Category: Make-Up

Beauty Brawl Day 2 – Brow Product

Beauy Brawl 2017 - Beauty Blogger EventGraphics by Emma Drury

I Always Had A Thing For Benefit Brow Products

When it has come to eyebrows I have always had a thing for Benefit. May it be for getting my actual eyebrows waxed and shaped or when it comes to any type of either eyebrow wax or brow powder. For the most of times I have been using their Brow Zings in alternating shades, based on my hair colour at the time.

Benefit Brow Range Revamp & Disappointment

After Benefit revamped their range I tried out their new KaBrow eyebrow cream-gel colour. It turned out I loved the product, but was not really a fan of the packaging/brush. The “magic” brush that it comes with and that is supposed to convert into a full size bush sounds like a great idea. Especially as the relatively tiny brushes Brow Zings used to come with, were my least favorite thing about it.  However this “magic” feature is not quite so magical, unfortunately.

Benefit kabrowsource: https://www.benefitcosmetics.com

The lid, which transforms into the brush appears to be made out of a cheap plastic. This, together with some extra thin weak spots and it’s length, it appears to break the first time you are not  not pushing it  100% perfectly back into its holder, before you throw it in your makeup bag. Something that easily happens. The result is a broken apart and now extra short brush.

I am still going to use KaBrow at home (using a separate brush), as it is a great product. However I tend to put my makeup on on-the-go half the time. So being that delicate is definitely a makeup-bag-kit disqualifier for me.

Beauty Brawl – Giving The Brow Revamp Another Chance

Due to that I was on the search for an alternative, that I would be able to carry in my makeup bag from now on, without breaking while being simple to use but obviously still doing a good job. So when day 2 of Beauty Brawl came around I ultimately decided to give another one of Benefits revamped brow products a try: Benefit Goof Proof Brows

Benefit Brow Pencil - Goof Proof Brow Pencilsource: https://www.benefitcosmetics.com

Review:

Packaging:

In this case it will be somewhat difficult to 100% distinguish between packaging and price. Why? Ultimately this is nothing else but an ordinary brow pencil. What is special about it, is the shape the mine comes in, as you can see below.

benefit Goof Proof Brows - Tip Shapesource: https://www.benefitcosmetics.com

Instead of a round mine, the Goof Proof Brow Pencil comes with a diamond shaped mine. This allows you to use the pencil as a fine liner but also as a wide pen to evenly and quickly fill out your brow. Overall I do love the idea. However,  it has a (very) little flaw. This only works perfectly if the mine would remain close to perfectly flat, however in practice that does not quite work out as with use the tip gets somewhat rounded. So you have to either accept not to get 100% benefit from the shape or you will have to once in a while flatten the tip, which would then cause you to lose some product. All in all this is a minor issue though.

The second practical feature is the built in brow comb (looking similar to a mascara applicator) which  will help you to tame unruly eyebrow hairs and to blend/even out some of the product, making it look more natural.

Otherwise the packaging is perfectly fine, overlooking the fact that the silver colour might rub off a little if you, like me, constantly carry it around with you in your makeup bag.

Score: 85

Product:

The product itself is a long lasting high quality brow pencil. There isn’t really anything bad to say about this. However, also not much that would be to write home about either. All in all a very solid product, easy to apply, durable and natural looking.

What I have to praise Benefit for though, is that they finally have increased the number of shades the product is available in. Increasing the choice from 3 (light/medium/dark) to 6 different shades, giving you also some more choice not only by darkness but also between warm and cold tones.

Benefit goof proofinc colourssource: https://www.benefitcosmetics.com

Score: 75

Price:

Well that is a bit of the downside of this product. I think at £20 the price for this product is a little higher than it should be. To give you a bit of an illustration the comparable MAC product, the MAC Brow Sculpt Pencil, comes at £16.50, not to forget that there some ordinary brow pencils that you will be able to get from £8 onwards. So you will have to evaluate for yourself if the added convenience of the shape and the added brush is giving you the added value, or if you prefer to put in a bit more work and/or want to get yourself  a separate brush with it.
Although if you look around there is also pretty much always somewhere a sale on. At the moment for example (July 2017) LookFantastic is offering a discount, reducing the price to £16.

Score: 60

The Final Verdict

Overall I am happy with it and do in no way regret testing out the Goof Proof Brow Pencil. Although, to be honest when the time comes around when I will need to review it, I am not sure if I will re-buying it. This time I might actually look into testing out a new brand.

Any Tips Or Advice?

Do you have any favourite eyebrow brands or products? Are there any brands you would definitely recommend when it comes to Eyebrow grooming or is there any brand I should steer clear from? I would love to hear what your best and/or worst experience with an eyebrow product was!

Lots of love!

