Review: Diorskin nude bb creme

The second of my Escentual 20% purchases (mentioned here) was the Diorskin Nude BB creme that so many other bloggers seemed to be raving about.

I picked this up in the shade 001 and found that it's a nice pale shade but its also really rather pink. I had seen other bloggers mention it was more pinky but thought it was still meant to be the palest offering and so better for me.
I tend to have a fair bit of redness/pigmentation in my cheeks and at the area between my eyebrows anyway, which I am not a fan of and try to disguise as much as possible. So when I first tried using this BB cream and saw how pink it was applying I immediately thought 'Oh no!'. However, after fully blending (using a Real Techniques buffing brush) I found that actually the end result was a slightly rosy glow but it was very subtle and it had actually evened out/covered my redness quite well. It basically looked like my skin...but better. I tried applying with my fingers at first but found I much preferred the effect given using a brush and found it to end up looking less pinky with the brush.

 It is a fairly light coverage so isn't going to be good for really bad skin days but for hot summer days when you don't want to cake on the make-up, I think this is really nice. It can be built up a bit too to give a bit more coverage, which is nice.

 I think i'd like to try this now in 002 to compare the difference in shade and see whether that still works for me but without the pinkness. But despite the pinkness I actually still really like the product but I just don't love it as much as I wanted to. And I really wanted to!

Have you tried the Dioskin nude BB creme? Do you want to?

Review: Clarins Sun Wrinkle Control Cream For Face

As I mentioned in a previous post I bought couple of items in the Escentual 20% sale and the time has come to now review them.
 I've been using the Clarins sun wrinkle control cream for face SPF 30 for about two weeks now and although i've still only used it a couple of times I thought i'd tell you how I feel about it.

It smells and looks pretty much just like an ordinary sun cream. It does have quite a thick consistency but actually blends really nicely and quickly without leaving you with white streaks all over your face. You really don't need to squeeze much out as a little goes a long way - even with generous application.

I find that my face does end up still looking rather shiny/greasy after applying the cream, even though its all blended in nicely and doesn't feel greasy at all. I like to leave about 5minutes after applying before putting on my makeup to make sure it's all sunk in properly. However, even if putting on makeup pretty much straight away it applies over the sun cream no problem. It doesn't feel like the sun cream is being rubbed off or interfering with makeup at all. Big plus!
I have found though that if I apply it too close to my eyes or over my eyelids it can irritate them a bit and make them water a bit but that's easy enough to avoid.
I've sadly not had a chance to use this anywhere really hot to see how well it protects my face but have been wearing it during the sunny days we've been having here in England (yay) and i've not suffered from any redness from the sun.

I like using this product and think it works well but i'm not overly convinced its any different to just using a normal sun cream on your face. Am I wrong in this? Are they made differently?

Do you use a facial SPF? If so, which one?

Bloggers reccommendations

So after so many beauty blogs my wishlist was starting to grow and grow. Unfortunately quite a few of the products were high end or possibly more expensive than my student budget wanted me to spend. But of course I had to just buy a couple of things! So here is a couple of my budget picks.

Firstly I bought the Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in shade 51 - Light Vanilla.
Bourjois claim: "16 hour radiance booster & instant anti-fatigue result! Give your skin a radiance boost and leave it looking flawless for up to 16 hours! Enriched with a fruit therapy formula; Apricot for radiance, Melon for hydration and Apple to protect your youth. It also contains crystalline pigments for an even complexion and healthy glow. "

I had seen so many bloggers trying and recommending this that I just had to try it. Especially as at £9.99 it's a fair bit cheaper than my current go-to foundation (Lancome Teint Miracle foundation £27.50).
I quite liked this foundation, it felt fairly thick and perhaps slightly darker than my natural skin tone but not dark enough to make me look orange. Once applied it gives a pretty good coverage and leaves you with a rather dewy looking complexion. Despite the colour not being perfect I still think it works for me and I do quite like it, but it doesn't beat my Lancome one. I would say they could do with a few more shades in order to work for more people because their range is fairly limited.
I think i'm still looking for my holy-grail foundation so if you have any recommendations please let me know!

Next up was another Bourjois product. This time their Magic Nail Polish Remover costing £4.99.

This claims to remove nail polish in just 1 second per nail. Of course I didn't think it was going to be as quick as that but I had hoped it would speed up the often laborious process of removing nail varnish. The pot has a  sponge type material at the opening that you simply put your finger into and twist your finger around. I'd say you need to twist a couple of times to fully remove all of the nail varnish but it's still a lot quicker than the usual process and no need for cotton wool! I really like this product and am going to be using it a lot!

A third product I ended up buying was Lush's Lip Scrub in Bubblegum. It also comes in Popcorn and Mint Julips but after going and trying (i.e. tasting) them all I knew I wanted Bubblegum.

This lip scrub is essentially flavoured, coloured sugar that you rub onto your lips and then lick off. I love this concept! It smells really nice and tastes good too! I find it works pretty well at smoothing out my lips and removing dead/dry skin but you then need to add a balm after wards really I think and the effect doesn't last for a hugely long time. But seeing as it's so nice/tastey to use I don't mind having to use it a lot! At £5.25 its possibly not the cheapest product but I think it'll last a long time and is lovely to use so I don't really mind.

Finally, I caved in and bought the Real Techniques Core Collection Kit after I found them being sold for just £8.99 on Amazon! Although it appears they've now changed the price to £17.85, which is still a slight discount.

This collection consists of a contour brush, pointed foundation brush, detailer brush and buffing brush and comes in a little carry case. I bought these after everyone seemed to be raving about them, particularly the buffing brush. So far i've only actually used the buffing brush and pointed foundation brush but have very much liked using them! The first couple of times using the buffing brush for applying my foundation I must admit I wasn't a massive fan and couldn't see what everyone was raving about but on the third try I tried to be a bit gentler and found this a much better finish. It gave me good coverage with less product and still left a fairly dewy complexion. It perhaps takes slightly longer to fully buff it all in than using fingers but I think its worth it! I've also been using the foundation brush to apply concealer under my eyes and think it works pretty well to give good coverage and blend well.

So these are my purchases i've bought and reading lots of bloggers reviews of them. Are there any products you're craving after reading beauty blogs?