Thursday, 11 August 2016

Becca X Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection - Face Palette

Palette Review & Swatches

This is another palette that I wasn't sure about reviewing, because it is limited edition & i'm unsure if it's still available to purchase :/ but it's such a beautiful palette & Becca have added more to the Jaclyn Hill champagne collection since, with duo compacts including the blushes & highlighters from this palette, so I thought i'd post a quick review for those interested in the new compacts or if this palette ever comes back!
The face palette includes Jaclyns original baby "Champagne Pop", along with a new highlighter "Prosecco Pop" better for deeper skintones & 3 new blushes "Rose Spritz", "Amaretto" & "Pamplemousse" all for $52 USD (or $102 NZD from Sephora NZ)
If you have ever watched Jaclyn Hill on YouTube, you would know the woman is extremely talented & has a mind full of makeup knowledge! She knows what she wants from her makeup, she is an absolute perfectionist when it comes to her passion, so I knew these products were going to be amazing quality & to the best of Beccas abilities they made that happen.
Now I know this collection had a bit of controversy revolved around it due to the eyeshadow palette that was part of the collection, including one shade Jaclyn created, had to be made in a different factory in china, so some palettes were perfect but most were not up to par, resulting in Becca completely dropping the palette from the collection. Which I think is cool because it shows if they can't make something perfect for us, they won't make it at all. Jaclyn Hill was very honest about the whole situation over snapchat & expressed her disappointment, but people are always looking for something shady or sinister behind everything & started attacking Jaclyn over the internet about the whole collection being a sham & that everything was made in china, the face palettes Champagne Pop is different to the original BLA BLA BLA! Yet nothing was said about the other products before the info about the eyeshadow palette was known.. Some people are far to quick to judge & desperate to see others fail. It's makeup everybody, it's not that serious!

Just had to get that out of the way, I know about the eyeshadow palette but that is definitely not the case with the face palette. I'm literally in love with this palette! Champagne Pop was the first product I ever bought from Becca, because Hi gotta support JH! So this was the first time trying their blushes & wow! I was in shock at how smooth, buttery, pigmented, delicious these were! Wait till you see the swatches below, one touch of every shade & one swipe on my arm, the texture is amazing & so smoothly swatched down my arm like actual butter! I compared my original Champagne Pop with the new one in the palette & at first glance I thought the original was slightly more peachy but my friend pointed out the gold palette would throw your eyes off a bit, swatched next to each other they're exactly the same! The texture is the same, the shade is the same & end result on the face is the same!

A quick little mention about the packaging, IT'S THE PRETTIEST THING I OWN!
It's super high quality, quite solid & heavy gold case with a white champagne spritz top, amazing mirror inside that doesn't bend or blur, like Jeffree Star said "it's an expensive mirror!"

♥SWATCHES



Champagne Pop -
Jaclyns original, Soft white gold with pinky peach undertones 
Prosecco Pop -
Medium warm gold
Rose Spritz -
Soft peachy pink with pale gold shimmer
Amaretto -
Matte toasted almond  
Pamplemousse -
Matte warm coral pink

I wish you could see how smoothly these swatched on arm, the pigment dragged all the way & didn't go patchy or powdery. These are the best blushes I've ever used (not that I'm a big blush fan, but I'm starting to use them more) and of course the highlights are so creamy and reflective yet melt in to the skin making them appear very natural
If they ever bring this palette back I totally recommend getting it, once you see the quality you'll be using them all the time! But if not, don't forget Becca & Jaclyn have also added compact duos to the collection including combos like Prosecco Pop + Amaretto, the perfect pair for tanned/olive skin or there's Champagne Pop + Flowerchild Blush (not in this palette but a more wearable combo versus Champagne Pop & say Rose Spritz) or Prosecco + Pamplemousse, another good combo for deeper skin. Check them out at Sephora US & AUS/NZ




