Illamasqua Radiance Veil

Hi everyone! Apologises for the lack of posts this week I've had the worst flu all week, the kind where you have zero energy to even get out of bed so I've been off work and uni and thankfully I am starting to feel a bit better because it was not a good week! Before I start this post I just wanted to point out I am reviewing the sample size of this product in case anyone thinks that the product itself is just really tiny, this week I made an order to Beauty Bay and it allowed me to pick a free sample because I spent over a certain amount of money and I was so excited to see that you could get a sample of Illamasqua's new Radiance Veil primer. Hydra Veil is my all time favourite primer and I was so excited when they released Radiance Veil because I hoped to love it as much as Hydra Veil! 

On the website Radiance Veil is described as 'part primer part illuminator' and it also states that 'vitamin C provides moisturising benefits whilst the fine shimmer particles inject light onto the skin'. Being someone who has very dull skin this appeals to me so much, I love luminous skin that looks really healthy and glowy so I had really high hopes for this product and I really wanted it to be amazing! I was really glad I was able to get hold of a sample because at £32 it really isn't cheap, I find it harder to part with more money as well over a primer as oppose to say a foundation and because this is a new product there isn't much out there on how it actually performs. I really have jumped on the primer bandwagon though I love them and I think they make a big difference for me.

You can see in the pictures this product has a very thick consistency so a little goes such a long way and it doesn't pick it up too well but in the second image you can see how shimmery the product is, almost comes off metallic. To be honest and I was really disappointed to feel like this I am just really not sold on it! Because my skin had been very dry due to being ill I was hoping it would be as moisturising as it claimed to be but I didn't feel like it gave me any moisturising benefits at all and my skin still felt almost cracked and uncomfortable. It definitely does give a radiant glow to the skin though although I feel it is a bit too shimmery for me and I actually found that it didn't give too much luminosity once foundation had been applied. It's a shame because I love their other products so much and I really wanted to love this as well but I just didn't. 

I think for anyone with normal skin or anyone who just doesn't have dry skin it would be really good for you if you want that shimmery glow but anyone with dry skin I don't think it is the best fit for them. For me personally it just didn't work but everyone is different and I do think if you have good skin then this will help emphasise it and give a nice glow. It states on the website that this can be mixed with liquid foundation to customise a luminous finish, I haven't tried this yet but I think for me this would put better use to this product as oppose to just using it as a primer. I will definitely be sticking to Hydra Veil which I am still in love with and would recommend to anyone as a saviour for dry skin, let me know in the comments if you have tried any of Illamasqua's primers and what you think!

Illamasqua Gel Sculpt Silhouette First Impressions & Review

Hi everyone! Last week I saw that Illamasqua had released a new product, their gel sculpt which is in three shades, silhouette, charm and fluster. Silhouette was described as a universal skin tone contour product and it claims to be 'a unique contouring gel that offers subtle definition to the cheeks with ease'. I saw a lot of people raving about it and I'm keen to get better at contouring so I thought I'd give it a try so I ordered it and it arrived today! 

The deep colour of this shade is quite intimidating at first and when I swatched it on my hand (picture below) I was a bit unsure but once blended it creates the most natural shadow on your face.

 It looks a little crazy like mud here but as I said when its blended it is like you've got a shadow down your cheek bone I was so impressed with it! It's great for a really natural contour as it is quite sheer but it is buildable if you want a more intense look. I also love it because I'm definitely not an expert at contouring, I've got the Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kit and I still find this more difficult to use, I can't seem to get it exactly right and I feel like it looks a bit full on sometimes but this makes it so easy to get a really nice defined structure to your face, so if you find contouring a bit tricky and intimidating like me then this is perfect for you! I feel like the best thing about it is that it doesn't look like you're just amazing at makeup it really does just look like that's how your bone structure is which to me is such a good quality. 

It is described as a cooling gel product which I would definitely agree with, it feels really refreshing and light on the skin and not cakey at all. It does have a scent to it which smells so good and I actually do prefer scented products however I know a lot of people don't like when products are scented but it isn't full on, just a nice refreshing smell. 

