Blog Sale! Z Palette, Makeup, Hair Extensions, Nails:

Blog sale time! I need rid of a lot of things right now!

Everything has been described to the best of my ability, feel free to ask more questions or ask for more pictures etc.

Shipping is based on weight, but for most items will be no more than £1 or £1.50, heavier items to be weighed and discussed.

I will ship anywhere but will only accept paypal from overseas buyers :)

Brushes: L-R:
♥ MAC #134: Barely used, 2/3x max. Perfect condition besides some dulling to the tip of handle from alcohol. Bristles 10/10. Read here. £24 (RRP £35.50)
♥ Young Blood Ultimate Foundation: Never used, but washed/sanitized regardless. Read here. £18 (RRP $41.00)
♥ MAC #182: NOT FOR SALE
♥ MAC #180: Discontinued, highly sought after. Bristles in perfect condition, some slight chipping to very base of handle. £20
♥ MAC #191: Used a few times, bristles in great condition, some slight tarnishing to ferrule. Read here. £13 (RRP £25.00)
♥ MUD #410: Perfect condition besides pink varnish on tip. Read here. £8 (RRP £22.50)
♥ MAC #130: NOT FOR SALE
♥ MAC #188: Perfect condition besides some slight wear to lettering. Bristles in great condition, barely used. Read here. £16 (RRP £25.00)
♥ Julie Hewett Cheekie Brush: Great condition, barely used. Read here. £10 (RRP $28.00)

Eyes:

Miscalaneous shadows are all from pro quality brands, but I don't label them so I can't remember exact name of some. I guarantee these are great quality though, I just have similar colours. Will all fit in MAC palette wells.

L-R:

♥ MUD Bone, Misc #1, MAC Ochre Style, Misc #2 *think this is young blood), Misc #3 (think young blood again), Misc #4 (believe this is The Balm Mischievious Marissa), Misc #5, Misc #6, Givenchy Couture Brown, Misc #7 (MAC Lucky Green dupe), Misc #8, The Balm Fiesty Felicia. Various usages, but none tested more than 4./5x, ask for details. All £5 each.

♥ Z Palette: Zebra print, perfect condition. Large. £14

: Swatches shown in order above.

♥ MAC Lingering Eye Brows: Tested 1x, wrong shade. Never been twisted/sharpened. Read here. £7.50 (RRP £10.00)
♥ Makeup Forever Kohl 6K: Sharpened maybe 2x, black base with 'metal highlights'. Great pigmentation. Has tiny chip to base of liner, ask for picture if needed. Read here. £7 (RRP £11.75)
♥ MAC Naked Lipliner: LE, no longer available. Sharpened 1x. £7 (RRP £10.00)
♥ Stila Topaz Kajal: Nude eyeliner, sharpened maybe 3x. Read here. £7 (RRP $18.00)
♥ MAC Technakohl: Brownborder. 60/70% left. Read here. £6 (RRP £13.00)
♥ MUD Cake Liner: Black. Used 2x, sanitized with alcohol. Read here. £4 (RRP $13.00)
♥ Stila Mini Smudgepots: Black & Starry Night (dark plurple). Both tested once. £5 each, not sure of RRP as bought in set.
♥ MAC Blue Peep Fluidline: Discontinued, bright teal shade. Used a few times, top will be scraped off and sanitized. £7 (RRP £12.50)

Face: ♥ Sleek Contour Kit: Light. Used maybe 3x, have discovered better alternative for my skintone. Read here. £4 (RRP £5.99)
♥ Benefit Boiing: Medium, tested 1x with spatula. Sanitized. Read here. £12 (RRP £16.50)
♥ Benefit Boiing: Light, used around 5x with spatula. Santized. Read here. £10 (RRP £16.50)
♥ MAC Light Flush MSF: LE, no longer availeble. Can't remember if this is unused or was tested 1x. Either way, no box as it came as part of a gift set. £14 (RRP £16.50)
♥ YSL Perfect Touch: NOT FOR SALE
♥ Max Factor Weightless Pale Ivory: Used 2x, fresh, bought recently. Read here. £5 (RRP ~£10.00)
♥ MAC Face & Body N1: Decant from my own bottle, I originally planned to travel with this but the bottle isn't *quite* secure enough for me. About 30ml here, great to trial. Promise this is 100% genuine and definately N1 :) Read here. £5 (RRP £23.00/120ml)

