A Fine Line.

Sorry I've not posted for a while. I've been pretty busy with life and the blog took a back seat but I shall endeavour to post more regularly from now on.

Today's review is Barry M's Bold Waterproof Eyeliner. We all know that many eyeliners profess to be waterproof, smudgeproof and wonderful but rarely is that the case in my experience. My one bugbear is finding eyeliners soft enough to use around the delicate eye area and ones that are pigmented enough to use on the waterline (your lower eyelid). I don't feel my makeup is finished until I have eyeliner on my waterline, it's just a habit of mine. Many many eyeliners have passed through my hands and most of them have disappointed me. I am glad to say that Barry M's Bold Waterproof Eyeliner is not one of them :-).

Colour swatch of the Barry M Waterproof Eyeliner.

Left to Right:

Bold Gunmetal, Bold Bronze, Bold Blue, Bold Gold, Bold Purple, Bold Black and Bold Silver. 

This is an accurate swatch of the colours and once the pencil had set on my hand, I attempted to smudge them. I had to apply a lot of pressure, enough to stretch the skin on the back of my hand and as you can see, the colour has barely moved.

 

Photo showing the coloured text on the barrels and the coloured caps on the bottom of the pencils.

Product: Barry M Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil.


Price Range: Budget/Low priced range. Barry M Bold Waterproof eyeliner pencils retail at £3.99 per pencil. For me, this is a very good price for the quality of the product.

Shade Range: These eyeliner pencils come in seven shades, Gunmetal (dark iron grey), Bronze, Blue, Gold, Purple, Black and Silver. All shades are metallic except the black.

Appearance: A black barrel with a clear cap and coloured ends matching the colours of the pencil. I really like that these have clear caps, coloured ends and the text and print on the barrel of the pencil matches the colour. Royal blue text on the blue pencil, purple text on the purple pencil and so on. The only text colour that doesn't match the pencil colour is the black, for obvious reasons. Black text and a black barrel do not mix well ;-). Instead the text and print is a pale powder blue so stands out really well.
The coloured ends and clear caps make it easy to find the colour you want in your makeup bag or pencil pot. We all have those times where we are in a rush and have spent a precious five minutes looking for the pencil we need at that time. The clear caps and coloured ends solve this problem for me :-).


Application: I never thought I'd say this but it is possible for a pencil to be too easy to apply. The only drawback with these is that in warm weather, the pencil becomes too soft and needs five minutes in the fridge to cool and harden.
These are incredibly easy to apply, silky smooth and pigment rich so you only need to apply one line rather than going over and over the same area to build up the colour. In fact I would say they were equal to, if not better than Urban Decay's 24/7 pencils and that is some standard to beat!

Performance: As I've said before, pencils often claim to be waterproof, smudgeproof and everything-else-proof! I've lost count of the amount of times I've worn a 'smudgeproof' eyeliner only to be confronted with eyes reminiscent of a member of Kiss an hour later!
These go above and beyond their claims. They really are smudgeproof and waterproof, a test on my hand revealed that a good rub with my fingertip achieved little more than a slight smudge and considering I rubbed my fingertip over the pencil line quite firmly, this was a good result! We've had wet but humid weather and a heatwave here the past week or so and these pencils have stood up to the wet and the heat without any smudging, running or fading. A four hour trip in to town and grocery shopping the other day revealed that my eyeliner was still as fresh and bright as when I left the house, it hadn't smudged, run or faded. An extra bonus is that when used on my waterline, the colours are just as strong as they are on my skin and also, they do not make my eyes sting or water. I have sensitive skin and eyes and this is a big plus point for me. All this and super easy to remove with a makeup remover wipe. Some eyeliners can stand the wear and tear but can be really hard to remove and when it comes to the delicate eye area, the last thing you want to be doing is rubbing and scrubbing at the skin to remove stubborn makeup.

Positive Points: Long lasting and hard wearing eyeliner that is as pigment rich on the skin as it is in the barrel. You can't actually see it in the pencil itself but once on the skin, the purple shade and the royal blue shade have a very slight glitter effect that when on the skin, gives a metallic/foiled finish but in a very subtle and pretty way.

Negative Points: None! The only one I can think of is that I'd like a slightly wider shade range, a emerald green and a brown would be lovely but as this is a new product, I am hoping the shade range will expand in time. The only thing that may disappoint some is the metallic finish of the shades, some people will prefer a matte finish so as I said above, I hope the shade range expands once the product has settled in to the market and been out a while.

Would I recommend this product? Absolutely yes! I've tried many eyeliners, some of which have been high-end brands and these beat those hands down. The silky smooth application coupled with the pigment rich texture and hard wearing results even in testing weather conditions is a all round winner for me. The fact they are fine on sensitive skin is a huge plus. I actually can't think of anything seriously negatively wrong with this product.

