Reading Fresco Phyrra's blog has proved to be expensive in the past, and the last couple of weeks have proved to be no exception! I've ordered from 2 companies I haven't before after seeing swatches on her blog! The other company is Aromaleigh, for those interested.
Recently she showed a haul from a company called Shiro Cosmetics. I thought the colours looked interesting and they were all named after Pokemon, which made it 10000x more awesome. I ordered the "Super Effective" sample set, which was the (at the time) full set of 15 samples for $12.00. Since then, a couple of new colours have appeared on her Etsy site. Full sized jars are $5.00.
I was very impressed at the shipping time, I got an email the next day to say my order has been posted. Since we seem to be clear from volcanic ash for the moment (more on that in another haul, if it ever gets here. Grrr. Two orders went missing, one's been tracked down, I don't want to talk about the other), this got here less than a week after I placed my order.
How adorably wrapped is that? While I don't mind a lack of fancy packaging, it does help to feel appreciated when your order is all pretty like that. I "oohed" and "aahed" for a little while before getting stuck in to see what I'd ordered.
Each colour comes with a label with its own ingredients listed. Very impressive as one or two shades include cosmetic glitter or dyes. Each shade also has a note to say if it's lip safe or not. The samples come in little baggies and you get 1/4tsp. Plenty to have a good go with.
I'll get into the ingredients another time, this is just my haul post really! All are swatched with a damp cotton bud, descriptions are from Shiro Cosmetics.
-Team Rocket - Red toned purple shimmer.
-Zubat - Dusky, semi-sheer blue with a violet tinge.
-Lance the Dragon Tamer - Deep shimmering indigo with golden sparks of eye safe glitter.
-Mewtwo - Sheer, shimmery, medium purple with blue tones.
-Articuno - Pale, powdery silver-blue.
-Pikachu - Vivid, shimmering yellow with eye safe red sparks.
-Charmander - Soft, yet bright, shimmery orange, with yellow undertones and a hint of gold.
-Squirtle - Bright, clear, shimmery pool blue.
-Bulbasaur - Bright, shimmering grass green with a hint of golden undertone.
-Acid - Shimmery yellow-green with golden undertones and a touch of darker green eye safe glitter.
-Mew - Cheerful, bright strawberry-bubblegum pink with a slight peachy tone.
-S. S. Anne - Shimmery, subtle yet rich golden brown with a peachy golden tinge.
-Brock the Rock - Shimmery chocolate brown with red tones.
-Vulpix - Gorgeous, shimmery coppery red-brown.
-Hyper Beam - Sparkly opaque black with silver eye-safe glitter.
Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the colours but I haven't had chance to wear any yet! I'll try and do a FOTD soon with them.
Time for another of my MAC shadows. I picked out Shimmermoss as it was the topic of discussion on Twitter earlier today.
I finally managed to get onto the MAC site so I can actually give you pricing information this time.
-Pro pans are £9.00
-Eye shadow pots are £11.00
In the picture, the shadow is swatched dry onto bare skin on the left and dry over primer on the right.
I do have to confess, this is my absolute favourite MAC eye shadow! I adore this colour. It's not too apparent from the picture, but there's a huge dip in this. I'm almost at the pan. Not quite time to buy another one yet, but I'm hoping MAC doesn't discontinue this shade! I actually bought this the day the Veluxe Pearl finish was released in the UK.
Shimmermoss is a gorgeous teal with a turquoise pearl shimmer. It's one of the veluxe pearl finishes which I think are some of MAC's best. Although I do think some of the newer releases of veluxe pearl shadows haven't had the same rich pigmentation of these. Shimmermoss is very pigmented and rich in colour. The finish is very soft and smooth, along the same lines as the ME finish from Shu Uemura and the Deluxe shadows from Urban Decay.
I love this over a green base, something like "Lucky Jade" shadestick, in order to bring out the green tones. I wear this a lot with "Freshwater" or other deep blues and greens.
