April Rate Or Hate

This is the first time in a while when I've actually been dreading the next month, but it's hard not to when you've got 7 exams coming up that don't end until mid June. For those of you in the same position as me, trust me when I say I feel your pain but hopefully this post will provide a bit of a welcome break from your revision instead of a means of procrastination.

This months rate or hate - 

Bare Minerals Ready Foundation and Mac Viva Glam Gaga 2

Rate -

Bare Minerals Original Foundation is my go to everyday foundation and has been for a couple of years now, but when I ran out a couple of months now and Debenhams didn't my colour I had a decision to make; do I buy the foundation in the wrong colour and try make it work or buy the pressed version. As you can see I bought the pressed version of my normal foundation (in the right colour) and I have been pleasantly surprised. There isn't a lot of difference between the original and the ready foundation apart from the ready foundation is a lot less messy and gives a slightly fuller coverage, which are only positives in my opinion!

Hate -

I bought this lipstick a couple of years ago now and at the time I really liked it but I haven't worn it in months because I have just gone off it. I don't think that Viva Glam Gaga 2 is a very flattering shade as it creates the appearance of foundation lips and makes me look ill. It isn't as bad if I wear a lipgloss over the top and it may suit a different skin tone but I do regret buying it. I guess on the plus side the money I paid for it goes to charity so it wasn't a total waste.

What have you been rating and hating this month?

Also don't forget to enter my £15 ASOS Gift Card giveaway here!

Nominate me for Best Teen Style Blogger in the Company Style Blogger Awards here!

Eleanor xx

March Rate or Hate

Starting off a blog post is one of the most difficult things about blogging. I must re-write the beginning of each of my posts at least 2-4 times before I am satisfied, and it has come to the point with my monthly posts that I can no longer continue to write about the weather or how fast this year is flying by. 

So before I get onto the post I'd just like to remind you how interesting Star Fish are; Star Fish can have up to eight eye's, one on every leg. 

This months Rate or Hate -

Bare Minerals SPF 20 Concealer and MUA Eye Shadows
(Not just the shade pictured but all of the shades!)

Rate - 

MUA is a British makeup brand sold only in Superdrug (as far as I know), for incredibly low prices ranging from £1- £7. I own a range of MUA eyeshaddows including some singles and a palette and that is because I love them!

Heaven and Earth Palette - £4

The single eyeshaddows are only £1 and the palettes are £4 and come in lots of highly pigmented shades. This includes matte eyeshaddows as well as shimmers which I find are incredibly difficult to find on to high street.  

From left to right: Shade 30, Shade 11, Shade 1, Shade 20, Shade 19 and Shade 17

At some point I think I will buy a cheap palette off ebay and depot all of my single eyeshaddows as the main down point to these products is that the packaging is poor, especially for the singles. But then again for £1 what do you expect?

I would really recommend these eyeshaddows if you are just staring out in makeup and want to build your collection but do not have the money to spend £10 on an eyeshaddow from MAC!

Hate - 

As you can tell for my recent posts I have not been getting on with concealers lately as my hate is yet again a concealer and what is even worse is that it is from Bare Minerals as well. 

Bare Minerals Concealer SPF 20

Don't get me wrong I love Bare Minerals as a brand and love lots of their products, that is why I am so gutted when a product of their's disappoints me and boy did this disappoint! 

Concealers are meant to conceal right? That is why they are called concealers, so why did this product do nothing but accentuate the flaws and imperfections I am trying to hide?! Even though I bought the lightest shade it is also still too dark for me making my face look patchy and discolored in some areas.

It was also very messy to apply.

Maybe if my skin was perfect this product would work for me, but then if I had perfect skin why would I need a concealer?

It's looking like I am having a concealer crisis, any suggestions?

Remember to nominate me in the Company Blog Awards here and follow me via Bloglovin here.

Eleanor xx

How To Get The Remaining Bare Minerals Out Of Its Pot

Happy Valentines Day! I hope you are all having a lovely day whatever you are doing or who you are spending the day with. Today I was going to do a typical blogger post showing you my Valentines Day outfit or makeup, but I thought I would do something different (plus I am having a lazy day and couldn't be bothered to get ready to go nowhere).

Now we've all probably been in the situation when we've come to the end of a product but there still some trapped inside the packaging. This happened to me yesterday when I wanted to wear my everyday foundation, Bare Minerals, and I couldn't get the remaining product out but I needed to wear it so that I could go out and repurchase it. 

Any normal person would have worn a different foundation or none at all, but the cheapskate in me found a way to get out the remaining product. So I thought I'd share with you how I did it.

You will need:

1. Your product - this will need to be a plastic pot, I used bare minerals but if you use something else the method will vary.
2. Something small and flat - I used my tweezers as they were close by.

There Bare Minerals I used has the old packaging but at the end I will go through how to do it with the new packaging.

The top lid with the holes in is what is stopping you from accessing the product, so this need's to be  removed. Use you tweezers to wedge a gap between the lid and the pot. 

Keep going all the way around thee pot until the lid pop's out. This will be tight be will eventually come out with a bit of work, but make sure you are careful and hold the pot tight as it is easy to spill the product everywhere.

Voila! There you go, you can access all of that product that was trapped meaning that no money is wasted

On the new packaging there are two different places where product could be hiding, that is either in the very bottom of the pot or in between the lid and the sifter. To remove the sifter use the same method as above but to gain the product in the bottom the method is slightly different. 

Place the sifter in so that no product can escape the top and put on the lid, then turn it upside down. As you can see from the picture below there is a plastic rim just inside the edge of the pot. Take your tweezers and wedge them under that circle and slowly lift it. This little plastic circle will pop out very quickly and you could lose all of the product you were trying to get so be careful!

I hope this may help some of you and if you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments and I will try to answer them! 

Eleanor xx

January Rate or Hate

I can't believe that January is nearly over, I have a feeling this year is going to go by very  quickly.

At the end of ever month lots of beauty and fashion bloggers will do their monthly favorites, I love these posts but wanted to do something slightly different. Each month I'm going to tell you 2 products that I either rate or hate that month (see what I did with the rhyming then!) This way I don't bore you with a long list and give you a balance of opinions by telling you something I wouldn't recommend you try. 

This months Rate and Hate - 

Tresemmé Protect Leave In Conditioner and Bare Minerals Flawless Face Brush

Rate -

Over the summer my hair got in extremely bad conditioner because I was curling my fine hair nearly everyday, it became very dry and frizzy due to all of the split ends I had. But this product has helped my hair on the way to recovery. 

I use the Tresemmé Protect Leave In Conditioner once every week and leave it on for about 5 minutes before washing it out and drying my hair. It leaves my hair incredibly soft, reduces the frizz and I'm sure that after a few trips to the hair dresser and use of this, my hair will be in better condition in a few months.

Hate - 

This miniature version of the Flawless Face Brush came in the Get Started kit by Bare Minerals that my parents got me for Christmas last year. It was intended to be used with the Bare Minerals Foundation but I personally prefer to use my Real Techniques Buffing Brush as I feel it gives a better coverage and finish. 

But I have been reaching for a bit of blusher to brighten my face in these dull winter months and thought this would be the perfect brush to apply my blush. How wrong can you be? 

For a high end brand I expected this brush to be amazing but all of the bristles keep falling out, and its the same with all the other brushes that came in the set. I don't know if mine are just faulty but its so annoying when all the little bristles stick to my face as they are incredibly difficult to get off.

I can't stress enough how much I am disappointed with not only this brush but all of my Bare Minerals brushes and I would really not recommend them.

What are your rates or hates this month? Leave them in the comments as I'd love to know!

Eleanor x