Illamasqua Summer Sale 2013

I was having a nose on the Illamasqua website last night and realised that their summer sale was in full swing!  Some of the discounts are really good so if there is an item you have been lusting after it's worth checking the site to see if it is in the sale.  I love Illamasqua's brushes so I treated myself to the Kabuki brush which was £15 down from £39 - what a bargain!

That was all I bought and I congratulated myself on being so restrained......that was until about 30 minutes ago when I received an email from Illamasqua saying that new items had been added to the sale.  I had to go and have a look and yep, you guessed it, I ended up making another purchase! 

I bought the Sophie Blusher which I have thought about buying in the Beak Street store so as it was £15 down from £18, I decided I maybe as well make a saving!  I cannot wait for it to arrive so I can try it out!

It looks a wee bit like Nars Orgasm which I also own so it will be interesting to compare the two!

Have any of you made any sale purchases? 

Review: Wei Gingko Leaf Repairing Face Treatment Pad

Space NK recently held their summer event whereby if you spend over a certain amount you receive a goody bag and the Wei Gingko Leaf Repairing Face Treatment Pad was in the goody bag.  I was intrigued by this as I don't know much about the Wei brand and I have never used a pad like this.  It sat on the side for a while but the other day I felt like my skin looked a bit dull, so I thought it was time to put this product to the test!

Wei claim that this Treatment pad quickly improves the appearance of redness, instantly firms, hydrates, and brightens, leaving skin with a healthy radiant glow.  On their website they claim that it is a favourite of Demi Moore!  If it's good enough for Demi.....!

I opened the packet and was confronted with this:

This is the pad folded into quarters.  It has two layers, the outer layer is blue and is soaked in a gel.  I wanted to take more photos for you but its slightly wet and gooey and once I had unfolded the mask, I knew that if I picked up the camera it would slide out of my hands!

Once I had unfolded the pad, I placed it on my face and tried to get it lined up perfectly (there are holes cut out for your eyes, nose and mouth).  When the pad was in place you peel off the top blue layer and are then left with the white gauze type pad on.  I then sat down and read a magazine for ten minutes.  I should warn you that I was not a pretty sight with the mask on so I stayed away from the window!

After I removed the pad I massaged what was left of the gel into my face and after another five to ten minutes it had all absorbed.  I used the mask at night so was looking forward to seeing how my skin appeared the next morning......

........I was really pleased, my skin looked lovely and clear when I woke up the next day.  I suffer with a bit of redness (I blame that on my Irish heritage!) but it seemed to have toned down a bit so I was chuffed with that. 

I would really like to use one of these pads again - they are £55 at Space NK for six masks. 

Latest Empties - Space NK Life NK Body Washes

I got these body washes as part of a set in the Christmas sale, I am afraid I can't recall what I paid for them but I do know that a full size 350ml bottle costs £12.50 which isn't too bad when you look at what other body washes cost in Space NK!

So first up is the Jump Start Body Wash.  I felt this performed well and a little went a long way but it does have spearmint, peppermint and grapefruit in and I just don't like any minty smell in my products so that would put me off repurchasing.  I should point out that the minty smell was subtle but I have a real aversion to it but if you want a shower gel that would wake you up in the morning you may well enjoy this!



The second bottle was the Ultimate Unwind Body Wash and I absolutely loved this!  I will be purchasing this again as it was so pleasureable to use - it contains lime, green tea, cardamom and ginger and the smell is heavenly and it really does make you feel relaxed at the end of the day.  I really liked that the aroma would linger on my skin for a while.  As I mentioned about the formula is great and you don't need to use masses of this stuff so a big bottle would really last a long time I feel.  My skin felt fairly hydrated after using this so I don't feel it would dry your skin out.

Next time I have £10 on my NDulge card I will definitely be putting it towards buying the Ultimate Unwind Body Wash meaning it will only cost me £2.50 - bargaintastic!!

Review: CND Vinylux in Rouge Red

In recent weeks I have seen the CND Vinylux polishes at my local salon.  My nail technician told me that it is a new weekly polish system and that the product lasts for a whole week.  That piqued my interest and today I decided to try it out!

I went for a colour called Rouge Red.

Its a lovely true red, there is no pink or orange tones in this colour, its a pure pillarbox red!  I think its a classic colour that can be worn at any time of the year.

