Hi Divas!

I had quite a busy two weeks due to work, and I almost forgot to write a blog post for the week. I like to stick to my blogging schedule as it keeps me accountable and I love the rhythm it creates on my blog. I find that two blog posts a month has created a nice flow for me to be creative but not feel pressured to keep putting out content that I am not satisfied with. Nevertheless, I am happy to be back to my regular posting. As most of you know Makeup Revolution has hit South African stores like a beautiful storm. There are so many great products on the shelves and I honestly haven't found anything that has truly disappointed me so far. All of the Makeup Revolution products I have tried have been worthwhile. I have heard so many great reviews about their highlighters before the brand hit SA shores, I therefore had them on the top of my list to try. I purchased the Vivid Baked Highlighter in Golden Lights and received The Strobe Highlighter in Moon Glow Lights at the official store opening last year. I have been using these highlighters almost every day and therefore can give a thorough review on the performance of them both.

Vivid Baked Highlighter in Golden Lights

This is a baked powder formula in a smooth finish and comes in three shades. It promises to illuminate your face with intense pigments and a bright shimmery glow. I am not a fan of glittery highlighters but I decided to purchase this one as I was looking for an affordable champagne glow. I love wearing warm toned to golden highlighters on my face as I feel they look the most flattering on me. This shade is absolutely perfect, as it strikes the right combination between champagne and a slight gold iridescent shimmer. The colour is not one dimensional at all but reflects different pigments in the light. It looks beautiful on my cheekbones and very flattering on the collar bone too. It does not have big chunks of glitter as I initially thought it would. Instead it has soft shimmers which sit comfortably on the skin and does not move or flake throughout the day. The formula is soft and glides on smoothly. It is very pigmented and can be used as an eyeshadow too. You can apply it wet as well, but I never feel that I need to as the dry formula is amazingly bright. This has become my absolute favourite low end/drug store highlighter. I use it almost every day.

Strobe Highlighter in Moon Glow Lights
The Strobe highlighters are designed to give a natural illumination to the skin. The powder has a lighter texture compared to the other highlighters and has pigments which diffuse the light, giving a lit from within look. These highlighters are perfect for those who are just starting out in makeup and want something soft and not so blinding. These are also great for people who want a subtle glow and do not want to be too over bearing on an everyday basis. There are three shades in this range and unfortunately, the pink colour which I have does not work for my skin tone. It can look a little too ashy and dull on me. A more golden hue would have worked better on my skin. I too found that this highlighter is not as pigmented and soft in formula as the baked ones. This one tends to be quite chalky and powdery when I apply it. It does not glide on smoothly as the Vivid Bake. I experienced a lot of fallout as well with the Strobe. It looks good on my eyes though as an eyeshadow but I do not like the way it looks on my cheek bones. I have applied it to my shoulders and collar bone and it made me look ashy. I definitely contribute that to the colour I have. I think if I have a warmer shade this highlighter would work better on me.

As you can see in the swatches below, the Vivid Baked highlighter definitely stands out in formula, texture and pigmentation. It looks so radiant and glowing on my skin tone. The Strobe, is drier in formula and more subtle in pigmentation. The clear winner for me is definitely Vivid Baked. I would purchase another one if I ever ran out of it. Speaking of finishing products, have you seen how huge these pans are? They are massive and come with a whole of product. It would honestly take you forever to finish these highlighters. These are truly value for money as the price is absolutely amazing for the amount of product you get. Do be aware that the packaging is on the flimsy side though. I dropped my favourite Vivid Baked compact on my carpet and broke the lid. I am still trying to figure out how to fix it. If you have any suggestions on how to fix compact lids let me know. My product is still 100% in tack and I am not letting go of it.

What do you think of these highlighters? Have you tried any of them? Please let me know down below. Thank you for reading and I hope you found this review helpful.