♥ Dermalogica Super Sensitive Faceblock: SPF 30, can be worn alone or added to face products to provide spf boost. Used maybe 2x. Read here. £22 (RRP £35.00)
♥ Dermalogica Sheer Tint Moisture: SPF 15, Medium. Tested 1x, too dark for my skintone. Read here. £15 (RRP £29.50)
♥ Dermalogica Clean Start Welcome Matte: SPF 15. Contains salicylic acid and oil controlling properties. Used maybe 3/4x. Read here. £9 (RRP £15.35)

Lips:

♥ Sleek Pout Polish: Raspberry Souffle. LE, brand new in packaging. £4.50
♥ OCC Lip Tar: Conquest. Around 50% full, has been used with palette/lipbrush. £4 (RRP £8.99)
♥ MAC Lip Palette: Heavenly Dish. LE. Contains 2 lipsticks and a lipgloss. Gloss tested 1x, middle lipstick used maybe twice. No lip brush. £9
♥ Vaseline: Brand new.Free with purchases.

Hair:
♥ Clip In Extensions: Blonde, 16inch. Human hair, can be dyed. Great condition, only used 1x to check fit. Full head of hair included, regular amount when store bought. One of the larger pieces is of double thickness and a small amount of weft is included to wrap around ponytails etc. Feel free to ask any questions with these :) £35

Had to buy a huge amount of Sebastian for a course but was not used much at all, too heavy to travel with so need rid :) Will need to check the postage on the hairspray and mousse so just mention if interested really and I'll have to see:

♥ Shaper Zero: NOT FOR SALE
♥ Shaper Fierce: Read here. RRP £12.00 as stated need to check postage before quoting.
♥ Mousse Forte: Read here. RRP £14.70 will check postage.
♥ Texturiser: Used 2x. Read here. £12 (RRP £16.50) Will try to find the cap.
♥ Halo Mist: Used around 3/4x, practically full. Read here. £9.50 (RRP £14.70)
♥ Molding Mud: Used maybe 2x, sanitary. Read here. £7 (RRP £12.00)

Nails:

♥ OPI Pink Of Hearts: Used for 2x manicure. £5
♥ OPI Otherwise Engaged: 70%+ left. £4
♥ Nails Inc: South Moltern St 1x, free with purchase
♥ Nails Inc: Coral NOT FOR SALE

Please ask any questions and Thankyou!!

Christmas Gifts!:

I'm not huge on christmas, in fact this year I just didn't have the right frame of mind for it! But still we had a great day and I got some lovely gifts :)

Soap & Glory's Big Pink Tote. This was my christmas gift to myself ;) Out of all 12 products I've only used 4 in the past so I'm super excited to try out the rest and post reviews of course! This was too good to turn down as I needed a new bottle of Clean On Me and was almost out of Flake Away so it made sense to just spend a little more and get 10 more items. Love it!

Yves Saint Laurent's Best of Beauty and Rouge Volupte #2. Everyone knows how much I love the Touche Eclat and I had wanted to try the primer for a while - it's great by the way! - so again it was great to recieve the gift set with the cute box :) I gave my sister the Faux Cils as I already have a tube open but the highlighter will keep.

RV #2 is my ultimate favourite lipstick but I ran out a while ago and hadn't got around to repurchasing yet. I LOVE it though, it's everything I could ask for in a lipstick and the second I applied it I remember why I used to adore it so much. 10/10!

Dermalogica's Gentle Cream Exfoliant. This is a non abrasive exfoliating mask that you apply to your skin and let sit for 15 minutes or so before rinsing away. It contains no beads or gritty texture as it relies on alpha and beta hydroxy acids and fruit enzymes to slough away dead skin. I've wanted this for the longest time so it was lovely to recieve it from my Auntie ♥. I've used it once and so far, it's love :)

What were some of your favourite beauty based gifts? I know we all had them ;)

Best Of 2010. Part 3 - Skincare:

So I already posted my favourite makeup and body care products of 2010 so here's the last (probably!) installment - skincare! I've since discovered some real gems which will soon be blogged about, but these were the most used of this past year, so here goes :)

