The only eyeshadow palette you need: bareMinerals Bare Naturals Palette

Last month I was incredibly lucky to win an Instagram competition by bareMinerals. The prize was their latest eyeshadow palette. Firstly I couldn't believe that Instagram competitions were legit, and secondly I was just blown away by my prize. The  bareMinerals Bare Naturals Palette (1.2g/£39.00) arrived promptly at my door no less than three days later and after these few weeks I am so excited to share my review with you all...

The bareMinerals Bare Naturals Palette is divine. I love it so much. It's a palette everyone could have - much like the Urban Decay Naked Palette. However what makes this palette better than any other I have tried is that there is 8 matte shades, out of a total of 14. Isn't that brilliant? Even the Naked palettes only had 2 out of 12 matte shades. For me, this means that this palette is more versatile - I am able to create subtle looks with a variety of different shades, but also can make a classic smoky eye and choose between three matte shades to add to the crease.
This palette is well designed in terms of it's shades and formulas but also it's actual contents; I love that there is this nifty little brush included that has two sides, one to pack on the colour and the other to blend it out. Additionally the mirror on this palette surpasses any mirror on any palette I own, and so this would be brilliant to travel with. The casing also has a magnetic closure so all your shadows and the brush stay safe!

I am the most impressed with the actual formula of the product. In terms of longevity on the lid, I have very oily eyelids and this formula hardly creased on me. But more notably, as soon as I swatched this I gasped as I wasn't expected the pigments to be that intense. This has to be one of the most pigmented palettes I own, even the lighter shades showed up on my skin, and weren't chalky in the slightest! Either the lighter colours disappear on my skin or are too powdery, however these were vibrant and just so easy to work with! The shimmery colours are buttery and are such a joy to use, I didn't have any fallout and they went on effortlessly.
You can just tell that bareMinerals have really thought about the colours in this palette, you can see that every shimmery colour has a complimentary matte shade to help blend it out into the crease. It just means that you actually use this palette and no other eyeshadows, which is the true purpose of a palette.

I just can't believe I have the pleasure of owning this palette and if you guys can at least go and see it in person, I think you'll be able to see what I am talking about. I think there is a lot of competition for eyeshadows on the market, you don't need to spend a lot to get good quality, however these eyeshadows have really held their own, and I think there was a need to perfect that everyday palette.

I would love to know your thoughts about this product! Let me know down below and be sure to follow me on Bloglovin to stay up to date with my posts!

Brand Review: bareMinerals

I love doing brand reviews, I think it's good to see a collection as a whole rather than individual products. Today I'm going to be guiding you through one of my favourite brands, which is bareMinerals. I found that I own a lot of their items, and it's no wonder I gravitate to them as they are a brand which really aim to enhance your look rather than making you look like a different person all together. It's also the brand I recommend to people who are starting out with make-up, as you get quality for your money.

So to start this all off, I have to mention the cult favourite bareMinerals Matte SPF15 Mineral Foundation (£26.50/6g). I've tried both this foundation and also the Original SPF foundation, and I love both. I tend to use this as a powder, after my foundation for extra coverage because it gives a poreless matte finish. You can use this alone as a foundation, and it works well to even out the complexion.  I use this in the shade Golden Tan, which is a great match for my skin-tone.

The bareMinerals Warmth All Over Face Colour  (£20.00/1.5g) was actually my second product from the brand. This is a product I don't tend to talk about as much, although I use it so often! This is a mix between a bronzer and a blush, it's red toned and so matches well with most undertones and just acts to really warm up the face, adding both colour and definition. Another thing I like is that it leaves a satin finish, it's not shimmery or overly powdery and works so well with a variety of looks, it's my go-to blush when I am stuck on how to finish off my look.