You don't need to use a base coat with this system, that worried me at first as I worried about the colour staining but I was assured that other people who have tried Vinylux have not had staining issues.  You apply two coats of the colour and then finish with the Vinylux top coat.

Another plus is that Vinylux dries a lot quicker than other varnishes.  Normally I would sit under the drier for ten minutes but today I just gave it five minutes and it did seem to be completely dry after that.

I am really happy with the results, its a gorgeous colour and it looks as glossy as my favourite Essie varnishes.  The test will be how the varnish performs over the next seven days so bearing that in mind I will report back in one week to let you know how its worn.

Have a great weekend everyone!

~~~~~~~~ UPDATE ~~~~~~~~ UPDATE~~~~~~~ UPDATE ~~~~~~~~~

I took this photo exactly a week after the Vinylux had been painted onto my nails as I wanted to show you that it really does last a week!

Its pretty much perfect isn't it?  I am seriously impressed and I now hope my local salon will stock more of the colours as at the moment they only have twelve or so colours. 

I will definitely use Vinylux again and I really recommend it too!

Space NK N.Dulge Loyalty Card Double Points Event

I just wanted to flag up to you all that this weekend Space NK are offering all N.Dulge card holders double points on everything you buy instore and online!  I was going to try not to spend this month but now I am feeling very tempted.......

Happy Shopping!!

Review: Illamasqua Blusher Brush 1

I am currently trying to build up my make-up brush collection, I am trying to get the best brushes I can afford.....its an investment right?!

Recently I was perusing the Illamasqua counter in Selfridges, I was looking at the blushes but somehow ended up purchasing a blusher brush.....not sure how that happened!!

I am happy it did happen though as I cannot fault this brush, granted I don't have many to compare it against, up until now I had been using an EcoTools Blusher Brush which I was happy with but it sometimes felt too big and more like a powder brush.

Firstly I was struck by how soft the hairs are - at first I kept rubbing this brush on the back of my hand because it was so soft!  The hairs are synthetic which I prefer, its cruelty free and you can use with both powder and cream blushes. 

I have been mainly using this brush with my new favourite blusher (Nars Orgasm) and it works beautifully, I get the powder exactly where I want it and find this is a good brush for contouring.

Finally I have found this brush washes well and doesn't shed (which is one of my pet hates with brushes!)

Illamasqua Blusher Brush 1 cost me £29.50 at Selfridges.

PS. have any of you tried the Blush Up Brush - I recently watched a tutorial on it and it looks fantastic!



Review: Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Static

Apolgies for being quiet over the last couple of weeks....I was on holiday and had meant to write some posts that would go on the blog whilst I was away but work and life seemed to go mad the week before I went so I ended up neglecting my blog - bad me!!  However I am back now and really eager to write about some of the products that I took on holiday with me! 

The standout star item of the week was this one - I have absolutely fallen in love with it!  Its the Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Static - its a iridescent pink/silver powder that you can use on your eyes, cheeks or anywhere you fancy!

I went to an Illamasqua Beauty School drop-in lesson about a month ago at the store in Beak Street in London.  It was fascinating, I love watching how the experts use the products, its so inspiring.  The make up artist used this pigment and it looked incredible so the following week I just had to buy it myself!  I must admit I am drawn to sparkly powders but in the past have been disappointed by their performance - some are not long lasting or they end up falling from your eye onto your cheek and the whole look just goes a bit wrong.  I am happy to report that I didn't have either of these problems with this pigment!

I used this most nights on holiday, I would apply my eyeshadow and liquid liner as normal and then would dip my ring finger in the pigment and then gently apply to my eyelid.  I absolutely loved the effect created when this went over my black liquid eyeliner - it turned the eyeliner a sparkly purple colour - gorgeous!

My one tip would be not to apply any make up to the lower part of your face whilst apply the pigment as there is a slight fallout at first but once its on, it stays on and won't migrate.

My one issue and it is a small one is the packaging.  I do normally like Illamasqua's packaging, it performs well and looks good.  But with this you do have to yank the lid off and I have had quite a bit of the pigment fall onto my carpet (ooh sparkly carpet!) which is a bit annoying.  However I will put up with it as I love the the product so so much and am tempted to buy other colours in the range.

Pure Pigment cost me £16.50 at Selfridges.