Clinique 3 Step Anti Blemsih Solutions Skincare Set

Hello!

2 posts in one day, whatever have you done wrong to deserve this?! As promised I have decided to do a review on the Clinique 3 Step Anti Blemish Solutions Skincare Set. This was a trial set that I bought and is intended to last 2 weeks. It includes a Foaming Cleanser (Step 1), a Clarifying Lotion (Step 2) and a Clearing Moisturiser. It retails for £30 and claims after one week skin is glowing, looks clearer, less oily and make up is going on smoother too. Although intended to last 2 weeks I actually still have about half of the moisturiser and cleanser left over so you do get a reasonable amount of product in each bottle (or I haven't been putting enough on). I have oily to combination skin and despite keeping my brushes clean, testing various types of foundation and all kinds of skin crèmes I just don't seem to be able to clear up my skin so I thought this would be worth a try. Here is a very scary picture of me before starting the trial.

                                   

As you can see I get quite bad breakouts around my jawline and chin area which can be really annoying and quite noticeable. I have been using the 3 Step System for just over 2 weeks and whilst my skin feels softer and breakouts aren't lasting as long, I don't notice a major difference.

 

                                  

I'm going to review the products separately as there are some I like more than others and all 3 products have their pros and cons.

Foaming Cleanser

I have to say, this is probably my least favourite of all 3. Whilst I really like the idea of a gentle foaming cleanser with a pump, it doesn't feel like the product is really doing anything. The foam melts away as your massage it in to the skin which leaves you feeling like there isn't really anything on your skin when your trying to clean it. This could be down to my own personal preferences though, as I am a huge fan of St Ives Apricot Scrub as I feel it gives the skin a really good clean and is amazing at removing any excess dirt or dead skin cells. I found that the smell of the product was very clinical like something a doctor would use to clean a wound. Furthermore, when it came to using the toner after I had washed with the cleanser there was still a lot of make up coming off on the pad despite using a remover wipe before washing.

Clarifying Lotion

I really quite liked the lotion, when applied with a cotton pad you could really feel it working on the skin and got a lot of dirt, oils and excess make up off. There was a very slight tightening/ tingling sensation on the skin after application which reassured me that it was working on clearing out all the pores on my face. However, I think without the moisturiser it would dry out any dry patches or areas you may have on your skin as it is quite strong.

Clearing Moisturiser

Your probably going to cringe when you hear this but I never usually apply moisturiser. Since I have oily skin I have had some bad experiences with other moisturisers in the past but this one was quite good. It has a nice silky soft feeling when you first apply it to the skin and it dries in reasonably quickly so your not left walking around with a shiny, sticky face. It seems to have a soothing agent in it as I found a lot of my breakouts looked much calmer and smaller the next day. Also worth mentioning is a I have some dry areas either side of my face which causes my foundation to go quite patchy half way through the day but the moisturiser really hydrated these areas and my make up looked much more even after this.

Overall, I would say the set is OK. It is really good for prolonging make up and making breakouts look less angry and sore but it doesn't get rid of them all together. Perhaps if I keep using it, it will eventually all come together but right now I think I would only reinvest in the Clarifying Lotion. For the price of the products I really don't feel like I got the results I wanted. Have any of you had any experience with this product? Did you think it was good, bad or just OK? Let me know!

 

Thanks for reading!

Lots of Love

Kirsty

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Birthday Haul! MAC, Zara and lots more!

Hello everyone!

I do apologise, I realise there has been quite a large gap between my last post and this one but its been a super busy week or so getting ready for my 21st Birthday! I had such a lovely day and got some amazing gifts which I wanted to share with you all. My ever so generous boyfriend gave me £100 to go shopping with along with Marc Jacobs perfume that I have been dying to have for so long! So of course I just had to go to the Mac Store, I mean where else?! Since I'm still building up my kit I invested in 2 Face and Body Foundations (N1 and C6) so I can mix and match to find the right shade for clients. Then I thought id treat myself to a new Lipglass, Lipstick and Liner. Im pretty sure the artist who helped me thought shed struck gold as I was literally taking everything she suggested to me. I put what little money I had left towards a nice coat which I spotted in Zara and couldn't walk out the store without buying! I am just so weak when it comes to shopping! I also got a lovely pearl set from my auntie, £200 altogether from all my family and the big one ... A TRIP TO NEW YORK from my far too kind mum and dad. Here is my overall birthday collection:

It was so generous of everyone to get me such lovely gifts and I had an amazing day picking out lots of new make up at MAC. Overall, I had a fantastic birthday and am so grateful I got to spend it with such a brilliant family. To top it all off my mum arranged the most beautiful Jimmy Choo birthday cake which had the New York skyline round the box. It was such a gorgeous cake and I was devastated when I had to cut it up!

Here are some swatches of the lip products I got from MAC. They are reasonably dark colours as youl probably notice and I thought these were perfect since sadly we are coming in to Autumn! Far left is the Pro Longwear Lipglass in Dark as Night, the centre is Satin Lipstick in Cyber and the nude swatch on the right is a Lip Pencil in Boldly Bare.

I really love all my presents and am so grateful for everything from everyone. I cannot wait to blog about my trip to New York in November, I have been saving like crazy so I plan on doing a major haul post when I get back. Watch this space! Hope everyone has had a great week so far!

 

Thanks so much for reading!

lots of love

Kirsty

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Tutorial: Kim Kardashian inspired red lips and gold eyes

Hello again everyone!

So today's post is going to be a look inspired by the GORGEOUS Kim Kardashian. I love how she pulls off the golden bronzey eyes with the statement red lip so thought I would try it out myself. Here is the lovely Kim wearing the look herself:

The important thing to remember when trying to recreate Kardashian make up is concealing and conturing. Kim's face always looks flawless and perfectly sculpted which is hardly surprising when you consider that her make up is done by the majorly talented Joyce Bonelli. Here is my take on the look:

Products used:

Face   

Clinique age defence BB cream in Shade 01

Estée Lauder double wear maximum cover in 01 Creamy Ivory

Sleek face form Contouring and Blush Palette in Light (bronzer, blush and highlight)

MAC Select Cover-up Concealer

Eyes

Benefit browzings kit in Dark

Urban Decay Primer Potion

MUA Undress Me Too Palette - lids: devotion, crease: fiery, outer corner: obsessed, brow bone: shy

17 Gel Liner in Black 

Benefit They're Real! Mascara 

Lips

Lush Lip Scrub in Bubblegum

Kate Moss for Rimmel lipstick in 01

Barry M Glitter Lip Gloss in Cherry

                                                         Thanks for reading!

                                                                 Kirsty

                                                               Xxxxxxx

Special Effects Kit and General Rambling

Hi again!

So as I mentioned in my first post I am currently training to be a make up artist. I have been practicing all kinds of looks using various types of make up but I haven't had much experience with special effects. Whilst I love using different eye shadows and lip colours to create all sorts of bridal and fashion looks, my main interest is in special effects make up. I love the idea of prosthetics and all things film and television and where a lot of make up artists would dream of working on red carpet events or shows like 90210, it would be my dream to work on a show like Doctor Who or Supernatural. So of course when I spied a special effects kit in Hobbycraft I had to get it! It was just a small kit which I think is intended for use on children but everyone has to start somewhere!

The kit is by a make called Snazaroo. I have a face painting kit by them as well which I love playing around with. It includes Gel Blood, Cake Blood, Special FX Wax, a spatula and a sponge for applying the cake blood. There is also a Step-by-step guide included which talks you through loads of different special effects from bullet wounds to witches noses. I decided to go with something a little different and work from my own imagination and a create a sort of beaten up look. My poor boyfriend, Dechlan, was my guinea pig and I was quite happy with the results considering it was my first time doing any sort of special effect make up. So this is how Dechlan looks normally (I know, doesn't he just HATE a selfie) ...

and this was him after I got my hands on him ..

