Laura Elizabeth xo: highlighter

Friday, 18 November 2016

Three High Quality Highlighters

Make Up Revolution I Heart Make Up 'Goddess of Love' Highlighter - £5.99
Urban Decay Afterglow Highlighter in 'Sin' - £19
Barry M Illuminating Strobe Cream 'Iced Bronze' - £4.49

I have put together three great highlighters that differ in price, formula and brand. I was first attracted to the heart boxes from Make Up Revolution as they looked like amazing dupes of the blushes from Too Faced, and I am a sucker for such cute packaging. At first I tried the blushes from Make Up Revolution and after being very impressed with them I decided to try one of their highlighters. This also turned out to be a great product, not particularly as pigmented as the other two highlighters I have picked out but a good product for only £4.99. It gives a natural and subtle glow to the skin, and it has a pink sheen to it, not my favourite in a highlighter but as it is not strongly pigmented it does not show up on the skin with too much of a pink shine.

After watching Manny MUA rave about the Urban Decay highlighter in 'Sin' I was easily persuaded and went and bought it when it was finally back in stock! It is super pigmented and I always get comments whenever I am wearing it. If you are looking for a higher end product for highlight then this one should definitely be the top of your list!

If you are looking to try a cream product, the the Barry M strobe stick is great and really affordable. It is easy to apply and blend, without smudging or moving your foundation and although there are only two shades to choose from, I am really pleased with the champagne shade of Iced Bronze.

Highlighter is by far my favourite make up product and so my collection is always growing and very varied. What are your favourite highlighters?

Jouer Limited Edition Mermaid Glow Palette

Admittedly, this was a Instagram pressured, packaging purchase, that I do not regret. I saw this beauty on Cult Beauty's Instagram and then followed an email, with news of the new items from Jouer. I had heard of this brand, but have never tried anything from them before and when their mermaid collection hit I entered a dream like state where I added the Glow Palette straight to my basket and seemingly hit the complete order button and before I knew it this was falling through my letter box.

It's quite pricey for £35, but you get five cream highlighters, in perfect packaging, from a brand that I have read numerous raving reviews about. The palette contains three original cream highlight shades from Jouer and two new and limited edition ones that create the Mermaid Glow Palette. This gives a beautiful, natural light glow and looks lovely particularly on the cheekbones and brow bones, but I can see this being used on the collar bones, cupids bow, eye lids, pretty much anywhere!

The creams are pigmented and non sticky, and I find best used with your finger tips. The palette includes a pearly white shade, a gold, an orangey / rose gold colour, and a pink and a lilac shade, that all give a glow to your complexion, my favourites are the gold and the lilac shade. The highlighters contain conditioning, skin friendly extracts of antioxidants, including Vitamin E. The packaging is great as the palette is customisable, the interlocking of the palette means you can choose to travel with all or just a few of the shades and the box it comes in is so beautiful.

Shades:
Camellia - pearl shade
Tiare - gold
Champagne - rose gold
Seashell - pink
Crystal - lavender / lilac pink

Head to cult beauty to get your hands on this!

Sleek Highlighter Palette - Solstice

It took so long for me to finally own this palette, it was always out of stock online and just never seemed to be in stock in my local Superdrug and Boots. This is the 'Solstice' highlighter palette from Sleek - a much loved favourite amongst beauty lovers and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

First of all I adore the packaging, it's beautiful and the gold case makes it look really high end and luxurious. It also comes with a small brush and a mirror which is always a big plus and really handy for travelling. For £10 you get a mix of four, highly pigmented highlighters, two baked powders, one of a cream formula and one shimmer powder. There are four different shades, with the pink colour being slightly alarming to some as it is really pigmented and intense to swatch but much ore subtle once on the skin this looks stunning and I can imagine this palette will look amazing on any skin tone, or really nice with a tan.

Ecliptic - A champagne pink cream highlighter

Hemisphere - A pinky/lilac shimmery baked powder highlighter

Subsolar - Golden yellow powder highlighter

Equinox - Orange gold baked highlighter

I think this palette is really great for the price and the highlighters are of a really high quality, definitely get your hands on it if you can!