I have two brushes from bareMinerals, the Flawless Face Brush (£19.00) and the Brighten and Hydrate Brush . bareMinerals have a great selection of brushes, and I don't normally believe you have to buy certain brushes for specific products, but bareMinerals brushes are created to work really well with their products that actually maximises application and coverage, especially with the foundations. The flawless face brush is a good example of a brush that was formulated to work with the foundation, I actually don't use that brush for anything else apart from bareMinerals products! However the Brighten and Hydrate brush is the softest brush I own and I reserve it for my Chanel Natural Finish Loose Powder, because this brush just feels so luxurious that I have to use it with my most expensive powder!

bareMinerals Pop of Passion Lip-Oil Balms (£17.00/3.1g) - I feel like I've raved on and on about these lip products - full review here. They are just the most comfortable and practical thing to wear on your lips. They are a sheer lip oil, which delivers a nice amount of pigment without you having to use a mirror to apply it, also since it's an oil, it's so moisturising to wear, especially for this time of year. Also the wear time is good, and most importantly when it does wear off, it does so gracefully. I feel like sometimes the maintenance of lip products is just too much hassle, which is why it took me such a long time to delve into them, but upon discovering these, I'm so happy with my mini collection of these, I have the shades: Nude Passion, Pink Passion and Plumberry Pop.

bareMinerals The Neutral Attraction Palette (£35.00) - So as a makeup addict, I have accumulated so many eyeshadow palettes. Don't blame this one on me, it was a gift for my birthday last year. So what makes this palette any different from the rest? Simple. The colours. The selection of colours in this palette is so different from anything else I've seen on the market, having matte greys and yellows, shimmery pinks and silver. It's totally unique, and not just another palette. Also there is the addition of  two blushes, a bronzer and a highlighter, all of which can double up as eyeshadow too. So it's a diverse palette that super compact and light, and can create a variety of different looks.

I know bareMinerals has a bunch of other amazing products that I haven't tried, so I would love to know what you would recommend and if you've tried any of the products I have mentioned. All in all, bareMinerals is a brand that knows what it's doing, aiming to enhance your features and making you feel like the best version of yourself. Be sure to follow me on Bloglovin for more beauty posts!

Top 5 Make-up Brushes

My make-up brush collection is one that I have been meaning to show for a long time. Although I have way more brushes than this, the ones that I will show you today are the 5 stand-outs in my collection...

So first up is the Real Techniques Contour Brush (£9.99) which is my go-to brush for foundation. It is a pretty dense brush, which means that you can achieve coverage that is even, leading to a flawless base. It's super soft and doesn't leave the dreaded streak marks on me. Since this is quite a bigger brush than the rest of my base brushes, I find that I spend less time buffing the product in, which is ideal for anyone who wants a good coverage in the least amount of time. My next love was a part of the same set as the Contour brush and it's the Real Techniques Setting Brush (£7.99), this brush is just fantastic at blending in a highlighting concealer around the face. I don't personally use this for setting my face because I find it a tad too small, but because it has long and flexible bristles, I find that this blends in the concealer seamlessly, without making it seem like there is a lot of product on my face. 

The last base product I am going to mention is the bareMinerals Hydrate and Brighten Brush (£21.00). This brush is one of the softest brushes I've ever felt, and it's so sad but this brush is reserved for the use of my Chanel Natural Finish Loose Powder. I think it's the perfect product to pair this brush with as it's intend for a light and natural finish, and the bristles on this brush reflect that by being tapered and flexible, and so doesn't cake the product on the face. 

For eyes, the M.A.C 217 Blending Brush (£20.00) is the one. I gave into the hype on this one, not going to lie. I was sceptical that this brush will change my life, like I've heard people proclaim. But damn, there is something special about this brush that other brushes can't quite mimic. I can get by without this, but I feel like now I've experienced it, there is no looking back. To those who want to try this, I would say go for it. It blends like a dream and helps to make a more perfected shape for your eye. 

The last brush I want to mention has been my eyebrow brush for the last few years. Yup, it's probably time to get a new one. This was one of the first brushes I ever used, I bought one of those really cheap sets off Amazon (They still sell it here!!!), when I wanted to practise and this one actually was one of the few good ones out of the rest of the duds! I like this for my eyebrows because it's angled and flexible which means that you don't get too much product on the brush, which leads to more natural looking brows. As much as I love the Instagram brow trend, it's not my personal style for myself. I need to find a brush like this, so if you have any recommendations, I would love to hear them.
I hope you liked having a sneak peak of my brush collection. If you would like to see more, let me know in the comments. I would also love to know your top brush recommendation! Subscribe to my blog on Bloglovin' to keep up to date with my next post! 

