BENEFIT AIR PATROL BB CREAM EYELID PRIMER

Benefit are known for their quirky packaging and individual products. Air Patrol is their newest product to the range which is an eye primer. I normally use the Urban Decay Primer Potion to prime my eyes or currently I'm using the Soap & Glory It's About Prime, but the Benefit version is a little different. It contains an SPF 20 which helps guard your delicate eyelids against the sun, smoke and pollutants. I normally like to apply a concealer and an eyeshadow primer before applying eyeshadow on top, but this is like two products in one and means I can miss a step in my routine. The BB Cream hides any blue veins or redness around your eyes and you could even use it under your eyes to hide dark circles. It also helps to extend the wear of eyeshadow and doesn’t crease or fade throughout the day. The product actually makes my eyeshadow appear more pigmented and this colour stays around all day.

You use the product by clicking the bottom of the pen and the formula appears on the silicone tip at the top. The cushion tip is pressure free which means it’s softer than your finger so you protect the thin skin around your eye to prevent wrinkles and fine lines. You then massage the formulation onto the eyelid and evenly blend. If you’re not using eyeshadow you can still use Air Patrol alone as the shade gives a natural-looking colour correction on all skintones. This actually works with my pale natural tone but I’m not sure if it will work on darker skin tones as well. I don't feel like I have to touch up my eyeshadow when using Air Patrol and I don't have to smooth out any creasing during the day like I normally do. The formula is quite light on the eyes and gives your skin a satin finish.

I have found with continual use that my eye area is hydrated, I have dry eyes but this product doesn’t seem to irritate them at all. I haven't really come across a product like this, which protects your eyes from sun damage, normally it's lip products which get more care. I guess it's not a necessity, but it's a nice product to use especially in the Summer months.

I actually purchased this product from Birchbox for £1.50 as I had £20.00 worth of Birchbox points to spend. I thought it was the ideal opportunity to try a new product from Benefit. I’m not sure how long this product will last but you do only need a tiny amount per eye. I'm not sure I would run out and repurchase it if I ran out, but it's a nice little extra product to add to my make-up bag. I think this product is probably more suited to women older than Benefit's normal target market because of the smoothing benefits, but we've all got to take care of our eyes!

Have you tried Benefit's new innovation?

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LUSH SEASONAL CHRISTMAS HAUL

Last week I managed to make a quick trip to Lush Oxford Street, I was quite restraint but picked up some brand new and a couple of older products that I hadn’t tried before.

So White Bath Bomb £3.65 – I can’t remember actually using this bath bomb before, but I know it is a popular one come Christmas time. It might look boring from the outside, it reminds me of a snowball, but I’ve heard it contains a pink centre. I know they did have a shower gel version of this scent but they haven’t brought that back this year. The scent is bergamot and rose which gives it a crisp apple scent

Peeping Santa Bubble Bar £3.95 – This is a brand new product for this year and it’s so cute! I would definitely use this in two pieces like a bubbleroon. The middle contains shea butter and cocoa butter and he has two dairy free chocolate drop eyes, as well as heart shaped confetti on his hat. I love the strawberry scent which also contains sweet bergamot and geranium oils. You crumble this under running water to create lots of bubbles as well as it making a red tint to the bath water. I will certainly be picking up more of these Santa’s.

Snow Angel Bath Melt £3.95 – Another Lush favourite which I can’t remember trying. This product is packed full of gold glitter and has a marzipan, rose and cassie absolute scent. I haven’t tried many bath melts before but I can imagine this one lasts a while floating on top of the bath. If you don’t like glitter everywhere, I guess this isn’t the one for you, but it’s adorable so I had to try it for myself. The Snow Angel dissolves into a blanket of white foam so It looks like snow on top of your bath. This formula is also really moisturising on the skin as it contains fair trade cocoa butter. You could certainly get a couple of baths out of this and a great one to use on dry skin that needs some love.

Yog Nog Bath Bomb £3.95 – This bath bomb smells amazing! I think this might be my new favourite and I haven’t even used it yet. It contains organic shea butter, clove bud oil, ylang ylang oil and soya milk powder and smells just like christmas, it’s spicy and creamy. If you like sweet toffee scents you’re going to like this, it turns the bath gold and has a touch of lustre.

Star Dust Bath Bomb £2.95 – Another one I’m excited about! This again is a new bath bomb and doesn’t look anything special from the outside. I love the vanilla scent with rosewood and bergamot oil. But inside are tiny multi-coloured confetti stars, which add something special.

Some of my favourites haven’t come back this year like the Melting Snowman and the Christmas Penguin, but I definitely need to pick up a few old time favourites like Cinders and the Golden Wonder bath bomb nearer to Christmas. I will have to demo and review my favourites from my haul separately. There are also a few gifts which have caught my eye for Christmas, especially the Butterbear Tin and the Christmas Wishes Tin which spins around and plays music.

What’s your favourite product from the Lush Christmas range?

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BOOTS CHRISTMAS WISH LIST 2015

The Boots Christmas gift guide came out last week, I’m always excited as it’s the first thing of the year that makes me feel Christmassy. I’ve looked through the gift guide and online and collated my favourite offerings from this year! Boots have definitely upped their game with their guide this year, it definitely looks more of a glossy magazine. Most of these gift sets are in the mix and match 3 for 2 offer so you can pick up some great bargains for your friends, family or even treat yourself!