January Favourites

I went on a mad one in January and purchased so many new beauty products,some that I haven't even had the chance to use properly yet, but a few I have been using non stop and have been absolutely loving them and so I had to include them in my favourites for the month of January.

Tanya Burr Cosmetics Peachy Glow Cheek Palette £8- Super affordable, pigmented and with beautiful details, I have been using this palette from Tanya's range non stop. The bronze shade has a subtle shimmer in it, but not too much that it is still suitable to use to contour, the blush is the perfect shade for any skin tone I think, but really does compliment a fairer skin. The highlight is a lovely champagne colour and although it is quite shimmery and glittery, when applied to the skin it gives a natural healthy glow, and so all round this a great three in one palette that offers both a subtle definition to the face, or more of a strong contoured look.

Coconut Lane Marble Phone Case £13 - http://www.coconut-lane.com/accessories/marble-phone-case - Marble accessories are all the range and I particularly love marble phone cases as they look sophisticated and elegant. I chose this one from Coconut Lane as they offer super cute accessories at affordable prices. You can get 20% off your order by using my code 'lelizaxo20' at the checkout.

Nivea Post Shave Balm £3.52 Superdrug - If you aren't aware of this product being used as a primer then one, where have you been?! Two, you need to purchase this. Yes this is a man's product and has a more masculine scent, but once covered with foundation you can't smell it at all. It isn't as effective as a high end primer, and doesn't minimise pores, but it smooths out the skin and make up has long staying power as the foundation sticks to the balm and so it makes for a great primer.

Laura Geller Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator in Ballerina £21- I love the design of this product, its small and compact and so perfect for travelling. Also the 3D design means you don't lose the cute ice cream swirl effect. The product itself is really pigmented, applies like a powder but feels like cream which makes it great for blending and building up, and even though it's highlighy pigmented it doesn't go on too glittery and so offers a lovely healthy looking glow. I chose the shade 'ballerina' over the ever popular 'gilded honey' as I already own a highlight in this shade. Ballerina is a more dusky rose gold shade which I think looks lovely on my pale skin.

Gerard Cosmetics Hydra Matte Liquid Lipstick in Invasion and Serenity £9.50 - Having quite dry lips means I have a love hate relationship with liquid lipsticks. These I find are not drying on my skin but are still pigmented. I love the frosted tubes and sleek gold lids and the doe foot applicator. I chose the shades 'Serenity' a pink nude shade and 'Invasion' a great dupe for Lime Crime's Cashmere, a grey toned purple. They also smell of frosting!

So these have been my favourites during January! What products have you been enjoying lately?

My April Favourites

The Body Shop Instablur £14.00 - This is by far my favourite primer out of everyone I have ever used. I was just slightly disappointed at the size of it for the price I paid, but despite that, I have no other complaints about it. I noticed very early on that it minimised the appearance of my pores and once my foundation is applied it definitely keeps the shine at bay as I find myself having to re-powder a lot less often. I've also noticed that this product has a hint of a smell to it and I am obsessed with it! It makes me look forward to using the product everytime I apply make up.

Make Up Revolution Ultra Blush Palette in Golden Sugar £6.00 - This palette comes with eight gorgeous shades, one matte and a long mirror (always a bonus). I find two shades to be the perfect highlighter, three to be lovely pinky blush shades, two a shimmery bronze and one to be a perfect shade for contour as it is matte. All shades are pigmented and differ even though some appear to be similar shades. I have used this everyday that I have worn make up in April and I am sure that it will continue be a part of my daily routine for a long while yet.

Original Source Vanilla and Raspberry Shower Gel £1 at Superdrug - I love these shower gels, they come in a range of scents but this one is my favourite. It's super sweet and smells good enough to eat! You can create quite a lather with it and it leaves your skin smelling lovely for hours afterwards!

