Chic & Fearless jewellery review

Hi all!

Today's blog post comes courtesy of Chic & Fearless, an online jewellery store run by the lovely Alex.

Chic & Fearless currently features a beautiful range of handmade rings, bracelets and necklaces. 

After having a browse through the Etsy page - which can be found here https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Chicandfearless - I chose a Turquoise Druzy stone ring.

It really stood out to me because of the colour - turquoise is one of my favourites - and I don't have anything like it.

I placed my order and within a couple of days I had my pretty new ring! 

It came in a lovely branded (and environmentally friendly) box, and was well packaged. On opening I was very happy to see that it looked exactly like the photos... just beautiful :)

It's silver plated, which is important to me because I'm allergic to nickel. It's also adjustable which is fab as I have skinny fingers! I couldn't wait to try it on.

As it's adjustable I could wear it on any finger, but I chose my index finger first. It's so comfortable and so very pretty! 

I'm really impressed with the quality of this and I definitely need more turquoise Druzy pieces to add to my collection.

Postage is a reasonable £2.80 (which is charged at Royal Mail's standard price) and dispatch was fast.

You can find this particular ring here:

https:/www.etsy.com/uk/listing/256070607/turquoise-druzy-stone-silver-ring-gift

Chic & Fearless has great reviews on Etsy, and I can see why :) I'm very happy to recommend this store to my readers!

Love, 

Sarah xx

*This piece was kindly sent to me in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way by free or discounted items.

Rosie for Autograph Makeup swatches

Hi!

Today I popped into Marks & Spencer to have a nosey at the new Rosie for Autograph makeup collection. 

Designed by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (the famous model and actress), this collection was brought to life by her passion for makeup and inspired by some of her signature looks.

She has been a model for the Marks & Spencer Autograph range since 2011, going on to launch her own 'Rosie for Autograph' lingerie and nightwear range in 2012, and has now brought us this wonderful collection of makeup!  

I'd seen swatches online but I wanted to see them for myself before buying, and I'm so glad I did, they are beautiful!

I didn't get chance to swatch everything as I had my bored 5 year old with me, so for now I just swatched ithe things I was interested in buying. Hopefully I'll get chance to swatch the other items, if so I'll add to this post!

I photographed them in different lighting to give you a better idea of the shades:

Store lighting, daylight, with flash 

1. Bronzer 'Magic Contour' RRP £18

2. Starstruck highlighter stick RRP £15

3. Highlighter powder 'Rose Bud' RRP £18

4. Bronzer 'Bronzed Beauty' RRP £18

5. Lipstick 'Silk Cami' RRP £14

6. Lipstick 'Silk Rose' RRP £14

7. Lipstick 'Rose Lace' RRP £14

8. Lipstick 'Camisole Blush' RRP £14

9. Lipstick 'Nude Mink' RRP £14

Overview

The packaging is all rose gold, which really makes it stand out from the rest of the Autograph range. Very pretty! Reminiscent of Charlotte Tilbury packaging. The lipsticks have a magnetic closure (prevents the lid popping off in your bag - urgh!) which also gives it that extra touch.  

The products are well pigmented, and very smooth and easy to apply. They come in a nice range of colours, all classy and contemporary, and nothing too daring as of yet.

This product range was made by Rosie to show us the things that she loves to use, and she did an amazing job of it. Hopefully the product range expands in the future, as it would be great to see some powder blushes and possibly a foundation. Also, it would be nice to see more shades added, especially for darker complexions as I think most of these shades would work best with lighter/medium skin.

I am definitely going to return to purchase the Silk Rose lipstick and the highlighter stick, and hopefully grab more of the collection when I can :)

The full range can be viewed at http://www.marksandspencer.com/l/beauty/rosie-for-autograph

Love, Sarah BeautyChatCorner xx

NEW Makeup Revolution 'Chauffeur' Rose Gold lipstick - MAC dupe?

Hi!

I just wanted to make a quick blog post on a new lipstick I received today from Makeup Revolution.

This wasn't originally meant to be a comparison post, but when I tested it out I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and thought I would see if I could add it to my dupes list!

'Chauffeur' is one of five shades in the new Rose Gold collection. I went for the lightest and most subtle shade as I wanted something I could wear daily to see what the formula was like, before potentially buying more.

