A Truly Fantastic Bargain Buy: Collection Shimmer Shades

I'm wearing the lightest shade as a contour along with the peach coloured blush on my cheeks

(also, please excuse my blotchy skin- my final exam is tomorrow!  The stress is not doing my skin any favours)

If you've been looking for a really affordable drugstore product to contour your face with then Collection Shimmer Shades is a product that should be on your radar. There are four shades, all of which I'm going to describe in relation to my skin tone- there's a very light contour  (perfect on very pale skin), a medium contour (perfect for a more dramatic contour on pale skin), a dark contour (unwearable as such for me, but great for me as an eye shadow) and a peach blush which is gorgeous used with the contour shades or alone.


I have fallen in love with two of the shades, the lightest contour and the peach blush! Together they work absolutely perfectly to shape my face whilst still being really subtle. I think as my skin gets a little bit more colour over the summer I can start wearing the medium contour shade more often. At the moment it looks a little bit stark if I wear it during the day but is great when buffed out to look more subtle and worn in the evenings. I can't make the darkest contour shade work on my skin, but I've worn this on my eyelids a few times and with a primer it lasts all day. On my cheeks I can apply the contour and blush in the morning and when I get home in the evening it's still going strong on my cheeks. The longevity of the product is fantastic!


Also, because there's a choice of shades it makes it perfect for a rage of skintones, so if you're not as pale as me don't worry! The medium contour is likely to work well for you (it isn't at all orange!) and if you're a lot less pale then the darkest contour might just be perfect for you! You could then use the lightest or medium contours as base colours for your eye lids. All in all, I think it's a really great product because it will work  for so many people in a lot of different ways.

You can find Collection's Shimmer Shades in Boots for £4.19 (link here).

Do you like the look of these shades? What do you use to contour your face?



Angelica



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REVIEW: Eve of St. Agnes Revive and Renew Refining Bamboo Exfoliating Polish

I often struggle to find an exfoliater that is both effective and yet gentle enough not to aggravate my skin. I've succeeded only once before [review here] and today I finally have a second product to share with you!

I was very kindly sent this Exfoliating Polish to review and I didn't initially know what to expect, other than that it was recommended for my skin type which is combination. When it arrived it was in a really gorgeous glass jar and looked so luxurious and I wasn't at all disappointed when I opened it as the product really lives up to the packaging. It's a thick white cream with really tiny exfoliating particles in it and they provide really effective exfoliation but they're sparse enough throughout the cream to not be too harsh on the skin. These tiny particles are actually microdermabrasion grade bamboo particles. The cream they're in feels incredibly soft and nourishing and it contains shea butter and rosehip oil (famously good for red and sensitive skin) and these ingredients really help the product achieve a balance between exfoliation and nourishment.

A little bit of this Exfoliating Polish goes a long way. In the last photo above I've shown about as much would be needed if you only wanted to exfoliate your t-zone, if you wanted to use it all over your face I would double that. I've used this on my cheeks, which are usually incredibly sensitive and slightly on the dry side, and it felt just as comfortable being used on them as it did on my skin or nose. This is a rare occurrence and made me take instant notice of this product as something that was going to be pretty special in my skin care routine. After you use the Exfoliating Polish you're left with the smoothest skin, for me it was really a great improvement between before and after use. I noticed the difference right away and the following day when I applied my make-up I noticed that my skin was visibly more even. 

The Eve of St Agnes website [link here] describes this as a product for sensitive skin, and I would agree with that. The ingredients are just all round really great and I'm really impressed with Eve of St. Agnes. They're a new brand on my radar but they're definitely one to take note of. This exfoliater costs £18* for 50ml and comes in a really gorgeous box and glass jar. I think any of this brand's products would make a good gift and if you have sensitive skin then I'd definitely recommend it as my experience with the product has been thoroughly positive.

Do you like the sound of this Exfoliating Polish? What's your favourite exfoliater?

Angelica

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REVIEW: The Body Shop's Camomile Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover

The fullsize 250ml bottle costs £8 and is available here

I received The Body Shop's Camomile Gentle Eye Make-Up  Remover as a free gift with a make-up purchase quite a while ago now. It took me ages to get around to using it but when I did I found that I really liked it. I have quite sensitive skin and although the skin around my eyes doesn't feel especially sensitive I like to use gentle products on that area as I think it's better for my skin in the long term.

The Body Shop's Chamomile Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover is clear liquid which works best when you apply it onto a cotton pad and then gently sweep it across your lids. It works brilliants at removing eyeshadow, eye liner and non-waterproof mascara. I found that one cotton pad was usually enough to remove all of my day to day eye make up. I did, however, try using this all over my face and found that it was very effective at removing all my make-up- that includes, foundation, concealer, blush, highlighter etc. It didn't have a problem getting these sorts of products off my skin. 

I would certainly agree that it lives up to it's name as it definitely felt gentle to use and I didn't find that it irritated my eyes or skin in any way. I felt comfortable using it everyday and would highly recommend it to those of you who don't wear waterproof mascara. It didn't remove my waterproof mascara from MaxFactor (it is a bit of a devil to get off) but I expected that as other gentle make-up removers have also struggled with that particular mascara.

The fullsize product is 250ml which I think would last you at least a couple of months making it's RRP of £8 (or less if you take advantage of one of The Body Shop's regular offers) very good value for money. I'm almost certainly going to repurchase this in a month or so but I am currently trialing the Body Shop's Camomile Waterproof Eye Make-Up Remover so look out for a review of that next month.

Have you tried The Body Shop's Camomile Eye Make-Up Remover before? What do you use to take off your make-up?

Angelica

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