SOPH X MAKEUP REVOLUTION HIGHLIGHTER PALETTE REVIEW

Well hello there!

Another review for you, and this is for the Soph x Makeup Revolution Highlighter Palette. I love this palette and I just really wanted to talk to you about it. Sophie (Sophdoesnails on YouTube) also has an eyeshadow palette which I have mentioned in previous posts and I love that as well! It comes with 8 different shades, 4 of them are for lighter skin tones and the other 4 are more suited for darker skin tones. This palette retails for £8 which is so cheap already, so let's see if it is worth buying...

Packaging 
The packaging is a nude and a very sturdy plastic which matches her eyeshadow palette packaging. I do love it because it is different to the normal Makeup Revolution components. It has a window on the front so you can see all of the shades with 'Soph x' in the middle of the window so you know that this is her product.  It has 5 baked highlighters and 3 pressed highlighters, and the majority of these shades are neutral barring 2 of them which are a light pink and a light purple.

Swatches
The first group of four (for lighter skin tones)

The second group of four (for darker skin tones)

As you can see from the swatches, they look so pigmented and incredible! They do feel slightly dry when swatching but that does not effect the blinding power of these highlighters.

Application
When I applied this to my cheekbone, my mouth literally dropped to the floor with how pigmented this is. I used the lightest shade in this palette as I felt like it would work really well on my skin tone. You don't even need to build this up because it is so blinding with one tap of the brush in the pan. The colour is so pretty as well, it's the perfect icy white shade which is amazing for pale skin tones.

Longevity

I always do my wear tests when I'm at work because if it can last 8 hours on my face, then it's a winner! The highlighter was definitely on my face and still pretty blinding when I got home from work. It did not wear off or go patchy in any way, it still looked amazing!

Opinion
This palette is so diverse, there is a shade for every skin tone. That's what I love about this palette - no one is left out, she thought about everyone and not just her own skin tone. Besides that I think the quality of these highlighters are 100% one of the best drugstore highlighters I have ever tried. To be honest I am not surprised because I don't expect any less from Makeup Revolution and especially because Soph made these, you knew these were going to be amazing! If you are on the hunt for a new highlighter palette that is drugstore, has incredible quality and you are yet to check this out, then I strongly recommend you do. I have started using this more and more because of how good it is and I am never disappointed. Also this palette is vegan and cruelty free!  

You can buy this here.
So that was my review on the Soph x Makeup Revolution Palette, if you have tried this let me know what you think!
Thank you so much for reading,

Want to see more from me?

Twitter: alixholdenx

Instagram: alixholdenx

Bloglovin': alixkate
Don't forget to subscribe to my blog to be notified every time I post!

MAKEUP REVOLUTION HAUL

Well hello there!

So no surprise to anyone but I have been shopping again....online and in store and I thought I would share with you what I picked up. As I have mentioned many of times Makeup Revolution is my favourite make up brand because they're products are not only super cheap, they have amazing quality as well! Just a pre-warning, this is going to be a long one so grab your cuppa teas because this is going to be a long read.

I'm just going to quickly mention a couple of things I received for Christmas, I did not purchase these myself but I thought I would to include them:

Ultimate Blush & Light & Contour Palette 2018

I have not had a chance to use this yet but I love how much option you have in this palette, there is 32 pans! It has a shade for every skin tone and different colours of each product. They usually sell these around Christmas time so at the moment they are being sold for £10 which is half price! You can buy this here.

Matte Lip Kit

So I have wanted one of these for the longest time and when I received this for Christmas I was over the moon! I have tried this out a couple of times but I won't go too much into detail as a full review is coming soon! I got the shade 'Echelon' which is the one I did want to buy myself and I love the colour. This lip kits retail for £6 and you can buy them here.

Liquid Bronze Highlighter
I have briefly touched on the liquid highlighters on one of my monthly favourites posts but I do really like these, they do dry down quickly so my only advice is to do one side at a time. But for £6 and them being a complete dupe of the Cover FX liquid highlighters, you can't go wrong. This shade is a tad too dark for me, but in the Summer or when I have a tan it will look a lot better. You can buy this here.

Now onto the things I bought myself recently:

Sugar & Spice Ultra Blush Palette
I have been really getting into blush lately, I never used to wear it but now I'm finding myself putting it on every day. I'm not going to lie I  just bought this so I have more option for blush in my collection. This palette is pretty, it has every shade you would possibly need apart from a coral shade and it has blush toppers! This retails for £4 which is very cheap and you can buy this here.