If you are looking for a really dramatic contour then maybe this isn't for you however if you love a natural sculpted look that's really simple to achieve then I would definitely recommend it, this product will allow me to contour daily without taking up lots of time and it's also really simple. I looked on Illamasqua's YouTube channel and they posted a video on the colours and tips on how to apply, they have a really good technique that they call 'heart of the hand' where you use the base of your hand under your thumb to apply the product onto your cheekbones, it sounds complicated but if you take a look at the video (I will link below) it's really simple and quick! If you prefer a different way to apply then there is lots of other techniques but I do find this way quite easy when you are first trying out a product. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YjuVKtYL5M - Illamasqua's video on how to apply the product.

Overall I would definitely recommend this product, it is priced at £22 on the Illamasqua website which isn't cheap however a good investment if you plan to use it a lot and to me it really is worth the money. Thank you for reading and I hope this gave you good insight onto this product, let me know in the comments what you think of this product!xxx

Makeup Collection: My Favourite Items

For my first makeup post I thought I'd introduce you guys to my favourite makeup items in my collection! I'm constantly changing my mind over what brands are my favourite however there's always the same go to products that are staple items to my makeup bag. I've picked out my favourite foundation, concealer, mascara, primer, eyeshadow palette and contour products.

Foundation

Firstly I'll start with foundations, it took me a long time to find a foundation that really worked for me and I went through a LOT of them before I found one that I really liked. I actually really struggle to find a foundation that I feel looks good on my skin as I struggle with having really dry dull skin so I need to make sure that I'm happy with it. The one I had before this one was Estee Lauder Double Wear, which I do still occasionally use for when I'm going out on a night as I wanted it to stay on, however if I'm having a particularly bad skin day I feel like it highlights every dry patch on my face (maybe that's just me but it's a real issue I have with it!). Eventually I came across Nars Sheer Glow which I was a bit unsure on at first as to whether I should buy it as it's quite expensive and I don't have a counter close to me so I'd have to buy online. I settled on it eventually and I love it now! I love the dewy finish and I really don't like full coverage so this works so well for me, it is a lot of money but worth the price especially if you have dry skin like me. I wear the shade medium 1 Punjab. 

Concealer

Concealer wise I've only just recently changed to one that I love, I'd being using Boi-ing by Benefit for a long time in the shade 02 however as I said before my skin seemed to get drier and it highlighted a lot of creases in my skin, more recently I'd discovered Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer after seeing it all over YouTube. It works to well for me, I use it to cover my under eye circles and any blemishes, I use this in the shade Vanilla.

Mascara

My current favourite mascara is Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara, I only recently got this for my birthday in February and at first I found it quite hard to get to grips with as I'd previously been using They're Real which comes with a plastic wand and is obviously really different, however when I got the hang of it I absolutely love it now! For someone with straight but long eyelashes I do still think an eyelash curler is necessary but it can create a really dramatic look when used well.

Primer

My absolute favourite primer which I love so much is Illamasqua Hydra Veil, I would recommend this to anyone! I got in when I was in London as they have a store there after hearing lots of good things about it online, it's a bit strange when you first see it a bit like jelly! However once you get used to it it's such a good product especially when you've got dry skin, you have to let it dry a bit after application but I think it makes any foundation looks better and helps keep your make up on well.

(Thought I'd show you a picture of the inside, it reshapes itself after you've used it as well so it never seems like its running out!)

Highlighter

This was a toss up for me as I have two highlighters both from the same brand that I love for different things, both from Benefit I love Watts Up for a night time going out look, whereas I love High Beam for a day time glowy look. Both are amazing it just depends what you want from your highlighter and what look you use more frequently.

Eyeshadow

This is a really obvious choice but my current favourite palette is Urban Decay's Naked3 palette, I got it for Christmas and it was the first of the Naked palettes that I got (I also have Naked2 now), I found it hard to choose one at first but I'm so glad I picked it! I'm really into pink glowy looks and this was perfect for me, the only issue I have with it is that I find you can only make the same looks over and over even though they are so nice. I've actually just ordered the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette however and I may do a first impressions on it when it arrives.

Contour

Again a bit of an obvious choice but for good reason, I love the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Palette, again I got this for Christmas from a website called Beauty Bay, it's expensive at £39 however I love it and I think it's good when you're just introducing yourself to contouring as it has everything you need in one palette, my favourite contour shade in there is Fawn, the great thing about this palette as well is that they are refillable on the Anastasia Beverly Hills website so if you hit pan on your favourite shade you have the option to just buy that particular shade again if you're willing to ship it over from America.

Thanks for reading this post and I hope it gave you an insight into the makeup I'm interested in, if anyone would like to see/hear more about these products don't be afraid to leave a comment!

xxx