Ultra Definition.

Urban Decay -

Naked Skin Ultra Definition Powder Foundation 

So many new and amazing things from Urban Decay recently! This post is all about the brand new Naked Skin Ultra Definition Powder Foundation. It can be used wet or dry and promises amazing, long lasting coverage.

“Want a foundation that delivers amazing coverage, lasts all day and works both wet AND dry? Naked Skin Ultra Definition Powder Foundation delivers. Our advanced, velvety formula provides weightless, build-able coverage with a luminous, demi-matte finish for a Naked Skin feel.

While some traditional powder foundations might look dusty or even cakey on the skin, Naked Skin blends gorgeously and wears comfortably. Like the rest of our Naked Skin line up, Naked Skin Powder Foundation diffuses light to blur fine lines and wrinkles to make you look as if professionally retouched. It’s also ultra-forgiving: apply more in the areas where you need extra coverage and all you’ll see is beautiful, perfected skin. 

Enriched with coated, micro-milled powders and HPP (Highlighter Performing Pigments) technology, Naked Skin Powder Foundation has a creamy feel, rich, long-lasting colour, and a perfect level of coverage to even out the look of your skin tone.” – Urban Decay

Flowerista.

Now, as you all know brands release little collections every season/when they feel like it. Usually I’m not always interested in the shades, however sometimes I might pick up one that I really like or is fairly unique. However, recently Essie have released their Spring 2015 collection and I have to say I was supper excited to get my hands on not one but three of there shaded!

The collection is beautifully called Flowerista, which I think is really appropriate for spring. They describe the collection by saying;

“Whether the look is futuristsic minimalism or nouveau bohemian, the name of the game is flower power. The spring 2015 collection is in full bloom, celebrating the fresh perspectives and energetic nature of the spring season.”

The three shades I was super excited to picked up were:

Essie Flowerista is a rich reddish plum creme. It’s super pigmented you can almost get away with one coat. This is one of those shades you think would be easily dupe-able however it really isn’t, I don’t actually own anything like in my whole collection, which is pretty rare for me. It is such a pretty colour!

Essie Garden Variety is a vivid blue/teal. It has an undercurrent of green but not enough to enter seawater territory. I love how vibrant it is and that, bonus, it doesn’t stain! As you can see, it has a similar depth of colour to some other similar polishes that have been released, however Garden Variety is slightly greener.

Last but not least, and definitely my favourite is Essie Petal Pushers is a described by Essie as a smoky stone rose and I get that looking at this colour. It’s a grey creme, but with strong blue/purple undertones that set it apart. It’s totally original and applies beautifully.

Like all shades Essie nail polish is 3-Free (Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP). The square bottles are embossed with the Essie logo and the smooth plastic caps include an embossed ‘e’ on top. Bottles at mass retailers have stickers rather than embossing on the bottle. The brushes are thin, round and shorter than most. The bristles are very flexible, allowing you to easily fan out the brush to cover your nail width.

This collection has that typical Essie formulation: watery, thin, easy to manipulate. The pigmentation is better in some colors than others with the three darker shades becoming opaque in two coats, and the rest getting it done in three, they all self-level and dry with a glossy finish.

Ambient Lighting.

Hourglass –

Ambient Bronzer

Ambient Bronzer is a new illuminating bronzer with Photoluminescent Technology, featuring bronze pigments that deliver a natural looking, sun kissed glow while flaunting depth and dimension.

Hourglass explain: “Ambient Bronzer’s sheer, airy formula sweeps softly onto skin for a healthy-looking, radiant finish. It’s formulated with Photoluminescent Technology, featuring optically transparent particles that transform the look of skin by manipulating and refracting light to emphasize your best features. The optically transparent particles allow for seamless blending and color transitions. The powders, blended by hand using an advanced miscelare technique, offer the perfect balance of pigments in a gorgeous pattern. Use this bronzer alone, or paired with Ambient Lighting Powder for maximum control to create depth and dimension—or even use it for a subtle contouring effect.”