♥ Cleanser: Cellnique Gentle Foaming Cleanser. I was sent this for consideration and fell in love. I have since bought myself a back up since I liked it that much! It makes my skin squeaky clean but nourished, smooth and soft at the same time. Some cleansers can dry out my sensitive skin and makes my face feel tight but this one is perfect. Will definately continue to use in 2011 too :)

♥ Toner: Witch Hazel. This changed my skin completely. I started to use it for it's refreshing purposes only; it's great to refresh tired skin in the summer, especially if you store it in your refridgerator. But I soon discovered it was clearing up my skin completely, making it totally smooth and supple. The smell is a little strange but you get used to it, I recommend picking up a bottle of this - it's cheap! Around £2/3 - and trying it for yourselves!

♥ Moisturiser: Dermalogicas Ultracalming Serum Concentrate. This is probably my star product of 2010! Dermalogica are my favourite skincare brand and this is likely to be my favourite from them, it moisturises without being heavy on my skin and has a light, lotion like texture so sits great under your foundation. This calms any red patches or irritation in my skin like a dream and moisturises SO well. A+!

♥ Face Mask: Aspirin Mask! I am yet to find a mask that smooths, cleans and heals blemishes like the aspirin mask and I continued to use it throughout '10 as I have done for years. I use this once a month or so, either alone or mixed into a moisturising mask.

♥ Exfoliator: Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant and S&G Massage Mitt. Daily Microfoliant is a rice based powder product which is added to water to create an exfoliating paste. It's gentle on my sensitive skin and really makes your skin feel fresh and new. I also love using the massage mitt with my regular cleansers to clean a little deeper ;) Both used and repurchased this year.

♥ Makeup Remover: Boots Cleanse And Care. This is a duo phase makeup remover and recently I've heard they're bad for your eyes in the long run - anyone care to elaborate? But regardless this was used and loved all this year as it takes off even heavy eyemakeup SO easily.
For quick makeup removal I started to love Johnsons 3 in 1 wipes, as they dont leave my skin tight or sticky. Great if you're in a rush!

I was going to stop here, but may post one more! My favourite people, places and items etc of 2010 coming soon I think :)

Happy Holidays & Hair Q!:

Happy Holidays everyone :) I hope everyone had a great day or is about too, depending on location!

I will update soon, but for now I have a question for you lovely readers: Can anyone recommend me a serious shine product for dry and coarse hair? I'd like some sort of smoothing, styling cream if possible... one with some hold would be great but throw any ideas at me, I'm all ears! :)

My Auntie has recomended the Frederick Fekkai Glossing products so I'm going to try those but would love to hear your favourites too.

Thanks!

Best Of 2010. Part 2 - Body:

Here's part 2 of 2010's best of's; Bodycare!

If you've followed my blog for a while you'll know I've always loved Soap & Glory, so no surprises it's making up half of this post. I just got the big pink tote, so excited to try out the products which are new to me, but that's another post!

The best body products of 2010:

♥ Shower Gel/Soap: Soap & Glory Clean On Me. Love everything about this and it's been a staple in my bathroom for years now, with 2010 being no exception. Packaging is cute, it's great value for money at around £6 for a bottle that lasts me FOREVER and it smells good and lathers great.

♥ Body Lotion/Cream: Sometimes I will use a bodybutter, but most of this year I reached for Palmers Cocoa Butter Skin Therapy Oil. Although it's an oil, it absorbs fairly quick and leaves my skin feel nourished and smooth. I love the scent, especially once it's warmed up with your body temperature. Great to shave with too. Almost out of this as you can see and it will be repurchased :)

♥ Body Exfoliator: Soap & Glory Flake Away. This is rich and gritty with a slight oily base. It does what it says on the tin and I love using this, though thorough rinsing of the bath/shower afterwards is required as it leaves is very slippery! Going way back to when I first started blogging, here's a short review here, and I havn't stopped using it since.

♥ Hand Cream: Soap & Glory Hand Food. (Does anyone get the play on words for this one? I don't!) Honestly, most handcreams are just fine for me, but this one smells extra good so it's usually my first choice. Light and nourishing it absorbs into the skin nicely, leaving the hands smooth, soft and scented.

