Highlight Collection Plus Swatches

If you know me you know I'm all about the glow. I love a popping highlight bright enough to be seen from the other side of the country. I have a small bundle of highlighters, some I use everyday and some I use very rarely.

From left to right the products are (Benefit Watts Up, MAC Strobe Cream, Benefit High Beam, MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Lightscapade, theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer and MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Global Glow).

Benefit Watts Up. This is a cream highlighter. Whenever I want a super strong highlight after I've applied my foundation I take this on my middle finger and tap it on the areas where I would usually apply a powder highlighter (tops of the cheekbones, tip of the nose, cupids bow) and then set it with a powder highlighter. I find that this creates a more intense highlight as it is using a cream and a powder highlight. It's important not to use the cream product when you've already set your foundation as the product will not blend properly and will look cakey. 

MAC Strobe Cream. I'll not go into detail too much about this one as I did talk about it in my last post. However, I love using this under my foundation to make my skin look more radiant.

Benefit High Beam. I've never actually owned this as a full sized product I've always had samples of it or a minature and to be honest I don't think I use it enough to buy the full sized. I don't really favour pink toned highlighters however I do sometimes mix this with my foundation in the spring time just to give my foundation a bit of radiance. 

MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Lightscapade. This was the first powder highlighter I bought and I used to use it day in day out. However, I don't tend to reach for it as much any more as I do think it is a little too light for me now. But it's perfect for paler skin tones!

theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer. My holy grail. My baby. This has been my favourite highlighter for over a year now and I've used it pretty much everyday and I'm still on my first batch. This is the most beautiful, intense, champagne, popping highlight and I have no words to say other than you need this. 

MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Global Glow. This is a lot deeper than the rest of my highlighters but I love mixing it with the Mary-Lou Manizer just to create a more bronzed highlight. It's also great used on its own, lightly dusted on my temples on top of my bronzer on those days where I want a bronzed glow. I wouldn't recommend this to people with paler skintones as it could look quite muddy. 

That wraps up my little bundle of happiness that of course is - highlighters! Let me know what your favourite highlighting/strobing products are! See you soon!

Rebecca x

GlamGlow Supermud Clearing Treatment

The mask that saved my skin. I'm pretty sure I could just leave this blog post at that because that's exactly what it is! But I have too much to say about this little pot of heaven to leave it at that.

I'll start by saying my skin is not that bad. I have between normal and combination skin so I have large pores around my nose and I do have blackheads and the ocassional breakouts on my chin area but the rest of my skin is clear. However, around September I had a breakout on my chin which did not budge for months is was red and congested so it was really getting me down. I'd heard SO many good things about this mask especially from youtubers such as Katy from Lustrelux and Jaclyn Hill. But the price? Well. I didnt want to pay £35 for a face mask, I can justify spending £35 on a foundation or a palette but a face mask? I was reluctant. But I bit the bullet and thought to myself 'you know what Becca you should treat yourself' (as if I don't enough already). I ordered it from feelunique.com because the mask had money off it and I had a discount code as well which made purchasing it so much easier. 

The packaging is to die for! When you open the box there's a little information booklet which says 'hello sexy'..oh GlamGlow you big smoothie. The information booklet lists all the ingredients in the mask and how they work (I won't go into all the technical stuff). So, obviously I took my makeup off straight away as I was so excited to try it regardless of the fact is was 2pm, when new products arrive you gotta do what you gotta do. I applied it just to my T zone and at first when applied to the skin it tingles but this goes away after 2 minutes or so. As the product dries (this is the best and most disgusting part) you can see little dots in the mask which is where the ingredients in the mask are drawing all the bacteria, oil and dirt out of the skin and storing it in the mask ready to be washed off. It's so fascinating to see the mask working! After leaving the mask on an hour or so I rinsed it off with warm water and the first thing I noticed was how the large pores around my nose were smaller! After using the mask twice a week for 3 weeks I have seen a big improvement in my skin, my pores are smaller and my breakout has near enough gone! Even my mum noticed how much my skin has cleared up. Overall, this mask is worth every single penny and I will definitely be repurchasing it as soon as it runs out. 

Let me know what your favourite face masks are or if you've tried any of the GlamGlow products in the comments! See you soon!

Rebecca x

Gerard Cosmetics Hydra Matte Liquid Lipsticks

Happy Friday! I am quite fortunate enough to have Fridays off and usually Thursdays and Fridays are my no makeup days (the skins gotta breathe), however with all the new makeup I've purchased recently I couldn't let a day of creativity go to waste! Last week I purchased two of the Gerard Cosmetics Hydra Matte Liquid Lipsticks and today is the day that I've put it to the test!

