Heed my warning

Just a very quick post today I'm afraid. I've been royally pissed off this weekend by an order I made over EBay a few days ago. I ordered the brand new Naked 3 palette thinking I was getting a bargain. Idiot. this was the first time I'd used EBay as I found it confusing and somehow i'd managed to get round it. so i was feeling pretty clever having finally worked out Paypal, I thought I'd order what i had wanted for months but hadn't the courage to purchase. Man I wish I'd just waited till Debenhams got it back in stock. this is quite obviously a fake. The packaging isn't the same, the pictures on the back are ever so slightly blurry, the eye shadows are probably pretty good but they don't feel the same as my Naked 1 & 2 Palletes do and the colours are way off. The colour black heart is black rather than the very dark burgundy shade, Strange the first shade is a medium pink. So please please please don't do what I did. Buy it from a proper retailer, I only wish I'd done more research but the seller had brilliant reviews so I trusted him, silly moo. you never know it might be a faulty one (doubt it) either way that's £30 spent on a shoddy eyeshadow pallete. lesson learnt.
back later in the week with a proper post (promise)

Basics Review

Happy 2014 to you, my dear reader. I hope all your New Year resolutions are going well. Today I am going to be reviewing a few basic products which I have purchased recently. I want to also create 2013 favourites but unfortunately some of my products are at university and I can’t review them until maybe next week (boo). So today instead I'm looking at a few bits and pieces that i may or may not like but I wished to share with you.

My first product has been out for a little while now, I think it was a new release in 2013 (or at least I hadn't seen it before then), this is the Vaseline Spray & Go Body Moisturizer(£4.99 190ml). I have found I am incredibly lazy with body moisturizers, body butters or body lotions. Purchasing this item was meant to be the solution to this problem. This product comes in a choice of 3 "scents" Cocoa, Aloe and Oat. Naturally I chose the cocoa butter which is meant to be non-greasy, Bonus. The smell is amazing. It reminds me of a body-wash I had as a kid, but it’s not too over powering and it won’t tamper with your perfume too much. I think the packaging is convenient for this product as well, with no lids and just a twist lock cap for easy traveling, and no leakage (so far). The actual product is a great idea, a quick and easy way to moisturize which absorbs instantly.

Unfortunately this isn't as efficient as other moisturizers I have used in the past. It helps and it does moisturize the skin but I prefer this as a top up product, meaning I might use body butter in the evening after having a shower but in the morning I may use this product to top it up when I don’t have as much time. It’s therefore not a solution to my problem but it smells nice and it is a nice thing to have when you have no time but feel really dry. I think with all those things in mind I would give it 6/10. Meaning I may repurchase this item, but I don’t think it will be missed if I didn’t.

The second product is the Nivea Express Hydration Primer (£3.99 50ml) from their Daily Essentials range. At £3.99 this is a very cheap primer, and honestly it isn’t the worst primer I’ve tried (ahem Rimmel). It works as a moisturiser as well as a primer and therefore in typical Nivea fashion, leaves your skin feeling beautiful, no debate. I am a strong believer in mouse primers like the L’Oreal studio secrets or even the Garnier 5 second perfect blur. I have never been a huge fan on the creamy gel like consistency primers. This unfortunately falls into that category. It minimalizes pores, to an extent but not as well as I would like. The product does very little to stop blemishes and imperfections showing through and does little to dark circles. As for keeping my makeup in place for longer, there isn’t any evidence to say it prolongs my makeup, but it make it any worse. Overall I think it’s a nice product, it’s another time saver product which sort of does its job half-heartedly. But although I’ve given this product a hard time, it does make my skin appear better, and if I use a better primer and a good concealer in those problem areas, it comes out well. I would give this product a 7/10 for its hydration and its skin improvement qualities. Had it been a primer on its own it would have got a lot lower score.

The Bourjois Bronzing Primer was an impulse purchase I decided I really needed for New Year’s Eve. I’ve only tried this product a few times and it can be a little tricky to get right, especially when trying to contour, but when done correctly it looks so natural and beautiful. I have found that it can be worn on bare skin, just to add a little bit of a bronze glow to a bare face, or on top of foundation or for the best result under foundation for a really seamless glow which appears to radiating from within. I have heard of others using it as a full face primer but I think it is a little dark for me. I’ve also used this as a contour on my temples and the sides of my nose, as it’s a little more subtle than some bronzers or contour powders. Apparently this product smooth’s, evens and matifies the skin which it does seem to. Overall I am very impressed with this product, it is a little difficult to apply and therefore I may not use it every day but I hope when I master the application process this will make its way into my regular makeup bag. I think I’ll give it 9/10 its only down side being the application process. But this is made easier if you apply less rather than more.

Coming soon—Face of the day and maybe a health and fitness diary.