B.B Beautiful.

The new whizz-kid products on the block at the moment are B.B Creams. Every brand from Vivo Beauty to L'Oreal and Lancome are touting their B.B Creams as a 'wonder' product. We're all sucked in to the marketing hype of wanting to look our best and wanting the next 'miracle' product to work wonders for us, me included. So far I have tried L'Oreal's B.B Cream, Garnier's B.B Cream and Rimmel's primer/perfector cream. I have already blogged about Rimmel's one here and gave it a positive review not just for the price but also the fact it did what it said it would do and did not make false promises in my opinion. I will review the Garnier B.B Cream and the L'Oreal B.B Cream in due course.

What is a B.B Cream?: A B.B Cream is an all round face product consisting of primer, moisturiser, treatment and tinted moisturiser/foundation in one.They can be used alone in place of your usual primer, foundation or tinted moisturiser or they can be used in place of a primer when using foundation for those skin types that need extra coverage. They are different from other cosmetic products in that they are supposed to be good for your skin and treat any imperfections as you wear it. Do I believe they do this? To be honest I am dubious but even if they don't treat imperfections, they still make great all-in-one products for those short on time or light bases for the Summer as  find foundation can be too heavy for use during the Summer months.

Price Range: Today's review is about a budget beauty brand called 'Pure' and I am reviewing their B.B Cream, 'Daily All In One'. I have so far only seen this product on sale in Home Bargains but will update this post if I find it on sale in any other stores. It is on sale in Home Bargains at £1.99 for a 30ml tube which I think is fantastic value for money.

Outer Packaging.

 

Photo of tube out of the box.

 

Shades Available: This B.B cream comes in two shades, light and medium. Having looked at both the testers available I would say that the light is more a light/medium and the medium is more a medium/dark.

Appearance: Once I'd removed the little foil protector from the nozzle and squeezed the tube, the product came out quite fast so be wary of this. On closer inspection the consistency seems really nice, it's quite mousse-like but creamy too. It doesn't have a greasy or heavy consistency and I had high hopes after trying it on the back of my hand.

Application: As I said above, I bought the light shade as I am quite fair-skinned but I did find that due to the light shade being darker than most that I had to  blend it quite well to make sure there were none of the dreaded 'tidemarks'. I used a cosmetic sponge to apply the cream and it wasn't difficult to blend, went on really smoothly and felt really refreshing against my skin. A better known brand (which I will review next week) feels slightly greasy on my skin and a little mask-like but this 'Pure' B.B Cream didn't feel like that at all.

Performance: I thought that it covered imperfections and evened out my skin tone very well indeed considering it is a budget brand. In a blind test I would have priced this nearer the £10 mark than I would it's actual cost of £1.99. Bearing in mind the cost of the product I thought it lived up to it's claims very well indeed.
I don't know if it had any positive effect on my skin as I've only worn it twice so far but I will carry on buying it as I consider it an excellent product for the price.

The only cosmetic products I have on here are eyeshadow, mascara, eyeliner and my usual daily moisturiser.

You can see around my chin particularly that there is redness and also, you can see shadows under my eyes and a couple of little spots around my chin and forehead.

In this photo I have a light covering of 'Pure' B.B Cream and you can see that my skin tone is much more even and the shadows and redness that were there previously have been concealed rather well considering I've only used the one product. I have not used any concealer, foundation, tinted moisturiser or setting powder in this photo. Just a light layer of the 'Pure' B.B Cream and I think it has done such a good job of evening out my skin that I would wear it alone in place of my usual foundation.

Both of these photos were taken minutes apart, in the same light and using the same camera so for me, I can definitely see that my skin is brighter and more even than it was without the B.B Cream.

'Fresh Faced' if you like :-).

 

Performance: Overall I thought this product performed really really well. It was much less greasy than a better known and more expensive brand and didn't leave my skin feeling 'caked' in product or leave it feeling greasy and it lasted pretty well through the day considering the price bracket it is in and the fact it is a budget range. My skin just looked and felt a better version of it's natural self and that is a sign of a good product for me.

Positive Points: One of the positive points for me is that it is a very well priced brand so anyone on a budget would be able to afford this product, from pocket-money teens to mums and cash-strapped stidents.
It's also very easy and quick to apply (I used a cosmetics sponge) providing you blend the edges. One of the biggest positive points is that it is unfragranced (unlike another brand) which meant I could use this to conceal the shadows under my eyes without my eyes being left with that horrible stingy and watering feeling. I have quite sensitive skin and if a product does have any artificial or unneccesary fragrance added, I do find it a bit of a problem as the product then tends to affect my eyes. This one doesn't at all which is another thing I love about it and one of the things that I consider is better about it than other better known brands. This is a hidden gem!