Simple Hydrating Light Moisturiser £1.98 Superdrug - I could not believe the quality of this product for how inexpensive it is. The first time I used it I woke up in the morning and could already notice a huge difference in my skin. It leaves it feeling really soft, the cream soaks in well and it doesn't leave a sticky residue behind.

Glitter Liquid Phone Case £3.95 - These are so pretty! There are lots of different colours on eBay and its perfect for when you are bored as you can sit and watch the glitter move for ages!

Lime Crime Velvetine Cashmere $20 - I bought this on Dollskill.com due to the whole Lime Crime incident, and it arrived within a few days. I've wanted to try this shade for ages and I was so super pleased with it when it arrived that I've been wearing at every opportunity I can. It's a lovely purple/grey shade but it is still a lovely nude and really transforms a make up look. It easy to apply, creamy in the tube and dries matte but it is not drying on the lips.

Comment your opinions on these products or link me to your April favourites post - I love reading them!

-Laura Elizabeth xo

My Current Favourite Highlighters

MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder - Pink Shimmer

Seventeen Skin Wow 3 Way Highlighter

the Balm Mary-Lou Manizer Luminizer

MAC Pearlmatte Face Powder - Pink Buttercream

These are just a few of the highlighters in my collection and it's fair to say that a good highlighter product is my favourite step in my make-up routine. These four are my current favourites and I have an internal battle every morning on which one to use!

In my opinion all four give a totally different effect on my skin but similarly give a spectacular finish, providing my skin with a lovely glow. They range in prices, but I have to say I am so impressed with Make Up Academy's highlighter product, at just £3 you can't go wrong! It gives a radiant glow to my skin and works just as well the more expensive products from the Balm and Mac.

The Seventeen highlighter has three amazing uses to it, to prime, to add to your foundation (giving an effect similar to Rimmel's Wake Me Up foundation) and to add to the tops of your cheekbones for that perfect highlight. After using the product in all three ways, I have found that it gives a lovely luminous glow however you choose to use it.

Mac's Pink Buttercream unfortunately was a limited edition product, and can also be used as a subtle pink blush or a glowing highlight. I find it gives the best results when I swirl all colours of the product together on one brush.

The Balm's Mary-Lou Manizer is probably my top top favourite highlighter product. I find that this gives so much colour to the face and it is super pigmented so a little goes a long way! I'd class this as a champagne shade however I think it would look lovely on any skin tone.

What are your thoughts on these products? What are your favourite highlighter products? I'd love to know!

-Laura Elizabeth xo

Sleek Contour Kit Review

Hello lovelies, I have a number of posts lined up this week, the first one is a review of the Sleek Contour Kit priced £6.49. Available here:

http://www.sleekmakeup.com/face-contour-kit-light
http://www.superdrug.com/Sleek/Sleek-Face-Contour-Kit-Light/p/608327#.VOJIgPmsVaQ
http://www.boots.com/en/Sleek-MakeUp-Face-Contour-Kit_1395740/
Note: The colour of the different shades on the websites are not identical to the actual shades of the kit so I recommend going and having a look in a store or doing further search online if you are unsure of which colour will be best for you!

Mine is in the shade 'light' and as I'm quite pale this is the perfect shade for me. If I want a more bronzed, darker contour the product is easily build-able and super easy to blend; (I love using the contour brush from Real Techniques in the Core Collection set to apply this! Currently on offer at Gordon's Direct for £11.50! http://www.gordonsdirect.com/real-techniques-core-collection.html?gclid=CjwKEAiAx4anBRDz6JLYjMDxoQYSJAA4loRmO2DuAZnJlWtT3oMXLpUsK3X2qytuz2yNr8id-zYF5BoCdnbw_wcB ). The bronzer is matte and pigmented.

The highlighter is also lovely, one I reach for daily, it's not too glittery or sparkly, but gives a lovely glow to the skin, and is also very pigmented.

Overall, this is a product that I would definitely repurchase and one I would recommend for someone who is new to contouring, the kit also comes with a leaflet on where to contour and how to get the best out of the product!