I got some videos recorded this morning, including an ELF Cosmetics tutorial. I decided to leave this one as my FOTD as I really love the mineral shadow I used. All ELF products can be found at eyeslipsface.co.uk
I used:
-ELF Mineral Infused Face Primer
-L'Oreal True Match Foundation "Candy Cane"
-ELF All Over Colour Stick "Spotlight"
-ELF Mineral Mineral Shadow "Trendy"
-ELF Studio Eye Shadow "Charcoal"
-ELF Brightening Eye Colour Quad "Hazy Hazel"
-ELF Liquid Eyeliner "Plum"
-ELF Mineral Mascara "Black"
-ELF Studio Blusher "Peachy Keen"
-ELF Minty Lipgloss "Nashville"
I can't work out what colour "Trendy" actually is! I'm going to tag it under gold and pink!
Please note that most, but not all, of the above ELF products were received for review and tutorial purposes.
I posted on twitter a couple of days ago, asking what I should blog about. Happy1234 suggested a top 5 of my most used products of right now. Since I seem to have given up doing a monthly favourites video (does anyone want me to start on those again?), I thought that was a pretty neat idea for a post.
-ELF Mineral Infused Primer - I've been testing this one out for reviewing and I'm really impressed with it. A really good primer if you're on a budget. Works well for helping my foundation to last. I'll certainly continue using this until it's empty and will probably repurchase.
-ELF Studio Under Eye Concealer "Glow/Light" - Admittedly, I've barely touched the highlighter shade! But the concealer side seems to be just the right tone of yellowy peach to counteract my dark circles. I've been using this pretty much constantly and there is still a huge amount left in the tube. I will get round to reviewing this! (PR sample for review)
-Bourjois Smokey Eye Brush - This one was a surprise for me. Bought on a whim (Sophie made me!) from Superdrug, this brush has become an absolute staple for smudging out my lower liner. I think this was only around £5.00 as well so it's a bargain!
-MAC Eye Shadow "Jete" - A limited edition from ages ago. It doesn't have nearly enough pigmentation for a lid shade so I've been using it as a highlighter. Works nicely to add some sheen to my brow bone without being frosty like "Nylon" can be.
-Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner "Black Plum Ink" - I definitely prefer Bobbi Brown's gel liners to MAC's. This is an interesting shade, not quite purple and not quite black. I use it a lot when black is too harsh and I need something a little softer. This one has great pigmentation and is very easy to apply.
I had received a huge number of requests to review this before I finally got my hands on it. I have reviewed it on YouTube, you can find the video here. I actually checked the ELF site every day until this came back in stock and the minute it did, Mum and I both ordered one each!
The primer is available from eyeslipsface.co.uk for £6.00 (14g). It contains the "usual" primer ingredients: silica and the "cones". A full ingredient list can be found on the website.
This primer is a thick, clear gel housed in a pump bottle. I'm not sure why the bottle is white, it does prevent you from seeing how much you have left. The pump does unscrew if you want to have a look. The major issue I have with this product is the pump. I think once of those airless pumps (that push the product up from the bottom and scrape the sides) would have worked better than this one. As the primer is so thick, we're getting the Urban Decay Primer Potion problem! Once the primer has been used from the middle of the bottle, it's then too thick to settle out and clings to the sides. This means that the pump isn't actually reaching any of the primer.
But, that issue aside, it's actually a pretty good primer! I only use a tiny amount over my whole face. One full pump of the primer is actually far too much for one application. This applies very easily over my skin and leaves a very smooth surface for my foundation - liquid foundation just glides over the top. I have found that for best foundation application it is best to let it sit and soak into your skin for a couple of minutes before you apply foundation.
It does help my foundation to last longer through the day, but not as long as my Urban Decay primer does. I still tend to get oily on my chin, but it takes longer for that to appear when I've got this primer underneath my foundation. I always lose my foundation around my nose - I'm a glasses wearer and I've never found a primer or foundation that will survive glasses.
If you're looking to try out foundation primers, then definitely give this one a go. When it's in stock, that is! It does tend to sell out.
I took the photos at 5:30am this morning, so I think that explains the "not entirely awake" expression I've got going on.