Newtrals 2 Eyeshadow Palette

This is another product I haven't had a chance to try yet but I am thinking of doing a review because this is only £4!! It has a mix of mattes, shimmers and a couple of shades have the tiniest bit of glitter in them. The shades in this palette are stunning and I have already heard good things and I want to try it for myself. You can buy this here.

Conceal & Define Concealer
I have already put up my review on this concealer, but if you haven't had a chance yet you can read it here. If you have read it you would know that I frickin' love this concealer!! They have 18 shades which is so impressive and for £4 they are such good quality, and people have been comparing this to the Tarte Shape Tape. That review was revolved around the shade C1 but I now have it in C3 which is the exact same tone, just a tiny bit darker. I use the darker shade for my blemishes. If you haven't bought this yet, first of all what are you doing and secondly you can buy them here.

Mega Matte Face Palette

I didn't need this in my collection as I have more than enough face palettes but I love the shades in this. It is a big palette so not travel friendly but I have been using this for the past week and I am loving it.  It has 2 face powders, 3 blushers and 2 contour shades and you can buy this here.

Single Blush

I did buy another blusher but this is a single pan that literally only costs £1 which is insane. I picked this up in the shade 'Treat' which is a coral colour, and I wanted this because I don't have a blush in this shade and I thought for how cheap it is then why not. You can buy this here.

Glow Getter Palette

I wanted this palette for the longest time, I had my eye on it when it first launched but I just never got round to purchasing it. It has 8 huge pans of highlighters which has a different range of shades which I love. It reminds me of the Ofra highlighter palettes but this is waaaaay cheaper than the Ofra one. You can buy this here.

Luminous Luna Liquid Highlighter

I did mention about these above but I purchased this one myself, this is a brand new shade in this collection. It is a pearly white shade which is even more perfect than 'Starlight' for my skin tone. You can buy this here.

Phhewwww....that was a lot of products! I did not buy all this at once, I think its been over the period of a month. Which thinking about it, is not that long at all and I need to control myself more when it comes to makeup. I just can't help it and especially when it comes to Makeup Revolution I cannot resist!

So that was my Makeup Revolution Haul.

Thank you so much for reading,

Want to see more from me?

Twitter: alixholdenx

Instagram: alixholdenx

Bloglovin': alixkate
Don't forget to subscribe to my blog to be notified every time I post!

PRIMARK LUNA GLOW PALETTE REVIEW

Well hello there!

I was in my local Primark the other week and I have really been getting into their makeup a lot recently, I've tried their semi-matte foundation and I love it! I really wanted a palette to test out for you guys, and I've picked up their highlighter palette 'Luna Glow'. This palette only costs £5, so we will see if this is any good.

Packaging

To me, this packaging is stunning to look at and it feels super light. It is made out of cardboard and has a silver glittery design, it is not that smooth glitter as you can feel the material but apart from that I like it. 
Inside, there is no mirror and are 4 shades: 
Spectrum - a straight up metallic purple with blue reflexes 

Backlight - a reflective green

Chroma - a silvery blue
Opaline - a pink with purple reflexes

Swatches
As you can see from the below picture, they do not swatch very well. The shades are quite chunky so they don't have a smooth consistency.  When swatching with my fingers they felt quite powdery and dry, which I don't really like but if they work then they work.

Application

When tapping my brush in the pan, you see straight away that these highlighters are quite powdery which I don't mind just as long as the product is good when applied. I applied one layer and it definitely shows but to me it was not blinding enough. I applied a second layer and it was much better! Much more intense and noticeable. As these are not 'wearable' colours, you can see the stroke of colour on your face which was expected.

Longevity

I wore the shade 'Chrome' to work one day so it was on for about 8 hours. To be fair when I got home it was still pretty blinding so I am really impressed. It did not start to fade or come off at all, which is really good especially for the price of what I paid for this palette. 

Opinion
To be quite honest I don't love palettes like this that have shades that in my opinion are not very wearable. However, I don't mind having a palette like this in my collection as it is very different to other highlighters I have. If you like colours like this then I think it is worth giving this palette a go. The quality of the highlighters may not be the best but they still work.  I mean for £5 you can't go wrong, but I think they are definitely other drugstore brands that have highlighters that are better quality even at such a low price.

