Blog shout out - The Cosmetic Crave

I just wanted to give a shout out today to a fairly new blog which I have been following for a few weeks and which I think is fantastic!

The Cosmetic Crave

If you like a mixture of FOTD's, OOTD's, and honest reviews of both high end and high street products then head on over and follow Joselins blog, which you can find HERE.

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Blog shout out - The Cosmetic Crave

Estee Lauder Modern Mercury Eyeshadow Duos

Three new Pure Color Eyeshadow Duos (£22.50) were released with Estee Lauder's fall collection - Modern Mercury. One of which will be permanent and the other two limited edition.

Platinum's - (Permanent)

Platinum's consists of a gorgeous light taupe and a basic white highlight shade.

Modern Mercury (Limited Edition)

Modern Mercury consist of a satin silver/white and a soft cool grey shade

Black Chrome (Limited Edition)

Black Chrome consists of a dark matte black and a sheerer shimmery black shade

Each duo can be used wet or dry and my favourite of the three is definitely Platinums, although I did find that it swatched on my hand a lot darker than it applied on my lids with a brush, which was a little disappointing. This could have been due to the brush I used though, so I do need to put it to use again, with a different brush.

Did you purchase anything from the Modern Mercury Collection?

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Estee Lauder Modern Mercury Eyeshadow Duos

Get your skin assessed for free!!!

Sk:n clinics have a great offer running at the moment, where you can get your skin assessed for free (instead of £25). So if you’re worried about what damage you may have done to your skin, exposing it to harmful UV rays this summer, you can book in at your local sk:n clinic for a consultation with one of their experts.


The sk:n skin health assessment consists of a consultation with one of sk:n’s experts and facial scanning using state of the art technology, to highlight any existing damage with UV light. The consultant will also calculate your skin age based on its condition. The skin health assessment usually costs £25, but for a short time only, sk:n will be offering them absolutely free.

The offer is all part of the skin health campaign, fronted by the England cricket team to raise awareness about the dangers of the sun’s rays on the skin. As part of the campaign sk:n clinics will be donating £10,000 to the British Skin Foundation to fund vital research into important dermatology issues.

So to get involved in the campaign and book your free skin health assessment visit http://www.sknclinics.co.uk/ for more information or call 0800 028 7222

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Get your skin assessed for free!!!

FOR SALE: Guerlain Lingerie De Peau

Guerlain Lingerie De Peau foundation for sale.

Used twice. Still in box. 02 Beige Clair. £25.00 with free postage. I payed £35.00.

If interested please leave your email address and I will drop you an email.

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FOR SALE: Guerlain Lingerie De Peau

Maison d'Anu - Genie in a Bottle Oil Cleanser

I love it when I get to try out a new product from a brand Im not familiar with and its instantly a hit with me. I do get occasionally get sent products to trial, and they only make it on the blog if Im impressed. Im never obliged to review any product I am sent and if they are simply not worth a mention or just a bit "meh" then most likely they wont get featured. If Im really dissapointed with a product though or have had a reaction to it etc, then in this case I do post to share my experience and give an honest review. I don't really like my blog to be negative though, I like to share the good things in life! Hence today's post.

I was recently contacted by the pr for a brand called Maison d'Anu - A luxury skincare brand dedicated to delivering the most natural products through scientific know how. The range consists of Face and Body products, Hair products, Nail products and they also cater for pregnant women, with pregnancy products.

I was given the opportunity to sample a few products and I was instantly drawn to the Oil Cleanser. I suffer with an oily tzone and blemish prone skin and the best type of cleanser for my skin type is an oil cleanser. I have occasional breakouts and when cleansing during a breakout its best for me to cleanse with an oil cleanser as basically oil dissolves oil. Using an oil to cleanse the face works with all the clogged oil and sebum which are trapped inside the skin and helps to dissolve them.

Maison d'Anu Genie in a Bottle - Rinseable Oil Cleanser - (£28.00)

"Genie in a Bottle is a natural cleanser and makeup remover that is water soluble and gently lifts dirt and makeup without stripping or disrupting your skin’s natural protective barrier (the acid mantle). Suitable for all skin types. 99% Natural."

This products ticks all the boxes for me when it comes to Oil Cleansers. Its not greasy and breaks up my make up so easily when massaged onto the skin. It emulsifies really well into a milky kind of liquid once a little water is added and all the dirt, grime and make up on my skin is easily wiped away with a clean muslin cloth., leaving no oily residue at all. For me its the perfect cleanser to use when my skin is bad. Its very gentle with no unnecessary ingredients added, so it doesn't add any irritation or contribute to my breakout. It just does a fantastic job at removing all my make up, while helping my skin put up a  fight against any more blemishes appearing.

Genie in a Bottle is definitely worth a look at if you favour an Oil Cleanser. Its one of the best Ive tried.

All Maison d'Anu products can be purchased directly from the website.