The newest addition to the Ambient Lighting range is bronzer–just in time for summer–and is available in two shades. The formula is marketed as combining the “illuminating effects” of their signature Ambient Lighting powders with “bronze pigments” to give a “natural, sun-kissed glow.” It’s supposed to have “buildable color and a radiant finish” with a “sheer, airy” feel. This bronzer looks phenomenal! It comes in two shades, radiant bronze which is described as a “warm bronze shade fused with Radiant Light.” It’s a medium-dark brown with warm, yellow undertones and a soft, golden shimmer-sheen finish and luminous bronze which s described as a “medium tan shade fused with Luminous Light.” It’s a muted, medium tan brown with warm, yellow undertones and a fine golden shimmer-sheen. This shade is supposed to be for ‘fair/light complexions’, as it gives a softer, candlelit warmth.

I really cant wait to swatch these in person, I can totally tell I’m going to fall in love with one of them, and I think they will be perfect for summer!

10x.

butter LONDON –
Patent Shine 10x Polish

 

So unless you have been living under a rock you will know butter LONDON is one of my favourite brands. The shades, application, lasting power and packaging are all amazing! Therefore I was beyond excited to find out that butter LONDON are actually releasing a range of new polishes, not only colours, but formula...what formula you ask...think patent!

The new polishes from butter LONDON claims to do an awful lot of things:

"New 10-in-1 formula! Fierce colour sparks a revolution with Patent Shine 10X. Ten years ago butter LONDON transformed the nail space with the original 3-free lacquer and we’re doing it again! Our new innovative formula is loaded with ingredients proven to promote brighter, stronger, healthier nails in classic, creamy, wearable shades for your best-dressed nails yet. The patented Shock Resisting Polymer Technology delivers limitless shine with up to 10 days of wear. It’s everything you need in on brilliant bottle!"

The packaging looks pretty much like that of the original Nail Lacquers, except with a silver cap. The bottles are the same size (11 mL) but the price is higher than the original 3 Free Nail Lacquers. The 14 new shades are all cremes and, while they seem fashion-forward, they also aren’t looking particularly unique. I guess I’ll have to see these in person or when someone gets round to watching them online to see what they're really like colour wise! Mostly I’m really interested to see how the formula is, since I think the original BL formula is great. I love nail polish, especially when it comes to spring/summer, therefore I'm beyond excited to try this out and see how good they are!

Anti Blemish BB Cream.

Clinique -

Anti Blemish Solutions BB Cream SPF 40

"Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions BB Cream SPF 40 is a mattifying BB Cream specifically developed for blemish-prone or oily skins. Combines oil control, buildable coverage and UVA/UVB protection for a perfected, shine-free complexion. Does it all without clogging pores or causing breakouts."

- Clinique

Blow Styling.

Tangle Teezer -

Blow Styling Hairbrush

 “Introducing our brand new paddle hairbrush. For all hair types the innovative teeth allows for free-flow tension so there's no pulling and tugging. Excess moisture is removed from the hair shaft to guarantee a quicker blow-dry. Your style is left voluminous and shiny with reduced frizz. You'll be blown away by the results!” – Tangle Teezer

This year Tangle Teezer have added to their brush range! Say hello to the Tangle Teezer Blow-Styling Brush; a new styling tool created for anyone to perfect an easy, at home, straight blow dry, quickly and with minimal hair damage. At first glance it looks pretty much like a regular hair brush, but if you take a closer look, the teeth are designed to not only grip onto the hair better but so air is diffused around the hair shaft creating a smoother look in less time and on a lower heat.

So this is a rather clever brush that will make drying your hair much quicker with smooth and shiny results. As a blow drying novice (I’m a rough dryer by nature), this really works for me. I can act like I am rough drying (no skill required), using the Tangle Teezer Blow Styling Brush as I go. Just brushing, no tricks! When I first tried this I was really impressed – I often struggle to keep the hair on the brush when blow drying my hair, making it tricky and repetitive work. The teeth also stop the need to stretch the hair shaft when pulling down and applying heat meaning the hair shaft is less damaged. After testing out the product at home I can vouch that this tool does in fact make blow-drying your locks straight very easy and quick. Although if you favour a rounder blow dry with more movement you will have to add that in with a barrel brush at the end. You do get a rather volumous blow dry from this brush however I tend to favour a flatter blow dry. Whenever I have attempted to blow dry my hair before, I always find that the brush ends up really pulling! None of that here – its super gentle yet really effective. I didn’t really bother sectioning; I just brushed through all over and even flipped my head upside to get the underside. This would usually result in very out of control hair but I just kept brushing as I went and everything was super smooth.