Lush Golden Egg Bath Bomb Review

It's been a while since I enjoyed a Lush bath and I couldn't resist buying the Easter Golden Egg bath bomb when I went to the Meadowhall Bloggers Breakfast. Let's be fair it is covered in glitter so it does stand out a little, especially if like me, you're a sucker for anything sparkly. However, in all honesty I did wait a little to use this because I was unsure of just how glittery I would be when I emerged from the bath, if I resembled a human glitter ball I might look a bit daft if I was going out straight away!

 Golden Egg Bath Bomb £3.50 Lush Cosmetics

My thoughts: Despite its scarily glittery outside, the inside of this bath bomb is actually a lot less daunting, the glitter disperses immediately when you drop it into the bath, revealing an easter chick-yellow egg shape. As with all bath bombs it foams and fizzes; this one leaves a trail of yellow water along with flecks of gold and red glitter. I tend to get into the bath towards the end of the bomb's life and upon closer inspection I could see that the bath water was full of glitter, it looked really pretty actually especially when lifting my hands out of the water; it actually looked quite 'magical'. Surprisingly enough, when I got out of the bath I wasn't a human glitter ball but I did have a nice subtle sparkle. As for the scent, it's very similar to the 'Honey, I washed the kids' range which is like a sweet toffee/honey kind of scent; very enjoyable and not overpowering in the slightest.

Overall I really liked using this, it's perfect for anyone with a penchant for glitter and anyone who wants to add a little bit of fun to their bath time.  As with all Lush products, it doesn't come cheap at £3.50 but everyone deserves a me-time treat now and again and it's a great alternative to chocolate if you're looking to buy someone a little something for Easter.

Neutral Eyeshadow - Liz Earle Signature Colour

Liz Earle make up has been really impressing me lately, especially with the Strengthening Nail Colour and It's been a while since I've discovered some new amazingly good eyeshadows so when I got the opportunity to try some Liz Earle ones, I jumped at the chance! I generally stick with my safe palettes (namely the first Naked palette and MUA Heaven and Earth) but when these Liz Earle Signature Eye Colour shadows came through the post I did get a little bit excited when I saw the shade names. As you'll probably know, my favourite eye looks are variations of nude shadows so when I saw Taupe, Nude, Chestnut and Bronze I knew they were going to be perfect!

These 4 shades are what eye shadow dreams are made of!! The shade names are perfect for each colour which is nice because sometimes the shade names don't really say a lot about what you're going to find in the pan but these describe the colours really well.
My thoughts: The shadows are really soft and they're really easy to load on to the brush, however you do have to be careful when applying because they tend to cause quite a bit of fall out, especially in the corner of your eye if you're not careful with the brush. Once you get used to exercising caution when applying these, they can be used to create some beautiful eye makeup. I tend to wear Nude all over the lid with Taupe in the crease for day time wear and then I darken things up a little for night time, Chestnut is a gorgeous brown with a slight shimmer which is great for creating a brown smokey eye. Bronze is a gold toned brown which is also great for taking an eye look from day to night. I'd really like to add Golden Sand to my little collection because that's another lighter cream coloured shade which would also be good to use as a highlight as well as on your eyes!
Each Liz Earle Signature Colour* is £13.50, which does seem expensive but you are paying for quality makeup and because you can cherry pick your shades you can start a collection which is totally tailored to your needs, unlike palettes which come as standard and there's always at least one or two colours that you never use! 

Affordable Nude Lip - Revlon Colorburst Balms

Back in January I wrote about the Revlon Colourburst Lacquer and Matte balms and I said that I had every intention of buying some more, only this time I decided I wanted to go for some more nude  shades. I knew I liked both of the formulas so I got a lacquer balm in 'Ingenue' and a matte balm in 'Complex'. What's more is that these are a great option if you are looking for an affordable nude lip product.

Lacquer Balm in 'Ingenue' 

Gorgeous everyday shade, perfect for those moments where you haven't got time to 'keep within the lines' with your lip product.

Matte Balm in 'Complex'

More of an orange toned shade which is a lot harder to get right, would be great if you had perfect lips with no dryness but who has perfect lips?!

My Thoughts: As you can see the matte balm is more orange toned than the lacquer balm, although this doesn't show so much on the lips (for me this highlights the importance of also looking at lip swatches, your lips are a completely different colour to your skin!!). Out of the two I much prefer the lacquer balm in this shade because it's more brown toned, is far easier to apply and just gives an effortless nude sheen to the lips. The matte balm was a little more tricky to apply, upon first application it looked a little like concealer and it seemed to sink in to all the dry parts of my lips, but after exfoliating it looked a little better but still not as nice as the lacquer. 

If you remember, last time I wrote about the Revlon Balms I actually preferred the matte balm but I think that was because of the shade; both the matte and lacquer balm have really nice formulas it's just that I prefer some shades to others. The 'Sultry' matte balm went onto the lips so smoothly and didn't sink into dry parts, I do think it's just the nature of the shade that makes it more difficult to apply because it's not as forgiving.

I daresay I will be extending my collection of Revlon Balms because they're just so easy to wear, so watch this space!

NARS Laguna Dupe

I've been looking for a NARS Laguna bronzer dupe after I ran out of it and I was not prepared to spend almost £30 on a replacement, I was determined to find a nice high street one to tide me over until I feel ready to splurge. Bronzed Perfection by MUA really stood out to me on the shelf, the pan is massive and it looks far more matte than NARS Laguna, for £3 I could afford to give it a try. MUA is a brand which is full of hidden gems, unfortunately I think too many people dismiss them because they are so cheap but honestly I don't think you could get better value for money when it comes to high street make up. The Bourjois chocolate bronzer is generally the one people go for I think but I really wanted to discover something new...  

 

MUA Bronzed Perfection £3 
As I say, the pan is huge, probably bigger than the palm of my hand so for £3 you get lots of product. The bronzer itself is really soft and loads onto the brush really easily, it's not chalky in the slightest and it's nicely pigmented. I apply it with the Real Techniques blush brush and I can honestly say now that I much prefer wearing bronzer over blusher; I just like the glow it gives me and I don't have to worry about making myself look like a china doll.   

  I've done a bit of a comparison to show the difference between NARS Laguna and MUA Bronzed Perfection and as you can see there's not that much difference, if anything Laguna has slightly more shimmer and is less orange toned than Bronzed Perfection, Bronzed Perfection is more of a very light frost than anything. I have quite a light skin tone and Bronzed Perfection doesn't show up orange on my skin; I would actually say that if you find Laguna a little too dark for you then Bronzed Perfection might be worth a try! I'm really pleased I picked it up and it'll be a daily product for quite some time to come I think!