Divalicious Kisses
Xxxx

Hi Divas

This will be my first makeup review for 2019 and what better way to start off than with some extra glow. I have been lusting after the Too Faced Candlelight glow highlighter for a long time. I have always wanted to have it in my makeup addict collection but I seem to always put it aside for another purchase. When I was in Qatar in March 2018, I finally through it in my basket without hesitation and headed straight for the till. There is a plethora of highlighters out on the market right now, each promising a shine that will blind you and anyone that dares to look at your direction. When I truly started getting into makeup a few years ago, this highlighter was one of the OG's (Original Gangsters) to hit the market. By the way, I had to add the parenthesis in that sentence because my mom reads my blog and she has no idea what the 'OG' SLANG means, LOL. So why did I want this highlighter in particular if there are many out there bigger, better and brighter than this one? Well, it's Too Faced and I honestly can say that I am a groupie to the brand. Also, there is something classic and nostalgic about this highlighter which I truly gravitate towards.

 The highlighter is described as a soft, radiant and romantic glow. It aims to resemble the illumination of a romantic candlelit room. It contains Photolite technology which refracts light to soften and diffuse the skin, making you look lifted and radiant. It comes with a instructional sleeve to show you how to achieve day and night glowing looks. The product is packaged in a pretty pink and gold ombre box, along with a white and gold sturdy round compact. It has a full well fit mirror which is great for travel and touch ups on the go. The compact is made out of plastic but it is durable and therefore won't break easily if dropped accidentally. Inside, the highlighter is split into two sections and has the Too Faced logo as well as a candle chandelier embossed on to it. I love the pink, white and gold colour scheme. The aesthetic makes me feel like a princess when I use it. The compact is quite bulky compared to newer sleek designs on the market. I do wish it was a little slender in design.

 

 

The Candlelight Glow comes in two variants and I have the Rosy Glow shade. There are two distinctive hues in the compact. One being a champagne gold and the other a light pink glow. When swatched, the two shades are super close to being almost indistinguishable. The pink side seems to be slightly deeper and warmer in tone but honestly when worn on the face there is no apparent difference. I therefore love to swirl my brush in both sides of the compact to get equal amounts of the pigment. The formula of the highlighter is beautiful. It is well pressed and there is not a lot of fallout when you pick it up with a brush. There are tiny amounts of glitters which create beautiful sparkles on the face without looking tacky and overbearing. The texture is buttery soft and workable. You can use a brush or finger to get an equal desired effect. I love to use a tapered kabuki brush to sweep the highlighter across my cheekbones and use an eyeshadow brush for the bridge of my nose, brow bone area and inner eye corner highlight.

As you can see in the photos above the highlighter gives off a beautiful warm and natural glow. I love that it looks so classy and gives an illuminating look from within. The shade is lovely and would work on any skin tone and age group. I used this highlighter on my mom and she looked amazing. Her skin was radiant and looked so fresh. This highlighter is versatile as you can use it every day for work and layer it up for a party or evening out. It definitely has that romantic and warm summer feeling to the skin. I recommend it, to anyone looking for a classic, reliable and illuminating highlight. If you are looking for something that would stand the test of time then totally give this OG a try.

Thank you so much for reading.

Divalicious Kisses

Xxxx

Hi Divas

This will be my last post for 2018. Can you believe that the year is practically over? My goodness, what a horrible year it has been, well for me at least. 2018 was not my best year, but God has carried me through it in one piece and I am very grateful for that. Christmas and the New Year are honestly my favourite holidays because they always bring festive cheer and the feeling of new beginnings. I just love seeing all the decorations wherever I go and everyone has that joyful glow. Brands too get into the holiday spirit and release gorgeous Christmas collections every year. My absolute favourite festive collection that has been released in South Africa has to be the Essence Ho Ho Ho! Christmas Edition. Besides the fact that the brand is super affordable, they truly nailed it this time with cute, merry and innovative packaging. I have four products from the holiday edition to share with you. There are eight products within the range including Christmas nail art stickers, nail art stamping set, a highlighter brush and a body and hair shimmer mist.

Essence Oh My Deer Bath Bomb Greeting Card
The bath bomb greeting card is honestly the cutest and most innovative little gift you could have. I love that Essence combined a Christmas card with a lovely scented strawberry bath bomb. It would be a truly thoughtful present to give to someone has you can write a personalized message in the card and give it to any one as the greeting card is unisex and appropriate for any age group. Who does not love a beautiful smelling pamper product? Not to mention the card is so festive and bright you won't need extra trimmings to jazz it up.

