ASDA The New Destination For Beauty

May 31, 2018 - Vicki 1 Comment

As most of us know, ASDA is a very popular destination for affordable fashion. I always kick off my Summer Holiday shopping at George as they do fab bikinis & beach cover-ups. Most people are not aware that ASDA is also a great destination for all of your beauty needs. Last year saw ASDA update & revamp it’s George beauty line, introducing over 100 makeup products from Contour Kits and Eyebrow Products to Lipsticks and Eyeshadows, so ASDA really has you covered in the makeup department. Oh! and best of all is that nothing in the range costs over £6. So whilst you are shopping for your wardrobe updates you can also pick up your favourite skincare & beauty products.

They also stock one of my top skincare brands, nspa. This is a brand that offers quality products you can afford. I have tried quite a few products from their range over the years and I’ve never been disappointed. In fact, they always exceed expectations and I have my Holy Grail products that I will always repurchase. If you haven’t spent time in the beauty aisle at ASDA you’re missing out on some great brands.

George Cosmic Baked Blush in Galaxy

I haven’t used a baked blush for so long. I remember back in 2014 when they were super popular and every brand was releasing their version. I had forgotten just how pretty this swirled formulation can be, this Cosmic offering from George is in the shade Galaxy which is a very pretty flushed pink shade and it gives just the perfect amount of colour. Enough to lift any makeup look and give it a fresh, radiant feel. I love the glow you get from a baked blush and this one is a good mix of highlight and blush, it reflects the light and leaves you looking healthy. It is a very wearable colour and it has gone straight into my everyday makeup bag & I have a feeling it is going to be my goto blush this Summer.

George Matte Lipstick in Smooch

I am so excited to see that ASDA have a range of soft matte lipsticks and there is no denying that they look stunning in their trendy rose gold packaging. You can’t go wrong with a classic pink shade and this one is a beautiful, everyday option. The formula is quite dry but that is to be expected in a matte formula it applies evenly and the colour is pigmented and so pretty on the lips. I am pleased with this shade and want to get a few more shades, I am tempted by a red.

nspa Expert Rejuvenating Serum

If you’re worried about the first signs of ageing or want to reduce fine lines and improve skins firmness this lightweight serum from nspa is perfect. It is fortified with:-

Crocus Chrysanthus Bulb extract, proven to help reduce the appearance of ageing skin, increase skins firmness and give the skin a smoother, more supple complexion.

Millet Seed Extract, reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and rejuvenate your skin while helping to retain moisture.

It has a nice lightweight texture and it is a great step to give your skin a nice boost of hydration and a step that targets those long-term skin concerns.

nspa Beauty Rituals Smoothing Eyecream

Eye cream for me is one of those products of which I’m never 100% sure that they’re totally necessary. Although I do use them religiously because I don’t want to look back in years to come and wish I’d made more effort to keep those pesky fine lines at bay! So when it comes to this step in my skincare routine I am never very loyal to one brand the only criteria I have is price, I like my eye cream to be affordable and at only £5.00 this nspa one is just that. Oh, and it does contain Hyaluronic Acid which is a cult anti ageing skin care ingredient that everyone in the beauty industry swears by, so if the experts love it I will get onboard.

It is enriched with Hyaluronic Acid & Tetrapeptide to help reduce the appearance of fine lines and crows feet. Specially selected actives help firm and plump whilst enhancing radiance for a younger, brighter looking eye area.

nspa Beauty Rituals Face Masks

nspa have released 8 masks within this range, each mask targeting a specific skin concern. They have clay, moisturising and hydrating masks which includes a sheet mask. With all 8 costing only £1.50 each, this is such an affordable way add a mask to your beauty regime and have a little pamper. I love the sheet mask best of all as it is perfect to use after a busy week it soothes and rejuvenates tired dull skin. I always have a couple of the nspa beauty rituals masks in my stash, they come in this handy pouches which make them travel-friendly and ideal to take with you on your holiday.

The nspa range is cruelty-free & available exclusively in ASDA.

I love trying out affordable beauty products because I think we all know that price doesn’t always guarantee quality, at both ends of the scale. ASDA is bringing its ‘A’ game with its own brand beauty range from George and the nspa skincare products are not to be missed. Let me know if you have tried anything from either range, I would really like to hear your recommendations.

*This post contains PR Samples

Essence Bloggers’ Beauty Secrets Palette

July 21, 2016July 21, 2016 - Vicki 2 Comments

I adore the German brand Essence all their products are cruelty free and extremely affordable. I have so many favourites from their makeup range and since it launched into Wilko stores a couple of years ago its so much easier to get hold of all my Essence essentials.

Essence recently collaborated with four bloggers as part of the bloggers beauty secrets trend edition and gave them the opportunity to design their very own makeup palette & nail polish. I have been testing out the two products designed by the lovely Mary, who blogs over at Strike a Pose.