 

Signoff

Beauty Brawl Day 1 – Liquid Lipstick

Beauty Brawl Day 1 – Liquid Lipstick

Beauy Brawl 2017 - Beauty Blogger EventGraphics by Emma Drury

Day one in the beauty brawl was looking at liquid lipsticks and so we are kicking things off with a beautiful matte liquid lipstick in a berry tone.

After I recently  tried out a Clinique lipstick for the very first time. It was immediate love. The Clinique Long Last Matte Soft Liptstick in matte plum is literally  one of the most beautiful purples lip colours I have ever seen and tried out

Given this experience and the conclusion that I need to do a lot more trying out of Clinique lipstick along with my love for matte lipsticks  it was an easy decision to choose the first product of the beauty brawl.

Liquid Lipstick resized 006

Clinique Pop Liquid™ Matte Lip Colour and Primer

Clinique has fairly recently brought their Clinique Pop Liquid™ Matte Lip Colour and Primer range, which comes as a range of liquid but also solid lip colours.

Clinique: A lightweight liquid lipstick covers lips with lush pigment and a modern matte finish. Wears all day. Moisturising formula with built-in primer provides a smooth, even glide so lips feel as fresh as they look.

Capture

As I had recently updated my hair colour to green another lovely purple shade sounded like a great choice and so I went for shade number 8 -black licorice.

Scoring

Packaging:

Well there is not much to say on the point of packaging. The lipstick comes in a nice looking square frosted tube along with a silver top than can double as an emergency mirror if you have nothing else available. It is not quite perfect, but definitely better than blind application.

The applicator itself is also one of the relatively common liquid lipstick applicators. However, I have used applicators in the past that made precise application of liquid lipstick a fair amount easier, due to which I had to apply a few minus points there.

Score: 75

Liquid Lipstick resized 002

Price

Clinique is pretty much everything but a budget brand but at £16.50 it still comes in significant cheaper than your favourite MAC lipstick. So I guess while it might not be a “cheap” but given its quality I would say it definitely qualifies as a “value for your money” option.

Score: 80

Liquid Lipstick resized 007

Product

The deep berry colour of this liquid lipstick is an absolute dream. The pictures unfortunately don’t do it any justice.

I personally am a fan of liquid lipsticks that dry and that don’t leave you in the danger of smearing that deep colour all over your own face, which will inevitably happen to me. This lipstick in unfortunately not of this type. I was waiting for ages for it to dry till I realised that this is just not going to happen. While I initially was disappointed in this, it turns out this is also where a major difference lies in for this liquid lipstick

While many other matte lipsticks can dry out your lips, the Clinique Pop comes with a primer and not a separate one. The liquid itself contains a hydrating primer made of shea and murumuru butters that not only nourishes your lips but only makes the colour go on smoother.

Score: 85

Liquid Lipstick resized 006

A product I can only recommend

While my first experience I made with Clinique lipsticks have been great. The  Clinique Pop Liquid™ Matte Lip Colour and Primer has once again has been awesome.

Clinique might not be the first point of call when thinking of lipsticks but I will definitely find myself back at the Clinique counter to try out some more lipsticks. Who knows maybe Clinique lipsticks will soon even outnumber my MAC & Lush lipsticks…

Did you recently discover any new or unexpectedly amazing lip products? Which matte lipstick is your favourite? I would love to know!

Signoff

 

 

…

Sparkle Like A Diamond

No matter if you are getting ready for Halloween, an evening of fancy dress or simply a night out, everybody deserves to feel like a fairy princess. Thanks to a trend that hit the scene during the last festival season, this could not be simpler. It is time to sparkle things up!

 

I Am A Fairy Princess

I was recently so lucky to run into Wish Upon A Sparkle at an event I recently attended. They truly made me feel like a fairy princess. And not only did they choose a great application for my face shape they also perfectly matched it to my turqoise & grey hair. Boom! Can I please have this every day.

sparkle-1

I absolutely love this picture. Not only is the sparkle amazing, the pictures also really show the different colour nuances of my silver and turquoise hair do.  If you would like to add a little sparkle to your life too here are a few options for you.

 

Book A Sparke Professional

Wish Upon A sparkle are absolute experts in sparkle & glitter. No matter if you just want to sparkle up your face makeup, try out the sparkle-braid trend or even go for a full body sparkle, they are the team for you.

You can book them for Hen Parties, Weddings or any other private or corporate event.

 

 

DIY Sparkle

A bit over the top to hire a professional for your night out sparkle? Fret not!

Just buy a Sparkle-It-Up-Yourself Kit online. One good example is Stardust by BeautyBLVD, which comes in four colour variations – silver, gold, purple and a turquoise shade. Each kit contains 15g sparkle, bonding gel and an application brush, everything you need to make yourself sparkle.