♥ Lip Balm/Treatment: MAC Lip Conditioner. I discovered this beauty in 2010 and can guarantee it will continue to nourish my lips in 2011 too! I've tried a lot of lip balms and treatments and have a few favourites, but this one definately kept my lips in top condition this year. Want to try the stick formula next, just for ease of use.

♥ Perfume: Victorias Secret Sexy Little Things Noir. I've mentioned before how most scents make me nauseaus within minutes of applying and so in the past I've gone without, opting for scented lotions etc instead. However early this year I recieved a filled VS tote as a GWP and this was included in it. I didn't take much notice until I gave it a sniff and fell in love. Quick review here.

That's it! The third and final part; Skincare coming some day soon. What have been your favourite body products of 2010?

And The Winner Is:

Congratulations to comment #11, Sugarbumpkin @ http://sugarbumpkin.blogspot.com !

Please send me your address and reconfirm your lipstick choice to mua.emma@live.co.uk! Contact me within 72hrs or so or I will have to choose another winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered, I will be holding a contest in the near future featuring two winners, each winning prizes not available in their own country :)

Video Review!:

I mentioned Sleek's Fuschia lipstick in my previous post and a follower on twitter asked me to post a review. Well I'm wearing it today so decided to just make a quick video :)

I don't frequently make videos, but if anyone does have any requests just let me know!

Enjoy & buy this lipstick ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGKfYxvZ7Ys

Best of 2010. Part 1 - Makeup:

I wanted to do the 'best of 2010' post that is making it's way around blogger, but I don't like posts without pictures so decided to split it into three seperate posts so they're not overly long :P

So here's part 1, the best makeup products of 2010:

♥ Foundation: Without a doubt, Yves Saint Laurent Teint Resist. This is the perfect colour match for me and feels comfortable on the skin, lasting all day. It's long wearing so it is a little drying on my skin if it's not well moisturised, but I can look past that for everything else. Read my review here.

♥ Concealer: I don't use/need concealer anywhere other than under my eyes so the classic Touche Eclait is still my favourite. It lightens and diffuses my undereye area perfectly. Honestly I'd rather that area look a little imperfect than have it caked in heavier concealers. Love this. No review as everyone knows this one :)

♥ Powder: 2010 was the year of no powder :) I realised I don't need it and my skin looks and feels nicer without it.

♥ Blush: MAC Dainty was my most used blush this year, same as last year I think! It's the perfect shade on my skintone and gives me a little bit of a glow without being overly shimmery or sparkly. I love this and recommend it to anyone! Swatch here, shown on top of middle finger.

♥ Bronzer: Bronzer was worn a maximum of 3 times in the past year so that's why I've not included it! I'm not a bronzer girl, it makes my pale skin look muddy and I prefer to keep my face looking fresh and porcelain :)

♥ Highlighter: MAC Lightscapade! Somehow this has made it through 2010 and is still going strong despite pretty much daily use. I really, really hope they reproduce this one as I havn't been able to find a highlight shade anything like it. Terrible swatch, flash made it superrr bright, but it's on the finger to the left here.

♥ Eyeshadow: Top to bottom, left to right - Unbasic White, Patina, Vanilla, Tempting, Showstopper and Typographic. These were my most worn and most replaced shadows this year, all by MAC. I like neutral bronzey shadows as they flatter my skintone and eyes like no others. There are swatches for all of these right here.

♥ Eyeshadow Base: MAC Painterly Paintpot. Perfect colour and consistency. Never without one of these in my makeup bag.

♥ Eyeliners: More MAC! Feline powerkohl (to be rereleased with Champale, yay!) and Teddy kohl. Both creamy, pigmented and long lasting. Not much more to be said! Swatch here, with Teddy swatched 2nd and Feline 3rd :)

♥ Eyelash Curler: Shu Uemura, though rarely used.

♥ Mascara: A new find for me, but definately the best mascara I have used, despite it having a few hang ups. Review coming soon! Yves Saint Laurent Faux Cils in black.

♥ Lipstick: I'm a nude or hot hot pink lipstick kinda girl and surprisingly both of my favourites this year have been from the drugstore - Sleeks Fuschia and Natural Collections Apple Blossom. Fuschia review coming soon, Apple Blossom on lips here.

♥ Lipgloss: I'm not a huge lipgloss wearer, in fact I only own one and that is very rarely worn so it's a tinted lip balm instead. Sleeks limited edition offering, Raspberry Souffle. Click for review and swatch.

