Face Facts: Basic Bronze

And it's back to reality...  I got back from Spain on Saturday after a week of sun and playing in the pool and it's safe to say...England is freakin' hot.  I am as boiling here as I was there, except here it's worse because I don't have air-con or a pool to cool off in!

I kept my make up very minimal on holiday - most days I wore absolutely nothing except an SPF during the day.  We only went out a couple of nights, and my look was very basic, but one that I thought enhanced the sun tan freckles that I had going on...

FACE FACTS

Soap and Glory Glow Job

Benefit Porefessional Primer

Bourjois Bronzing Powder & Highlighting Duo

Bourjois Cream Blush in 05 Pink Sunwear

Rimmel Brow Pencil in Dark Brown

The Body Shop Shimmer Waves in Bronze

The Body Shop Carbon Eye Definer in Brown

Bourjois Liner Feutre in Gold Shine

Maxfactor False Lash Effect Waterproof Mascara

Bourjois 3D Effect Lipgloss in Or Feeric

Real Techniques Contour Brush
Real Techniques Setting Brush

Barry M Gelly Polish in Passionfruit

To start, I applied Soap and Glory Glow Job.  I absolutely love this, and have had this around a year now, so I think it needs to go soon, but it's so nice!  It's a chocolate orange scented moisturiser with bronze beads inside, so when you rub it in, it blends out into a nice sun kissed glow.  The only downside, it comes across mighty shiny on my already oily skin, so I covered with a quick slick of Benefit's Porefessional.  It smoothed over my skin, and also matted down the Glow Job.

I contoured and coloured with the Bourjois Bronzing Powder & Highlighting Duo and the cream blush in Pink Sunwear.  These work really nicely together, and added natural definition and colour to my cheeks.  I used The Body Shop Shimmer Waves for my eyes, taking the individual shades from the waves to add some colour to my eyelids, followed by a smokey slick of the Carbon Eye Definer, and some golden highlights along my lower lash line and top inner corner with the Liner Feutre.  I finished my eyes with the Maxfactor False Lash mascara, and topped the entire look off with a lipgloss - I'm not normally a fan of lipgloss, but I wanted something subtle, yet enhancing for my lips!

And there we have it!  My evening make up for a Summer's night in Spain!

Face Facts: Fresh, Summer Evening Make Up

Woah, hello close up of my face!  I thought today I would share a recent make up look; you may have seen it on my Instagram page, but if you didn't, here is exactly what I used on my face that evening!  I went out for a few drinks with friends, and thought I'd try something a little different; blue liner.

FACE FACTS

Benefit Porefessional Primer

MAC Studio Fix Fluid NW18

Soap and Glory Kick Ass Concealer in Medium

MAC Mineralise Skin Finish in Medium

MAC Mineralise Skin Finish in Give Me Sun 

Clinique Cheek Pop in Ginger Pop

Urban Decay Naked Palette (Sin, Naked)

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette (Nooner, Darkside)

Topshop Magic Liner in Yonder

Benefit They're Real Mascara

MAC See Sheer Lipstick

Real Techniques Buffing Brush

Real Techniques Pointed Foundation Brush

Real Techniques Setting Brush

Real Techniques Contour Brush

The Body Shop Blush Brush

I was quite pleased with this make up look; even though my base has such a high coverage, I felt surprisingly natural and fresh faced for an evening in town.  I'm not too sure on how I feel about the Barry M Brow Kit at the moment...I've only used it a couple of times and I don't feel convinced on it, especially now, because in these pictures my brows look super light, soft and almost powdery.  I definitely think I prefer a sharper, more defined brow.  My favourite part of the whole look though is the blue eyeliner.  I picked it up from Topshop with the gift card I got for my birthday back in January, and I'm so pleased with it!  

I'll be sure to add some specific reviews of any products used which are not underlined in the face facts list soon so keep checking back, or comment below any products you'd like prioritising!

What do you think?

Benefit Coralista Lip Gloss

I am not a major fan of lip gloss, so it has come as a surprise to me that I have found one that I really, really love.  Back in January, you might remember that I bought a bargain Benefit tin, which was the It's a Love Fest, set and inside was a miniature Benefit Coralista Lip Gloss!

The reason behind my long hatred for lip glosses is obviously the horrendous sticky feeling that you are more often than not left with.  The Benefit gloss gives super shine, with the smooth feeling of a balm!

The colour of this gloss is quite sheer, and gives me a gorgeous, natural shade to my lips with an ever so slight hint of coral.  I've been wearing this shade so much lately, especially on the days that I just can't be bothered with a face of make up.  It's so pretty for Spring and Summer make up looks.

I love the miniature size of this, and it has accompanied me on both days and nights out.  I honestly think that I will be buying a full size version of this when this runs out, and will definitely be looking into the other shades!  Who knows, I might even have to treat myself to the matching blush...