So that was my review on the Luna Glow palette by Primark,
Thank you so much for reading,

Want to see more from me?

Twitter: alixholdenx

Instagram: alixholdenx

Bloglovin': alixkate
Don't forget to subscribe to my blog to be notified every time I post!

JOUER COSMETICS BEST OF NUDES SWATCHES, WEAR TEST & REVIEW

Well hello there!

I was lucky enough to receive the Best Of Nudes Lip Crème collection by Jouer Cosmetics for Christmas. The gift set includes 8 mini lip crèmes - 6 matte and 2 metallic. I thought I could swatch these all for you, tell you about the formula and explain my thoughts on them. These sets did come in a deep version and a metallic version, but who doesn't love a nude lip? I have always wanted to try the Jouer lipsticks so I am very happy to now have them. These lip crèmes claim to be long wearing and to have a full coverage colour. They come beautifully presented in this box with the shade names above/below them. When wearing these I only tested the matte formula as I rarely wear metallic lipsticks, but they are stunning colours.

Swatches (in order)

Terra - a matte neutral deep ochre

 Rosé - a metallic cool champagne mauve

Dulce De Leche - a matte cool nude

Naked - a matte cool peachy pink, this is a new shade!

Tawny Rose - a matte cool dusty mauve

Papaye - a metallic warm peach

Rayanne - a matte cool grey nude

Bare - a matte warm nude fawn

Application
Even one stroke of this product on my lips and I can already tell that these babies are going to be very pigmented, I can cover all of my lips with just one dip of the product! Despite the intense pigment, these do not feel heavy at all which is always a good thing.  It does feel quite moisturising, and after it completely drying down the mattes are completely transfer proof. They are also very lightweight and comfortable, which I love!

Longevity
So I did a wear test on the matte shades as I wanted to see if they were long lasting. After a couple of hours at work, it still looked quite good - it hadn't worn off that much at all so I was very happy with how it looked.  After about 4 hours which was after eating as well, it did start to wear off in the middle of my mouth and tiny bit on the line of my lips. By the end of the day, it had completely worn off and there was hardly any trace of it. I did end up having this on for 8 hours, so I'm not really that mad at it. I just wanted to see how long they would actually last. You can build these up though without it looking too much and cakey.

Opinion

Apart from the fact they're not extremely long lasting, I do actually really like these lip crèmes, they have such a good formula that I can look past how long they last. The shades are also beautiful, who doesn't love a good nude. I have been wanting to buy one of the full size lip crèmes for the longest time, and now I am so glad and thankful that I have a mini collection of them. My favourite shade out of of these is Tawny Rose which is the one I had my eye on. If you are thinking of buying these, the full size products retail for £15 which isn't the cheapest lip product, also isn't the most expensive but I think that is such a good price for a high end brand. The formula is amazing and if you can look past the longevity as well, then I think you will love these to.

Where you can buy them:
Matte Shades
Metallic Shades

I hope you enjoyed this post on swatches, a wear test & review on the Best of Nude Lip Crèmes by Jouer Cosmetics!

Thank you so much for reading,

Want to see more from me?

Twitter: alixholdenx

Instagram: alixholdenx

Bloglovin': alixkate

MAKEUP REVOLUTION CONCEAL & DEFINE CONCEALER REVIEW

Well hello there!

As soon as this concealer was announced from Tam Beauty  - no second thoughts I just ordered it straight away. I absolutely love Makeup Revolution as you may know, it is my favourite drugstore brand. I ordered mine in the shade C1 as this is the palest shade (pretty standard for me), speaking of shades...they have 18! How amazing is that especially for a drugstore brand to come out with 18 shades, I am very impressed! This concealer claims to be full coverage and I have already seen people comparing this to the Tarte Shape Tape, so I am very excited to try. Oh and it only costs £4!

Packaging
I LOVE the packaging for this product, as it has a rose gold lid and label. It holds 3.4ml of product, which isn't a lot compared to other concealers but for such a low price I don't mind buying more of them, (I already have shade C3 on the way...ooppss!). It has a big dofer applicator which I do like, which hopefully means it will be easier to apply. 