The packaging is, as the name suggests, a lovely Rose Gold colour. It's made of plastic and feels very lightweight, but has the premium look. I especially love that the Makeup Revolution logo is printed on the inside. Also, like other Makeup Revolution lipsticks, the clear bottom has lipstick inside it so that you can see the shade without opening.

On swatching I was very happy to see a great colour pay off, usually you don't get that with lower-priced lipsticks. I immediately tried it on, and it applied very smoothly and opaque. As soon as it touched my lips I thought "this is MAC quality" and reached for the closest MAC shade I could find to pit them against eachother. I picked Blankety, which is an Amplified Creme finish.

So, does it compare?

Both on swatches and on my lips, I could barely notice a difference. The shades are identical, the finish is identical, the colour pay-off is ever so slightly better with first swipe of the MAC but there's really hardly anything in it. Both lipsticks wear off gradually but evenly, neither have particularly long wear times but the MAC stayed opaque just a tad longer.

Overall verdict 

I was blown away with how good this lipstick was, and how similar it was to MAC!

The ONLY negative thing I have to say about this product is that the scent is quite a chemical makeup scent, which thankfully disappears after application.

The best part is the price - the Rose Gold lipsticks cost just £3 (vs MACs £15.50) and are available now from www.makeuprevolutionstore.com

I give it a very deserving two thumbs up and I can't wait to try the other shades! 

Thanks for reading :)

Sarah BeautyChatCorner xx

NEW Avon Perfectly Matte lipsticks vs MAC... dupes?

Hi! I've been so excited about doing this blog post, so apologies if it's a long one!

Today I received some of the new Avon Perfectly Matte lipsticks, which boldly claim to be "More matte than MAC". This has created a bit of a storm in the beauty community!

I adore my MAC lipsticks and I currently have a collection of 64, but at £15.50 each they aren't cheap. When I saw that the new Avon mattes were £5.50 as a launch offer I just had to order some and compare them.

I compared the Avon shades to the closest MAC shades in my collection. I included a couple of Retro Matte finishes, as they were the most similar shades.

I think it's pretty safe to say that colour-wise there are some dupes in there, but what about the finish? Are they truly more matte than MAC? Let's find out...

Finish 

As you may have noticed, MACs mattes vary in matte-ness. Some of the darker shades seem to have more of a shine to them (eg. Diva vs Please Me). 

They have both the regular matte range and a retro matte range, which are super duper matte but very drying.

The Avon lipsticks equivalents are, judging from the ones I've tested, slightly more matte than MACs regular mattes on average. This is where their claim comes from, as their comparison was to the regular MAC Matte range (and didn't include the Retro mattes). Here is a link to more info regarding Avons claim: click me!

So, does the finish of the Avon lipsticks compare to MAC? Absolutely. They are definitely matte but still comfortable. 

Formula

The application varied between the five shades that I tested. Some went on very smoothly and opaque, whilst others were patchy and needed more application and building up to even them out.

You may be able to see from my swatch photo that Pure Pink, Superb Wine and Wild Cherry were kind of patchy, and this also happened on my lips.

Pure Pink wasn't a great formula, it was almost chalky looking on the lips which can happen with some lighter matte shades. The shade also doesn't suit me so I will be passing this one on to a friend.

                  Superb Wine

Wild Cherry was the hardest to make opaque as it isn't as pigmented as the others, so I found it impossible to achieve a smooth, even finish.

In comparison, MAC Diva also takes a little more application to even out, but is more pigmented so you get a much more even finish with the first swipe. It does, however, transfer a bit more than its equivalent Superb Wine - maybe because it's more pigmented or maybe it doesn't 'set' quite as well?

The other two Avon shades (Ravishing Rose and Ruby Kiss) went on very smoothly and were opaque with one sweep. In comparison to the equivalent shades in MACs Retro Matte range, application of the Avon shades was easier as the Retro Mattes are so drying that they drag a bit.

Scent

This is not something that I'd normally comment on as I don't really care too much what a lipstick smells like. Sure, it's nice when they smell nice but it wouldn't affect my decision to purchase.

However, given the fact that I'm comparing to MAC lipsticks, and everyone knows that they smell amazing, I had to mention it! 

If you're not familiar with the scent of MAC lipsticks, they have a vanilla/white chocolatey smell. This scent can disappear over time but when new they smell incredible.