Have you tried any of the Benefit Lip Glosses?  What's your favourite?

The In Flight Beauty Bag

At half past midnight tonight, I'm setting off on my travels to go to Milan.  You already know what I'm planning on wearing, so I thought I'd share what I'm taking in my bag beauty wise!  I'm only going to Milan for the day, and will be back very early Sunday morning, so all I need to take is hand luggage.  Even though my flight is only a couple of hours, my day is going to be ridiculously long - I want my make up to be in tact, and I want to be able to look fresh and awake when I land even though I'll have had pretty much zero sleep.

I'll be applying my make up last thing tonight.  It seems a bit silly really to even bother with make up that late, but I still want to look presentable when I arrive and I won't have time to be applying make up on the journey down, or in the airport, as I'll be hopefully sleeping!  I will need some touch ups though, so I've packed a small selection of bits to help me out.

First up, I've got my trusty MAC Mineralise Skin Finish in Medium.  It's got enough coverage to even out my skintone, so I won't have to pack a separate foundation.  I can also use this during the day to help get rid of any shine.  To give me a flush of colour, I've picked my Maxfactor Miracle Touch Creamy Blush in Soft Pink.  I got this as part of a gift with purchase ages ago now, and it's so handy for popping in your hand bag and gives a gorgeous, natural flush.

To make my eyes more awake, I've picked out Benefits Eye Bright.  I'll be applying this to my waterline tomorrow morning and maybe even throughout the day to help disguise the fact that I am so damn tired, and hopefully reduce any red eyes.  I've also decided to bring a mascara to lift my lashes, and open my eyes.  This one is the Covergirl Clump Crusher.

For my lips, I've picked my newest lip balm which I bought from Poundland, and it's the Blistex Orange Mango Blast.  I have the Raspberry Lemonade Blast, and it smells and tastes amazing!  Citrus scents are said to be uplifting, so I'm grasping at straws and hoping this will help me out.  It's also going to be my base for my newest MAC lipstick, Relentlessly Red.  But, more about that next week - I'm trialling wear time when I wear it tomorrow!

As my make up will be on for a lot longer than usual, I wanted to make sure I had something to take my make up off when I start my journey home.  Flights are notoriously bad for your skin, so I'll be removing my make up as soon as I get on the flight home.  I'm packing a sample of Bioderma Sensibio H2O (review here) and a few cotton pads.  As my skin will need some serious hydration, I've also packed the Bioderma Atoderm PO Zinc Creme and the Bioderma Hydrabio Serum.

I might also pop a small hand cream in my bag, but I always get worried with how much liquids I'm actually allowed on a flight...  We'll see how much room I have left in my bag!  Looking at these pictures, I've realised I'm missing one critical thing...a mirror!  Queue me running upstairs to track one down...

Are you travelling away this year?  What would you take in your In Flight Beauty Bag?

Benefit It's A Love Fest

Hello again everybody, and a belated Happy New Year!  You might have been wondering where I had gone off to, well you probably weren't, but all has been quiet on the blog since before Christmas.  I haven't done anything in particular, but I've felt so busy!  I have a LOT of things to share with you, including some gorgeous goodies I got for Christmas, as well as some bits that I've had stored for a while.  I am on a blogging mission in this new year, so expect more regular posts!

It was my birthday yesterday, and one of the things I bought with my Christmas money was this Benefit set using a discount voucher ASOS sent as a birthday present!  It arrived some time last week, but I saved it to get my first uses of it on my birthday weekend!

A few Benefit tins had been released as their Christmas gift sets, but the Benefit It's A Love Fest tin has always been on my radar as it was the only set that contained two full size products.  It was more expensive than the other tins, but what's inside, and the fact I had a 20% discount voucher to use, meant that it was definitely going to be mine.

Inside there are four different products to try; a full size Porefessional, a full size They're Real mascara, a mini Sun Beam and a mini Coralista Lip Gloss.  I have tried, and loved the Porefessional, and the mini that I already had has only just ran out so I was always going to be spending £25 to repurchase a full size Porefessional.  The They're Real mascara was always something that I'd wanted to try aswell as everybody is always telling me how amazing it is.  With my 20% discount code, this gift set cost me just over £31 so I couldn't at all say no.  

I have used everything, and everything as you would expect is gorgeous, so I will post individual, more in depth reviews of each product at a later date!  I don't quite know what I will be doing with the tin just yet, but I don't want to throw it away!  Maybe a flannel storage tin or something...

If you'd like to bag a bargain, or try a selection of Benefit make up, then definitely get this!  I have looked all over for this set, and the only place that I have found to still stock it is ASOS, and you can get it here for £39.50!  For my birthday, I also got a £30 gift voucher for a local department store which stocks Benefit...any recommendations for what I need to try?

Did you manage to grab this in the sale?  What Benefit products are your favourite?