Essence Cosmetics Shape & Shadows Eye Contouring Palette

This palette is a multi use eye & brow palette and was inspired by glamorous Hollywood women who influenced style and fashion. It comes beautifully packaged in a sturdy cardboard flip top palette with a magnetic close and it has a fun geometric print.

Inside you get a fab sized mirror, which I did not expect to find as Essence is a more affordable brand but its nice to see that they have included one & I like the unusual shape of it.

Inside you get 4 shadows, a highlighter, a prime & fix brow wax and also a small dual ended brush. One end has an angled brush and the other a cute brow spoolie, I have to say I’ve been using this brush and its great, ideal travel size and the spoolie is fantastic as brushing through your bows to tame them and even out the product. Very cute indeed.

Three of the shadows are lovely neutral matte shades and these double up as both shadows and great brow colours too. I mix the two darkest colours to make the perfect shade to fill in my brows. The powder is pigmented and quite soft so they’re easy to blend and create that natural full brow. I don’t really use the wax as I prefer to set my brows with a clear gel but if you like wax then it is included in here.

These matte shades also work really well as eyeshadows and are great either all over the lid or blended out in the crease. They do take a little work to build up a good amount of colour on the lids and Hazel Grace is quite light so isn’t going to give yo too much payoff but I like to use this shade as a transition shade.

Marilyn Metallic is a beautiful copper rose and is my favourite shade in the palette. Its not too sparkly but it has the most pretty metallic finish and when the light catches it looks really nice. I have been wearing this packed on top of Audrey Highbrow and I love the two together.

The highlighter Billie Vanilli is a frosty cream and it looks nice under your brows and in the inner corners to add some brightness and add a little lift to your eye look. Its not a subtle highlight but if you like to add that extra illumination to your eyes & definition to your brows then its a pretty shade for that!

Essence Bloggers’ Beauty Secrets Nail Polish in All Eyes on Me

The nail polish wasn’t for me, its a pretty grey beige shade but it has a matte finish and I’m not personally a fan of that trend so I have passed it on to my sister in law & she loves it. So it wasn’t a complete fail. The nail polish was easy to apply, it dried evenly, the colour was pigmented and only needed one coat. I didn’t wear it for long so I can’t tell you if it has good staying power, but I did like the colour just not the finish.

Above are all four of the palettes & polishes from this collection. Which ones do you like the look of?

Essence is available exclusively nationwide at Wilko Stores & online at www.wilko.com

Lacura Beauty at Aldi

April 18, 2016 - Vicki 3 Comments

Lacura Beauty Aldi Products

I’ve tried a few beauty products from budget retailer Aldi and on the whole they have impressed me, especially their Argan Oil range. I love finding products that are not only affordable but also good quality. So I was excited to be given the opportunity to test out some new releases from Lacura Beauty.

Lacura Concealer Pen £3.49

This product was the one I was most looking forward to testing. I love using liquid concealers and this comes in a click pen style packaging, much like the cult beauty favourite YSL Touche Le Clait. The Aldi offering has quite a creamy consistency and I found it a little hard to blend under my eyes when using my finger or a brush, I got much better results when I used my beauty blender. It gave a more even coverage and it didn’t look as heavy. I didn’t like this for covering blemishes simply because it was the wrong shade. It was very good as a brightening product, to use under the eye to combat dark circles, down the nose or any other areas you want to reflect the light. I’m impressed with this and although it settled into my fine lines by the end of the day I think if you used a primer & powdered you would see it wearing a little better. I highly recommend testing this out.

Lacura Concealer Pen

Lacura Eyebrow Pencil in Brunette £1.99

I never expect much from a budget eyebrow pencil, simply because they tend to be scratchy and a little dry. This wasn’t the best eyebrow product I have tried, I liked the colour and it worked well for my dark brows. It was a little dry and it took a while to fill my brows in. I like the ease of a product like Benefit Gimme Brow but if you like to use a pencil to fill yours in you might want to pick this up next time you’re in Aldi and let me know what you think. This does have a brush on the other end which was handy. At the moment the eyebrow pencils only come in Blonde and Brunette but fingers crossed they add a few more shades soon.

Lacura Eyeliner in Emerald £1.99

This was in a really pretty emerald green shade and I love wearing green liners. Not 100% sure if that suits brown eyes but I try to rock that look. So the shade is pretty but it has a slight metallic finish – which in my opinion doesn’t leave the most even finish. This has a very creamy formula and would be a great shade if you’re heading to any festivals this year.

Affordable Aldi Makeup

Aldi Lacura Makeup Swatches

Out of the three products I tested, the Concealer Pen, was by far the product that impressed me the most. It was a great colour, consistency and I was not let down by the quality. I am now going to go and buy a few backups because from what I have read these sell out fast and are hard to track down.

