My new obsession......Essie and Revlon!!!! (I feel this may be a downward slope)

Just a quick post to let you know how stupidly obsessed I have become over nail polishes and in particular Essie and Revlon. I never used to be that bothered about nail polishes, in fact up until about a year ago I had 4 or 5 that I used and that was it. However once my Blogging and You Tube obsession began my eyes were opened to how versatile and pretty nail polishes could be...thats when it began!
I first went down the Revlon route as I had heard so many amazing things about their nail polishes and had never even considered them before. These polishes are affordable and come in a wide variety of colours. So far I have picked up only a few but I LOVE the ones I have. Boots have also begun to have dedicated Revlon nail stands, which is VERY exciting. In fact I tweeted a pic of one a few days ago, so go check out my twitter page @beautyandpearls.

L to R: 211 Charming, 010 Top coat, 607 Hazy, 030 Gray suede,  100 Buttercup,  380 Elegant

When I heard that Essie were coming to Boots in the UK, I was sooo excited!! I had been wanting to try them for so long, having heard so much about them, but I couldn't seem to find them anywhere locally that stocked them. It took me a while to find a Boots that stocked them and I ended up getting them in Coventry about a month ago. Since then my local Boots have started stocking them and I have become obsessed!!

L to R: 12 Tea and Crumpets, 99 Mint candy apple, 14 Fiji, Let it shine top coat, 77 Chinchilly, 73 Cute as a button

I cannot wait to get more Revlon and Essie polishes soon. I really want to try Sand Tropez and Peach Daiquiri from Essie. What are your recommendations, I would love to know?!

Avon Super Shock Eye Shadow Pencil duo

I like to consider myself a fairly low maintenance sort of a girl (to a certain extent), especially when it comes to getting ready to go work. Often I don't have much time to do my hair and makeup before running out the door (this can sometimes result in me looking like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards, always a good look)! The little time I do have, I like to use to make sure that any makeup I do manage to get on my face (I'm not usually awake enough to do it properly at 6.30am), stays in place as long as possible. So whilst indulging in my favourite past time, looking through the Avon catalogue, I came across these cute dual ended eye shadow pencils.

Top to bottom: chocolate melt and cream dream,  princess pink and royal velvet, green dream and hint of mint.

I have collected these over the last few months, after initially falling in love with the first one I got (chocolate melt and cream dream) and am hoping to get the last one in the collection very soon (a silvery one called moonshine and starry night). These pencils are so creamy, highly pigmented and soft, which makes them really easy to blend on the lids. I would advise using a really good primer underneath (I use Urban Decay primer Potion), as this product does tend to move slightly and will occasionally crease (but only slightly). Each pencil has a lighter and darker shade, which make them brilliant for smokey eyes. These work really well on their own or as a base for eyeshadow. The great thing about these is that by using them as a base you really intensify the colour of the eyeshadow you use over the top. For example I have used the green dream shade underneath M.A.Cs club eyeshadow, which creates a super dark evening look. As you can see the packaging of these pencils is very sleek and looks a lot more expensive than they really are. My only niggle with the packaging is the lids as they have a tendency to pop off occasionally ( I actually ended up splitting one of the lids by trying to push it on so that it didn't pop off...whoops).

This product is marketed as being waterproof and the Super Shock range are renowned for being long wearing. These defiantly last a long time, I have applied this first thing in the morning and they are still there when I get home at half 4 (BRILLIANT). The colour may is less intense after this period of time but I think you will always get that no matter how long lasting something is!

The best selling point for this product in my eyes is the price point. These usually retail at £7.00 but are pretty much always on offer in the Avon catalogue and I have brought mine for anything between £3-4.50, which is brilliant!!! These are also available on line to buy at www.avon.uk.com but are currently not on sale. The green one (which is not a Super Shock one, but is exactly the same....I don't understand this) is currently on sale for £3.00 (BARGAIN), and the others are £7.00. 

Top to bottom: chocolate melt and cream dream, princess pink and royal velvet,  green dream and hint of mint.  

I have grown to LOVE Avon products, and would happily try their stuff out all day. I think recently they have begun to bring out some brilliant stuff and they are beginning to get a really good reputation (very different to how it was a few years ago when people associated Avon with grannies and rollers). I would love to see them bring out some makeup for acne prone skin, such as foundations and concealers. I am also really eager to try their eye shadow palettes, but I have so many from other brands, I'm not sure I can justify the expense. If you have tried any let me know what they are like?!

So have you tried these, what do you think of Avon products?! I would love to know

xxx

My Skin Journey

Hey de hey! I'm just letting you know about my new YT video I posted today. I'm not going to lie it was a hard one to film and I think it took me about 5 attempts!! I have wanted to flm this video since starting YT but in honesty have felt too self conscious to do it (silly I know), however I decided my skin is my skin and I that's all there is too it. There is so much emphasis on covering up your imperfections (I am the worst for this) but sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we are all beautiful in our natural form (CHEEESY I know, pass me the stick bucket haha). Anyway it's basically my skin journey, what treatment and remedies I am pursuing and my feelings about it all. It's a bit ramble so whoops!!
Anyway I hope you enjoy it!!! I would love feedback and if you want me to do follow ups, please let me know!!