Essence Ho Ho Ho! Lip Balm
Essence did really well with the jolly packaging on the lip balm too, as it resembles a Christmas tree bauble. You could totally hang these on your tree and have a fun present hunt. Or you could gift them as secret Santa presents and place them in stocking stuffers. The lip balms are cherry scented and have a slight tint to them. They are quite soft in texture and would be great to whip out at the Christmas table after dinner to touch up your lips.

Essence Ho Ho Ho! Iridescent Powder Highlighter in 01 Twinkle Twinkle
I was quite surprised at the colour choice of this highlighter. Usually brands tend to put out gold and champagne highlighters as these are the common shades that most of us makeup lovers like to wear. Instead Essence went totally out the box and did a full-on pink highlighter instead. I honestly did not think I would like it but I was so wrong! This highlighter is a beautiful holographic pink shade with slight gold and purple shimmers. It reminds me of the Too Faced unicorn highlighters. I actually feel like a unicorn when I wear it. It looks so unique and flattering on me. You can use it as an eyeshadow or blush topper too. It is so pretty, I have been wearing it everyday to work so far.


Essence Ho Ho Ho! Eyeshadow Palette in 01Jingle All The Way
The Piece de Resistance of the whole collection has to be this gorgeous palette. Essence have never released such gorgeous and vibrant eyeshadows before. Theses shades are so pigmented and bright. I love the colour scheme and the size of the pans are much larger than usual. There are 3 mattes, 3 creamy shimmers, 2 creamy satin finishes and one bold glitter eyeshadow. The shades are very pigmented and opaque. The shadows are quite soft therefore, be careful when dipping your brush into the palette. Most of the creamy eyeshadows work better when applied on your lid with your finger as the texture glides on the eyes. The mattes take some work to blend out but with a little patience it would look great, especially in the crease. The glitter eyeshadow is very soft but has some grip to it. It would work best with a glitter eyeshadow primer and applied with your finger. This palette is beautiful and the shadows have the quality of high end brands. The actual palette is made out of cardboard though and comes with a plastic protective sheet for the eyeshadows.

As you can see above the eyeshadows swatch beautifully and are very pigmented. They look amazing on the eyes. There is some fallout with certain shades hence it would be best to do your eye makeup first and your foundation application afterwards. The very top swatch is the pink highlighter. The shade is truly unicorn inspired and I love it so much. Below is a full face with the palette and highlighter applied. I placed a matte terracotta shade in my crease and the dark deep plum satin shade across my lid. For the inner corners I placed the creamy satin gold shade and topped off the outer corner of my eyes with the festive glitter. I placed the highlighter on my brow bone, cheekbones and the centre of my nose. I truly love the way the makeup look turned out. It's so glam and can be worn for any special holiday party.

Hi Divas

Last week Makeup Revolution hit South African Clicks stores with a bang! It was honestly one of the biggest surprises to hit our beauty community as the brand was launched in such a nick of time. I have watched many Youtubers using all their wonderful products but never had any experience with them until now. For those who are not aware, Makeup Revolution is a British cosmetic company which manufacturers affordable, high quality and cruelty free products. What makes this brand so revolutionary (see what I did there), is the fact that they target all areas of makeup as well as skincare and hair care too. They have a variety of complexion products, different tones of highlighters, blushes, all shades of lipsticks and tools to suite any demographic, gender and age. To me the most iconic factor about the brand is the amazing price point. All the products are super affordable but there are no exceptions on quality regarding packaging, pigmentation and lasting power. You honestly get budget friendly cosmetics with such high value. It's truly remarkable and revolutionary!

Makeup Revolution had their amazing opening event at the Clicks store in the V&A Waterfront located in Cape Town. I asked my sister the day before if she would like to be my plus 1 and accompany me. To my surprise she happily said yes and we woke up at 5:00 in the morning to skip the rush hour traffic and be on time. Truly sisters are absolutely the best! She sacrificed her sleep and her PHD work to support me as she knows what a makeup fanatic I am. The actual unveiling of the cosmetic stand within the store was wonderful. Bloggers and makeup addicts alike were all there to view and test the new products. To see all the different array of palettes, lipsticks and colours made my heart skip a beat. Once the unveiling and speeches were done we all rushed to the stand to play. The atmosphere was very exciting and inviting. There was a Revolution photo section where we could take home a memory of the morning and we too all received a lovely goodie bag at the end. My sister and I had a blast and it was so great to share this experience with her.

