Review: Clinique Super City Block daily face protector

A few posts ago, I had mentioned the Clinique Super City Block daily face protector as something that I use practically every day. It's an SPF 40 sunscreen, and I've been using it for about 4 months now. Enough time, I think, to give a good review. :)

It comes in a 40ml tube (see picture below). And since you only need a small amount, this tube has lasted me nicely.

 

Now I've always been a bit wary about putting heavy sunscreen lotions on my face for fear of break-outs. So I read about this product online, and given that Clinique products have not given my skin any problems in the past, I decided to give it a shot. Even so, I only purchased this after using a sample for a week.

As you can see from the picture below, when you first squeeze it out of the tube, it has a slight tint to it.

However, the tint starts to disappear once you start to blend it out, and once you've finished doing that, it's barely noticeable.

As I mentioned earlier, you only need a small amount with this. The consistency is neither too thick nor too runny, but if you put too much on, it can tend to look a little greasy. It's a bit of a weird one though, because if you have some dry patches on your skin, it can stick to them as well. So I recommend moisturising your skin thoroughly before putting this on.

And although I said that the tint isn't noticeable once it's blended in, if you have a medium to dark complexion, it might be harder for you to do so. My skin is somewhere between an NC 25 and 30, so if you're darker, I would recommend trying out a sample before you buy it.

With regard to the actual protection - Clinique says that this protects against UVA/UVB rays as well as environmental aggressors such as pollution. I don't live in a polluted city, so I can't vouch for the second bit, but I do feel like it protects my face very well against the sun. I wore it on holiday in Bournemouth and it was fantastic.

So all-in-all, I definitely recommend this as a face sunscreen for dry to normal/combination skin. The only thing that goes against it is if you have darker skin, in which case it might leave a bit of a whitish/pearly cast. And if you do buy it, be sure to use a small amount to avoid looking disco ball. :)

You can buy this product on the Clinique website or at Boots. It retails for £16.00, and also comes in a SPF 25 version if you're interested. 

I hope this review was helpful, and I'd love to know what sunscreen you use!

My most-worn lipsticks

Happy Sunday! In this post, I'm going to be telling you about my most-worn lipsticks. Now, I'm a complete lip product nut - and especially so with lipsticks. I love them, and they're by far my favorite beauty product. I just think there's something so classic and old-school glam about taking out that little tube from your bag and touching up your lips. Since I work in an office 5 days a week, I can't wear anything too dramatic, but I do try and have my fun. :)

So my most-worn lipsticks (in no particular order) are:

L-R: 

Bourjois Sweet Kiss Lipstick in Rose séduisant, Max Factor Colour Elixir Lipstick in Rosewood, Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Spotlight Beige, Elle 18 Color Burst Lipstick in Roasty Red, Bourjois Lovely Brille Lipstick in Vanille du Soleil

Swatches follow in the same order below:

Now just a few little things about each one!

Bourjois Sweet Kiss Lipstick in Rose Séduisant

This is a gorgeous fuschia lipstick. The swatch really doesn't do enough justice to it. It's bold, saturated and is a such a statement colour - I love it! It's also surprinsingly lost-lasting and even when it does fade, it leaves a nice stain on your lips. Since it's such a bright colour, I wear it more like a stain where I apply a small amount and then blend it in. It retails are £7.99 at Boots, and you can check it out here.

Max Factor Colour Elixir Lipstick in Rosewood

First off, how beautiful is the packaging? It just looks so luxurious and expensive - very classy. The colour is exactly what the name says it is - a muted kind of rose, with a certain understated warmth. It's great for a wide range of looks. And the staying power is AMAZING. Seriously. This lipstick lasts all day - even through meals and glasses of water. Beyond impressive. This one also retails for £7.99 at Boots - take a look here.

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Spotlight Beige
Sadly, this is a discontinued item. I got it off of eBay and I know I'm going to be on the hunt for it again  once this starts to shorten significantly. It is my perfect nude shade. The swatch makes it look a lot more peachy than it actually comes off on the lips. It doesn't leave me looking washed out or anything, and somehow makes the whole face glow. Love it!

Elle 18 Color Burst Lipstick in Roasty Red
Elle 18 is an inexpensive Indian cosmetics brand. I picked this up last year when I visited India and it cost less than Rs. 100 at the time, which is just a little over a pound. Bargain! This lipstick has a lip balm core with the coloured bit making up the rest. Because of this, it has a very moisturising feel on the lips. This colour is a very wearable red, and very buildable if you want some added drama. It's a lot more pigmented than the swatch indicates, as well. I got it from the Urban Touch website - which doesn't deliver internationally, I'm afraid. This colour also seems to be out of stock, which is a shame because I wanted to pick up another one when I go back to India next week! Oh, well.

