Barry M Lip Paint Pale Nude | Review and Swatches

Apologies that it looks squished and bent! I've used it every day

I have found a new lipstick love! On the same day that I bought Rimmel’s new Wake Me Up Foundation (you can see my review here) I also bought Barry M’s new Lip Paint in shade 154 Pale Nude. It was 3 for 2 in boots, I had to buy a new mascara and foundation, so it would have been silly not to pick something else up too! I mean, come on, it was free! I was just browsing through the Barry M stand; it’s a brand I tend to neglect now-a-days. When I was younger I used to buy a lot of their products, but I feel it seems to have a bit of a teen connotation with it, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, they make great products for reasonable prices, but as I’ve got older the need for bright green eye shadow and bright pink mascara has declined somewhat (Yes, I did own a bright pink mascara from Barry M..I hang my head in shame). However, I was looking at some of their new nail varnishes, and next to them, were their new lip paints, in 155 (Pretty Pink) and 154 (Pale Nude). I was instantly drawn to the Pale Nude lip paint, a light peachy orange shade, which is not dissimilar to their new Nail Paint in Peach Melba. For some reason I have been having a bit of an orange phase at the moment. I swatched it on my hand and thought to myself “Yes, this is something I definitely need in my life” and went ahead and got it.

            As it was 3 for 2, I did technically get this for free, so whilst I was very much excited to use this lipstick, something in the back of my mind was telling me that it was a really bad idea, that it would make me look washed out and gross. However, my subconscious was proved totally wrong! I absolutely love this on my lips. I always apply foundation over my lips before I put on a lipstick because my lips are so pigmented and it just makes the colours really bright and a bit weird. I was totally sold on this as soon as I put it on, and I have been wearing it every day since. I have never worn a lipstick every day, and usually just stick to my good old faithful Blistex relief cream, because it’s easy to apply and feels amazing, but I find myself reaching for this lipstick each morning, and even re-applying through out the day.

            What I have found with this lipstick though, and what I have found with a few of the Barry M Lip Paints, is that although it doesn’t dry out your lips, or makes them feel uncomfortable, if you apply this without using some sort of moisturising product underneath, it will cling to any cracks or dry skin that you have. So definitely, a quick use of a lip scrub, then apply a balm and let that sink in before putting this on, and it will apply beautifully and smoothly!

            I must admit though, when I checked the Barry M website to see what the actual name of the Lip Paint was, I was very surprised to see that it was called Pale Nude. The name and the picture on their website is very deceiving, because the colour is definitely more orange. Which I don’t have a problem with at all, but if you are looking for a true nude, this may not be for you.

            Thanks for reading!

            Fai x

*Disclaimer: As always all opinions are 100% my own, and I am no way affiliated with any of the companies mentioned. All products mentioned were purchased by me.

Rimmel Wake Me Up | Review

So I’m sure you have all been hearing about, and reading the hype that has surrounded the new Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation. With its claims of anti-fatigue ingredients it’s certainly been a talking point for those of us who stay up all night, for whatever reason we may have!

I’ve never really been one who will try a product based on what the adverts claim, and this still remains true, however, when I popped into a small Boots store a few weeks ago to find that they didn’t stock Revlon I thought I would give Rimmel a try. This decision didn’t come easy though, as I stood at the Rimmel stand for a good 20 minutes deliberating whether or not I should purchase, I have to say the colour range is absolutely atrocious! Now, I am practically albino pale, this is probably not news to some of you, and with the lightest shade “True Ivory” edging more on TOWIE stars’ fake tans I was absolutely terrified of buying it. In the end I jumped in and decided to just go for it. With a price tag of just £8.99, compared to Revlon’s ever increasing price of their Colour Stay, I felt that even if I hated it, I wouldn’t have spent a fortune, plus I have a lovely bottle of Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation in 100 which has done a gorgeous job of making the colour the right shade of pale!

So when I got home to test it out I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the product. It does have an odd smell to it, nothing unpleasant, but if you are sensitive to scents in face products this may not be for you. I was really happy with the coverage it gave me, although that may also have been aided by my Illamasqua RF 100. The texture is also beautiful, it has a semi matte feel when you apply it (I will talk about this later), but it most certainly doesn’t dry out your skin. As someone who suffers from very dry skin I was a bit worried that it may cling to patches, but it definitely hasn’t done. It gives a gorgeous even finish, and I’ve also found that once I’ve mixed the right colour with my RF100 I can also get away with only using the foundation where I suffer with the most acne!

I apply a sizable amount of RF100 and mix with 1 and a half pumps of Rimmel Wake Me Up, and apply with my Louise Young LY34 foundation brush 

Left: RF100 Right: Rimmel Wake Me Up True Ivory

Mixed!