Below is a list of all the products I received and picked out at the opening:

*Makeup Revolution Sport Fix Extra Hold Makeup Fixing Spray

*Makeup Revolution Bake and Finish Luxury Baking Powder

*Makeup Revolution Baked & Strobe Highlighters in Vivid Golden Lights and Moon Glow Lights

*Makeup Revolution Conceal &Define Full Coverage Concealer and Contour in C6 and C8

 *Makeup Revolution Brow Pomade in Dark Brown

 *Makeup Revolution Renaissance Flick Black Felt Eyeliner

*Makeup Revolution Pro HD Smoky Eyeliner

*Makeup Revolution Retro Luxe Matte Lip Kit in Noble

*Makeup Revolution Lipsticks in Iconic Matte Nude Inspiration and Rose Gold Diamond Life

*Makeup Revolution Advanced Complexion Expert Soft Makeup Sponge

 As I mentioned above, I have never used Makeup Revolution before hence, I am so excited to play! I am looking forward to using the concealer, baking powder, makeup fixing spray and highlighters as I have heard so many great reviews about them. Hope you are ready for the many product blog posts in the future. Thank you so much for reading.

Divalicious Kisses

Xxxx

 Hi Divas!

Recently everybody and their dog was doing the Ride or Die makeup tag on YouTube and I decided to be annoying and do it too, Hahaha. ;-D It was created by the very famous beauty Youtuber Jaclyn Hill. The tag is all about your holy grail products. Cosmetics that have never let you down and makeup that has been with you through thick and thin and will always be your number one. I have included Korean brands as well as Western brands because you know I am about that ''Cosmetics around the World'' Life! This is quite a long tag so hope you enjoy reading it and find some mini reviews helpful.

1. Ride or Die Primer: Clarins Beauty Flash Balm. This is a skincare and makeup product in one. I love that it brightens and lifts my face while creating a smooth and even canvas to apply my foundation.

2. Ride or Die Foundation: Peripera BB cream. This Korean product comes in the cutest packaging you will ever see. I am already on my second bottle. The BB cream gives me the coverage that I need while still looking natural on my face.

3.  Ride or Die Concealer: Rimmel Stay Matte Stick Concealer. This concealer is so creamy and blends like a dream! Unfortunately I have not seen it in stores for a while. Someone please tell me that this is not discontinued. *Crying face*.

4.  Ride or Die Powder: Innisfree No Sebum Powder. Another holy grail Korean product is this very famous Innisfree powder. It's similar to an HD powder which smooths the face and eliminates all traces of oil. It blends makeup well and has a super fine texture.

5.  Ride or Die Contour: NYX Contour Stick. I am not much of a contour girl, but I do enjoy a light application of it on special occasions. I use the nifty NYX contour stick as it is easy to travel with and to apply on the face. You can read my review on it here.

6.  Ride or Die Bronzer: Sephora Collection Shimmering Bronzer on Seychelles Cruise. I love that it contains three shades of colour and can be used as a bronzer or dark blush as well as an eyeshadow. Yay! ;-)

7.  Ride or Die Blush: Too Faced Sweethearts blush in Peach Beach. I feel like my cheeks were kissed by unicorns when I use this blush. Not only is the packaging gorgeous but the blush can be used as a eyeshadow and highlighter too. Read my full review here.

8.  Ride or Die Highlighter: The Balm Mary LouManizer. This is a great universal highlighter and perfect for travel. Read my review on it here.

9. Ride or Die Eyeshadow Primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion. I have used many eyeshadow primers but nothing has ever come close to Urban Decay. It is seriously holy grail material.

10.  Ride or Die Eyeshadow Palette: Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette. This palette has a lot of sentimental value to me as it is the first Sephora product and Too Faced product I ever bought. I love it so much and we will never ever part! Review here.

11. Ride or Die Single Eyeshadow: Essence Single Eyeshadows. I am not much of a single eyeshadow person, but I do enjoy the Essence single eyeshadows. They are super affordable and some of the shades can double up as a highlighter and bronzer.

12.  Ride or Die Eye Liner: Essence Super Fine Liner. No product can create a wing that can cut my worst enemies like this liner. Plus it  retails for under R50/ $5. Hello!!! Review here!

