Quickie Review: Illamasqua Hydraveil

 

Everyone has been going nuts over one of Illamasqua’s latest releases, Hydraveil! There are different things written about what the product actually is, so here’s how it was explained to me by the girls at Illamasqua Beak Street:

-Hydraveil is a base for your makeup that you apply after your moisturizer
-It’s a quick step for flawless skin
-It’s not a primer in the sense that it doesn’t fill in pores, and that it’s not designed specifically to make your foundation last longer, just to provide a smooth, properly prepped base – but this can contribute to longer wearing makeup!
-It has a slight plumping effect
-It’s good for all skin types as it tackles to problem of dehydrated skin, as opposed to just dry skin like many products do.

 

Sounds amazing, right? The MUAs were certainly really excited talking about the product and I’m a sucker for a good sales pitch! All the above makes it sound too good to be true, no? I do have dehydrated skin – as well as dry, oh, joy!  It’s hard to tell, but dehydrated skin is lacking in water, whereas dry skin is lacking in oil, and you can be both – but one way is look for fine, crêpey lines, especially prematurely, which I certainly have. So I was really interesting in trying this product!

 

I love the packaging; as with all Illamasqua products it’s sleek and slightly quirky in an elegant way. This a round, slightly asymmetric tube with a screw-top lid. Inside, there’s a flip top lid which fits snugly, and a tiny spoon which clips in to the top. Very, very smart and practical. The spoon is totally necessary as scooping this out with your fingers is really hard because…

 

…of this crazy texture! It’s like jelly… smooth and shiny, and when you mix it up it goes mad, like bubbles or frogspawn! When you leave it, it settles again. Cool, huh? Because of the jelly texture, scooping it out by hand would be very hard, but with the tiny spoon you can get exactly the right amount. I find a little goes a long way, and one little spoonful spreads really easily across my whole face. It feel wet at first, but dries almost instantly and doesn’t leave any tackiness, or feel heavy.

I’ve been trialling this for a couple of weeks now, and I’ve certainly noticed my skin seems softer and my make is certainly lasting longer than it normally would. I’ve tried it with all my current foundations and they all applied beautifully over the top, and lasted a fair while longer than usual, and my skin felt comfortable throughout the day. I’ve read other MUAs saying it stops foundations they know to separate on the skin from doing so as well, and that it helps prep oily skins as well. So… it does seem to work!  While I’m not sure I notice a plumping effect, over time or on older skin perhaps that might be more noticeable? I’ll be certain to update the post if I notice anything over time!

I’m sure over time there will be dupes for this product - I’m not really an ingredient whizz, but the two main ingredients are water and glycerine (a humectant, something that helps keep things moist/retain water) which I believe is relatively cheap – but for now, regardless of cost, I’m certainly sticking with Hydraveil!

 

Hydraveil is available from Illamasqua.com, £27 for 30ml.

Mini Illamasqua Haul

I recently went to one of Illamasqua's fabulous free classes at the Beak Street store and fell in love with a couple of products during the drag demonstration! If you’d like a post on the demonstration let me know, I learnt some cool stuff!

Pure Pigment in Beguile

Okay, so out of all the amazing sparkly things in the world, on the face of it this isn't that exciting. It's looks white in the jar but as it's made of lots of tiny multicoloured particles it comes off as a 'colourless' sparkle on the skin. It's a real workhorse as it could be used to add sparkle to any colour and I don’t see that I’ll ever run out! It's just really pretty and I couldn't help myself.

 

 Concealer in 105

Left, Illamasqua concealer. Right, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk.

I know, I know, I don't have white skin. But this is actually a hugely useful product, especially if you do makeup on other people. For extreme highlighting (as in a drag or Kim Kardashian -style look) or lightening other concealers, it's invaluable but I've been using it mainly as most people would use NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk. I actually much prefer this to Milk as it's not as stark and the texture is much more akin to actual skin than Milk is. It's much less creamy as well, so should stick around that bit better. I’m basically in love with it and think it’s a fab product.