The Avon Perfectly Matte lipsticks definitely have their own unique scent - it's so hard to describe as I recognise the scent but can't place it! I'd describe it as close to a lemon and lime soda scent, but don't quote me on that! Sweet but refreshing.

Price

Avon Perfectly Matte - RRP £8

Something to note - as with all Avon products, the price will fluctuate depending on when you buy them.

Two weeks ago they were £5.50 as an introductory offer. As of writing this post, in the current book they are £5 each. Either way they are half the price of MAC at the very least and a third of the price at the most. 

MAC Matte - RRP £15.50

2x-3x the price for the same amount of product. I think, to a degree, you're paying a premium for the brand name. MAC is one of the most globally recognised companies in the world and are known for their quality. However, I think that MACs lipstick quality does vary - the Retro Mattes are incomparable to others for me, like I said before I've found no others like them, but a lot of their other lipsticks are really no better than drugstore equivalents. 

Shade range 

Avon Perfectly Matte

Currently, at least in the UK, there are 15 shades to choose from. Here's a photo from the current Avon brochure:

Sadly I found that a few of the shades were very very similar, as you can see in my swatch photo - Wild Cherry/Superb Wine, and Ravishing Rose/Ruby Kiss. Wild Cherry has a slightly more red undertone whereas Superb Wine leans more purple, and Ravishing Rose is slightly more pinker than Ruby Kiss, but there's really hardly anything in it - the difference is so subtle it doesn't show in the photos. I was really hoping for Ruby Kiss to be more red!

A vibrant purple shade would have been nice (the US have an amazing looking shade that we don't have called Hot Plum!) and a purpley-mauve would have been a great addition to the collection too. Hopefully they add more!

MAC Matte

Currently there are 34 shades in MACs standard matte range, as well as 7 Retro Mattes. This includes many bold and unusual shades. In general, including all their ranges and finishes, MAC has more lipstick shades in total than any other company. This is just one of the reasons that MAC Cosmetics are so popular and loved worldwide. 

Overall verdict 

I prefer the MAC lipsticks in every way expect for the price. The quality is more consistent and they are (mostly) more opaque. Are they worth the huge increase in price though? For every day use, no, but for a special occasion I'd definitely reach for my MAC lipsticks over other cheaper ones.

I love a good dupe, and I've tried enough dupes to know that you don't always get what you pay for when it comes to high-end makeup. I sometimes even prefer the quality of the cheaper versions.

Very often you're paying for the brand name rather than the quality. Some high-end products, however, are incomparable and definitely worth the extra cash outlay. 

Whilst I'm not a huge fan of most of the Avon makeup that I've tried, (I think most of it is pretty 'meh'), I do have handful of favourites and a few of these new lipsticks are definitely up there. On another note - Avon, if you're reading this, please either make Wild Cherry more different to Superb Wine in colour or drop it and replace it with another colour, because the formula was pretty bad on that one and in hindsight I wish I hadn't bought it! And please make Ruby Kiss more red than pink!

I'm planning to order some more shades now that I've tried them, so I will probably update this blog post with more swatches if I find any more dupes.

Have you tried the new Avon Perfectly Matte lipsticks, or any Mac matte lipsticks? What did you think? Let me know below!

Thanks for reading :)

Sarah xx

Dupe? Makeup Revolution Iconic palettes vs Urban Decay Naked palettes

Coming from my favourite low-cost makeup brand, here are some fabulous alternatives to some of the most loved and talked about palettes in the beauty world - the Urban Decay Naked palettes!

Iconic 1

A dupe of the famous original 'Naked' palette by Urban Decay. A mixture of matte and shimmer shades. The shades have been carefully matched and, although the texture of the UD palettes are a bit easier to work with and have a better colour pay off, the Makeup Revolution palettes are almost 10x cheaper at £4 each. This makes them incredible value!

Iconic 2

Another dupe here, this time of the Urban Decay 'Naked 2' palette. A mixture of matte and shimmer shades. As above, really good quality, and only £4 for 12 shades!

On another note, I think that the sponge applicator brushes that come with these palettes are useless. It's essential to use a good set of brushes to get the most out of any eyeshadow. However, I wouldn't want Makeup Revolution to put a good brush in each palette and bump up the price, so they made the right decision by not doing that.

Iconic 3

Yep, you guessed it - a dupe of the 'Naked 3' palette!

The Naked 3 is my favourite of all the Naked palettes, and the Iconic 3 is almost identical. 