Bourjois Lovely Brille lipstick in Vanille du Soleil
Apologies for putting another discontinued lipstick on here, but it really is one of my favorites! I got this off of eBay as well, and it is such a lovely berry colour. It's perfect for work because it has just enough colour to brighten up your look, but isn't over the top in the slightest. It also has a nifty mirror at the top of the lipstick cap! Not the most long-lasting of lipsticks, but then again, it never claimed to be long-wearing.

So there you have it - my top 5 most-worn lipsticks! Sorry for having 2 discontinued items on there and one that isn't the easiest to get, but I only wanted to include the ones I reach for most often and these are the ones! I might do a most-worn or favorite lip glosses post sometime in the future, so watch out for that!

Hope you all have a fantastic week. :) 

Review: Rimmel Exaggerate Waterproof Eye Definer

Hi everyone!

Today's post is a review of the Rimmel Exaggerate Waterproof Eye Definer (anyone else think make-up product names are getting too long these days?) I picked this up about 3 months ago, and have been using it about 3-4 times a week, so I've had a fair amount of time to test it out.

As you can tell from the pictures, it's an automatic black eyeliner pencil. One end is a twist-up pencil, and the other is a little smudge stick. Now I don't tend to my smudge my black eyeliner, so I've never used the smudge stick, and can't comment on that.

As for the actual eyeliner - it's a rich, creamy black. I tend to wear it on my waterline, and it lasts remarkably well through the day. Just to give you an idea - that's from 7:00am when I put it on to 5:30pm when I get home. On the occasions that I have worn it on my upper lash line, it doesn't budge much. It might fade a bit as the day wears on, but nothing too noticeable. 

Take a look at the pictures below for an idea about its staying power:

See how pigmented that is? I didn't even apply a lot of pressure while drawing that on.

This is when I rubbed that line vigorously. I got a slight bit of it transferred on my finger, but as you can see, it barely made a difference.

Bottom line is, I really like this eyeliner and will definitely be repurchasing. I think it's tricky buying an eyeliner for regular or daily use, because you want something with staying power, but at the same time, it should be something that's safe enough and doesn't irritate your eyes or anything of the sort. It should also not be too expensive, because you're going to be repurchasing it. This one ticks all the boxes for me. 

You can find it for £3.99 at Boots. It also comes in a whole bunch of pretty colours, so if you want a waterproof eyeliner in something besides black, you can still take a look. I know I will. :)

Cleansers and toners: Nivea and Garnier

I know it's been a while, but a lot has happened since November! I've moved cities for a new job - well I'm 6 months in so it isn't really 'new' anymore, but you know what I mean! I am keen on starting up Beauty Bunting again, though, so this me doing just that!

In this post, I'm going to be talking about my all-time favorite make-up removal products - Nivea Daily Essentials Cleansing Lotion and Garnier Fresh Essentials Refreshing Toner.

I've lost count of the number of times I've purchased these, so you're going to be getting a comprehensive review here!

Let's start off with Nivea Daily Essentials Refreshing Cleansing Lotion.

This is a cream cleanser that I use with cotton pads like the ones in the above picture. It's not too thick or too runny, which makes it perfect for removing face make-up. I also use it to remove eye make-up, which is does extremely well. I've used more 'water-like' specialist eye make-up removers in the past, and I have to say, I prefer this one to all of them. The creamy consistency doesn't feel harsh on the skin (nothing worse than tugging and pulling at the eye area!) and you don't need a whole lot of product to do the job. As far as fragrance goes - it's nothing fruity or floral, but pleasant enough. It smells more like a lotion than a cleanser, which I think is a good thing.

This cleanser really does take off everything; foundation, concealer, mascara, lipstick - you name it! The only flipside to it is that this isn't one of those cleansers you can use on its own. You need to wash it off afterwards, otherwise it might cause breakouts. I have fairly sensitive, combination skin, and found that if I didn't wash my face after using this, my skin felt kind of greasy. Maybe if you have dry skin, it'll be different for you - but I think on general principle, you need to wash your face at the end of the day anyway!

All in all, I think this is a fantastic, great value product. You get 200ml for less than £4.00. I wanted to link to it on the Boots website, but it isn't listed there for some reason! It should be available in the bigger Boots stores in the cleansers section though - I've never had a problem getting hold of it.

Now,  moving on to Step 2 - Garnier Fresh Essentials Refreshing Toner.

I use this toner after I have cleansed and washed my face. It's a wonderfully cooling toner, that leaves my skin feeling clean and fresh. It also catches any last traces of make-up that might still be lingering (eyeliner, I'm looking at you!)

According to the bottle, it's supposed to have grapefruit and Pro-Vitamin B5. I think it's the grapefruit that gives it its fresh scent which I really enjoy. I like to soak cotton pads with it and place them on my closed eyes. It doesn't irritate them at all, but actually makes for a very relaxing experience!

I was also impressed with the fact that this toner doesn't dry out my skin. Although I have combination skin, my cheeks can get pretty dry here in the UK, and I was apprehensive when I used this for the first time, but I've had no issues so far. I really recommend this product.