 

 Don't forget to subscribe to my YT, follow me on twitter (@beautyandpearls), follow me on Instagram (beautyandpearls) and become a member of this here blog haha! Xx

Collective Haul (with a silly amount of nail polishes)

I have been a very naughty lady recently and have indulged a little too much in the hobby otherwise known as shopping!! Whoops.
I go through phases with my shopping habits, some months I will unintentionally buy lots of skin care, other months it will be eye shadows, this month it was nail polishes!!!
I never used to be a massive nail polish lover, I had a few that I always used, but never really bothered to explore new colours or brands. However in the last year I have become addicted to them and have gone from having 4 or 5 to having a silly amount, which I cannot even bring myself to count!!! So of course it made so much sense to buy more this month (Urrrmmm really)????? If you would like to see more (and other non nail polish items from Topshop, Body Shop, Caudalie, Bourjois and Dainty Doll) please check out my new YT video!! Don't forget to become a member on here, subscribe to my YT (if you like what you see) and follow me on twitter!! I hope you enjoy it!!

I would love to know your nail polish recommendations. Please leave a comment telling me your must have nail polish colour below or on the video!
xx

Battle of the Mineral Foundations!!! Bare Minerals VS. Laura Mercier minerals

Laura Mercier (gift set size) Mineral Powder, Bare Minerals Original Mineral Powder

About a year ago, my friend started going on about an amazing new foundation she had started using, and  how she thought everyone should try it. Needless to say that we ended up at the Bare Minerals counter that day to get me colour matched. I ended up buying their starter kit, which I think was about £45 for 2 shades of foundation, a concealer, mineral veil and 2 brushes. I used this continuously over the summer (I had to purchase a full size one) and found the effects on my skin to be amazing. My acne started to heal, I didn't notice as much redness on my face and it gave my skin a brilliant finish. I did however stop using this over the winter, as my skin was too dry and it seemed to show up all the horrible bits of my complexion. Fast forward to February 2012 and I was back on my minerals (the makeup kind obviously). I had noticed since I had stopped using it, that my skin was flaring up again (although this is no doubt in reality, down to a variety of factors) and decided to give it a try again. The dry skin was still there and I was having the same problem, which was when I heard about the Laura Mercier version. So off I went into the city to pick up a sample. I am officially now hooked!! This makes my skin look flawless, natural, its helping with my acne (in my opinion) and most importantly it doesn't cling to my dry patches (this amazed me)!!
So I thought to myself why not do a post comparing the two foundations. Below you will find both pros and cons of each and my personal preferences. I hope you enjoy it (sorry for the massive, silly ramble you have just read haha whopseee. You have to set the picture though haha)!

Laura Mercier Mineral Powder £31.00 for 9.5g :

Pros:

• Provides a buildable, medium coverage.
• Covers up redness and evens out skin tone beautifully.
• I personally cannot feel this on my skin.
• Provides a natural finish (so many people have commented how naturally pretty my skin looks with this- even my dad, which says a lot as he hates makeup).
• Provides SPF 15.
• Lasts for roughly 7/8 hours on my skin without having to touch up.
• I can use cream products such as blusher and concealer over the top without it going cakey or looking funny.
• This is also a treatment (so the sales lady told me) so it wont aggravate your skin. She also told me if your one of the naughty people that doesn't take your make up off before you go to bed (tut tut) this wont clog your skin as it will act as a treatment over night. I think this has a really positive effect on my skin.
• The swivel insert in top of the pot makes it easy to close off the minerals to stop it coming out. The ridge in the middle is really easy to hold and turn.

Cons: 

• If you want full coverage, you have to use quite a lot of product. 
• Its a little on the pricey side, but you do get a lot of product for your pennies.
• To my knowledge this only comes in about 6 shades in the UK. 

Bare Minerals Original Minerals £24.00 for 8g:

Pros: 

• Contains SPF 15.
• Provides a buildable, medium coverage.
• I felt my skin looked really natural (although I didn't get any comments on this, unlike the L.M). 
• Lasts for about 7/8 hours on my skin without touching up. 
• This is also sold as a sort of treatment. The minerals are supposed to improve the appearance of your skin over time (which I think it does).
• There is also a mineral, powder concealer which comes in the starter set. This covers well (although I wouldn't advise using it under your eye as it really creases). 
• This is available in about 20 shades, varying from very pale to darker coloured skin, which is brilliant. 
• This is an expensive, yet affordable mineral foundation, coming in cheaper than the L.M. However you have to bare in mind you also get 1.5g less of product with this cheaper price. 

Cons:

• Unlike the L.M one the swivel insert in the top of this is rubbish and really hard to swivel back round. I found it so hard that I don't even bother now and the minerals just float around in the top, which can be very messy!!
• I found this shows up dry patches really badly : (. 
• This can go cakey if you use a cream concealer or blusher over the top.

The travel size L.M (came in a gift pack) and the full size B.M

As you can see both of these products have pros and cons and in my eyes are good for different things. I am currently using the L.M one as I find it slightly more diverse because I can use it with cream products.  

If you were wondering which shades I use I have the shade 'Real Sand' in the L.M and Fairly Light in B.M (I am an NC15 in M.A.C). 

The only thing to keep in mind is the price point as L.M is £7.00 more expensive for an extra 1.5g. However I personally am prepared to pay this as I think the product is slightly better. 

So which one is you favourite? Do you like mineral foundations?! I would love to know your thoughts!!