The packaging on the Urban Decay palettes is obviously much prettier and more premium - but also comes with a £37 price tag.

Overall verdict

These shadows are less pigmented than the original Urban Decay palettes, which is to be expected for the price difference, so a good quality primer is recommended to make the most out of them. Using a cream product underneath (like a MAC Paint Pot) would also give you a much stronger colour. You could even try using them with a wet brush!

Whilst I love my high-end makeup, I'm also a sucker for a good dupe, especially when it costs so much less! 

The Iconic palettes are available from www.makeuprevolutionstore.com and www.superdrug.com, and can also be found in selected Superdrug stores.

What do you think of these palettes? Which is your favourite? Let me know in the comments below!

Sarah xx

Color Club Pastel Neon collection and NotD

Hello, today I would like to show you a collection from one of my favourite polish brands - Color Club! 

The Pastel Neon set is one of their Spring 2015 collections and contains seven polishes, all with 80's roller disco-themed names. Here they are, without and with flash:

L-R: Under the Blacklight, 'Til the Record Stops, Meet Me at the Rink, Diggin' the Dancing Queen, Feathered Hair Out to There, Hot-Hot-Hot Pants, Disco's Not Dead

Below I am wearing Under the Blacklight which is my favourite from this particular collection - it definitely lives up to its claims to be a pastel neon! It's a lemon sorbet yellow in some lights with a slight hint of neon green in other lights. 

  

Pictured without and with flash. Two coats with Seche Vite top coat.

So far I've tried three of these polishes, and I've found them to be less pigmented than other Color Club polishes of similar colours that I own and love. Some require three coats, whilst others only needed two. 

In the bottle, 'Til the Record Stops looks almost identical to London Calling (which is my favourite ever polish and can be seen here) and I was reeeeally hoping it'd be a dupe. LC is really hard to get hold of as it was part of a limited edition mini set :(

However, on the nails 'Til the Record Stops is quite a bit lighter and nowhere near as pigmented - it needed three coats. To be honest I'd class LC as a pastel neon and TTRC as a straight pastel.

I expected a little more from this collection - they weren't quite up to the high standard of previous Color Club polishes. Whilst being easy and smooth to apply they need thicker coats due to being less pigmented - but this is a common issue with pastels.

With the exception of 'Til the Record Stops they all lean more towards the pastel side than neon, which is a shame as I love my neons, but they are still super pretty :) 

What do you think of this collection? What's your most favourite pastel or neon polish? 

Love, Sarah Nailsfromnothing xx

NotD: Color Club 'London Calling'

Another Nail of the Day, this time from Color Club. This is my all time favourite polish - London Calling. It's a pastel mint green polish with a hint of neon. It's very special!

Flash off and on, two coats of London Calling with Seche Vite top coat.

This polish is the one I always get compliments on from both men and women. It's such a beautiful shade, and I haven't seen any other polish like it. The formula, as with all Color Club polishes, is amazing.

As far as I know it only comes in a mini size, it was part of the limited edition Wanderlust collection that was made for Birchbox. I bought the collection from the Birchbox store but sadly it's not available any more :(

Do you love this shade as much as me? What's your favourite Color Club polish?

Love, Sarah NailsfromNothing xx 

China Glaze haul & NotD: China Glaze - Neon and On

I'll keep this one short and sweet and let the polishes speak for themselves :)

Here's my latest nail mail - 7 lovely China Glaze polishes!

Left-right: Feel the Breeze, Neon and On, Petal to the Metal, Bottoms Up, That's Shore Bright, Too Yacht to Handle, Highlight of my Summer

Most of these polishes are from the On the Shore Sunsational collection. They were £3.99 each from Nail Polish Direct. Their prices are very competitive, shipping is free and my orders always get dispatched and arrive quickly.

I had a hard time choosing which one to wear (at one point I had one on each finger) but I finally settled for this one as I can't resist a neon. I'm truly hooked on neon polishes at the moment! Here is Neon and On:

Here I am wearing two coats with Seche Vite top coat. The photos are taken with flash both off and on. Neon is pretty hard to photograph accurately, but this picture came out quite well. This polish is a peachy-pink in some lights and a bright neon pink in others. I adore it! The first coat goes on a little streaky but it evened out with another coat.

What do you think of this shade, and China Glaze polishes in general? Are you a fan like me? 