LucyLoves! xx


Saturday, 23 July 2016

Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance

Palette Review & Swatches

I've been trying to write this review all week but life caught up with me, as it does..
Anyway I can't wait to show you all swatches of this palette! It's so beautiful :D
Modern Renaissance 
"An essential eye shadow collection featuring 14 shades, including neutral & berry tones. Create endless looks for daytime & evening with Anastasias first Permanent eye palette"
Highly pigmented, easy-to-blend formula, 11 mattes + 3 metallics & dual-sided eye brush.
If any of you have had the chance to try ABH eye shadows, you'd know they are amaaaazing! Though I'm not a huge fan of berry tones & the first few reviews I had heard were of people saying how many berrys & red shades were in there, but knowing how good the ABH shadows are I had to own this palette! And once I got it, there actually aren't too many berry shades.. three? The rest are beautiful neutral shimmers, warm earthy colours, a couple of cooler toned mattes. I'm so in love & it actually can be very versatile, if you use that creative mind of yours! ;) The palette is available for $42usd
I got my palette from Beautylish.com, just a quick shout out to this website, you must check them out! Free Shipping to NZ on orders over $50usd & they have a payment plan! If you want a few things that make your order over $100usd, but you can't pay for it, the payment plan allows you to pay in three payments, one week a month for three months. It's awesome, I was able to pick a few other products up I haven't tried yet, without breaking the bank!

Anyway back on to the Modern Renaissance, I definitely have to mention the packaging for this palette.. If you know me, you'll know I'm an absolute sucker for great packaging! This palette is covered in faux lavender/lilac suede.. I can't.. I'm totally obsessed with suede this season & that is another reason I had to have this palette! Plus the little dual sided brush, that comes with each ABH palette, is actually really nice & handy to have.
Let's look at the swatches, as per usual, the quality of the shadows are amazing

♥SWATCHES
Left side:
Tempera - Velvety Beige with a matte finish (hard to see on my skin)
Golden Ochre - Earthy Yellow with a matte finish
Vermeer - Iridescent shell with a metallic finish
Buon Fresco - Antique Lavender with a matte finish
Antique Bronze - Metallic sable brown with a satin finish
Love Letter - Raspberry with a matte finish
Cyprus Umber - Dark coffee with a matte finish
Right side:
Raw Sienna - Neutral caramel with a matte finish
Burnt Orange - Mid-tone neutral orange with a matte finish
Primavera - Shimmery gold with a metallic finish
Red Ochre - Earthy Red Brown with a matte finish
Venetian Red - Crimson berry red with a matte finish
Warm Taupe - Earthy Grey with a matte finish
Realgar - Brick orange with a matte finish

Tempera, as you can see (or can't see haha) it's basically the same colour as my skin, just a matte light beige, nicely pigmented as works great as a base shadow or brow bone highlight
Golden Ochre, this is kind of like a light muted mustard colour with a matte finish it works great in the crease as a transition shade for the other colours in the palette
Vermeer, very pretty iridescent pearly shade, like a pinky champagne with a metallic finish, this of course looks great on the lid or inner corner, and even a light wash over the brow bone to highlight.
Buon Fresco, this is a very pretty cool toned matte, a light muted lilac or lavender shade, nice in the crease for a cool transition, or on the lid for a soft pastel smokey eye
Antique Bronze, love this metallic sable brown shade, it has some violet looking shimmers as well as bronze against a brown base, so pretty for a smouldering eye look 
Love Letter, Raspberry matte, what else can I say? It's a deepish pinky purple red with a matte finish, looks amazing with just about everything else in this palette but is the only one I found a little dry..
Cyprus Umber, love loove this cooler toned, dark coffee shade, it's so matte, so pigmented, so buttery and blends like a dream. Make sure to only use small amounts at a time
Raw Sienna, this is the perfect crease/transition shade we all love, a matte neutral caramel shade that works well with all the other shades in this palette
Burnt Orange, another shade I love, a muted mid-tone orange matte shade that is great in the crease, looks amazing with the other warm shades in this palette and really makes blue eyes pop!
Primavera, this is my favourite shade in the palette, I love a good gold eye shadow & this shimmery gold with a metallic finish does not disappoint, its very nicely pigmented
Red Ochre, another beautiful warm matte in this palette like burnt orange but a deep earthy reddish brown, so pigmented & looks beautiful used for a cut-crease or on the lid as a burgundy smokey eye
Venetian Red, like Love Letter but more red and not as dry, described as a crimson berry matte shade, buttery & nicely pigmented
Warm Taupe, earthy grey, taupe brown shade, another handy matte shade to have for the crease or transition shade. Use it with the raspberry shades to create a sexy candy eye
Realgar, this is my FAVE shade it's so beautiful, a true brick orange with a matte finish. This is another buttery, highly pigmented matte and looks great with shades like Red Ochre, Cyprus Umber, Burnt Orange and Antique Bronze.