13.  Ride or Die Mascara: Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara. I love this mascara as it gives bold dramatic lashes which stays put all day. I will buy this mascara over and over again.

14.  Ride or Die Lip Liner: NYX Lip Liner in Pinky. I only use on lip liner and this one by NYX is my holy grail product. It remains in my cosmetics purse and compliments all my lipsticks.

15.  Ride or Die Lipstick: Wet n' Wild Bare It All and Mauve Outta Here Lipsticks. I cheated and chose two lipsticks. These are my favourite as they are light on the wallet and give a beautiful semi matte finish on my lips. They also work with any makeup look. LOVE!!! Review on them here.

16. Ride or Die Lipgloss: NYX Butter Gloss in Peaches And Cream. I am not much of a lip gloss wearer but these glosses smell so good and give a beautiful sheen on my lips.



Thank you for reading!
Divalicious Kisses
Xxxx

The Balm Mary Lou Manizer

Highlighter Review

Hi Divas!

The Balm Mary Lou Manizer is one of the most iconic highlighters in the beauty universe. It is almost everybody's ride or die highlighter. While I was using this beauty one fine day, I saw I that I  hit pan on it for the first time. I was like hold the phone! I didn't even review this on my blog yet and I already hit pan on this gem. I need to get my life together and do a review ASAP. Luckily I took blog pics way in advance when I first received it. I found them in the archives of my phone and I can now do a thorough review. I know that there are thousands upon thousands of reviews regarding this product, but I want to add my 2 cents as well. Before I start my review I want to say thank you to Tasneem for gifting me this product along with some other goodies for my birthday back in the day. You can read her blog CityGirlVibe here. 

The Mary Lou Manizer comes in the most cheekiest packaging you will ever see. It's a mugshot of a woman with a retro feel. She probably got arrested for being too damn fine! Or her highlight was blinding everyone and she became a danger to society. Either way, she is not apologetic about anything! She is shinning bright like a diamond. This naughty compact comes with a good size mirror and 8.5g of product. It's a perfect size that can be placed in your handbag. The plastic casing is quite sturdy as well. I have travelled with this compact to the Middle East and it really stood the test of time in my suitcase. It's slim and cute. Definitely one of the favourite things in my makeup bag.

What makes this highlighter so amazing is that it's a three in one product. It can be used as a highlighter, eyeshadow and all over shimmer product. The highlighter has a smooth almost buttery texture. It's not tacky or chunky. It has a silky appearance and glides on the skin without accentuating large pores or scars. The shimmers are so finely milled that it is not grainy or powdery either. The colour is described as a honey toned pigment. Honey tones look beautiful on all skin types. On my skin it gives a gorgeous golden glow. It has a luminous glowing from within shine. It is really stunning on the cheekbones. The result is a crisp illuminating pigment which diffuses light and gives a warm glow. When used as an eyeshadow you can seriously layer on the product. I love that you can build as much golden intensity as you want to. When used with a good eyeshadow primer the luminizer can knock any golden eyeshadow out of the park! Things to note about this compact as well is that it is talc free, paraben free and cruelty free too. How can you not fall in love with this?!

As I have mentioned above, the Mary Lou Manizer is perfect for travel. I have travelled with this compact many times and used it has a highlight and eyeshadow in one. Above is one of my signature looks when I want to look glam but have minimal products available. For my travel glam look, I usually place my favourite bb cream all over my face and fill in my eyebrows with a pomade. I then warm up my crease by lightly dusting a blush and bronzer all over it. To add some glam I place the Mary Lou Manizer all over my lids with a eyeshadow brush. I really pack on the colour for an intense shimmery look. I then add liner and my favourite mascara. For my face, I dust some Mary Lou Manizer on my cheekbones and add some blush and bronzer. I also run the highlighter down the bridge of my nose and on top of my lipstick for a more defined glam look.

I am absolutely in love with this highlighter. It is such a great investment and will last you a really long time. I love finding products that I can travel with and that can be used for more than one purpose. Let me know below if you have used this highlighter. I now know why this is everyone's holy grail makeup product ;-)

Lots of Divalicious Kisses
Xxxx

Hi Divas!