Application
The formula of this concealer is thick, not too thick but enough to hopefully have a really good coverage. I really like the formula as I feel like it will actually do what it claims, I don't like it when a concealer is super thin. I am a big fan of the dofer applicator as it does spread the product much easier. I applied this under my eyes and on my blemishes as well using a damp sponge. On my blemishes I did have to apply a second layer as you could still see the tiniest bit of redness peaking through, I applied the second layer with my finger and the coverage was slightly better. Under my eyes however, wow! It blended out so effortlessly and it looked amazing, it definitely is medium to full coverage and I was extremely impressed considering the price tag of it.

Longevity
I tested this concealer on a night out and I was wearing this for about 8 hours, I was seriously shocked that it still looked really good under the eyes. On my blemishes, it did slightly wear off but considering I was wearing it for that long it wasn't a big problem.  It did not look cakey or bunched up under my eyes, it still looked smooth and flawless.

Opinion

Straight up, I love this concealer and it has now made it's way into my everyday makeup routine. I know I said I was impressed with the application but I am super impressed with everything about this concealer. Even though it has 3.4ml of product in it, it is only £4 - I honestly will have no problem re-purchasing this! The fact that it is cheap, good packaging, medium-full coverage, comes in 18 different shades and long lasting - what else could you want?! If you have not tried this yet - you NEED to! I have read/heard so many good reviews on this already and the fact that it was sold out for a short while, just goes to show how much of an impact this concealer has made in the beauty world. If you have already watched/read good things about this I hope this has convinced you even more!

So that was my review on the new Makeup Revolution concealer.

Thank you so much for reading,

Want to see more from me?

Twitter: alixholdenx

Instagram: alixholdenx

Bloglovin': alixkate

GLOSSY BOX OPENING | JANUARY 2018

Well hello there!

This may only be the third time receiving Glossy Box, but I am still loving them. I can't get over how good they are, especially for what it is worth compared to the £10 you pay for the box. This box is for the month of rejuvenation!

In this months box you get:

Boots Beauty Beneath Supplements - These supplements have 19 nutrients in them which is supposed to help make your skin healthy and glowy. They boost your own collagen production, fade fine lines and wrinkles while giving you very soft skin. You take 2 capsules a day and around 4 weeks is when you will see results. I might give these a go! I'm not that great at taking tablets but you never know it might make a really good difference. They have given the whole 4 weeks supply and these retail at £39.99.

Apicia Cream Blush - This a 'deep honey pink' cream blush that claims to nourish your skin. I have just swatched it and the colour is a super pretty light pink/coral colour. I don't really use cream blush but maybe this will convince me to use it more often. This is a full size product that retails for £22! 

Nail Medic Nail and Cuticle Energizer - This is a reparative oil that will give some TLC to any brittle nails, split cuticles or dry skin. I have never heard of this brand before but they sell all sorts of treatments for your nails so I am interested in seeing how good this is. It is full size and retails for £5.99.

Evelyn Iona Cosmetics Green Tea Primer - This primer has moisturising ingredients including avocado oil and green tea extract. I am quite excited about this primer as it claims to nourish and protect your complexion, reduce the appearance of fine lines and pores and makes your makeup last longer. It is also cruelty and paraben free, I hope this works because it sounds very promising! This is a full size product (which is quite small) and retails for £22.

Dr Botanicals Moroccan Rose Superfood Facial Oil - Now facial oils are that one product that scare me, to me facial and oil just don't go together. However, this does smell amazing as it is scented with rose. I do want to try them, I think it's because I'm worried I will break out as I have a combination skin type. Whether or not I end up trying it, it does retail for £55 at full size so I am happy they have included this as maybe one day I will face my fear!

So that was the January 2018 Glossy Box - bit of a mixed opinion about this month, but mostly good. It is so nice to have new things sent to you every month so it isn't just the same old same old.

You can sign up for Glossy Box (here), or if you use my code ALIX-R3 you will get a 20% discount!
Thank you so much for reading,

Want to see more from me?

Twitter: alixholdenx

Instagram: alixholdenx

Bloglovin': alixkate

BEN & ANNA DEODORANT STICKS

Well hello there!

An exciting post today as I will be talking about the Ben & Anna Odor and Wetness Protection Deodorant Sticks! If you have not heard of this brand before it has recently launched in the UK after establishing in Germany. Ben & Anna are a real life couple that were struggling to find a deodorant that was strictly vegan and natural. All of the the sticks are vegan, organic & natural, cruelty-free and aluminium free. Their marketing assistant Rebecca very kindly sent me 2 of their sticks in scents Pink Grapefruit and Vanilla Orchid.