What more can I say to convince you that you need this palette!? It's pigmented, it's buttery, it has variety with warm, cool & neutral tones & shimmers. The palette itself is beautiful and it's at a really decent price point, especially if you're ordering from Beautylish 


LucyLoves! xx

Saturday, 16 July 2016

SugarBear Hair Vitamin Review - 1 Month Results!

Do these things REALLY work?!

Ok I know a lot of you have been waiting for this review!
SugarBear Hair Vitamins
Promises of stronger, healthier hair, encouraging hair growth
Do they really work? Pictures of Kylie Jenner, Khloe Kardashian,Vanessa Hudgens & the like have been seen using these, & spark a lot of sceptical people making comments & doubting this product, myself included.. I decided to try them for myself before totally dismissing them.. Let me tell you I was pleasantly surprised with these bears. Check out my results below!
These sweet blue gummie bears are Vegetarian, Cruelty Free, Gluten, Dairy & Gelatin Free
"Formulated with essential hair-friendly vitamins like Biotin, Folic Acid & Vitamin D, it nourishes your hair from the roots to improve strength, elasticity, length & shine!"
$30 USD for 1month supply/60 gummies (2per day) 
Recommended for 13yrs +

www.SugarBearHair.com
So I can definitely see why people would be doubtful of these blue bears, they look & taste like candy! They literally taste just like your normal gummie bear, but these guys have super powers! Naturally flavoured with berries & citrus fruits & full of effective ingredients such as:
Vitamin A, C, D, E, B-6, B-12
Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9)
Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B-5)
Biotin
Coconut Oil
Just because it doesn't look like an average, boring supplement with no flavour or colour & housed in a capsule that you buy from your local health shop or pharmacy, people instantly don't trust it works.. I was willing to give these bears the benefit of the doubt, there's nothing wrong with making vitamins fun!
As a hairdresser by trade, I know what hair needs to be strong & healthy & this is one banger of a concoction! Vitamin B-6 is great to prevent hairloss, Panthothenic Acid helps to stimulate hair growth by supporting your hairs natural keratin (Keratin is the protein that makes our hair) & Biotin which is one of the most important vitamins you can take to promote hair growth & these babies have 5000mcg in each daily dose! That's about 6-7 times the amount we need so BOOM long hair! These ingredients don't only result in great hair, but also healthier skin & nails. What could be better?
So on May 30th I started my daily regime of the 2 bears a day, everyday for 30 days.
I made sure to take a before photo the day I started & an after photo. I straightened my hair on both days so I could see the real growth difference & when I put the two photos next to each other, Wow! I'm very happy with the result & growth of my hair. Hair typically grows about 3-4cms a month, I for one am very use to seeing 4-6weeks hair growth, that is the recommended time between hair regrowth colouring, my hair grew about an inch & half! Nearly twice the amount in a month! 

♥RESULTS
So here are my results after taking 2 bears a day for 30 days! 
Despite the obvious growth, what I actually noticed was stronger/faster growing nails, naturally glowy skin & stronger, shinier hair at the roots with less hair fall.
I've always had a problem with my hair falling because of all the heat styling & rough treatment over the years, but this is the strongest my hair has been since before I started colouring & messing with it. I'm super impressed & can only recommend you try them for yourself!

There are only 2 downsides to these vitamins & that is if you have coloured hair, you'll need to do the regrowth more often because it grows so fast, & the price.. I'm not stoked about the price, once I paid for shipping, these ended up a hefty $60 NZD, I think that's a lot of money for 60 gummie bear vitamins..But they do work! I guess it just depends on how badly you want to grow your hair, & how much you're willing to spend on doing it

I for one, am going to order more because I love what they did for my hair, skin & nails! I'll be sure to update you guys again when I've finished another month :)

Be sure to check out their website www.SugarBearHair.com for more info & their instagram @SugarBearHair #sugarbearresults




LucyLoves! xx