On the down side, this product is excessively shiny. I have dry skin, and never really have a problem with wearing a foundation that has a bit of shine to it, in fact I quite enjoy that dewy finish, however, I find this a bit over the top. It can make me look really oily, which is a really peculiar problem, considering the texture when you apply it feels matte. I’m not sure whether it is because it’s an oily foundation, or whether it is because of the really subtle shimmer that is in the product. I am inclined to think it is more the latter, because no matter how much powder I put on top, I still look shiny. And I hate using a setting powder on my skin, because it’s so dry and just makes me look cakey. Not a good look, it just sinks into my skin and looks gross. Adding to this shiny problem, the foundation transfers like crazy, I rarely set my day to day foundation with a powder, I usually only ever do that for a special occasion when I know I won’t be able to touch up all day, but I have never had this much of a problem with transferring. The odd bit here and there with other foundations I’ve used maybe, but Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation literally comes off on your hands with the slightest touch.

All in all though, I do feel that the pros outweigh the cons with this product. There are definitely ways of getting around the awful colour range, and with the longevity of the product a downside, I just won’t wear it on a night out. There are other products that are better for that. With a price of £8.99 you can’t complain too much, it’s one of the cheaper drug store foundations, and it does give you gorgeous results.

Thanks for reading lovelies!

Fai x

*Disclaimer - As always, all opinions are 100% my own. I purchased all products mentioned with my own money. I am in no way affiliated with any company mentioned.

Tears, Laughter and Alcohol Proof Makeup!

So the day that all my friends have been anticipating for a whole year finally arrived on Saturday, the wedding of the most gorgeous couple you'll ever meet. It was a gorgeous day, and even though it was forecast rain, the weather held off! It was obviously a very emotional day for the bride and groom, and for all involved and during the first dance I started sobbing uncontrollably for no apparent reason (it may have been down to the few glasses of wine during the meal), but I just couldn't stop. After that I thought, good god, what a mess I look, I expected mascara to be running and streaky foundation. I was pleasantly surprised however, to discover nothing had budged!!

At 9:30am, just finished makeup

1:30pm at the church

Taken roughly 10 minutes after I'd been uncontrollably sobbing! No budging at all!

What I Was Wearing
Foundation: Revlon Colour Stay in Ivory mixed with Chanel Pro Lumiere in 10
Eyes: Illamasqua Succumb all over the lid; Makeup Atelier Nacre Corail on the outer corner; Makeup Atelier Bronze through the crease; Gosh white eyeliner on the water line; Une brown pencil eyeliner on lower and upper lash line
Mascara: Maybelline The Colossal waterproof and BM Beauty Lash Curling mascara
Brows: MAC Omega eyeshadow
Lips: MAC Creme Cup
Cheeks: MAC Harmony and La Femme Misty Plum
Finish: Laura Mercier Translucent Powder

Dress: Matthew Williamson £40
Pashmina: The Tie Rack £4.99 in the sale
Shoes: Nude from Barrats
Jewellery: Thomas Sabo bracelet and necklace,
Nail Varnish: Baby Pink Barry M and Pure Turquoise Barry M

Thanks for reading! You can follow me on twitter @FaiBassett or like my Facebook page Fai Bassett

Fai x

Valentine's Day Goodies!

As the day that terrifies men, excites women and depresses us singletons fast approaches I thought it only necessary to at least mention it. As soon as the Christmas season is over, card shops inflate the heart balloons and everyone goes blind from all the pink and red. As much as I hate the Valentine’s season I have been having a good old nose around at everything the shops have to offer and have stumbled a few bits and pieces that I might just go out and buy for myself.

As always, Lush has created some beauties for V’day, and my top pick from their collection has to be the P.S I Love You gift box! It’s packaged in a gorgeous little box adorned with roses and swallows and tied up with a piece of string. Inside is a mixture of the well loved products such as “Raining Men” shower gel and my all time favourite product from Lush – “Soft Coeur” which is a honey and chocolate massage bar. Another little goody inside is the “Silky Underwear” dusting powder, a light powder that you can use all over your body that smells of jasmine! I’ve never heard of this product before but it sounds intriguing! Not quite talc and maybe a little more sensual!? And last but not the “Sweetheart” soap to finish of the quad! I think this is such a great little gift set, even if you’re single to buy yourself and relax. I think this is such a great deal at £16.95 that if you feel you need that little extra indulgence you won’t feel guilty about your bank balance. You can find out more about the P.S I Love You gift box on the Lush website.