The packaging is super cute with the white component and the different coloured labels corresponding to the particular scent. As Rebecca explained to me the sticks work best when you come out of the shower as your skin is still a little damp. She also gave me a bit of advice that was actually to sit them on the radiator for them to melt a tiny bit, so it is easier to apply - and this does work! The product feels very comfortable and they are definitely long lasting. Now let me just talk about the scents for a second as well because oh my are they amazing! Pink Grapefruit is definitely my favourite without a doubt, I am a sucker for a cirtisy scent - it is incredible! The Vanilla Orchid stick also smells so good, I do love vanilla as well! 

I think what Ben & Anna have done is amazing, and the fact that all their products are 100% vegan and cruelty free makes them even better. These sticks cost £9.95 each, but you definitely pay for the natural quality of the product.

Where you can buy them:
Ben & Anna

I hope you enjoyed this post!
Thank you so much for reading,

Want to see more from me?

Twitter: alixholdenx

Instagram: alixholdenx

Bloglovin': alixkate

MY EVERYDAY MAKEUP BRUSHES

Well hello there!

As I have written about my everyday makeup routine previously, which if you have not read yet you can here. I thought it was only fitting to tell you what brushes I like to use every day as well!

For my foundation I like to use the Morphe G39 which is a fluffy rounded brush. I find this brush to be perfect for blending out my foundation, it does look streaky at first but the more you work it into your skin then the smoother it looks. This brush costs £9 and you can get this from BeautyBay. I do use the Real Techniques Complexion Sponge occasionally, which I love as well which costs £7.

If I use a pomade for my brows instead of the Goof Proof pencil, I use a *fake* Anastasia Beverley Hills Number 14 Dual Sided Brow Brush. I bought this from Ebay a couple of years ago as I could not contemplate spending £18 for an eyebrow brush. It has a spooly one end and a thin angled brush the other end. The fake one I have does what it is supposed to and have used it for a couple of years now. I should probably get a new one, the real one this time! This did not cost a lot at all as it was from Ebay, I cannot remember how much as it was a long time ago.

For powder I actually use the Avon All-Over Face Brush. I feel like Avon is not talked about a lot on social media, but I really rate their brushes! They are very soft and distributes the product nicely over my face. This brush costs £8.50 which is fairly standard for make up brushes.

For bronzer I use the W7 Cosmetics Blusher Brush, to me it does not look like something you would use to put blush on as it is a really big brush. I do use it for bronzer however and I like big brushes to get the bronzer all over my face. It is not as soft as the Avon brushes but it isn't scratchy either. The brush costs £5.95, and the price explains why it is not as soft as other brushes that are slightly more expensive. Despite that, I really enjoy using this brush.

For contouring I use the Real Techniques Contour Brush, I LOVE Real Techniques brushes! I have every set of them. They are such good quality and really soft to. It blends the contour out so well and never looks patchy. This brush is quite a small tapered brush which is a really good size/shape for contouring. I don't think you can buy this separately, correct me if I am wrong but I can't see it on its own online. But it is part of the Core Collection set (orange) which you can buy for around £20. 

For blusher I use again another Avon brush, it is called their Blush Brush. Also really soft, it is smaller and more tapered compared to the all over face brush, perfect size for your cheeks. It does also distribute the product nicely and smoothly. This brush costs £7 which is cheaper than the other Avon brush and still a really good price. I can't find this on the Avon website at the moment, so it must be out of stock.

The last brush I use is my favourite! My highlighter brush. I use another Real Techniques brush and it is the Setting Brush. I love how smoothly it applies my highlight, it is not too big either. Again really soft and slightly pointed. This brush is part of the Sculpt (pink) set. You can actually buy this brush separate and it costs £6.99 which is really average for how good the brush is!

Where you can buy them:

Morphe G39

Anastasia Beverley Hills Number 14

Avon All-over Face Brush

Real Techniques Contour Brush

Real Techniques Setting Brush

So those are my everyday makeup brushes.

Thank you so much for reading,

Want to see more from me?

Twitter: alixholdenx

Instagram: alixholdenx

Bloglovin': alixkate