 

Here's a quick eye look with both the above products as inner eye and brow highlights. You can't see the effect of Beguile as much as I'd like but in person it's so pretty and looks lovely over the white base. You can certainly build them to get a stronger look as well. I’m also wearing Illamasqua’s Lover blusher here, and I prepped my skin wiiiiiiith…

 

Hydraveil

Everyone's been fawning all over this product! I've only worn it a few times so have yet to gather my thoughts but I'm pretty sure my review is going to be nothing but positive! It's SUCH an interesting product, but I’m going to wait till my review before I start rambling. I will say though that I really like the textural theme running through the Paranormal collection – the finish of the polishes is cool, the palette is a fun texture and then you have this frogspawny-ness when you mix Hydraveil up.

 

Are you an Illamasqua fan? What are your favourite products?

Quickie Review: Lime Crime Velvetine in Suedeberry.

A lot of people have been going nuts over Lime Crime Velvetines, with them selling out left, right and centre. I found one on a UK website and curiosity got the better of me!*



The packaging is very, very pretty. I can see the frosted glass getting scuffed up pretty quickly but I like that it reflects that the product itself is matte. The lilac and red colouring is dead cute, and it has a unicorn on the cap of which I cannot but approve! It would make a pretty gift, I think. Here’s what the brand have to say about the product itself:

To me that sounds like a recipe for Sahara lips! I like a matte lipstick, but one that has tips to remove it on the packaging made me really worried these were going to be ridiculously drying. At least I can’t say I wasn’t warned, I guess.
I didn’t want to use a lip liner while I was testing it, but the swatches here are applied with a lip brush. I found it hard to get the colour to look smooth and not streaky just using the doefoot applicator. I applied one coat with a lip brush to get the shape, and then reapplied to get the depth of colour. The product is pigmented enough that one coat will certainly do the trick but I can’t get application nice using one coat. I don’t see this as a problem as I have small lip brushes I use often for lots of products anyway.

Isn’t it pretty? It’s less of a pinky coral than I thought from website swatches, but as I’m an orange fan I don’t mind at all. Lime Crime do have a history of really inaccurate website swatches so googling swatches of any of their products is a good idea. The product itself  goes on like a liquid and dries very matte very quickly. It really is super matte and I’m not sure if that looks great on me or not yet!

Here’s a shot of me wearing it after eight hours of wear. I had one touch-up after lunch, but that was it. It doesn’t look amazing, but the base of colour is certainly still there and I don’t have an ugly ring of colour on my lips, or any icky goopy buildup on the ‘waterline’ of the lip either like you can get with some products.

Whether you the way this wears or not or not is going to be pretty personal – I don’t like it as I’d prefer to apply fresh rather than touch up as I think the result looks better, and it’s really tough to actually remove this product. There’s no way you’re going to remove this on the go! I’m impressed with how much is actually left on my lips though, as I did notice a bit of transfer throughout the day on to cups/boyfriend. I also wore it the night before the application above, where it survived a workout (yes, I am that guy), a bit of a snog and dinner. In the shower afterwards it went smudgy – you really do need a remover for it. Despite the fact that it’s so long lasting, it’s not actually hideously drying on the lips. It didn’t get to the point where I felt I HAD to take it off. If I’m totally honest, I found it less drying than a MAC matte which wears for about the same time on me (with a touch-up).

Overall, regardless of the fact I don’t think Lime Crime are all that, I really like the product and would consider the other shade. I bought this from Cute Cosmetics for £11.50

*I know a lot of you aren’t Lime Crime fans, and I’m not overly enamoured with them as a brand either. While I really wanted to try this particular product, I know a lot of people choose not to shop from them and I’d really, really recommend Googling them if you’re not sure.

Dirty 30’s

I sat down to tidy up my makeup station at home and this happened instead. It was very impromptu so while deliberately messy looking, it’s not as goof as it could be. I really like the outcome though and I might have to re-do it at some point. I was going to practice a proper flapper look but did this instead :D

Eyes: Avon Super Shock gel pencils in Black and Silver, Sugarpill 2am, silver from a Wet n Wild palette, Gosh Light N Shine Lipgloss in no5. Top lashes, no name brand from Savers, bottom lashes from Primark a long time ago but most lash companies have similar. Gems from eBay.

Oh how I love glossy eyes!

 

Have you done any crazy/stupid/fun makeup looks lately?

May Favourites and Not-So-Favourites

Favourites

MAC Girl Next Door

Anyone who knows me will probably be scratching their head at this entry on my list, but I've been reaching for this a lot! It's a (dupeable) blue based pink, but I've been layering it with just about everything! I've bought tons of pink and purple lip liners recently and I've been using this over them. Also, every man and his dog loves the cute Archie’s Girls packaging! Thanks to Priscilla for sending this to me :)

MAC Nightmoth

I love this. I just love it. It is fucking rad.