♥ Nail Polish: None pictured as 2010 was the year of french manicure acrylic nails :)

Looking back, many of these products were firm favourites in '09 too. Maybe I'm boring or need to start switching things up, but I'm quite happy here in my little world of neutrals, bronze and hot pink! :)

Link me to your best of posts! Body products coming next!

Beauty Blog Link Love!:

Dare to wear red lips this holiday season? Check out these three options on Katie of My Lips But Better.

Amy Antoinette reviews Estee Lauder's Double Wear Foundation and Concealer.

See a sneak peak at the Nicole by OPI liquid metals collection, and a nail of the day!

Dare to wear red lips this holiday season? Check out Katie's picks ranging from sheer to bold on My Lips But Better.

Do you love rock n' roll? Find out what product Cindy at Prime Beauty uses to channel her inner Rocker Chick. Soft Rockers, don't fret; there's a look for you as well!

Shela at Confessions of a Beauty Guru is going cuckoo for Korean lip products!

Curious about more unconventional skin products? Rachel tells all about Witch Hazel Wonders at Queen of Turquoise.

Retrodiva experiments with the Estee Lauder Holiday Collection and likes what she sees.

Got a sticky compact and don't know what to do? Musicalhouses shows you how to clean up a sticky NARS, Smashbox, or Becca casing!

Need holiday makeup look ideas? Check out Audrey Dao's Holiday Look Book for ideas and tutorials!

At theNotice, Rae checks out a Benefit cult favourite -- but doesn't like what she sees.

Red lips are hot for Christmas! Lipglossiping trawls through her collection and uses a Red Lip Series as a great excuse to buy more!

Daily Polish falls head over heels (but manages not to lose her head!) for Rescue Beauty Lounge's 'Catherine H' from the new Tudor collection.

At Pink Sith, Joeybunny introduces you to the Wet n' Wild Night Elf Palette. See why she's swooning!

Chanukah may be over, but that doesn't mean you still can't enjoy this LUSH Fizztival of Lights gift set!

Beautywoome has published its Christmas gift guide, because you know you haven't done your shopping yet.

Hellcandy stumbles across her first dupe! Find out which drugstore brand matches the gorgeous fucshia of Nars Funny Face lipstick here.

Acquaintance gifting causing you stress? Jeweled Thumb shares her coworker holiday gift guide to put your mind (and wallet) at ease!

L from Beautifully Addicted To rediscovers Erase Paste.

Kim Porter shares some skincare tips for the cold weather.

Take a sneak peak at Dior’s Cannage eyeshadow palette from the upcoming Spring collection over at Pleasureflush!


***

Jenn over at Spiced Beauty is celebrating her 2 year bloggerversary with a Huge Annabelle Cosmetics giveaway!

Phyrra is giving away 5 eye shadows from the Aromaleigh Wonderstruck Collection!

Over at The Glamorous Gleam, Mz. More loves Revlon's Perplex Nail Enamel so much that she is giving away four bottles to her readers!

Beauty Crazed loves Burberry Beauty and wants to give you a chance to love them too!

Jumping Aboard The Bandwagon:

I'm a little late with this one :)!

Like many others I was sent the John Frieda Precision Foam Hair Colour to try out. I actually knew all along I wouldn't use it myself - I rarely colour my hair and when I do it's strictly a salon job only - but I knew my Mum would appreciate trying it out :) Stupidly enough, I still chose the shade I would like to have - 5G Medium Golden Brown, not a shade my Mum would choose - something darker and cooler. Head-desk moment ;)

Luckily Mum's a good sport and said I could try it on her regardless and if it did turn out a disaster we could just colour over it, so here we go!

So as you can see the kit comes complete with 4 items (plus gloves but forgot to photograph these). A colour developer bottle, pump, colourant and a rather generous sized tube of conditioner. The gloves are black and rubbery, MUCH better quality than any others I have used with at home colouring kits. (Do not even mention the paper thin type that are stuck to the instruction leaflet)!


To start you pour the colourant into the developer and tilt the bottle 4-5 times to mix. DO NOT shake as you would with regular dyes, a few small tilts is sufficient and will allow the product to be dispensed evenly.