Champneys Relaxation Hamper, £60.00 – I’m hoping this one will be on star gift offer one week! Champneys have recently updated their range and packaging and I love the new look. Inside the hamper you get lots of pampering treats including; Heavenly Days Relaxing Bubble Heaven, Butter Souffle, Shower Cream and a candle. The Harmonious Hands Restoring Hand and Nail Cream SPF 15, Barefoot Beauty Restoring Foot Butter and a pair of cosy socks. The hamper is great to use after all the products have gone, I would definitely use it for my Lush bath bombs.

Soap & Glory Belle of the Ball, £12.00 – I normally wait for the Soap & Glory star gift to go on offer. But this year this gift set has caught my eye. I love the massive bauble packaging and the range inside is my favourite scent from Soap & Glory - Smoothie Star. The set includes; a body wash, the Breakfast Scrub body smoother, a body buttercream and Hand Food hand cream. I love the pistachio, almond and sweet vanilla scent.

Benefit You’re so Party Set, £39.50 – Benefit always do fun Christmas gift sets, this year they have quite a bright Pop Art theme packaging and there are three different designs of tins to choose from. My favourite is the pink tin which includes the they’re real mascara, the hoola bronzing powder, a mini size of the POREfessional primer and a mini ultra plush lip gloss mini in the shade hoola.

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser Xmas Edition, Sweet Orange & Mint, £9.75 – Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser has to be one of my favourite cleansers to use and I have tried a lot of the different limited edition scents. I was eager to try this limited edition version when it first came out last year but never got the chance. This bottle is a smaller size than the normal sized tube, so it’s great as a try me gift or to travel with. The cleanser also comes with one pure muslin cloth with a gold trim. The fragrance is a combination of zesty sweet orange oil with the refreshing aroma of mint which is energising and great to use in the mornings to wake you up.

So Snug Gingerbread PJ Set, £18.00 – Anyone who knows me knows I’m obsessed with anything Gingerbread related when Christmas comes around. I managed to pick up a pair of pyjama’s from Sainsbury’s last Christmas, but these are just so cute! I also love the Gingerbread house packaging that they come in. This brand always do some great things at Christmas, I remember one year I received some socks in a bauble. The vest top and trousers are made from single jersey so they’re comfortable and snuggly to wear.

So Snug Gingerbread Socks, £5.00 – Also with the Gingerbread theme are these matching socks. This would be a really great present as a stocking filler or a secret Santa!

Bareminerals Precious Gen Lip Oil-Balm Trio, £25.00 – These balms are formulated with passion fruit seed oil with Vitamin E, they’re moisturising, shiny and leave a tint of colour on the lips. This set contains Blueberry Pop, Pink Passion and Nude Passion. I have been wanting to try these since they came out, so this is a great way of trying them.

Malibu Kilner Jar, £10.00 – Not beauty related, but something that caught my eye are these Kilner Jars. I have been after some Kilner Jars for a while and these ones have been teamed with your favourite alcoholic drinks. Another present which would be great as a stocking filler, they also do a Smirnoff Vodka version in a red shade instead of the green.
Boots Star Gift this week is the Smashbox #Shapematters 3 in 1 Contouring Palette, which is half price at £30.00. I will be popping one of those in my basket, looks like a great palette!

What's on your Christmas wish list from Boots?

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REAL TECHNIQUES BOLD METALS COLLECTION MAKEUP BRUSHES

Real Techniques have to be my favourite high street make-up brush line on the market. I have tried pretty much every single one of their base line brushes and this year they released a more premium line called the Bold Metals collection. This range is a little pricier than their first range and the design of the brushes is higher end and better quality. The collection consists of seven brushes so far, I currently have five of them. The collection consists of face, eye and finishing brushes and the handles are coloured gold, rose gold and silver depending what use they have. The bristles are a lot softer than the original brushes, they’re weighted for control and comfort and the shape means they stay in place when you put them down instead of rolling off your dressing table.
The first brush I bought and my favourite from the range is the 301 Flat Contour Brush. This brush creates shadows and highlights on targeted areas of the face, I’m most likely to use this brush with a powder bronzer or highlight to create structure to the face. Also in the finishing range is the 300 Tapered Blush Brush. I like to use this brush with either cream or powder blushes on my cheeks.
I have all three eye brushes, my favourite one has to be the 200 Oval Shadow Brush. This brush is great to pack on the shadow, it’s full and round shaped which allows you to cover the whole lid in one sweep. I then blend into the crease with the 201 Pointed Crease Brush, which is a densely packed brush with tapered bristles and gets right into the outer corner of your eye to create so many smokey eye looks, I also like to bring this one underneath the eye for more definition. The final eye brush in the collection so far is the 202 Angled Liner Brush which is a slanted bristle brush that is great to use with eye liner to get close to the lash line but also could be used with eyebrow products.
There are also two face brushes which I am yet to purchase, but looking forward to adding them to my collection. The 100 Arched Powder Brush which is domed in shape and great to apply press or loose powders. There is also the 101 Triangle Foundation Brush which is unlike any brush from the original collection. The brush has large flat edges which are ideal to cover the face as well as getting in the hard to reach places like around the eyes and nose.

Have you tried the Bold Metals collection? What's your favourite brush?

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