Another great little indulgence that won’t make your bank manager call you up is the Whittard of Chelsea Strawberry White Hot Chocolate! It definitely hits up the pink quota for the season and will also last you much longer! It’s £5.50 for 375g. Especially on these horribly cold nights we’ve been having. Settling down in your fluffy dressing gown with a mug of this on a cold evening, with a mug of strawberry white hot chocolate, who needs a man to cuddle up to? You can find the Strawberry White Hot Chocolate here, and there are more Valentines gifts there too, and selected items are 20% off with the voucher code “LOVE14”

I guess we shouldn’t leave out those who are loved up, although I do like to forget you couples exist around this time (I’m joking of course, I’m just clearly bitter about it all) Marks and Spencer have got some brilliant Valentine’s cards on offer. In the day of emails and texts they’ve really considered that not many people like to send cards, and when they do the recipient often just discards them. So Marks and Spencer have got some great little designs that have got keepsakes that you can detach! My favourite being this little one (link) with removable pegs that you can keep to remind you of one another. It brings tears to your eyes and warmth to your heart doesn’t it?

Whatever you end up doing this 14^th of February I hope it’s a very happy and healthy one!

Love to you all!

Don’t forget that you can subscribe to my blog by clicking Join This Site, you can follow me on Twitter too, @FaiBassett and like my FaceBook page Fai Bassett - Makeup Artist

Thanks for reading lovelies!

Fai x

*Disclaimer I am not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned, nor have I been asked to mention them.  All opinions are 100% my own!

REVIEW | Premae Skin Care Harmony Face Balm

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Premae, a new luxury skin care company dedicated to producing allergen-free skin care. They offered to send me a product that claimed to be allergen-free, water free and kind to acnegenic skin. As I hadn’t heard of the company before I decided to do a bit of research into the company first before agreeing to try their product.

           

            The product I have been trying out is the Harmony Face Balm for Combination Skin Types. The product comes in a 50ml tin and is, as the name suggests, a hard balm, similar to the consistency of Vaseline. The balm contains all natural ingredients (the full list can be found on their website here).

            I received the Harmony Face Balm 2 weeks ago and have been using it every day, both morning and night. I have found the best way to apply this is to take a small amount and apply straight to your face, a little in each area (the cheeks, forehead, nose and chin) and then to massage in with your fingertips. Although the product has a waxy texture, as soon as it comes into contact with your skin it melts instantly into a liquid, making it easy to distribute evenly over your skin. In the morning I do use a smaller amount as it does take a little while to sink into your skin, and if you’re trying to get ready in a hurry it isn’t best to put your makeup on until this product has completely settled into your skin. The product says it is for combination skin, obviously, I can’t comment on whether or not this product would actually be suitable as I have been using this on me, and my skin is incredibly dry. The only thing I can say is that I would be a little bit cautious on using this product if you did have slightly more oily t-zone as the product can leave my skin feeling quite greasy for a while if I use too much.

Click on photo to enlarge to read full list of ingredients

            I definitely think this product gives great benefit to your skin, as it is incredibly nourishing and moisturising. I have been suffering from a cold and where I would usually get an incredibly dry nose from using tissues, I have been applying the balm to just my nose a few times a day and it has definitely helped the dryness that usually occurs! I have also been using a little bit on my lips and it leaves them feeling really great too. The balm is completely unscented which is great for people with sensitive skin.

            The Harmony Face Balm doesn’t come cheap at £18 for 50ml, however as you only need to use a small amount, it will definitely last a long time. I’ve been using it every day for two weeks and you can hardly notice that any has gone from the tin. It’s also great as you can see how much product you’re using and can regulate how much you need each day.

           

            I would be really interested in trying some of the products purely designed for dry skin, as I’m not sure how this product would sit on someone with combination skin.

            Premae Skin Care is BUAV approved and all their ingredients are natural and ethically sourced and can be purchased from their website. You can follow them on twitter @premae_skincare.

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget that you can subscribe to my blog my clicking “Join This Site” or you can follow me on twitter @FaiBassett for regular updates!

Fai x

*disclaimer: The products mentioned in this blog were sent to me for consideration to review. I am in no way affiliated with Premae Skincare and I am not being paid to review their product. All opinions are 100% my own

January Favourites and OOTN 28/01/2012

I'm going to try and do Monthly Favourites, it may not be every month as a lot of things don't tend to change, but when I find an amazing product I will be sure to update! So as January finally draws to a close I  hope you enjoy my top picks for January. 

Illamasqua Light Liquid Foundation shade 115 – Being so pale I’m almost translucent, it is an absolute nightmare to find a foundation colour that actually matches my skin, and Illamasqua has such a great range of colours. I initially bought the Light Liquid Foundation for my kit, I have 6 colours in total, but I tried this out and was instantly impressed with how good the colour was for me. I’m not a great fan of the consistency of this product, as its quite dry and doesn’t have an amazing coverage, so what I’ve been doing is using predominately the Illamasqua foundation and adding a small amount of Revlon Colour Stay in Ivory which I find adds a bit more to the coverage, and it stops the Illamasqua L.L.F looking too dry on my skin. I will hopefully be investing in the Illamasqua Skin Base foundation; however the closest Illamasqua counter is in Cardiff, which just isn’t convenient, so I’m dubious to buy it online without testing it out first! If anyone has tried it and think they may be my colouring let me know how you’ve found it!