Love, Sarah NailsfromNothing xx

Dupe? Tarte 'Rainforest After Dark' palette VS I <3 Makeup 'Go!' palette

Hello all! Today's post is a comparison between two 'dupe' palettes.

A bit of background first. I saw the Tarte 'Rainforest After Dark' palette reviewed by Grav3yardgirl on Youtube, and immediately fell in love with it. It's only available in the US at the moment, and with a price tag of just over £30, I waited a few weeks until pay day to order it. 

In the meantime, I came across a strikingly similar-looking palette from I <3 Makeup. This is a sister brand of Makeup Revolution, who I have a slight obsession with (a full stash post is coming up soon, I have so many of their products! I did start a post but as I've bought so much in the meantime I have to start again). Anyway, this palette is called the Go! palette and costs just £6.49. 

Pay day came around and I ordered both palettes (along with loads of other goodies :D). As I <3 Makeup is UK based, their palette arrived first which gave me chance to play around with it. When the Tarte palette arrived, I was finally able to put them side by side and do a full comparison. So, how similar are they? Is there a dupe here? Let's see... 

Exterior/packaging

Photos taken with and without flash. Tarte palette on the left, Go! palette on the right:

Tarte - unusual wood-effect top, with brown plastic sides and bottom. The top is also decorated with a gold snake which has a purple jewel on its head. It's just gorgeous, the packaging is what attracted me to this palette. It's by far the heavier out of the two. This palette feels premium and solid. It came in a purple snakeskin-effect box which is also beautiful (forgot to take a pic - sorry!).

I <3 Makeup -  the same size and thickness as the Tarte palette, but much lighter. This palette is made from black plastic, except the lid which is transparent. This is handy as there are four palettes in this range, so if you had more than one you'd be able to easily see which is which without having to open them. The edges are rounded and it feels nice in your hand. Doesn't feel as solid or expensive as the Tarte palette, but still looks pretty :)

Interior/layout

This is where the palettes have the most similarities! 

Tarte - made up of nine sections - a large circular blush in the centre, a medium-sized highlighter and bronzer at the top and six small eyeshadows along the bottom. There is a large mirror in the lid.

I <3 Makeup - the same amount of sections, and all exactly the same sizes as the Tarte palette. One small difference - the highlighter and blush have swapped places. No mirror in this one due to the transparent lid.

Shades/swatches

Tarte - rose pink matte blush, champagne gold shimmer highlighter, caramel brown matte bronzer.

Three matte eyeshadows (pale pink, tan brown and chocolate brown), two glitter eyeshadows (pinky lilac and plum) and one metallic gold eyeshadow.

Bronzer, blush and highlighter along the top, eyeshadows along the bottom. For some reason, when looking at the palette, I swatched these from right to left. This palette is very highly pigmented. This doesn't show up greatly in this picture, but check out the swatches of the Go! palette below to see the difference. I needed very little product to achieve these swatches. 

Random note - I don't like the smell of this palette at all. I can't describe it exactly but, as a lot of Tarte products are made from clay, I have a feeling that's what this smell is. It's not enough to put me off using it, but it's just not an attractive scent to me.

I <3 Makeup -  candy pink matte blush, pink shimmer highlighter and slightly warmer brown matte bronzer. Only one matte shade (cream), one glitter shade (darker plum) and four almost metallic shades (taupe, copper, rose gold and pink).

All the shades in this palette, even the bronzer, have much warmer tones. I found no duplicate shades at all. 

If you compare both swatch pictures, you can see how much more pigmented the Tarte palette is. I used twice as much product and still got less colour. I have a feeling I'll be able to blend these easier as they are more subtle, but I will also end up using them up faster. This has a standard makeup scent, very subtle but pleasant. 

Final verdict - dupe?

At first glance, these two palettes are very similar. However, after seeing them up close and swatching them, they are pretty different - enough to justify having both - and I love them both for different reasons.

I prefer the shades of the Go! palette, and it's much better value at £6.49. The Tarte palette has much more luxurious packaging and stronger pigmentation, but its price reflects that at just over £30 (excluding P&P from the US). I can't pick a favourite. 

So... close, but not quite a dupe.

Links for more info (no commission):

Tarte 'Rainforest After Dark' palette

I <3 Makeup 'Go!' palette

What do you think of these palettes?

Which one gets your vote?

I hope you enjoyed this blog post :)

Love, Sarah NailsfromNothing xx