You can get it online on Feelunique for £4.03 but it's about 80p or so cheaper if you pop into your local Boots.

Hope this was useful, have a nice day!

Review: Laura Geller Blush n Brighten

Hi, everyone! Thanks for stopping by. Today's blog post is a review of one of my favorite blushes - Laura Geller's Blush N Brighten. The shade that I have is called Roseberry.

Now, I had never tried any Laura Geller product before this one. If you haven't heard about this brand before, it's available on the QVC UK website. It's a premium brand, and the Blush n Brighten retails for £28.00 online. You also get a retractable brush with it. Now, being a student last year, funds were very limited, and I couldn't afford to spend that much. So when I saw this on eBay for a much lower price, I jumped on it*. The brush didn't come with it, though, so I won't be reviewing that.

This is a baked blush, and according to Laura Geller, all of her baked products start out as a liquid and are then baked on terracota pans in Italy. This is what gives them this swirled appearance. It is also what determines that no two products are exactly alike, because you never know what concentration of colour you'll be getting since they are all swirled in different patterns.

The shade that I have, Roseberry, is a lovely soft pink. It has a shimmer to it with a subtle, gold undertone, so even though the colour itself is more complementary to cool skintones, the gold shimmer offsets that, resulting in a blush that can be worn by warm undertones, as well. The blush itself also looks beautiful, with shimmery threads of gold-pink running through it.

While the swatch itself doesn't appear to be too pigmented on my hand, it can really show up dark on your face. So use it with a VERY light touch, because you only need a little bit. This is especially important if you're fair skinned. Another important thing to note is, try to apply it in natural light. I applied it in my room, which has a yellowish-golden light and it seemed quite subtle. Then I went outside, and BIG SURPRISE! It was way too much, bordering on clownish (needless to say, much panicked rubbing with a handkerchief ensued). Also, as with most baked products, there tends to quite a lot of fallout, so watch out for that.

The bottom line is, this is a beautiful blush. A lot of people compare it to MAC's Mineralize range, and I think that it certainly can give that line a run for its money. And although that is cheaper, with Laura Geller's Blush n Brighten, you're getting 9g (compared to MAC's 3.5g). So if you don't mind the high price-tag (or are having a lucky eBay day), you can't go wrong with this one. :)



 *SIDEBAR: If you have never bought cosmetics or make-up on eBay, you might want to read this. Personally, I find it's a fantastic place to get good deals, find products that have been discontinued etc. But, unfortunately, it's also a place where a lot of counterfeit or fake goods are sold. So before you go ahead and buy something, check the seller ratings and reviews. Try and avoid makeup that is classified as 'Used' (even if it is used a little, because it is makeup, and it wouldn't be hygenic. Especially for something like lipstick, for instance). It's also advisable to buy products that have actual, clear pictures of them posted, rather than a brand photo. And also watch out for ridiculously cheap "high-end" make-up, especially when it says it's an overseas seller. Of course, you could do all this, and still end up with something that doesn't meet your expectations, but eBay does have a protection policy, so chances are, you can get a refund. So go ahead, be safe and happy shopping! :)

Review: Boots Natural Collection Body Sprays and Lotion

Hello, everyone! For my first post, I thought I would write a review on something that I have been using a lot lately. They are both body sprays from the Boots Natural Collection, available in-store and online. The ones I use are Samphire and Sea Minerals, and Vanilla, and both of them are priced at £2.03 each (like all other sprays in this line).

I'll just start off by giving my opinion on both of them together. While I only own these two sprays, I have smelled the fragrances of the others, and honestly, I had a hard time picking just a couple. At £2.03 each, they are just such amazing value and you get 150 ml of product. Additionally, they have corresponding body lotions and shower creams, but I haven't tried those, so I can't vouch for them. And the fragrance does seem to linger for quite a long time if you spray it somewhat liberally all over yourself. Now on to my thoughts on each of them!


Samphire and Sea Minerals
This body spray is divine. One whiff of it and it transports me to beaches, hammocks and sunsets. It really is like summer in a bottle, and I know we're heading into winter now and tend to favour heavier scents, but I already know that I'm going to have a hard time putting this to rest. It is just so light and fresh, and no matter how much of it you put on, it never seems to become overbearing like so many others do. I really, really recommend this one if you like peppy, fresh fragrances that still manage to be feminine at the same time.






Vanilla

I love vanilla fragrances in general, but I don't think I'm being biased when I'm talking about this one. It's everything you would want in a vanilla body spray - it's warm, sweet (like a dessert!) and familiar. I would actually say it's the equivalent of a blanket - comforting and cozy. One word of warning, though - you can't spray it as liberally as you would the samphire and sea minerals spray. As with all vanilla fragrances, it's best enjoyed in moderation, and too much of it can get a little overpowering.







So, there you go! I hope you enjoyed reading this, more reviews and posts are sure to follow this one. Thanks for stopping by!