The two shades I purchased were Iced Mocha and Cher. Whilst having a long gander through the Gerard Cosmetics instagram page it took a long time to pick the two shades I wanted to purchase (obviously I wanted more but I needed to maintain some type of self control) so after ordering the two shades from Beauty Bay naturally I was refreshing my order tracking every hour until they arrived.

First things first, packaging. Black? Gold? LOVE IT. And the frosted tubes are just gorgeous! Iced Mocha is a brown toned shade with a bit of a cool undertone and Cher is a beautiful mauve shade which I LOVE. 

Cher is the shade which I've tried and tested all day today and I'm impressed! I used MAC whirl lipliner first to give me an outline and then the liquid lipstick just glided on so easily! It dried quickly but it did feel a bit sticky in the corners of my lips but this soon went and the lipstick was completely matte. 8 hours later the lipstick is still in place, it has slightly come away on the inside of my lips but that will happen with any lipsticks due to eating and drinking throughout the day. In terms of dryness all matte lipsticks and liquid lipsticks will be drying but I always apply a lipbalm or lip conditioner (the MAC lip conditioner is AMAZING) before I do my makeup to give it time to soak in before I apply any lip product. So because I did this the liquid lipstick doesn't feel too uncomfortable or dry and there's no crumbling either.

I am impressed by these liquid lipsticks and will definitely be purchasing some more shades in the near future! Have you tried these liquid lipsticks? Or what are your favourite liquid lipsticks? Let me know in the comments! See you soon!

Rebecca x

Morphe 35O Palette

If there's one thing that I love it's warm brown eyeshadows! There's just something that I love about a nice rich orange toned transition colour and deep chocolate browns paired together so when this palette was released back in autumn I had to have it (and Jaclyn Hill uses it and she is the queen of a warm toned eyeshadows). But let me just say this, it was not easy to get a hold of! It was sold out everywhere and everytime it came back in stock it sold out so quickly and I just wasn't fast enough to get one. So when my friend tagged me in an instagram post saying that it was back in stock on the Morphe website let me tell you I have NEVER ordered an item so fast in my entire life (makeup makes us crazy). BUT I GOT ONE! And it was so worth the 2 minute thumb workout.

Delivery was so fast considering I'd ordered it from America and it came within about a week or so and I was so giddy when it came, it felt like christmas in one delivery. The palette consists of 35 buttery eyeshadows, containing both matte and shimmery eyeshadows. There are cream colours, oranges, warm browns, medium browns, champagne colours and deep browns as well. If you love warm browns then you need this palette! The shadows are incredibly pigmented however there is a fair amount of fall out but who cares we all know that with pigment comes fall out. Whenever I know I'll be doing a warm brown eyeshadow look I just grab this palette and that's all I need! 

Let me know if you have this palette or any of the other Morphe palettes and what you think to them in the comments below! See you soon!

Rebecca x

January Favourites

One more week and our January blues will be over! And I'm glad it's flown by but how shocking to think that one twelfth of 2016 has gone already! So since it's near enough the end of the month, here is a slightly early January favourites post! Although because of my absence over the past 2 months or so there have been so many favourites however I couldn't include them all so I narrowed it down to just a few staple products which I have been in love with recently.

My first favourite is the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in the shade Global Glow. If I had to pick my top 5 favourite makeup products there would definitely be a highlighter included. I love the look of dewy skin and not having glowing cheekbones makes me feel completely naked. It may come as a surprise but I don't actually own the shade Soft&Gentle I know a lot of people love it but there's just something about it which is too pink for me and I just don't like the look of it on myself, I tend to favour more champagne/golden tones in a highlighter so when my boyfriend got me this as a Christmas present I knew it was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship. Because this highlighter is quite dark and bronzey I think it works best by layering it over my Mary-Loumanizer highlighter with a MAC 188 brush and then blending it down into the bronzer on my cheeks as well, I also dust it on the sides of my forehead just above my eyebrows to add a bit of a glow there as well as this highlighter isn't as intense as the Mary-Loumanizer. 

Next up is the Laura Mercier Loose Translucent Setting Powder. I purchased this from the House of Fraser website on Black Friday so I was lucky enough to get a bit of money off as it was my first time trying it. I had seen youtubers and makeup artists on instagram and snapchat use this so much and I'd heard nothing but good things about it so I wanted to try it myself. I will never purchase another loose powder ever again except this one, it is like silk on my skin! I apply it using the Real Techniques Setting Brush to set my concealer underneath my eyes and also any oily areas such as my forehead and at the sides of my nose and then i'm done for the day! My under eyes don't look cakey or blotchy they just look smooth and flawless. I personally wouldn't use this as a powder for all over my face as I don't really like a matte finish I prefer to look dewy on the other areas which I don't set with this powder, but if you're a fan of the matte look then go for it!