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Maison d'Anu - Genie in a Bottle Oil Cleanser

Smooch Blushers - Kookie Crumble and Peachy

When I heard there was a new make up brand on the block, I was on it. And fast. The name grabbed my attention first - "Smooch" then once I was on the website and saw the prices were pretty reasonable, the blushers started screaming at me to buy them. So two popped into my basket. Kookie Crumble and Peachy.

The packaging of the products is obviously Nars inspired. Sleek black rubberised with the Smooch logo.

 

Peachy -

Peachy is a gorgeous shade and one that I had no problems with at all. It is a gorgeous peachy/pink and actually quite a lot more pigmented that some of my other peachy/pink blushers. Although its described as a duo blush, I can't see much difference with the two shades apart from the left shade being a bit more shimmery.

Shades swatched separately

Both shades together

Kookie Crumble -

With this I had a problem. You will see from the images below that the lightest shade has scratch marks on it. That is simply because that was my only option to basically get the product to work. I tried swatching it and nothing. No product was coming off at all. It was like it had some sort of film on top of it. Once I scratched the surface though, I could then swatch it. If Im honest, this pissed me off. I feel like Ive had to wreck my product in order to use it. Its fair to say I wasn't happy.

Right shade swatched

Left shade swatched, after it had been scratched

Both shades together

Although this is again described as a duo blush. There's no way I could use the lighter shade as a blush. Possibly as a highlighter, although I haven't tried that yet. When both shades are used together though I do love the end results.

Overall I was pleased with my purchases, just not as pleased as I could have been. I do love the shades, Im just slightly dissapointed that I had to scratch the top layer off one of them, as that really shouldn't have been needed.

Both items can be purchased from Smooch priced at £8.50 each. Although there is a 50% sale off everything at the moment, so I payed £4.25 for each blusher.

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Smooch Blushers - Kookie Crumble and Peachy

Sure giveaway winners announced!

Thank you to all that entered the sure giveaway. The three lucky winners are:

Strawberry Blonde

The Cosmetic Crave

Nicola

Congratulations! If you could all email your postal details to Joanne@beautyliciouslove.com and I'll pass them on to the Sure pr team, who will send out your prizes.

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Sure giveaway winners announced!

Sleek Make Up - Nude Collection.

- 12 gorgeous nude eyeshadow
- Nude Blush
- Nude Pout Polish

As a nude lover, this collection is perfect for me. The blush is totally different from any I currently have, so Im really looking forward to using that. The only gripe I have is that the pout polish is not as tinted as I thought it would be. The swatch is very accurate and it is very sheer. I did think it would be more peachy.

The full collection is PERMANENT and will be available to purchase from August 31st at Superdrug stores and Sleek Make Up.

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Sleek Make Up - Nude Collection.

Stargazer blusher shade 09

When it comes to blusher, my normally shades are peachy/pink shades or mauvish shades. My stash is full of basically the same kind of shades, just by different brands. Lately though I've been loving a shot of dolly pink on my cheeks and Stargazers 09 is the blush I've been reaching for the past couple of days.

To be fair, I don't know much about Stargazer products and this is actually the first one of their products that I've used, but for £3.50 Ive got no complaints at all and want to pick up some of the other 12 shades available. The packaging is simple black plastic, nothing special, but packaging doesn't bother me at all with products. Its about whats inside for me. I do like the fact it has a mirror included though and also a handy little brush. Obviously I don't use the brush for application, but if Im ever out and about and need a top up Im sure it would do the job. The pigmentation, colour pay off and finish cannot be faulted. It really lasts when on the cheeks and doesn't fade at all as the day goes on. It needs a tiny bit more work blending wise, compared to some of my high end blushers, but then again it'd be unfair to compare it to my NARS blushers for example, which cost 3 times as much.

Overall Im impressed and in love with the shade.

Stargazer products cannot be purchased at stargazer-products.com and New Look stores.

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Stargazer blusher shade 09

Finally!

After months of lusting and deliberation, Dior Amber Diamond is finally mine! I love the look of a highlighter swept across my cheekbones, so it was obvious at some point that I would add the daddy of all highlighters - Amber Diamond, to my collection.

Pricey - but worth it. Im in love!

I think I need Rose Diamond in my life now.

*swoons*

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Finally!

Urban Decay 15-Year Anniversary Eyeshadow Collection

Midnight Rodeo, Tainted, Deeper

Midnight 15, Junkshow, M.I.A

Vanilla, Omen, Ace

Flow, Evidence, Blackout

Chase, Deep End, Half Truth

My thoughts -

Absolutely love it! 15 shadows to celebrate 15 years of Urban Decay and each one is stunning! I never thought my naked palette could be beaten, but I like this a hell of a lot more. It contains all the right shades for a neutral eye and also all the right shades for a smokey eye, both of which are my staples. Not one of them lacks pigmentation for me, but then again UD shadows rarely do. The black didn't swatch as dark as I thought it would, but I will have to see how that is on the eyes to judge it fully. Its everything I wanted and more. I'm one very happy make up junkie!

Available from Debenhams priced at £39.00

Will you be purchasing?

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Urban Decay 15-Year Anniversary Eyeshadow Collection