MAC Magenta

Last MAC item for this month, I’ve been wearing this pretty much non-stop since I’ve got it. It’s simply gorgeous and doesn’t budge. 

MUA Undress Me Too Palette

This is kind of an odd one to shout about for me as when I look at the palette, it doesn't make me excited, but I find myself reaching for it pretty much every day. For four quid, you can't beat the quality and useabilty and I won't go away without it now.

Boots Botanics Super Balm

I've basically really liked everything I've ever tried from Boots Botanics and I think they generally do fab skincare for bugger all money, which is something I can't argue with! This is a multi-purpose balm that claims to 'soften, soothe and calm skin in need'. I've not been using it on my skin but I have to say it's the best lip balm I've tried for a long, long time. For a few quid, you get tons as well.

Soap and Glory The Fab Pore

I love me a clay mask from time to time but often find they're really drying on my skin which outweighs any other benefits. This one doesn't dry my skin out at all, and I'm giving it full credit for cleaning up the most hideous spot on my chin ever.

A-Derma Sensifluid Lait Demaquillant

I picked this up in Boots - I can't lie here - because I really liked the bottle. If you like milky, lotion-y makeup removers, or you have sensitive skin, this one is a bloody good bet. I don't like using this type of consitency on my eyes, but it removes face makeup like a dream. Sadly it's not online at Boots, so I don't remember the price, but it was less than £10 for sure.

Hates

MUA Undress Your Skin Foundation in Ivory

Hate might be a bit of a strong term but this literally didn’t sit well with me. On inital application it looked nice – better coverage than I was expecting and a nice dewy finish. But it separated horribly on my and for my dry skin that’s kind of weird. I hate to wear skin primers and for the money this cost I really can’t be bothered to find a solution for it.

Benefit They're Real Mascara

I hate this. I hate it. It would be an okay mascara – it seperates pretty nicely actually – but it WON’T COME THE FUCK OFF. It’s not billed as a waterproof mascara and I don’t expect to have to reach for an oily remover to get it off. It has that kind of goopy, gummy texture when you go to remove it and it’s such a pain in the ass. It was a freebie and thank god for that.

 

What are you loving and leaving this month?

Week In Pictures

 

Well, sort of! I’ve recently joined Instagram as @staybeautifulmakeup, please let me know your usernames so I can follow you! I do keep it mostly makeup related but post other stuff as well.

Last week was my birthday! I had a great day shooting, and the photographers wife made me these amazing cupcakes! There are makeup ones and Disney ones and they were all different flavours. So awesome! After the shoot, I watched Eurovision with friends because I’m so cool.

And here’s Darren Flynn shooting the amazing Anna. She is such a babe, I can’t wait to show you the pics from this shoot!

And here’s some weird gothic makeup I did on the amazing Jenna Betts, who is cool as fuck.

And then I went to Brighton for the long weekend! Stared with a dripping double C’s shirt and leather everything else…

And got glammed up for the evening! My lips are actually MAC Magenta and Candy Yum Yum.

This is me and the birthday boy, Ross. I love him lots like jelly tots.

We went out again the next day and this was my makeup – the lip is MAC Nightmoth which I am so in love with…

…and I paired with a sugar skulls dress!

I won’t do these posts too often –unless you like them! - but I’ve been bloody busy so this a bit of a cop-out post.

Lip Maths: Sounds Like LOL

Hahahahahaha, oh, the witty title.

MAC Sounds Like Noise + Jordana LOL in ASAP =

 

My friend Wendy recommended me this combo and I have to say I really like it! I’ll be wearing this for sure. I just got Sounds Like Noise and I was a little apprehensive about it as it’s got quite a pale base and it’s a little yellow on me, but it’s actually more wearable than I thought. Y’all know I love orange lipsticks (dead excited about the Orange collection MAC is releasing!) and I love Paramore and Hayley Williams too, so I had to have it.

 

Everyone’s been comparing SLN to Maybelline Electric Orange. SLN has a paler base and is matte, whereas EO pulls a little more red and isn’t matte. I won’t call dupe, but if you missed out on SLN it’s not a bad alternative.