Then pump to release the foam! At first I was looking to press down on the pumo to release the foam but soon realised that actually all you need to do is squeeze the bottle lightly until a golf ball sized amount is released into your fingertips. Apply smoothly throughout your entire hair and massage gently to ensure it is distributed evenly all over.

Application:

Easy! Much easier than regular dyes which I used to find dripped and were slightly hard to spread throughout the hair. With the foam, there is literally no dripping and you can be sure it will stay where applied.
Mum has short hair, but would usually use the entire bottle of dye regardless, but with this we had about half left and literally nowhere needed anymore product. I think one bottle would work well for medium to long hair, but thick hair like mine may benefit from two bottles. Can't vouch for that though as I obviously havn't tried it. Feel free to enlighten me - did you need two bottles?

We left the solution on for 25 minutes as she had some greys we wanted to make sure were covered, rinsed and applied the conditioner.

Results. Before/After:

Glossy bright colour!

To sum it up, a few things I liked about this product:

♥ Ease of use, no dripping.

♥ Barely any scent. None of the breathtaking amonia smell associated with most at home dyes.

♥ Non staining! I can be a little carefree when dying hair (It's only Mum!) and ears and hairline are usually left somewhat patchy, but this one washed right off the skin during the rinse.

♥ Super glossy finish, hair feels very nourished and smooth.

Any cons? Not really, though I will say the colour did not turn out anything like that on the box, but I blame that on Mums original colour. Had it been applied to my light auburn hair as initially planned I'm sure it would have resembled the Medium Golden Brown, and not the bright mahogony based brown we got. But she loves it anyway and has actually since bought two more boxes of this very shade whilst it is on introductory sale.

Love this and highly recommended! It will retail for £9.99 a box eventually, but get it now while it's averaging at around £6 in Boots and Superdrug just to try :)

MUFE For Sale:

Is anyone interested in either of these products?

♥ Brand new MUFE Lash Fibres primer, still in packaging marked at £14.50, £11 posted.

♥ Brand new MUFE HD Elixer Instant Radiance and Hydration Serum. Also in packaging albeit slightly crushed complete with £25.50 price tag, £20 posted. SOLD!


Don't ask why I purchase things I don't really need, I think we all do it haha.

I would like to point out that the HD Elixir isn't totally full, but I've used it in the past and it never comes full to the brim. I'd say it's about 95% full looking :)

Paypal only if anyone is interested and I'll have them shipped ASAP!

SOLD! Thankyou :)

Oilatum/Pixiwoo:

Okay so, granted I would normally try something for more than one day before I reviewed it. In fact it would normally get around a months worth of trial, but at least two weeks, but this product has wowed me after just two uses and it seems it would be most useful to others now, whilst the weather is still icy cold and playing havoc with our skin.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one to see this featured in one of Pixiwoo's recent youtube videos and after hearing them sing it's praises and needing a super intense moisturiser for a while now I decided to head into Boots, pick it up and try it for myself.

The product is Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream:

I'd not heard of the Oilatum brand before the video, probably because it's not really marketed/sold with the regular skincare brands such as Simple, Olay, etc etc but instead tucked away with the E45 and other excema/severe dry skin lotions and potions. From what I could see this was the only face product from the brand, with the rest aimed solely at the body. It took me multiple stores to find one that sold this and or had it in stock currently.

Why did I feel the need to buy this? I have sensitive skin that burns easily in the sun, but chaps even easier in the cold and wind, and as my UK readers know, we've had our fair share of 0 degrees and colder this past month. My skin was sore and irritated and some of my regular moisturisers were actually stinging upon application and others were being absorbed within seconds and not actually helping with the condition of my skin. My forehead was rough and chapped and the area around my nose had actually broken out from the cold, so I was super happy to hear about Nic's (Pixiwoo) experience with this product.

What can I say? It works! After only two applications my skin is smooth and soothed again, the breakouts are almost gone, my forehead is back to normal and my skin feels nourished. What I like best about this product though is how it seems to create a barrier on my skin, and the cold winds just arn't able to penetrate through it as easily as before, my face feels very protected and I will continue to use this throughout the next few months!

It's quite lightweight, yet feels substantial on the skin and almost balmy during application. It is fragrance free and hasn't irritated my skin (and trust me, it would have by now if it was going too, but I'll keep you updated).