I used:
*-Bee Luscious Pore Perfecting Primer
-Lily Lolo foundation "Candy Cane"
-Sweetscents Translucent Mineral Veil
-MAC Paintpot "Fresco Rose"
-Sweetscents Pigment "Lotus Flower" - foiled over lid
-Sweetscents Pigment "Venus" - dry in crease
-MAC Eye Shadow "Jete" - highlight
-Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner "Black Plum Ink" - top liner
-Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner "Corrupt" - bottom lash line & smudged
-L'Oreal Panoramic Curl Mascara
-Shu Uemura Glow On Blush "M Pink31"
-Shu Uemura Lipgloss "BG 980N"
My Lily Lolo foundation is nearly empty, I need to scrape up some money for a new one.
Stuff marked with a star (*) was received free for review. Some of the Sweetscents might have been as well, I can't remember what I've ordered and what I haven't. Sweetscents pigments are awesome.
I'm wondering if you're bored with all the Eyeko posts that seem to be popping up everywhere but I just got my hands on some of the polishes and I figured I would join in!
These are available from Eyeko for £3.50 each. I think I want them all, especially that mint, and indigo, and lilac.
I loved the look of the Posh Polish so I had to get some on my nails straight away!
You'll have to forgive the ragged cuticles. I work in a lab, it's what happens :( Speaking of which, I can't really make any comment on how long the polish lasts. My job tends to completely destroy nail polish. If it lasts through the day then it's doing well. I tend to just wear polish for one day at a time.
I was pleasantly surprised by the application of this polish. It has quite a long, whippy brush so I was expecting an awkward application but it went on very easily. The brush had just enough firmness to allow for a very easy application, but not too stiff that the bristles drag through the polish.
This is two coats, along with a quick dry top coat. I just love the colour of this: "GREIGE!!" as I shouted over Twitter earlier this evening.
You'll see from the top photo that I also have two other polishes to test out. I itching to get some matte top coat over the black/red sparkles of "Vampira Polish".
These were sent by a PR contact for review.
I know I'm pretty late with this one, they're about to release their next palette! But I've had a few people ask me for a review and swatches, so here they are.
Sleek palettes are available from Superdrug for £4.99. Limited editions are released quite often throughout the year and sell out quite quickly.
I tried to take a photo of the outside of the palette but the pictures didn't come out. As the outside is white and my photo background is white, there was no contrast at all in the picture. Just imagine a white version of the usual black palettes. I don't like the white much myself, I've found that it actually gets pretty grubby after some handling. These eye shadows are pretty crumbly and flecks get all over the palette which show up (especially the black), more so than with the black palettes.
Only three of the shades are shimmery in this, so it's not my favourite palette. I really don't use much in the way of mattes. I've used the black quite a bit as a matte black is always useful for a smokey crease or liner.
The swatches have been done in the same order as the palette. Two of the shades barely showed up while swatching, I really had to pack them on. The white/cream on the first row and the first colour of the second barely showed up on my arm of my eyes. The other mattes were pretty pigmented, but not as much as the black. The three shimmering, metallic shades were richly pigmented and smooth as usual. The mattes only took a couple of swipes with the brush to show up as they do in the pan on my arm and they didn't come off as chalky.
Overall, not my favourite palette that Sleek has released but it you like strongly coloured mattes then this one is for you.
This was sent for free to review.
I have been asked by a lot of people to review this since I got it back in November. Since I was in the mood to begin taking some brush photos, I thought I'd start with this one. I've done another post where I reviewed all the Studio brushes I had (before the blusher brush was released). It's a very long post, you can find it here.
The blush brush is available from eyeslipsface.co.uk for £3.50 (as with the other Studio brushes).
The bristles of this brush are synthetic (Taklon) but, like the Complexion and Powder brushes, feels like natural hair. It's very soft. It's also very densely packed and doesn't feel like a cheap brush at all. I've washed this quite a few times so far. It hasn't shed at all and drys quite quickly.
I have found this is a little small for me. Due to its size and the fact it's quite dense, I've found that I get a very heavy application of blusher when I use this brush. It will blend it out quite easily but I prefer to use the Complexion Brush for blusher, especially when I'm dealing with my more pigmented blushers. Actually, I think I need to buy another one of those as I like that one for powder as well as blusher.