Liz Earle – Cleanse and Polish – This doesn’t need any explanation; you can find my review here which will tell you why I love it so much!

Lush – Snow Fairy – I bought this at the very end of December when Lush had their half price sale of all their Christmas lines. I had heard so much about it on YouTube as everyone seems to be addicted to it, so I thought I would pop in and see what all the fuss was about. It smells so good! I would liken it to the smell of the Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub. Such a sweet smell, which may not be to everyone’s taste, I also couldn’t resist the name. Let’s face it, anything to do with fairies I’m all over it (If you hadn’t realised already my name means Fairy). Not only does it smell amazing, it lathers up so nicely, the bubbles are so soft and creamy and it makes your skin so smooth! Unfortunately they are only brought out every Christmas, so I bought two bottles, and I’m trying to use it sparingly.

Aussie – Luscious Long Shampoo and Conditioner – I’m going to confess something terrible right about now, I haven’t had my hair cut in nearly a year! I know, terrible, shoot me down, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I had it all cut off really short (well, short for me, it was shoulder length) back in 2010 and since then my hair has been growing so slowly, that now I have it at the length I want I’m just too scared to go and get it cut again. I will eventually because the ends are so dead. But I’ve been using Aussie’s Luscious Long range and it’s been so good for my hair. It smells amazing like all of Aussie’s products, but it also makes my hair so soft, and it feels thicker too. I can swoosh it around and it feels like I’ve just stepped out of the hair dressers, it may not look like it, but it certainly feels like it. I don’t know all the ins and outs of the products, but I think it’s definitely benefited my hair

On Saturday night it was one of my friend Dannie's Hen Night and the theme was the Letter D (for obvious reasons) and I went as a disco ball! Here are some pictures from the night!

Foundation - Revlon Colour Stay - Ivory & Chanel Pro Lumiere in 10 (discontinued)
Blush - La Femme Golden Rose
Contour - MAC Studio Tech foundation in NC50
Mascara - BM Beauty Lash Curling 
Jewels and Mirrors from The Range

Top - From a boutique in Tavistock - £25
Disco Pants - River Island sale 3 years ago £10
Shoes - New Look, customised by me
Fake Tan (I KNOW! Hold the applause) - Beyond Bronze by Fake Bake - Instant in shimmer Light

REVIEW | BM Beauty Lash Curling Mascara

Following up from my BM Beauty review from December, which you can find here, I thought I should talk about my favourite product that I was lucky enough to try out.

         

            I’ve always had issues with my eyelashes. They’re very straight and very blonde. Long enough to be noticed, but without mascara it looks like I have none. And I have never found a mascara that can hold a curl in my lashes for a whole day, without them looking crispy and hard. I’m not a massive fan of waterproof mascara, because I don’t like to sit and scrub at my eye for hours on end to make sure I’ve got every last bit off.

            So when I saw BM Beauty’s Lash Curling mascara I thought I would give it a go, and I have been amazed with the results. The formula isn’t too wet that you have to keep your eyes open in fear of panda eyes, and it’s also not so dry that you have to spend half an hour dragging the brush through your lashes to get a good amount of product to coat your lashes. The Lash Curling mascara coats your lashes easily with just one application and dries quickly without your lashes going hard. And you can build up the product easily to get a more dramatic look.

No Mascara 

One Coat

  

Two Coats

Three Coats on top lashes - One coat on bottom lashes

            I’ve also found that with this mascara it curls my lashes on its own without having to use curlers before hand, which is great because when doing my own makeup I do like to skip steps if I can get away with it (probably not the best confession to make, but I’m sure you won’t tell anyone) so this mascara really has become an essential part of my daily make up routine. I will definitely be re-purchasing when this tube runs out!

            The mascara wand is a bristle brush which is great, as I find plastic mascara wands scratchy and often achieve a more sparse look, whereas BM Beauty’s mascara not only curls my lashes, it also makes them look thick as well. All of BM Beauty products are free from animal testing, and the mascara is infused with minerals and nourishing oils and waxes. It retails at £12 for 8ml and can be purchased from the BM Beauty website here. 

            For anyone with already super curly lashes, they also have a Lash Thickening mascara :)

            Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog by clicking “Join This Site” on the right hand side of the page. And you can also follow me on twitter @FaiBassett

Fai x

*disclaimer* I am in no way affiliated with BM Beauty, I was given this product as a thanks for helping out on the BM Beauty stand at the Clothes Show, I am not being paid by the company to review their products, and all opinions are my own.