The NYX Jumbo Pencil in the shade Milk is another product which is talked about on youtube and instagram and as I mentioned in my last post about visiting the Clothes Show this was definitely on my mental shopping list whilst I was at the NYX stand and when I spotted the jumbo pencils my eyes frantically scanned the whole rack for the Milk shade and luckily enough I got one! I've been using this to highlight my brow bone starting off with just a splodge of white underneath my eyebrows, then using a small concealer brush to guide it right underneath my eyebrows and then blending it into my eyeshadow primer with a Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush. 

Last but not least is the MAC Prep+Prime Highlighter Pen in the shade Lightboost. When it comes to contour and highlighting I prefer to use a cream or liquid to highlight the high points of my face and using a powder to contour. I love this product purely because of the colour and how easily it blends out, the colour is yellow toned which is what favours the shade of foundation I wear. I apply it under the eyes, in the centre of my forehead, down the centre of my nose and a small amount on my chin and then blend it all out with a damp Beauty Blender. 

Let me know what your favourite products are this month and if you've used any of my favourites and let me know what you think of them in the comments. See you soon!

Rebecca x

Peaches and Cream Loose Pigments

Good afternoon! As you know I'm currently studying Media Makeup which means that I'm constantly talking about makeup and always keeping my eyes peeled for new makeup brands and good products to try out. I discovered Peaches and Cream a while ago on instagram (peachesmakeup), they're actually a salon in Liverpool in the UK as well as selling their own brand of makeup.

In December I was lucky enough to go on a trip with the girls on my course to the Clothes Show in Birmingham which was such a good day out and definitely something I'd love to do again next year, if anyone has heard of it and is thinking about going definitely go because it's such a good day! I knew that there was going to be a NYX makeup stand there so I definitely made a beeline for that stand first, so after picking up the NYX products I wanted we had a wander round all the other stands which were beauty related, clothes, teeth whitening etc. and we actually came across the Peaches and Cream stand and the pigments were definitely what first caught my eye as they were so beautiful.

After purchasing 3 of the pigments I decided that this chance should not be wasted - I needed more! The ladies who worked on the stand were so helpful and friendly and showed how each pigment worked with their primer and they were all stunning! It was so difficult deciding which ones I should take home but if you know me, you know eyeshadow is my ultimate true love, so I ended up with seven!

They're super affordable but goodness me they are beautiful colours! The only downside to them is that they do tend to transfer a little bit into the crease when placed on the lids. If you follow me on instagram (rebeccacapel) you'll have seen how I used the disco pigment on my lids with a burgundy smokey eye as a Christmas inspired makeup look (click here for photo). Once I've blended all my eyeshadow I spray a small amount of MAC Fix+ on a brush and dip it in the pigment, tap off the excess into the lid (aint nobody wasting these pots of heaven) and then pack it onto the lid. 

So, the colours that I purchased going from left to right are Pearl, Kitten, Peached, Foxy, Secret, Famous and Disco. I loved wearing the shades disco and famous around Christmas and New Years Eve they were the perfect party pigments. I also have a great love for the peached pigment I think this is my favourite out of all the pigments I purchased, it goes with most eyeshadow looks and I think it is a unique colour which usually I wouldn't normally gravitate towards but now I can't stop using it!

Let me know if you've tried any of these pigments and what your favourite colours are and if there 1are any other pigments from different brands which you like as I would love to know! See you soon!

Rebecca x

MAC Lipstick Collection

There's only one rule when it comes to MAC lipsticks and it's that you can never have too many! Whilst I dream of owning, well let's face it ALL OF THEM! I'm lucky enough to have my own little collection of my 6 holygrail lipsticks.

There are so many things RIGHT about MAC lipsticks. To start with they're long lasting and there are so many shades to choose from! (And I don't know if this is just me but I think they smell like Cadburys Mini Eggs!) No matter what makeup look you choose - there is always a beautiful MAC lipstick to pair with it! 

I have six MAC lipsticks all together but these first four are my nude colours! Going from left to right on the swatch photo above the shades are Velvet Teddy, Hue, Modesty and Creme Cup.

Velvet Teddy is a matte lipstick, very long wearing and incredibly pigmented. It's more of a brown nude than a pink nude and it is definitely one of my favourites - it makes me feel very 90s! 

Hue is the lipstick which I have used the most out of my collection. It's a glaze lipstick and although its not as pigmented as the other lipsticks, it's my go-to lipstick for a night out and looks amazing with a nude lipliner and a smokey eye! 

Modesty is a cremesheen lipstick and the only way I can describe the colour of this lipstick is kind of a "your lips but better" if that makes any sense? It's definitely a shade that can be used with any makeup which is why I use it for my everyday lipstick and I'm so glad I came across this because I know I always have this trusty shade to fall back on! The cremesheen lipsticks are really moisturising as well and they are really long wearing considering how moisturising they are! 