Two Lipsticks to Carry you Into Autumn

To me, it's already Autumn. September is about change and starting afresh and so it's no wonder I am stuck in the mindset that it's already Autumn. Autumnal make-up is bold and captivating and I have two lip products to share that will help you achieve bolder looks with minimal effort.

The first product is bareMinerals Pop of Passion Lip-Oil Balm (£17.00/3.1g) in the Shade 'Plumberry Pop'. This product is fantastic for those wanting to get into lipsticks, but don't like the faff surrounding it. This shade is a lovely sheer plum/berry shade that's brilliant for this coming season. Since it's sheer, it's perfect to take on the go and is so low maintenance that it's akin to lip-balm. This product however is better than traditional lip-balms because of it's oil texture, which keeps the lips moisturised and looking hydrated. I think this shade looks so nice with gold eye-shadow, as it makes the gold pop even more and just really puts a look together!

The second product is more of a statement lip, and it is the NYX Liquid Suede (£6.50/4ml) in the shade 'Soft Spoken'. This is actually the first NYX product that I've tried and so far I actually really like it. So this is a liquid lipstick, so it's designed to stay on the lips and not be as easily transferable as traditional lipsticks. This product has good longevity and isn't drying on the lips, however before application you should be going in with a nourishing lip-balm. I think the preparation before applying this product is important as you want to make sure your lips are hydrated and flake free and then the application will go more smoothly! The shade of this product is so nice too, it's a slightly darker classic brown-pink colour that's currently on trend and so will suit a wide variety of skin-tones. When I wear this product I like to go with a more nude but polished look, so I will keep the rest of my make-up more on the brown side, but perhaps have a thicker liner or add more mascara to add more of a statement.



























So those are my two autumn lip picks, I would love to know what shades/colours you gravitate towards in autumn!

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Long Lasting Make-up tip? Yes Please

For some reason when I think of long-lasting make-up I envision a model with a ton of matte make-up on her face. This post is not going to be that. Instead this post is based on a more realistic and accessible way to get make-up to look as though it hasn't melted away during the day. 

I want to say, and this is from my personal experience, that less make-up is better if you want to look semi-decent at the end of the day as you did in the start. I find that if I wear less eyeshadow, less blush, less foundation, I look more like the woman who left the door at 8am. If I put more make-up on then when I come back 9 hours later, you can really see how much I tried in the early hours of the morning. 

I really have been encompassing this idea into my daily life, on Mondays I have a 9-6 day at uni, and so I am out the door at 8am and back home at 6.30pm, so I really try to use a minimal amount because God knows my head will be in my hands at the end of the day!

My Monday make-up routine consists of me firstly priming my face with the L'Oréal Infallible Primer (£7.99/45g), then I go in with my NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation (£32.00/30g) - I add half a pump to my face, trying to just even out my complexion rather than masking my face. I then fill in the sparse areas of my eyebrows with the Mono Eyeshadow 'MMMM' from Makeup Revolution (£1.00/2.3g), (this is quite warm toned, and it does a good job but I've recently discovered a new favourite!). My next step is to add mascara, my currrent one is the Loreal Million Lashes Waterproof (£9.99/2ml) and it's awesome! I then proceed to set my make-up with the Chanel Natural Finish Loose Powder (£36.00/30g), and then add a bit of the bareMinerals Pop of Passion Lip-Oil Balms (£16.00/3.1g) - these are great because they reduce down into a stain and so actually do great for making your lips look naturally pigmented! 

For some reason, this sounded like a lot of steps, but I swear I can do it all in around 5 minutes! Also I try to make things as sheer as possible! 

I would love for you all to try to minimise the make-up that you have on on your crazy busy days, I can guarantee that you will notice that you don't look quite as worn down by the day, because you didn't look so done up at the start of the day! It's about reducing that gap. To me, when I look at the mirror when the day is almost over, I don't have to deal with creased eyeshadow, smudged liner, or blush that is half way down my face and although I love make-up, I don't enjoy looking like that!
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Also I've been updating my Instagram a bunch so check it out if you love beauty photos! 

Review: bareMinerals Pop of Passion Lip Oil-Balms

If I had to talk about what person I am in terms of make-up,  I would say I focus more heavily on eyes and my base. In terms of lips, I get...stuck. I try to find colours that suit me but most of the time it just goes dreadfully wrong, so I just end up wiping away my effort. Recently I tried bareMinerals Pop of Passion Lip Oil-Balm (£16/3.1g) and I realised where I was going wrong...