Welcome to my blog! A place where makeup junkies and fellow crazy people can hang out with me. Today I will be reviewing a contour product by NYX called Wonder Stick. If you watch YouTube makeup tutorials you would know that there was a time when it was all about that contoured and chiseled face! Every brand was coming out with a contour palette and every beauty Youtuber was carving out their face like a professional sculptor. I was never on the contour bandwagon as I was too lazy to care because it was an extra step to my already long makeup routine. Plus all those products on my face tend to look super cakey when blended in with my foundation and powders, so I just gave it a skip. Unfortunately for me I wasn't blessed with beautiful supermodel bone structure. In fact I have no cheekbones and a whole lot of chubby cheeks on my face. So I would probably benefit the most from that contoured life but I just can't handle those cumbersome contour palettes. They just look clumsy and unnecessarily big to me. In comes NYX Wonder Stick. A petite and nifty product that I can pop in my makeup bag and be super inconspicuous on my vanity table while giving me that contoured life look. Whoop!

 GET THAT CONTOURED LIFE!


The Wonder Stick comes in 4 shades and I have it in WS02 Medium Tan. It is shaped like a chubby stick and has two sides to it. One is a contour stick and the other a highlighting stick which rotate up and down with a plastic cap. The highlight shade is matte and has a light but bright coverage. The contour shade is a matte taupe brown that looks quite natural on my skin tone and doesn't leave that horrible orange streaks. I love the packaging of the stick as it is small and super convenient. I have two products in one which can fit into the smallest travel bags. NYX gives a reasonable amount of product as it is quite similar to cream concealers that I own from other brands. The box comes with pictures and a step by step guide in how to achieve that perfect contour. For those who watch a trillion beauty videos like me you definitely don't need a guideline as the contoured rules have been etched into your brain already. For the newbies out there NYX does a great job in explaining where to shade and highlight on the face.

 THE CONTOUR WARRIOR HAS BEEN UNLEASHED!


How to Contour and a Key Tip:

As you can see in the photo above I used the lighter shade to highlight the bridge of my nose, under my eyes, centre of my forehead and chin area. Basically you draw a highlighted tree with the base down your nose and the branches across your forehead. Draw upside down triangles under your eyes to get a glowing effect on your face. For the contour we want to fake it till me make it and carve out those non existent cheekbones. Draw lines from your ear to the centre where your nostrils end right under your cheekbone line. Suck in those cheeks and create fish lips for a more precise measurement! Then draw contour lines on the sides of your nose, around the end of your jaw line and across the tops of your forehead. Now here is the key that defines a gorgeous contoured face from a disastrous one: BLEND, BLEND AND BLEND SOME MORE!
You will need a makeup brush or beauty sponge and blend those cream products until they look like shadows and highlights on your face instead of sharp drawn crayon lines.

What's my verdict on this product:
I love it! This is perfect for me as I mentioned before that it is so convenient and travel friendly. Both cream products blend wonderfully onto my skin without it looking cakey or harsh. I love that the shades are natural and they won't make me look like a oompa loompa once applied on my face. I like to set the contour and highlight with matching bronzers and highlighting powders to seal the cream products on the face. The lighter shade is strictly for highlighting purposes. If you want to hide blemishes or dark circles you will have to apply your favourite concealer underneath before you apply this product for extra coverage. The trick that I found to creating a flawless non cakey look is applying a light layer of foundation first on the face then apply your concealers and this wonder stick. Set everything with your desired powders and your face will look naturally highlighted and contoured. As contouring is an extra layer on your face it is important to not cake up your foundation on first application. Start light as you will be layering it with contour creams and powders. This will prevent your makeup from creasing under the eyes and end up looking like a hot cakey mess.


 Forget it or Get it!:
If you are looking for a no fuss contour that looks natural and blends well, then give this Wonder Stick a try.  I loved that it's a trouble free, no fuss product that gives me a natural contour. GET IT!



Hope you found this review helpful
Divalicious kisses
Xxxx

My Favourite Christmas 2015 Collections:

The Body Shop, Essence and Clarins

Hi Divas!

It is the most wonderful time of the year!!! The festive season is surely upon us and I am super excited. I just love the holidays and all the happiness and joy that it brings. I hope you have all completed your Santa shoe boxes or gifts for those less fortunate than yourself. You know it is more blessed to give than to receive. This year I teamed up with my local church and we made some Santa shoe boxes filled with goodies for an orphanage close by to our area. I cannot wait to see the surprise and happiness on the children's faces. Speaking of giving, are you done with you Christmas shopping yet? I sure am! I hate leaving Christmas shopping to the last minute. It really stresses me out. I thought I would do a post on my favourite beauty Christmas collections for those of you who are still struggling to find the perfect gift. Hope you enjoy!