However, I have found that this brush is very useful for adding a cheek highlight. Its small size and narrow tip means that it will apply a precise highlight to the top of my cheekbones.
This brush was provided free for review.
Here's another 88 palette offering from Coastal Scents! They always do prove to be quite popular. I have the 88 Warm Palette (the review you can read here), but not the other two that Coastal Scents sell.
It's available here: 88 Metal Mania and is currently $24.95.
This survived the journey over here in one piece, none of the shadows were broken. I was quite surprised as it got held up by customs (grr, stupid fees!) so I was expecting it to be pretty destroyed once I got it.
As usual, the palette comes with a good sized mirror and two pretty useless sponge applicators. Each pan is around 15mm in size, so much smaller than a MAC shadow. All the shades in here have some kind of shimmer. I wouldn't say they all were metallic, but there are no mattes. Some have a more subtle kind of shimmer and some are very metallic. There are a couple of interesting duo-chromes in here as well. The usual pink with a blue highlight can be found in this palette, that's always a fun colour to use.
From the initial reviews, I was expecting just a more metallic version of the 88 Warm Palette. But there is a much wider range of shades in this palette. While there aren't a huge number of the brights that the two original palettes have, this is definitely not just another neutral palette. Shades in here range from whites and creams, greens and olives, pinks and plums, chocolates and taupes and golds and oranges.
The shadows are pretty pigmented, here are a few random ones swatched over a base (Too Faced Shadow Insurance). I've found the texture of a few shades to be a let down. Most of the more metallic shades are quite crumbly and need to be applied over a base in order for them to stick. A few of the metallic shades are extremely crumbly and even with a base they didn't apply properly. My brush just picked up chunks and I couldn't get them to smooth out. Some of the shades are smooth and easy to use, it's just a few that are so crumbly and chunky that they're very difficult to use.
I used the palette for both these looks. I really like the green shades that are included, there's a gorgeous teal in particular that I used for the green look (4th row from left, 2nd one up from the bottom). I had trouble picking from the other shades for the other look, but I decided to show you a more "neutral" (can you call it neutral when you're using metallic shades?). I always take photos of my left eye for you, it was very hard getting a decent picture of my right eye!
Overall, this is a pretty fun palette. Perhaps you wouldn't need it if you have a monster collection like I do, but on the other hand I'm glad I do own it as it's quite a lot of fun to use! If you're building your collection then it's definitely worth picking up!
I was sent this to review. No one has any influence on the review I give.
I'm just having a bit of a play with stuff again today. I thought about something very loosely Ancient Egyptian inspired. Basically gold with heavy black liner. Very loosely inspired.
Don't like the MAC foundation at all, it's the first time I've worn it today. The colour is good but I don't like the way it feels. It'll be going to a new home as soon as I can get to the Post Office.
I used:
-Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch Primer
-MAC Select SPF15 Foundation "NW15"
*-ELF High Definition Powder
-MAC Paint Pot "Rubenesque"
-Kryolan Satin Powder "Champagner"
*-Coastal Scents Hot Pot "M19"
*-Coastal Scents Gel Liner "True Black"
-Kryolan Kajal "Black"
-Mascara
-Benefit Coralista
-Boots No7 Natural Radiance Highlighter
*-ELF Mineral Lipstick "Cool Coral"
ETA: Just had to wash off the whole lot as my face was itching. Wtf MAC?
Not the best polish job, I did do this at 5:30am. I just felt the urge for mint green today. It really is a quick dry polish, this is two coats and it was dry to the touch in about 10 minutes and pretty much completely dry in about half an hour.
The brush is a horrid little thing. Very stiff bristles which made it next to impossible to get a nice shape around my cuticles (which I know are not the best looking in the world) and I end up with lines down my nails from where there brush has dragged the polish. But, this was £1.50 and the colour is great. I'm also really impressed with how it's lasted. I tend to destroy polish after a day at work but this has actually lasted to a point where I could wear it tomorrow as well. I just have a little wear on my tips and no huge chips.