Womens Evening Dresses

 

The Sparkle Downside

The downside of this whole thing is though that the glitter gets EVERYWHERE. I was pouring at least as much sparkle out of my bra as I had in my face. You will pretty much have to accept that the sparkle will be all over the place, especially if you should drunkenly fall asleep with it still on. Luckily I was able to avoid that.

Given that it gets glued on with skin glue, it does take a little effort to take it off. If you are the type that is unlikely to remove your makeup after a night out, you will pretty much have to accept a bed full of sparkles. However, there is nothing a long shower and a good vacuuming can’t fix. And let’s be honest being a fairy princess is worth it!

glitter-with-glasses

 

Did You Try Festival Sparkle

Did you try festival sparkle yet? Do you know of any other places where you can great sparkle? I’d love to see your pictures of your glittery self if you have any.

 

Signoff

 

Get Glammed Up With BeGlam – App Launch Event

 be glam - launch event collage

Everybody loves a little glam

If you are like me you will love to get proper glammed up once in a while when having a night out with the girls, going to any other sort of special event or sometimes simply just because. The only thing that does feel even better than glamming yourself up is getting glammed up – and there is a new kid on the blog when it comes to booking experts.

 

BeGlam - Mirror Polaroid

A Little Glam Can Go A Long Way For Body Positivity & Self Love

Getting glammed up really can do so much more than just getting you ready for a special event or a night out. Practising some self-love & self-care by trying out some new amazing makeup looks or getting your “hair did” can do soo much for your self-esteem and make you feel soo good about yourself and even your body.

This does make me think of “Cheap Thrills” by Sia.  It does express in a great way how treating yourself to a little makeover (and hitting the dance floor with your loved ones) can make you feel a million dollars.

 

 

Everybody needs a little glam once in a while. At least this is how I feel.

 

So What Is BeGlam & What Has It To Do With Getting Glammed Up?

Like I said earlier, the only thing that feels even better than glamming yourself up is getting glammed up with some professional help, making  you look your best and pampering yourself a bit – and this where BeGlam comes in.

mono hair replacement systems
Source: www.beglam.co.uk

BeGlam allows you to easily browse and book your local makeup artists and hair stylists. The great thing about freelance MUAs and stylists is that they will come to you rather than you having to go to their studio or salon, so this is perfect for a little pamper party at home or especially if you are looking for a somebody to do your wedding makeup and hair for you and your bridesmaids.

be glam booking stepsSource: www.beglam.co.uk

You can book via the website or the iPhone/iPad app. I believe an Android versions in planned and will follow soon. If you are interested, keep an eye on my Facebook page, I will let you know as soon as BeGlam will hit the Google Play Store.

 

Bubbly, Celebs & Makeovers At The Release Party

The release party  at the Artisan was good fun: Celebrity guests (Housewives of Cheshire), makeovers, tasty food and bubbly.

 Black Bridesmaid Dresses
Oh and yes, I mentioned celebrities. Who they were. I was told they were part of the cast of The Real Housewives of Cheshire. I have to admit I would have not recognised them or had the faintest idea who they were wasn’t I told as I do not really watch that sort of show,  but once it was pointed out to me who they were it was actually interesting and nice to meet them.
I guess while this would have been an exciting point for many, it was a little lost on me.

However, celebs or not the event was great, you simply can’t beat the combination of bubbly, yummy food and  especially makeovers.

Be Glam - befor & after collage

 

My OOTD

dressDress: ‘Ionia’ Sea Blue Polka Dot Tea Dress –  Lindy Bop
Shoes: Old Season – Deichmann

Here is a quick glimpse of what I wore on the day. The beautiful Lindy Bop  ‘Ionia’ Sea Blue Polka Dot Plus-Size Tea Dress. I do love this dress and I got a lot of compliments for it. I will fairly soon post a full review of this dress to give you a better idea and include some better pictures of what I mean by that.

I want to leave you with one little word of warning though: If you consider buying this dress and your boobs are a bit on the larger side, you will have to be careful with this dress.

What do I mean by that? Take a closer look at my left boob in the picture (a thing I did not expect to say today…) . You should see a seam going across my boob. If this dress would fit as it was intended, this seam should lead around my bust, not across it. In my case the seam luckily ends up bang in the middle of my boob wich makes it kind of look like it was intended this way and I more or less get away with it.

All in all a lovely dress that I very much love but I guess if you are on the more well endowed side you will have to try the dress on and see where this seam ends up on you.

 

What Makes You Feel Glamorous?

What do you do when you want to feel glamorous? Have you ever booked a freelance make-up artist, mobile hairdresser or maybe a mobile nail artist?

Now go out put your make-up on do your hair and hit the dance floor, hit the dance floor….

Lots of love

Signoff

 

#MAAfterDark – It’s All About The Party Dress

UNIQUE wedding dresses

 #MAAfterDark – The Event All About The Party Dress

If you follow my blog you will have seen several excited posts leading up to #MAAfterDark. The Hashtag stands for Manchester Arndale After Dark and was an event organised by the Manchester Arndale center all about the perfect party dress and looking glam during this party season.