On first impression on applying, these bareMinerals Lip Oil-Balms apply evenly adding a sheer coat of colour with the leverage of being worked into more of a block colour, which is nice as you have a choice on how you would like to look. However, what really amazed me about this product is how comfortable it feels on your lips and I think part of that is due the ingredients: it  is enriched with passion fruit seed oil with vitamin E and so really delivers moisturisation front, feeling more like a lip balm treatment than a lipstick, which is honestly a feeling that I love, especially in winter time!
When you first apply it is has a normal glossy hydrating finish, but within the hour this begins to dry down into a beautiful stain. I love this because you can just forget you are wearing it and just go about your day knowing that it won't end up in your teeth! This product has great longevity when you compare it to how sheer it is! It lasts for a few hours and fades nicely.

The packaging is really cute, I love the design! I think this is really travel friendly as the product is encased in plastic and so it's lightweight but also the colourful packaging would make these really easy to find in the black-hole that is a women's purse!

Left to right: Nude Passion, Pink Passion and Plumberry Pop

I have three shades: Nude Passion, Pink Passion and Plumberry Pop, and surprisingly I love the actual colours more than the nude, which really can tell you how much these really do add something to your look. I think the colours look a bit strong in the packaging, but when applied on the lips these are all wearable shades, I prefer to wear them quite sheer because I'm still fairly new to lipsticks.
Nude Passion, I would describe as a baby pink nude, I think you can just slightly see that baby pink coming out on my swatch below, it's a lovely colour for everyday! Pink Passion has to be the one I was the most scared of applying, it looks really bright! However when I got the guts to apply this I found that this emulates and deepens a natural pink lip and I think this would suit many people! Plumberry Pop is a shade which is perfect for this type of year, I like that it is colourful without being too deep and when this reduces down into a stain it's really lovely also this shade is the most long lasting since it is a 'Pop' shade!

Left to right: Nude Passion, Pink Passion and Plumberry Pop.

I think this is perfect for beginners but also I just think this is great for anyone who wants to brighten up their look. If you need a lightweight, hydrating pop of colour then this is the product I would recommend, I think the price is worth it because I know this is something that I will get a lot of use from in all seasons, I don't think a moisturising lipstick will ever go out of use!
I would love to know what you guys think of this, and what lipsticks you tend to reach towards! Let me know in the comments down below!
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Anjna

Weightless Base for Summer ft. bareMinerals

I'm a full coverage kind of girl when it comes to my base make-up, however I don't like to slap on a lot of make-up on days when I am not doing much, simply because there is no need for it. Now that summer is officially here, I find that I am always reaching for the same two base products for me to achieve a look that allows me to go about my day with confidence. My trick is to use a light-medium coverage foundation but to target areas that need it with a concealer. This way I don't feel like I am wearing a layer of make-up on my skin and my skin can just breathe whilst also looking put together.

I  use the Revlon ColourStay Concealer (£6.99/6.2ml)  which is my go-to concealer as it blends nicely and quickly (which is something we all want) and can be used anywhere that needs concealing. I love that it firstly has my shade (which is 06 Deep Fonce), but it also has a doe foot applicator making the application process even more speedier. I have repurchased this concealer twice in the last two years which tells you guys how much I really love this. I either pat this into place with my ring finger or I use the setting brush from Real Techniques to pat and blend it in.

For my foundation, I have been reaching for the bareMinerals Matte SPF 15 Foundation (£26.00/6g) in the shade Golden Tan, I absolutely love bareMinerals I just feel like they celebrate beauty in terms of embracing the skin you have and just enhancing your features rather than making it into something that it isn't. This foundation gives you a light to medium coverage which feels so weightless that you feel comfortable wearing this foundation all day without feeling cakey. Also it's fuss free, swirl a bit of product into the lid with a brush (I use the full flawless application face brush) and then apply in circular motions - you can't really go overboard with this. Since I have the matte version I use this as my powder throughout the day too and this is excellent at absorbing excess oil while also giving me a top up on the coverage side of things- so this foundation is really a two in one. The inbuilt SPF makes it a great choice for summer too! 

What is your go-to base for summer? I would love to know!