola which I own a sample of. I don't really wear bronzer but I'm hoping to more when it gets a bit warmer and I have a tan. I'm not too keen on this packaging, I find it quite hard to get the lid off, but for £2.25, I didn't really expect anything else. The powder comes with a little brush which I find so cute and I can't wait to swatch this product and compare it against Hoola. The second powder I got is also W7 and is called Candy Floss. It says it's a face brightening powder which I suppose I could use as either a highlighter or a blush. I've read reviews where people have said it's a dupe for a Benefit blusher but I don't own any Benefit blushers so couldn't possible comment.

L'Oreal Colour Infallible Eye Shadow was next in my basket. I'd never heard of these before but after a quick research, found they were pretty popular. I chose the colour Naughty Strawberry which I actually love and I've already worn to Uni. It's a lovely shimmery pink colour which surprised me as I thought it would be more a lilac colour as that what it said on the site. My only complaint about this shadow is that it is quite messy. It's almost like a loose powder that's been squashed down. I wouldn't want the lid falling off in my makeup bag, put it that way. This cost £1.50 and I would definitely invest in other colours. 

The last thing I added to my basket which cost the most money and had me uhming and arhing is the Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Cream Blush in the shade Honey. I've never used any Elizabeth Arden products before but I know people rave about the creams, so it was that what caught my attention. The blush cost £5.50 a huge saving of £18.50. I got it in the only shade there was, but it was more to try it than anything. The blush was a lot smaller than I was expecting but I loved the packaging. It looks so expensive and dinky! I also love the shade of the blush. I think it has the potential to be too dark for my skin but as long as I blend it in well, I think I'll be fine.

Overall I was very happy with my products. I got ten and they came to a total of around £23.50 which is brilliant. Here's a quick summary on what I bought and how much I saved.

Max Factor Blush Brush - £2.99 RRP £8.99

Maybelline Eyestudio Color Tattoo X2- £1.50 RRP £4.99

Dainty Doll Eye Shadow -£1.99 RRP £11.50

Maybelline Color Sensational Popstick - £1.99 RRP £7.19

Maybelline Color Sensational LipStain - £1.99 RRP £5.99

W7 Honolulu Bronzing Powder - £2.25 RRP £8.50

W7 Candy Floss Face Brightening Powder -£2.50 RRP £3.95

L'Oreal Colour Infallible Eye Shadow - £1.50 RRP £6.99

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Cream Blush -£5.50 RRP £24.00

That's a huge saving of around £63.50. I would definitely recommend Fragrance Direct. Let me know if you enjoyed this post, some single product reviews may follow when I've had chance to use them. Remember to follow me on bloglovin, link at the top of the page :)