Using the wax I created a deep cut on the bridge of his nose and a swollen eyelid which I painted over to look like a black eye. The burst lip was just created with a mix of black, red and blood coloured face paints. Overall I was really pleased with what I had managed to achieve and we managed to fool some of our friends and family in to thinking it was real. This kit cost £11.99 and I hardly used much of the materials so I think it will last for at least ten looks. Id recommend this anyone who is looking to do a look that would require special effects for Halloween or perhaps a fancy dress event or even someone like myself who is looking to practice their skills at special effects make up, It is perfect for beginners as it is easy to use and doesn't cost a fortune. Ill post some more pictures below so you can get a better look at it all.

                           

 

I also went to Debenhams recently and got myself a number of things, like seriously I spent WAY too much I think the sales assistants thought they had won the lottery. I got some basics like Urban Decay Primer Potion, Stay Slick Setting Spray and Benefit Browzing Eyebrow Kit but what I was most intrigued by was the Clinique Anti Blemish Solutions 3 Step Solutions skin care set. This contains a foaming cleanser, a toner and a mattifying moisturiser. I have oily to combination skin and get slight breakouts around my chin and jawline from time to time so I am interested to see how this works as it promises noticeable results within two weeks. I have been using this morning and night for a few days now but I want to give it the full two week trial before posting a review so I wont say too much just yet but keep an eye out for that in coming weeks. I also purchased the Benefit They're Real! Mascara which I am so excited about! The woman on the counter applied this to my mums lashes and I swear I have never seen her lashes look so long, she was seriously looking like Bambi. It was GORGEOUS! So I am really hoping it has the same effect on my lashes and I'm hoping to get a review done in the next couple of days to let you guys see how I got on :) If there is anything else you would like to see on here by all means let me know, I love a challenge and I want to learn how to do pretty much every make up look out there so please let me know by leaving a comment below and ill do my best to get it made in to a post.

 

Thanks so much for reading!

Lots of love,

 Kirsty

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Budget Beauty: Bridal Tutorial using MUA Undress Me Too Palette

Oh hey heeeey!

Oh dear, I apologize for serious lack of posts over the weekend, its been a crazy busy week! Not to worry though, I am back today with my first ever tutorial for you guys and I could not be more terrified. I decided to start off with a simple bridal eye make up tutorial and to do this I mostly used the MUA make up academy Undress Me Too palette. Now I just have to say, I LOVE this palette. Not only does it have 12 beautiful neutral shades (9 shimmer and 3 matte) but its an absolute steal at wait for it ..... £4. Yes that's right, £4! Obviously you cant compare the quality to the likes of MAC or Urban Decay but for a drugstore palette the shadows are reasonably pigmented and stay put for the majority of the day. I would definitely recommend this to someone like myself who is interested in learning more about make up and doesn't want invest in a full palette of eye shadows from a premium brand just yet.

 

As you can see, its a well used palette. Its brilliant for everyday looks for work or even a smokey eye for a night out. So on to the tutorial! I used a few shades from the palette to do this bridal look. I apologise in advance for the current state of my eyebrows, they are horrendous!

           
 
 

To make it a bit easier to follow I have labelled all the colours of the palette and that way I can just say what colours I have where. It wouldn't allow me to flip this the right way round, so sorry its on its side, I literally have no idea what happened :(

First of all I applied a nude coloured primer to make sure my eye shadow has something to stick to.

I applied "Shy" all over the lid with a large eye shadow brush and then applied "Devotion" to the outer half of the lid. Its not the easiest to see in the pictures as the colours are quite pale, sorry!

         

Using a fluffy blending brush I applied "Dreamy" to the outer corner and very slightly in to the crease. To give the look a slight bit more depth I blended a little of "Obsessed" in to the very outer corner of the eye, but not too much as you want a bridal look to be more demure than rock chick. Lightly apply some white eyeliner to your waterline to brighten up your eyes as well.

         


Finish your look off by lining the eyes with a subtle winged effect and lots of mascara. This look would be perfect with some whispy lashes but I didn't have any to hand at the time of the tutorial, waaaaa!

         

Et Viola! There we have it, a simple bridal look for a few pounds!

Thanks for reading and until next time!
Lots of love,
Kirsty xxxxxx