The Body Shop Frosted Plum, Glazed Apple and Frosted Cranberry Collection:

Each Christmas season The Body Shop comes out with a limited edition scent filled with body washes, body butters, room sprays and candles. For the past two years I really enjoyed the Glazed Apple (fruity, sweet and fresh scent) and Frosted Cranberry (fruity and spicy scent) range. These two scents are my absolute favourite and I cannot resist buying a few items when the festive season comes along. This year I bought body washes, body butters and a delicious Glazed Apple candle that just delights all my senses. It seriously smells like heaven! The Body Shop added a new scent to their 2015 Christmas collection too called Frosted Plum. I am not a huge fan of this scent so I only bought the shower gel. If you love deep plum scents then you will surely love this range. These products would make excellent gifts for your best friend, sister, mom and granny. You can buy them individually or in a lovely gift set.

The Essence Merry Berry Collection:

I reviewed this collection last week. You can read it here. These products would make perfect stocking stuffers for the beauty and makeup lover in our life. Or you can be like me and just buy the collection as a Christmas present to yourself. After all you know you deserve it! Hahaha ;-) My favourite products from the Merry Berry collection are the lipsticks, nail polishes and the gorgeous starry highlighter powder. Don't you just love the packaging? It is so pretty and everything is under a R100 ($11). Score!!!

Clarins Christmas Collection: 

Clarins is my holy grail skincare brand. Every year they come out with various Christmas gifts packaged according to your skin care needs and age. Each gift comes with a free toiletry/ makeup bag along with two or more skincare samples. I bought the Clarins Multi-Active range as I am not getting any younger and need some anti wrinkle ingredients in my life. These gifts are on the higher end side of your beauty budget. They would make excellent gifts for the ladies in your life who appreciate skin care products and love to pamper themselves. You can visit the Clarins website here for more information of the gifts on offer.




Thank you so much for reading Beauties.
Happy Shopping!!!
Xxxx

Hello beautiful ladies!

I am so excited to do this post for you as it is all about makeup and Christmas! One of my favourite holiday collections this year has to be from the drugstore brand Essence. They came out with an array of new makeup, hair and nail polish products for their 2015 holiday collection called Merry Berry. When I saw pictures of the collection online I just knew I had to rush to the stores when it hit the shelves in my area as soon as possible. These products were selling out fast and I managed to grab all that I wanted on one of my morning shopping trips. I was most excited to purchase the gorgeous highlighter powder as it is embossed in the prettiest gold stars. The packaging just made me so excited for Christmas and the festive season. Along with the highlighter I bought two eyeshadows, two nail polishes and two lipsticks. There are also hair fragrance mists and gold shimmer body powders packaged in vintage perfume bottles which I did not get. Below are reviews of the makeup and nail polishes I did buy! ;-)




*Essence Merry Berry Nail Polish in 04 Red Rocks: A lovely bright red shade with slight pink undertones

*Essence Merry Berry Nail Polish in 02 Purple With Purpose: A stunning satin finish deep royal purple shade.

*Essence Merry Berry Eyeshadow in 02 The Masked Ball: A purple eyeshadow with taupe shades and glitter undertones. The eyeshadow is pretty powdery and you get a lot of fall out.

*Essence Merry Berry Eyeshadow in 01 The Perfect Dress: A shimmery beige eyeshadow with glitter undertones. It looks beautiful and natural on the eyelids.

*Essence Merry Berry Highlighter in 01 I love My Golden Pumps: A glowing gold highlighter that gives a natural luminous glow on the cheeks.

*Essence Merry Berry Lipstick in 01 Let's The Berry Tales Begin: A plum lipstick shade with berry undertones. It looks very sultry on the lips and great for a romantic night out.

*Essence Merry Berry Lipstick in 02 Pink and Perfect: A bright pink and berry shade which is very festive and playful. You could wear it any time of the day and it would transform any makeup look into a pretty whimsical feel.