On to the second of the palettes! The video I did for this look is currently running through my editing software. I really had fun putting together this look.
I think the blue palette was supposed to be done next, but I couldn't resist a really good smokey look.
I think we're all familiar with Lauren's story. She's someone who has had the most amazing success with YouTube and got to release her own make up line last year. You can find out more on her website: byLaurenLuke.
There are 5 palettes currently, and I will be reviewing and swatching each of the individually on my blog. I'll be doing a tutorial for each on my YouTube channel, followed by a review video of all 5 palettes. As so many of you have asked me to review them, I wanted to make sure I am as thorough as possible.
This palette is available at the above link for £23.99 (I'm not sure on US pricing, $34 ish?). Also sold at Sephora in the US and QVC (in the UK, at least).
Each of the 5 palettes are set up in the same way, with the same primers and black liner.
The palettes are made of card, so I personally wouldn't travel with them. While the card does feel somewhat sturdy, I'm not sure they'd last through repeated trips. There is a decent sized mirror in the lid which doesn't have much distortion to it so it's going to be useful. No applicators are included. Normally this wouldn't bother me but I'm not one for using lip products in pans so I have to hunt down a lip brush.
-Nude Slip Dark/Light Primers - As before, I did not like these primers. Too oily for my lids.
-Antique Pewter Shadow - Absolutely beautiful! It's a gorgeous taupe shade that's smooth and pigmented. There's shimmer without it being metallic and the colour is quite unique. It's possibly the best shade out of the full set of 5 palettes.
-Twilight Ash Shadow - This was a surprise for me. I was expecting a typical black with some sparkle eye shadow, and it's not quite that. There's the expected silver sparkle, but there's also some violet/blue sparkles hidden in there. The base of the shade is matte, so some careful work is needed. I did get some fall out with this shade.
-Cashmere Cream Shadow - A cream coloured shadow with pink shimmer. Reminds me somewhat of Pink Opal pigment from MAC. I really don't think this shade works. The pink shimmer is out of place with the rest of the eye shadows. A plain, cream shimmer would have worked better I think. It works well enough as a highlight for the smokey look.
-Raven Black Cream Liner - black cream liner, the same as all the other palettes. Good, basic black to round out the smokey look but I am worried about how quickly it will dry up in the palette.
-Peach Glow Blush - Even on my super pale skin, this is too light to use as a blusher especially with the strong smokey look. It does however, make an absolutely gorgeous cheek highlight. It adds just enough shimmer and glow without looking oily.
-Plumberry & Cranberry Stain Lip Colours - I'm not a fan of either shade to be honest. I think they're a bit too bright for me personally. I prefer a more subtle lip shade.
I think this is my favourite of the 5 palettes. While I've gone all out with the smokey look here, you can easily create a more wearable look with Antique Pewter on the lid and a little of Twilight Ash smudged onto your lash lines.
This palette was received free for review. I'm having fun playing and no one gets to influence my reviews. Apart from Crunchie, but he is in charge after all.
We had a quick trip into Boston this afternoon and I managed to pick up a couple of bits. I'm pretty much not buying any beauty stuff at the moment as I'm saving for my holiday, but this haul certainly won't break the bank. I spent less than £5.00 in total.
The Lacura Day cream came in at £1.99 and it's from Aldi. It's the one that everyone has been going nuts over as it's supposedly as good as some of the pricier anti-aging creams. I don't have much experience with anti-aging products yet, but my 28th birthday is in sight so it's time I started looking into some of it!
The two nail polishes were £1.50 each from Asda. The Asda I go to on my way into work doesn't sell any cosmetics so I haven't been able to buy any more of these awesome polishes. I got "Streamer" (I adore mint green polishes!) and "Troll", which is the red. Also "Troll" is a matte finish polish. I realise I'm about 6 months to late on the matte polish trend, but I can't say that I'm too bothered!
How do you fancy a series of reviews for all my MAC shadows (and maybe the Urban Decay ones as well)? I don't have a large collection of them but I've been slowly gathering them for quite a number of years. I used to have nearly 100 of them but sold most of them on eBay a few years back.