Let me know what Lacura Beauty products you have tried from Aldi, I would love to have some recomendations.

These new releases from Aldi’s Lacura Beauty range will be available in Aldi Stores Nationwide from April 17th 2016.

*PR Sample

GOSH SS16 Makeup Releases

February 16, 2016February 16, 2016 - Vicki 4 Comments

GOSH 2016 Makeup Releases

GOSH have some really exciting releases for Spring / Summer 2016 and I have been testing a few of them out. I was most excited to try the Lip Oils & Lumi Drops but I have to say all these products are great quality and are worth trying out.

To Be Cool in Copenhagen* is a 9 shade all matte eyeshadow palette, these are beautiful cool toned neutral colours which are easy to wear. You can create so many eye looks & of course the classic smokey eye, I like that you get a good mix of shades from light creams to mid tone browns right down to lovely greys. This is quite a versatile palette and I think the fact all the shadows are matte is going to be such a selling point. Good quality affordable matte shadows are hard to find but GOSH have answered my prayers. The palette is compact and the mirror inside is a good size. This is one to add to your wish list for sure.

GOSH Matte Eyeshadow Palette

GOSH Lip Oils

The Lip Oils* feel and look very glossy on the lips, quite a slippy texture which I have to say felt nice and comfortable. They have some great ingredients including Sea Buckthorn, Macadamia Oil, Moringa Oil and Argan Oil. They do give a very slight tint of colour but nothing to write home about. These oils will nourish, soothe and add hydration to your lips and I think they do just that. I’ve loved using these and think they might be a good dupe for the Clarins ones. I have the shades Raspberry and Sea Buckthorn.

GOSH New Makeup Releases 2016

I’m a big fan of cream eyeshadow & even more so when it comes in a crayon so I knew I was going to get a lot of use from Forever Matte Eyeshadow Stick*. I have the shade Twisted Brown which is a gorgeous deep nude brown shade and again this is has a matte finish. This has a lovely creamy formula which makes it easy to apply and blend out then it stays in place all day. Its pigmented and such a wearable shade.

The Velvet Touch Lipstick* in the shade Nougat also has a matte finish (I think GOSH have a theme going here) this lipstick is a really pretty nude, its not going to make your lips look dead but instead gives your lips a little warmth. This is a subtle brown on me and feels comfortable and creamy, It lasts quite a while before needing to be topped up. Its an easy subtle nude to wear & I think it will look flattering on a lot of people.

GOSH Makeup Swatches

Rebel Eyes Mascara* has a plastic wand which is curved to help get right to the base of the lashes and coat every lash. The wand is a good size and it was great at brushing the mascara on without clumping. The formula contains Sea Buckthorn Seed Oil which protects your lashes so your lashes are getting some TLC whilst looking fab! I love that its jet black and makes my lashes look long, and thick. GOSH say this mascara contains a special polymer that gives lengthening and curling features. So if you like your lashes to stay curled and look fluttery all day then you need to try this one out.

GOSH Rebel Eyes Mascara

Lumi Drops* are available in 3 shades and I have Peach which is a beautiful glowing pink peach with a gold iridescence. These can be worn alone to give a pretty highlighter effect or mixed with foundation to add a luminous glow to your skin. There is no glitter in this the formula just pretty light reflecting pearl pigments with a hint of shimmer so you won’t look like a disco ball. These are a great product to have & you need to use so little to achieve the desired effect. I think this is a great release for Summer and will look really pretty with a tan. GOSH Makeup Products

Primer Plus Illuminating Skin Perfector* so this is a primer and a skin illuminator in one, thats my kind of product. A product that will keep your makeup in place, looking flawless whilst adding a luminous glow to your skin, its perfect! You can use this on its own for a radiant look or use under your foundation for a gorgeous flawless glow. It is infused with beneficial skin ingredients. ProRenew Complex stimulates skin’s self-renewal helping the skins own glow to come through. Silsoft E- Pearl provides a moist feel, line blurring and creates an illusion of perfection. This isn’t a greasy slippy primer instead it feels like a moisturiser and it almost sinks in to the skin leaving it feeling smooth and soft, It has a peachy tint to it and I love how radiant my skin looks when I use it.

I think GOSH have some really exciting products in their SS16 range and I have been most impressed with the Lumi Drops, Forever Eyeshadow Crayon and the Lip Oils, Although all of the products I have tried have been great quality and really good value for money. Let me know if you update your makeup bag for Spring with any of these new releases!

GOSH SS16 releases are available in exclusively in Superdrug from February 2016

*PR Samples

Let's talk beauty

Unbiased beauty product reviews & tips

Drugstore makeup