I am absolutely in love with the highlight powder, shimmery beige eyeshadow shade in The Perfect Dress, Let's The Berry Tales Begin plum lipstick and the nail polish in Purple With Purpose. In my opinion these are the best products out of the collection. The highlighter is very natural. I love to use it on my cheekbones and under my brow bone. You can really build up the shine and there are no glitter chunks which I love. The beige eyeshadow makes the eyelids pop without being over the top. The plum lipstick and purple nail polish are unique shades that I do not own in my makeup collection. The other red berry lipstick and nail polish are pretty but they are not unique in shades. So if you have something similar in your makeup kit you honestly don't need it. The purple eyeshadow in The Masked Ball is my least favourite product I bought. The eyeshadow has a lot of fall out and you truly need an excellent sticky primer to make the eyeshadow stick to the eyes. You can definitely skip that eyeshadow if you are looking to pick up only a few pieces from the Merry Berry range.




In the photo above I painted my nails with the Red Rocks and Purple With Purpose nail polishes. The nail varnishes are very opaque and have a beautiful shine after applying a top coat. They dry quite quickly which makes nail painting a breeze. I really love how this manicure turned out. I think it looks very pretty. On my face I applied the eyeshadows, highlight powder and lipsticks. I think both lipstick shades compliments the eye look so well. Look at the magnificent highlighter on my cheeks too! I just love it ;-) If you only want to pick up one thing from the range you have to buy the highlight powder. The stunning starry packaging alone makes my heart skip several beats.



Hope you found this review helpful.
Much love!
Xxxx

Hi Divas!

I hope you are doing well and had a great weekend. I want to share a very exciting product with you on the blog this week. Firstly I have to say that I love to shine. I am not much of a bronzer kind of girl. I adore highlighters and illuminators and I love to shine bright like a glittery unicorn. Becca is very well known amongst makeup lovers for their gorgeous highlighting powders. I would always watch Youtube Becca haul videos and dream about one day owning a Becca highlighter. Thus I was very excited when I finally got my hands on a Becca highlighting product after winning a competition on Life Retreat. The product that I have been using almost everyday is the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector. This is a liquid illuminizer that contains light reflecting pearls which add a luminous glow and radiance to the face. It comes in five shimmering shades and I have the lightest shade in Pearl.

The Shimmering skin Perfector is described as a ''sheer liquid highlighter and moisturiser that veils skin in a soft pearlised glow''. This is an illuminizer and light moisturiser in one. The product contains an SPF OF 25 + and the consistency of the product actually feels like a light lotion on the skin. One pump is all you need to cover your whole face. A half a pump would be perfect to highlight the cheekbones and the bridge of the nose. What I love most about the product is that it is very versatile in application. You could wear this on it's own as a light moisturiser on your face. Or you could mix the highlighter into your moisturiser or foundation to give your face a natural glow. You could also place a few drops on the high points of your cheek and blend it out for a sheer glow. I prefer to mix it with my foundation for a luminous all over glow on my face. 

The product blends easily onto the skin and you definitely notice a difference when you use it. The skin is much more glowy and radiant like the J-Lo glow that we all want. The product contains no glittery chunks or traces of fake glitter. It is literally tiny specks of pearls that illuminate the face in the most natural way ever. I did notice that the product does not sink into the skin like a foundation. It sits on top of the skin and would be best if you set it with a highlighting powder or pressed powder so that the product does not move around. I usually set my face with powder anyway, as I am combination skin, so this extra step is not inconvenient for me. The illuminizer is definitely buildable. You can go for a subtle glow or pack the product on along with a highlighting powder and get your unicorn shine on!

The product is packaged in a 50 ml glass bottle with a silver pump and a sturdy bottle cap. The bottle feels quite light weight in my hand so it won't be bulky or heavy in my travel bag. A little really goes a long way with this highlighter so the product will last you for ages. The product has a slight sunscreen scent, but it is very subtle and nothing too overbearing. I think this is an excellent shimmering liquid highlighter as it is versatile and can be used in many different ways to highlight the face. It is also great value for money as the illuminizer will last a very long time in your makeup kit. If you love to glow and shine bright like a diamond then definitely give this product a try. For more info on where you can purchase Becca products in South Africa visit the Becca Facebook page here or their twitter page here.

Hope you found this review helpful!
Divalicious kisses. 
Xxxx