I'm starting with "Bio Green" simply as it's the one I wore yesterday so it was already sat out on my desk.
This is a MAC Pro item, only available from the Pro stores (there's one in London) or you can phone in an order if you can't get to the Pro store. I've got mine in pan form as they were sold out of the pot when I visited last. I can't get onto the MAC website right now to find the price, but I think the pans are about £10.
"Bio Green" is a yellowy green (apple green) with a golden pearl. It's not quite a Frost finish in texture, it's a little harder than the other Frosts I have from MAC but as it's a Pro colour, it doesn't have a finish labelled on the back of the pan anyway. It's quite pigmented and smooth in texture. I don't have any issues with creasing or fading with this when I wear it over a base, but I usually don't have any issues with MAC shadows anyway.
I like to wear this with a bright blue or a really dark green in the crease. It's quite bright as a lid shade but I love greens so I love the brightness.
I can't even tell you how long I've been using this. Years and years. I distinctly remember using this while I was at school, and I left there 10 years ago!
This tube is the 30ml size which is available from The Body Shop for £5.00. There's also a 100ml tube which is available for £10.00.
I have used this hand cream for quite a number of years, but I did also receive a tube as part of an event goodie bag last year. But I was already a huge fan of the product. The Body Shop website lists this as their best selling product.
The hand cream comes in an (what I assume to be) aluminium tube with a small screw cap. I do have an issue with this tube, even though it has been packaged this way for ever. Once I've got some of the hand cream out, it can be a little awkward to screw the cap back on as the thread section is so tiny. Also, once you've got well on with the tube, the section can get a little gunked up with the hand cream meaning that the cap just gets icky. The Body Shop offers other hand creams in plastic tubes with a snap lid, so I'm not sure why this is not.
The cream is extremely thick, very solid but it does melt down and loosen up with the heat from your hand so there's no issue with massaging it into your hands. The scent can only be described as "earthy" (as one commenter mentioned from my YouTube review) or "herbal". I quite like the scent, it's not perfumed and not an obviously masculine or feminine scent.
I have issues with very dry hands which can get to the point of splitting along my knuckles. The backs of my hands also flake. Quite nasty! This is a result, I imagine, of the alcohol sanitiser I need to use during the day (work related). So I do go through a lot of hand cream!
I applied this at night, before bed (I say applied as I'm out of this right now until I can get my hands on another tube). It does take quite a while for this to soak in which is why I apply this at night. I suspect that my hands aren't even as dry as this hand cream is designed for. Another reason why I just use this at night is that I can feel a residue in the morning. No good for using during the day if it leaves a layer on my hand. Still, it does the trick for my dry hands.
Since Coastal Scents have recently released a few new shades of their High Definition foundation, I thought I would swatch them for you.
You can see my previous post here where I have swatched all the other shades in the range. I have also reviewed it here.
This comes in a 30ml (1 fl. oz) for $16.95. Click the picture for a larger version.
I thought ST-4B might be a good shade for me, but it just went orange on my face when I tried. I'll keep on using my mixture of shades.
Right, I'm giving away 2 of these as I'm not planning on using any and I've already done my review on the foundation. Leave me a comment with which shade you'd like, along with a way of getting in contact with you if you win. I'm only giving away 2 right now as I'm short on cash for postage. I'll pick a couple of you in a couple of days. And it'd be great if you were a follower :) Bear in mind that I have used a little of the foundation already for swatching so you're not getting a pristine bottle.
ETA: Please tell me which of the 4 shades you want. I have no idea at all how they translate to any other brand.
Sigh. I wanted to love these, I really did. But it was just not meant to be.
I bought these from Charles Fox in Covent Garden (one of the most awesome shops ever) during one of my many trips to London last year. Check out my "Haul" label, it'll be in one of those posts. I think these cost somewhere between £5 & £6, I shredded the receipt long ago.
