ALEX STEINHERR x PRIMARK

When I heard the name Alex Steinherr I think Glamour Magazine and although she is no longer with Glamour the one thing that stands out in my head is the fact that this lady KNOWS skin care. I think a lot of people would say the same thing and you know that through the fact that it sold out literally within a few hours in some stores. Skincare can be pretty overwhelming and in some cases really expensive and it doesn't necessarily need to be that way and Alex has shown this through her collaboration with Primark - not only are they delightful and affordable they're also cruelty free.

Like I said skincare can be overwhelming and when it comes to my skin I find it pretty difficult to find products that don't break me out or that I find a genuine benefit from so I only picked up 4 products but now i'm wishing i'd bought the whole stand. I thought the best way for me to see if this skincare range works for my skin would to be to cover all bases - a cleanser, an eye cream, a sheet mask and the blemish stickers.

On my social media it is very rare that you will see me fresh faced but if i'm completely honest 90% of the time I am only wearing mascara, if that and so I was really hoping for a gentle cleanser that wouldn't break me out or dry my skin, it would simply leave my skin feeling fresh and remove any excess dirt my skin has picked up throughout the day. Alex's cleanser does just that and I now use this morning and evening - when I'm not wearing a lot of make up anyway. Although it will remove make up i'm not sure it is designed for a lot as I did find when I used it to remove heavier make up it required a few more cotton pads than the usual micellar water I use. This cleanser is really refreshing so first thing in the morning it is a dream and at £5 you really can't go wrong.

Secondly I picked up the Sleep Spa Every Night Eye Mask and I think this one might actually be my favourite. For this one I was intrigued by Alex's tip on the side of the box ' I developed this for myself to look less exhausted by morning! I wanted a light yet deeply hydrating and puff-reducing eye treatment. and it delivers!' - this is what sold me on this product - we all want to look less tired right? and Alex is someone who always looks so fresh faced and awake regardless of her busy schedule. As you can see from the name of this product it is one to be used at night time so it can work its magic. I'm not sure if its because I am guilty of never using an eye cream so it's a bit of a shock to my under eyes and they're absorbing everything I give to them but this eye cream leaves my under eyes incredibly hydrated and with this I look more awake - along with a gallon of coffee to make me feel it too. It is a gel formula that instantly absorbs into the skin and if you pop it in the fridge after you have used it at night to then re-apply in the morning it makes a real difference to the puffiness. At £4 i'm happy to stick with this product in my skincare routine.

Blemish patches - something I've always been sceptical about. With a £3 price tag I was sure these wouldn't do a thing when it came to a blemish but Alex has proved me wrong. They're not the most incredible patches in the world, my blemishes don't 100% disappear over night but i'm not sure this magic exists in any skin care range. I applied these to a blemish that was nearly healed and a slightly more angry blemish which was beginning to mark its territory - the nearly healed one it didn't do anything for, however the angrier blemish was a lot less angry, the redness had gone and the bump was reduced. Not bad for a Primark price tag ay?

I have never been the biggest fan of sheet masks as I always find them too slimey, they leave too much product on the skin which can leads to breakouts for me and they're inconvenient when you are mid pamper and you fancy a sip of your tea - i'm sure you can relate. The Power Mask from the Pump & Glow range which claims to be 'an intense re-plumping dose of hydration' just sounded too good to pass, so I gave it a go. It has 2 steps to this mask so in my mind it was a liquid in one section and a perhaps a drier sheet than normal for you to apply your desired amount, I was wrong. After applying the step one liquid onto my skin I opened the sheet step to find even more liquid on the mask and if i'm honest I made a bit of a mess on my side because of this. I left it on my skin for around 15-20 minutes before removing it and although it says to leave the excess liquid on your skin and massage in, there was so much it just wasn't possible for me. Instead I took a cotton pad and wiped off the majority before massaging the tiny bit i'd left into my skin. My skin felt nice afterwards but the next morning WOW my skin has never felt so soft and hydrated, the small mess was 100% worth it and no breakouts occurred so I will definitely be picking up a few more of these. Again a complete bargain for such impressive results at £3.

I am desperate to try the Pollution Solution Exfoliating Pads and the Sleeping Mask, have you tried any of her skincare line? If so i'd love to hear which products you would recommend.

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STEP BY STEP ¦ HOW TO LAYER COLOURFUL EYE SHADOWS / CUT CREASE

If you'd put a colourful eye palette in front of me a year ago I would've passed it right back as there was no way I believed I could create such a colourful look so easily. When it comes to eye make up I always thought the best way to create a seamless look was to start with the more natural shades and gradually build up and don't get me wrong this works but over the past few months I have stepped out of my comfort zone a little and tried much bolder eye looks and my old shadow habits just don't give the outcome I was trying to achieve. Instead after watching a few tutorials I have switched up my eye shadow application to starting off BOLD and the outcome is so much more colourful and intense.

(products photographed were used to create the rest of the make up look along with a few others which are tagged in my insta post for this look)

SHOCK it's another look using the Morphe 35B palette, but i'm obsessed. I thought I would share with you a start-finish step by step on how to layer beautiful coloured shadows easily in a way that doesn't take up a lot of time.