This evening brought 18 amazing Mancunian blogger babes together as well as special guest and competition judge Victoria from Inthefrow, who you can see in the bottom left in the below image collection.

An Inclusive Event

As I had mentioned in my very first post leading up to this event that I absolutely loved, that is was one of my very first inclusive events. This means here no distinction was made between “normal” fashion blogger and plus-size bloggers. It is nice to be surrounded by lot’s of amazing plus-size ladies and to feel all the support but it is also amazing  to once in a while to be recognised as simply being part of the “fashion scene” and not only plus size.

This inclusive nature of the event was not only reflected through the bloggers that were invited, but also by the represented shops, showing off their current party fashion, with Simply Be, Yours Clothing & Evans having rail space – and I fell in love a few times that evening.

 The Task

Each of us bloggers had been paired beforehand with one of the many retailers in the Arndale Center and given the same task: find your perfect party dress. Finally the best 10 party dresses would be chosesn by a jury. I was paired with the lovely Yours Clothing.

 

My Retailer

 

But let’s get to the important part: finding my dress. I was very excited to be paired up with yours clothing, as it is a brand I very much support. Not only do they offer clothes in a large sizing range (up to a 32) but they are also quite affordable compared to others while still on trend.

So last I week,  I set foot in to their yours clothing branch for an epic shopping sessionarmed with a shopping voucher given to me by the Manchester Arndale center. You can read more about this in one of my latest posts here. The last contenders were these three dresses:

Choosing The Dress

Before I went I had a look online and was dead set for the lace skater dress, especially as skater dresses are usually my go to party dress. However, if there is one thing I have learned over the last few months blogging, then it is always to try new things. And ultimately I liked the dress, but I felt I looked a bit unbalanced and bottom heavy in it, with relatively little fabric on the top and the poufy skirt on the bottom.

 

So I tried the sleeveless 20s style flapper dress in the middle. The 20s are currently very much on trend and this dress had been recommended to me by the Yours girls at the Plus size awards. I loved it on the hanger and although I liked particularly the fringes and had lot’s of fun shimmying for the camera I believed it did not really do my shape justice.

 

Finally I tried the lace shift dress in combination with a sparkly silver belt, the silver version of the golden belt that I had worn for the Plus Size Awards. To my surprise that combination really convinced me. The short sleeves seemed to really balance my uppper body and the belt nicely took my waist in to create a lovely hourglass shape. The length is perfect for the office when combined with leggins and shows just about the right amount of leg in it’s night look when combined with

The Accessories

With a lovely simple dress like this you can go all out and sparkly on the accessories. And this is what I did. I went for a sparkly silver belt, in combination with a black clutch with silver studs. Luckily I even had a pair of Deichman plateau heels that almost perfectly matched the studs in the bag.

The best thing about this was though that my £100 did not only pay for the dress, but also for all the accessorie: the handbag, the belt, the earrings and the bracelet and that with money to spare. I would say that was a pretty good deal. Interestingly enough, looking at the hangers when coming in, I appeared to be the only one who accessorized the dress out using our budget.

The Styling

After  having a first look at the new party wear collections, a nice prosecco and some nibbles. It was time for beautifying. I got the perfect classy and simple yet effective makeup to match my dress together with the most amazing curl and updo I have had in a long time I really loved what the stylists did.

My Final Look

Black Lace Swing Dress With Contrast Insert* –  (£34) – Yours Clothing
Black & Silver Diamante Across The Body Bag* –  (£20) -(Yours Clothing*
Grey Glitter Thin Belt*-  (£7) Yours Clothing
Bracelet* –  (not on site) – Yours Clothing
Earrings* – (not on site) – Yours Clothing
Shoes – (old season) – Deichman

I am really, really happy with my final look. Individually all things were great, the hair is absolutely amazing but together they are just a killer style. I so love what the stylist has done with my hair, the makeup was subtle but effective and matched the style of dress very well, I just know if I would have done it myself I would have overdone the smokey eye once again.  And finally the sparkly accessories give this simple look the perfect dose of glamour.

#MAAfterDark – The Competition

The jury had a very close look and intensive discussion about the dresses you can see in the group shot. Finally the 10 dresses below were crowned the top 10 party dresses of this season.

 

These dresses will be displayed in the Arndale Center and here on their website. You can win a voucher for £100 yourself by voting for which one is your personal favourite. Vote here. You can have a closer look at these dresses here, and also enter the competition.

 

Which Dress Would You Have Chosen

Which of the 18 dresses is your favourite? You can have a closer look at them by clicking on the image to enlarge it. Which one is your favourite? Do you agree with the Jury or would you have chosen differently? And which one is your absolute favourite?

Lot’s of love.

 

Signoff