It retails at £7.49 for 50ml and I highly recommend it :)

Giveaway Update:

Just a quick update to those who have already entered, please feel free to head over to the post (link above) and check that I have entered your extra entry(s) if you so require them.

Some of you posted second comments stating the lipstick you would like or your email address if you forgot. Any extra comments have been deleted - don't worry I'll contact you for your choices etc - UNLESS you posted on twitter/sidebar etc, in which case your 2nd comments may have been kept and I wont have manually entered you any more. Does that make sense? I hope so!

Basically, count how many comments are yours, wether you wrote them, or I did. It should match up to how many ways you entered. Every comment is an entry, regardless of what it says.

Any questions -ask and feel free to tell me if I've missed your extra entry :)

NARS Sheer Glow. Yes/No?:

I apologise for the lack of updates, a lot going on right now, but since I already had the photos taken, here's another of my foundation reviews, this time for the cult favourite NARS Sheer Glow.

This seems to be a love it or hate it kind of foundation, with most people loving it. Me? Sadly I'm among those who don't love it and it has since been passed on to another user. I did however give it a very thorough try for many reasons, especially since the shade Siberia is probably the best match I have ever found in a foundation with absolutely no orange tones.

This product is dermatologist tested, non comedogenic and fragrance free. It retails for £29 per 30ml.

The Packaging:

The main concern Sheer Glow users seem to have with the packaging is the lack of a pump. I actually purchased a pump seperately, with a price tag of £5 - a little extortinate in my opinion, but it will last you a while since you can just switch it to your new foundation when you run out. The price of the pump has recently changed to £3, a little more wallet friendly. If you choose not to buy the pump you have a simple screw topped lid topped with a satin finish, somewhat redundant larger lid.

Pump aside, this foundation is packaged in a glass bottle. Initially I thought "Wow this is a small bottle", but it holds 30ml which is pretty much the normal amount when it comes to liquid foundation. The glass isn't frosted so it's easy to see how much product is left and it's stamped with the NARS logo. I like the packaging, it's simple and sleek and there's no complaints here.

The Formula:

Sheer Glow is one of the thicker foundations I have tried. It's not super thick, but it's definately thicker than most in my collection. Not necessarily a bad thing, just an observation. There is no particular scent here either.

As you can see, this foundation is a great match for my super pale skintone. It's perhaps looks a little too cool for me in this swatch, but once blended it's a perfect match and any redness in my skin is neutralised by the lack of it in this shade, Siberia.

Application & Finish:

Okay here comes the part where Sheer Glow started to let me down. For me, it's neither sheer nor glowy, the very two reasons I was attracted to it in the first place. It actually offers me a lot of coverage and on my skin it dried to a matte almost cakey finish regardless of application technique.

I tried everything; my trusty Cover FX pointed foundation brush, MAC #190, Beauty Blender and even my fingers but there was no way this formula was going to work with my skin. Although it's marketed towards normal to dry skin types it instantly highlighted any dry patches on my skin and sunk directly into my pores (something which no other foundation has ever done, I might add). I had streaks galore and had to use a magnifying mirror to make sure they were sufficiently blended before heading out.
Did it at least last all day after the nightmare application? No. On my skin, it wears off in patches leaving me with red flaky cheeks, chin and nose. Overall, a disaster.

The worst part? Although NARS claim that with daily use Sheer Glow will improve skins brightness, radiance and texture, it actually irritated mine and upon removal I was left with patchy, sensitive and red skin. I tried to stick with it but after about a week of daily use I just couldn't be bothered with it anymore and it was passed on.

Before/After:

It actually doesn't look so bad in this image and the perfect colour/neck match is very apparent. I tried to capture the dry patches this foundation gave me on camera, but it proved almost impossible. Still, the overall finish this foundation gave me is visible and had it not have caused me a plethora of other problems I might have actually quite liked it. That is, if I had not been expecting something sheer or glowy ;)

I will give NARS a big thumbs up for it's extensive shade range. Never before have I found a foundation this pale, but for now I will give this brand a miss when it comes to foundations and stick with my trusty Yves Saint Laurent, who never lets me down.

Click for my previous foundation reviews:
Estee Lauder Lucidity, Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser, Lancome Teint Miracle and Yves Saint Laurent Teint Resist.