To start you want to apply the boldest colour you're going to be using and in my case this was red and pack this colour into your crease using quite a small and dense:

Then you want to apply a colour that will blend nicely with the shade you've already applied so it'll appear more seamless, in my case this was orange. Again pack on the shade but at the same time you want to blend it in small circular motions without going too far up the eyelid with a still a small but slightly fluffier brush:

I like to stick to just 3 shades when blending upwards so finally I picked up a yellow on a slightly bigger fluffier brush as this is a colour that is easier to use as a transition to the colour of my skin, of course you can use any shade you like just be sure to blend, blend, blend:

At this point I like to cut the crease as this gives me a fresh palette to work on on my eyelid. I like to do this with a concealer - I tap a small amount into the centre of my lid using a flat brush and open my eye until it touches my crease. As you can see from the below photo this gives me an out line for exactly where to cut my crease:

Once you have used a flat brush to go along the line of your crease, apply the concealer over the lid to about 3/4 of the way across and set with a light, matte and almost white shadow:

Now it is time to apply the 3 shades across your lid in a 'rainbow' like affect, start with the boldest shadow again as this will lead off from the shadow you've already applied. Then go in with the same shadow you blended from this on the lid, finally followed by the yellow/lighter shade you have used and pack it on the rest of the 'blank canvas':

On the lightest shade I like to apply a shimmer to make it stand out a little bit more so in this case I used the yellow shimmer and just packed this onto the yellow shadow using my finger. I then just grabbed a small amount of cleanser on a folded cotton pad and used this to tidy the edge into more of a wing:

To finish the look I applied the rest of my face make up before blending the bold shade across my lower lash line. You don't need to add any glitter but I couldn't help myself - if you wish to you can use a tiny amount of eyelash glue and tap it onto your desired glitter area before pressing on the glitter itself:

The only other thing to do is to add your lashes/mascara and VOILA.

I really hope you found this helpful and i'd love to know if you try out this look.

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Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish LIQUID Foundation

Back in 2016 my go-to full coverage foundation for a long time was the Hourglass Vanish STICK Foundation which I did post a full review on here, however as the months got colder and my skin got slightly paler the colour I was matched with for this foundation just didn't work for me anymore and it started to edge towards the back of my drawer and hasn't moved since. When I saw that Hourglass had bought out a liquid version I had to pick it up when I passed the stand in Liberty's. Hourglass describe the foundation like so - "This innovative, weightless formula is the future of foundation – just half a pump is all you need to achieve complexion perfection. Coated pigments offer smooth, second-skin, long-wearing application without drying out skin – eliminating the need for primer – while light-refracting micro-spheres blur imperfections for a soft-focus finish." They weren't wrong, it really is luxurious. 

I'm the type of girl that will use primer on the daily as my t-zone can get quite oily and my pores are pretty visible, so when the lady told me I shouldn't alongside this product I was really intrigued to see how it would work on my skin. I was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of this foundation, my pores were less visible, my skin was fairly matte and the coverage was impressive from the small amount I used. They recommend that you only need half a pump for your whole face, this is one thing I don't believe as it took one pump to create a medium coverage base.

Although they say no primer is needed you do need to make sure your skin is well moisturised as it can cling to any dry patches if not. I know I said I get an oily t-zone however my cheeks can get quite dry so I have been applying Laura Mercier's Foundation Primer as it's almost like a second moisturiser to me because it is full of vitamins and this foundation doesn't cling to it as it's so lightweight.

The first time wearing this I set the foundation with my everyday pressed powder which still left a flawless finish, however after a couple of hours the area around my nose really started to crease and move away so the foundation started to look a little patchy. I didn't make this mistake the 2nd time - this time I took a loose powder and pressed it into the small creases around my nose and also my smile lines and left it there for a few minutes to ensure it was completely set. I thought this may start to make the foundation cakey but I was completely wrong - the wear test the second time around was a complete success and I have been wearing this foundation every time I have worn make up.

Before:

The Foundation Alone:

With Products On Top:

Let's not forget to mention how gorgeous the packaging is. It is so elegant and looks super expensive - which it is - this is the one downside, the price tag. This foundation retails for £51 a bottle which is kind of ridiculous when you think that it's just a foundation but when you take into consideration the quality of the product along with the fact that you don't need a primer with it, you're essentially getting the two products in one. This made me feel less guilty about purchasing it, although my bank balance didn't thank me regardless. Let's just say I hope this foundation lasts me the 18 months the lady advised me it would.

You can pick this foundation up here.

Have you tried this foundation? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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JACLYN HILL x MORPHE PALETTE ¦ GOLD FOIL WING

With Jaclyn being like the queen of the beauty industry when I saw this collaboration it was a MUST have and I'm so glad I purchased it. It has the perfect pigmentation as expected from Morphe with the creativity and beauty in the colours chosen/created by Jaclyn. I chose to do a fairly simple look to show that anyone can use this palette, you don't have to be super creative to pull of a pop of colour on the lids. Out of all Morphe palettes, along with the 350 this one is my absolute favourite purely for the range of shades - you can go cool toned, warm toned, a pop of colour, really intense or simply natural.

FACE:
Topshop Long Wear Mattifying Primer
Topshop Long Wear Liquid Foundation in Meringue
Makeup Revolution Concealer in C3
Collection Sheer Loose Powder in Translucent
Kiko Sparkling Holiday Baked Powder in 04 Sienna (limited edition)
Nars Deep Throat Blush
Anastasis Beverly Hills x Amrezy Highlighter
Mac Fix+

EYES:
Jaclyn Hill x Morphe Palette - I used a mixture of the 4 light brown shades as my transition then I went in with the matte turquoise colour at the bottom of the palette. Once it was all blended smoothly I went over the top of the turquoise with the shimmery shade next to it in the palette.
Gold Foil from Ebay - This foil is extremely fiddly and really tested my patience but I was so pleased with how it looked in the end. I simply stuck it where I wanted it using Duo Lash Glue.
Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara

BROWS:
Benefit Brow Contour Pro in Brown Light
Benefit Gimme Brow in Shade 4

LIPS:
Kiko Everlasting Colour Precision Lip Liner in 420
Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick in Stripped

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