I bought "Arena" (the cream) and "Birch" (the green). I had seen these on a couple of blogs and YouTube videos and they looked pretty good to use as bases. The swatches I had seen looked pretty pigmented so I thought it was worth trying a couple when I was able to get to Charles Fox. They didn't have any testers out for these at that time, or else I might ot have bothered.
I hate these. Really, really horrid.
These are incredible watery in texture. I had issues getting enough pigmentation on my arm to show you swatches. And they've always been like this, it isn't something that's developed as the product has aged either. I've been trying them as bases and as eye shadows and both ways of wearing have just failed. As a base, they crease completely on me. I tried applying a tiny amount, I tried applying a little more, it made no difference. Even if I keep my eyes closed until they've dried a little, as soon as I open my eyes up they crease. I tried them with MAC "Untitled" paint which was better. They didn't crease but they soaked straight into the paint and vanished. Applying a bit more just ended up with a patchy, icky mess. Applying eye shadow over the top was pointless. I tried it and it was just a mess. I would have been better off applying to my bare lids.
You can see from the swatches the utter, patchy horridness. They were just a couple of swipes on my bare arm.
Kryolan, you are usually pretty awesome. Unfortunately, these just fail. Don't bother with these, buy a couple of the Satin Powders instead. Those are awesome and I'll review those eventually.
I am so very excited right now! I don't normally get all excited and blather on about my birthday but I've booked an appointment for something so exciting that I can hardly contain myself. I do consider it beauty related so you'll get the grand reveal on my brithday (unless I wuss out, which is why I'm not telling you exactly what it is).
If you want to watch me get over excited about it, follow me on Twitter! There's a widget thingy on the page, somewhere.
How awesome, I have 666 followers.....
I honestly hadn't really thought much Aveeno products until I was asked to try them. I've seen them in Boots, but had never really paid any attention to them. I got a couple of products to try out and this is the review for the Moisturising Creamy Oil with Colloidal Oatmeal.
I don't have really dry skin but I do work in a very air conditioned environment and occasionally I do get some quite dry patches of skin on my legs and arms. So I was quite interested in trying this creamy oil to see if it helped with the dry skin.
Firstly, this comes in a 300ml bottle with a pump dispenser (yay!). I haven't been able to find pricing information for this product online. The rest of the range seems to come in around £5.00-£8.00. I adore the sweet almond scent (this does contain sweet almond oil for moisturisation), it is one of my favourite scents for body product.
However, what the heck is Colloidal Oatmeal? I had to put on my science hat and do some ingredient research. A colloid is a substance that is too small to be seen with the naked eye, they are typically between 1 nanometre and 10 micrometres in size, much larger than atoms, and are dispersed in a continuous phase. The colloid remains dispersed and does not settle out. Oatmeal does not dissolve in water and larger particles would settle out, however the particles of colloidal oatmeal are so small that they remain in the suspension without settling. Milk is an example of a colloidal substance (basically, the fat remains dispersed in water despite the fact that fat/oil would not normally mix with water).
Oatmeal is quite widely used in skincare, a quick Google search reveals a large number of websites on the subject, plus a large number recommending the use of colloidal oatmeal as a treatment for eczema (I am not making a recommendation here, just mentioning what is out there on the subject. If you suffer from eczema, please do your own research on the use of colloidal oatmeal). So I can only assume it's in the creamy oil as a moisturising component.
I could go into the science of this for hours, I love science. But maybe I should tell you what I thought about it, rather than boggng you down in science.
I used it for several weeks, well I am still using it when I remember. It's quite a "runny" moisturiser as it is a moisturising creamy oil rather than a body lotion. I didn't need to use a lot as it spread out quite easily. It also soaked in very quickly and didn't feel like I needed to sit there while it soaked in. It took only a couple of minutes at the most. I tended to apply before bed or after a shower. Quite often in the past when I've used body lotions before bed, I've been aware of a layer on my skin in the morning. I didn't have that issue with this.
Did it improve the condition of my skin? Not really. My skin felt great in the morning, nicely moisturised. But it was dry again by the end of the day and this didn't change at all during the time I was testing this out for review. I'll continue to use this until the bottle has gone, but it's not something I feel like I need to purchase.
This product was sent to me free for review.