Negative Points: I don't feel the shades are an accurate description of what is in the tube. As I said above, I consider the light to be more a light/medium and the medium to be more a medium/dark. This could cause issues for people with very fair or pale skin as the light may well be too dark for them.
If I was being really picky I would say that it is a shame that this is the only product in their range when it comes to B.B Creams/cosmetics. I'd personally loved to see a tinted moisturiser or light concealer pen from them as well as I consider the B.B Cream to be so good that I think one or two products added to the range would make a great all round package for treating, concealing and minimising any imperfections you may have on your face.

Would I recommend this product?: Absolutely! I will admit that I was dubious at first because it seemed to be very cheap in comparison to others and due to that, I really didn't expect much at all from this B.B Cream but I was very pleasantly surprised. I have a bit of an issue with cosmetics when it comes to 'known' brands, because I react to cheap fragrances and formulations I don't tend to try the budget or unknown brands at all as I expect them to be of a much lesser quality than the 'known' brands but on this occasion I am very glad I took the gamble as this cream not only surpassed my expectations but also provided more than I expected it to.
For £1.99 I really don't think you can go wrong especially as more well known brands are hovering around the £8 - £13 price bracket.

Prime Time.

The buzz on the beauty scene right now are primers. Gel primers, all in one primers (B.B creams) etc etc.

First up to be reviewed is Rimmel's Fix & Perfect Pro primer.

What is a primer?: A primer is 'undercoat' for your face. In the same way as undercoat on walls covers colour inconsistencies and blemishes on the wall that not only allow you to use less paint but also provide a smoother base for you to apply paint to. In this way, primers do the same for your skin in that they will smooth out any blemishes, blur any fine lines around your eyes or mouth and give you a smooth base for your foundation. Not only will you need to use less foundation but a primer will help your foundation to last longer and give it something to 'stick' to rather than 'sliding' off your face with wear. In general, a good primer will make your foundation go further and last longer once on your face.

Cost:  Rimmel are traditionally seen as a 'pocket money' range/mid-price range so this primer retails for a very reasonable RRP of £6.99 for a 30ml tube.

Shades: This comes in one shade, a very natural and nice neutral that is invisible once on your face and will suit everyone from the palest tone to the darker skin tones.

Appearance: On squeezing the tube a white gel-cream appears. First impressions are that it isn't greasy or too much of a 'cream' consistency but more a light gel. It's quite an odd texture to describe but it isn't an unpleasant texture or greasy at all. There is also no strong fragrance which for me is a big plus as my skin can sometimes react to fragrances in face products.

Application: This primer glides on very easily and you really don't need a lot of it. During my trial of this I wore it daily for a week and applied it ten minutes after cleansing and moisturising my face. I personally found it best to apply with a latex cosmetics sponge as I find this enables me to get an even coverage of primer over my entire face and then to dab any hard to reach areas with my fingertips.

Performance: It isn't realistic to expect a primer to keep your foundation absolutely perfectly in place for the whole day, particularly if you have oily/combination skin. On the whole I was very pleased with the performance of this primer considering the cost comparison of other slightly higher end brands. I found I needed to use much less foundation and that the primer helped to brighten my skin and made any imperfections much easier to conceal along with mattifying my T-zone area and helping to conceal some pores. I also noticed that my foundation and base makeup still looked fresh after three or four hourse wear. I tested this primer in a variety of conditions, wet weather, hot weather and everything in between and found that it helped to hold my foundation in place very well indeed.

Negative Points: I can't really say that this product has any. It doesn't promise the world but for a budget range, you can't expect miracles. It does exactly what it says it will do in a no-nonsense way and is fuss-free to apply. I would recommend this to anyone on a budget who wanted a general all-round primer that performs as it says it will. 

Positive Points: Very well priced and a generous size tube that should last you a month - six weeks if applying a thin layer daily. Easy and very fuss-free to apply as the transparent colour means you don't have to worry about tidemarks or blending. It doesn't leave a greasy residue on your skin nor feel 'mask-like' as some primers can and actually holds your base in place. I also find I need to use much less foundation and concealer when using this primer as a base. Another positive point is that you could wear this alone on top of your moisturiser if you are not a fan of foundation as it does balance out your skin and leaves you with a better version of your natural look. This primer doesn't cake or leave any sort of 'film' over your skin either.
As it comes in a neutral shade that is invisible once on your skin, it will suit any skin tone from very fair skin right up to black skin without leaving the dreaded 'ashy' look on black skins.

Would I Recommend This Product?: Yes. I'd recommend this primer 100%. Plain and no frills packaging that is hiding a superstar of a primer inside.