Last but not least of my nude lipsticks is Creme Cup! Creme Cup was the first ever lipstick I bought from MAC so this was the one that got me hooked! It's a cremesheen again so its moisturising. This is more of a pink shade but I'd include it more into my nude collection than my colours. I usually wear this lipstick with a neutral eye and pop my Dior Collagen Activ Lip Maximiser over the top. 

The last two shades of my lipstick collection are ones which I don't tend to reach for as much as my nude lipsticks. 

The first shade on the left is Relentlessly Red. It's a retro matte lipstick and I fell in love with it as soon as I swatched it in the shop! I actually went in search of a red lipstick but this one is more of a pinky red which I love because it's so bright!

The other shade is Rebel which is a perfect colour to buy if you want to start getting into dark lipsticks but you're a bit weary! I purchased this a year ago and it took me a while to use it for the first time because I didn't know what makeup look would go best with it but now that I've got that sorted a strong contour and neutral eye is what I love to use with this lipstick. I am so excited for autumn to come around again because you will not be able to get this lipstick off my face!

Let me know what your favourite shades of MAC lipstick are! Or any other brands of lipstick which you love to use in the comments! See you soon!

Rebecca x

July Favourites

July is drawing to an end! Let's hope that August brings us some sunshine in the UK! The past couple of weeks of rain are starting to make me feel like summer is coming to a close, and honestly I'm not ready for summer to be over yet! However, despite the drizzle, there have been a few perks for me this month and they come in the glorious form of makeup products! So here are a few products which I have been obsessed with this July!

My first July favourite is the NARS Bronzer in the shade Laguna. We're in the middle of summer and I don't know about you guys but for me this month it's all about that bronzed glow! In the past I have shied away from any bronzers which aren't matte (I was a Benefit Hoola addict for 3 years) however, whilst flicking through Instagram and Youtube I realised how many people love this bronzer and I was dying to get my hands on it! I was kind of put off by the description as it was described to have a golden shimmer in it, but nevertheless I took the plunge and I certainly have not regretted it! For me, the bronzer isn't shimmery at all when applied, it looks matte but I can definitely see the gold flecks in the product itself. It blends easily and I've been using it every day since it was delivered to me (I think my other bronzers are feeling kind of neglected). I use the bronzer to sculpt out my cheekbones and then blend it into my temples to give my face structure and definition. All in all this is a beautiful product, and lets be honest the packaging of NARS products is just as wonderful as what's inside as well!

My second favourite product of the month is the MAC Burgundy Times Nine Palette. Purchasing this palette for me was so exciting as usually I tend to wear very neutral coloured eyeshadows (I'm a sucker for a good Urban Decay Naked palette) but as much as I love the nude eyes - we all need a bit of colour in our lives! The palette contains 9 eyeshadow colours (they aren't full sized ones but they're a good size anyway!) which have a few bronze/brown shades and then some purple/burgundy shades as well. Going from left to right (swatch picture above) the shades are Honey Lust, Poppyseed, Quarry, Antiqued, Embark, #Noir, Haux, Star Violet and Sketch. I didn't know where to begin with all these shades to play with! The shades which I have been using the most in this palette are Antiqued and Embark (these two shades look amazing next to each other for a bronzed smokey eye) but I think my favourite shades are Star Violet and Sketch blended out with Quarry. Because I have green eyes the purple shades (especially Sketch!) really make my eye colour pop! I've been using this palette so much since I bought it and I would 100% recommend it to anyone thinking about purchasing it as you won't be disappointed. 

Last but not least is my third favourite makeup product of the month which is the Dior Addict Lip Maximiser Collagen Activ. Personally, I am not a lipgloss person. I've never really liked how sticky lipglosses feel on my lips and plus when you've got long hair like mine lipgloss suddenly becomes a hair magnet and there is nothing more frustrating than having hair attached to your face! (Long haired girls do you feel my pain?) however, I purchased this as I heard it was a good treatment for the lips as well as a lip maximiser! And thank the Dior God's because I have finally found a non-sticky, non-gloopy and moisturising lipgloss! THANK YOU DIOR! I often find myself reaching for this after I've applied a nude pink lipliner all over my lips and I love the neutral look the combination has when I have a smokey eye! Or even a neutral eye! I've never really used lip maximisers because I've never come across one that works for me! Eventually I gave up and accepted that I must simply repel lip maximisers, but this is a miracle product and gives me a natural plump whilst moisturising too which is why it's one of my favourite products for this month!

So those are my favourite products for July! Let me know in the comments what your favourite beauty or makeup products are this month or if you've used any of the products I chose and what you thought of them! See you soon!

Rebecca x