Stila "In The Light" Neutral Eyeshadow Palette

On one of my many recent trips to Boots with Louise (I think we spend far too much of our lives in there), we were walking out after making our purchases at the till and we passed a Stila stand. I've never seen a Stila stand in Boots before, so obviously we had to stop and have a look. The first thing we noticed was this beautiful palette. Never one to pull off bright colours on my eyes, I am very much a neutral eyeshadows girl, so this was right up my street. We swatched a few of the colours and instantly knew we NEEDED to have this. It cost £25, and luckily, I had saved around £27 worth of Boots points (got to love Boots for their points system), so I was able to essentially get this for nothing, just using the points on my card. Bargainous!

The first thing I absolutely loved about this palette, was the colour range. I actually don't own any of the Urban Decay Naked palettes because there weren't enough matte shades for my liking, and not all the colours floated my boat. This one however, has 4 matte shades and the shimmer shades are colours i'd wear a lot. The second thing I loved, which is an important factor, is the consistency of the shadows.  The shimmer shades are so creamy and easy to blend and the matte colours are velvety and soft. Both are also extremely highly pigmented. The other thing which swayed me to purchase, was the fact that it came with a Stila Smudgestick. These liners are absolutely amazing. They apply so easily, have super pigmentation, and within seconds of you smudging it out or leaving it how you'd like it, it stays puts until you wash it off. The shade is "Damsel" and is a deep matte brown (my favourite colour for eyeliner). 

You can create so many looks with this palette, I feel like it ticks all the boxes for me. There is a gorgeous inner corner colour (Kitten - A Stila staple I believe), various other gorgeous shades to apply to the lid, and a matte brown and black for smoking it out lightly, or more dramatically for night time. The only colour I feel I won't get too much use out of is "Night Sky" which is the shimmer grey/blue. Blue toned greys don't look good on my eyes (I think it might be because I have blue eyes or possibly just doesn't bode well with my skin tone, I don't know). I think it's such good value for money, £25 for 10 good sized eyeshadows of great quality and an eyeliner, which on it's own is priced at £14 anyway! I absolutely love it, and I've been using it every day. 

You can buy this Stila palette in Boots (if your local one is lucky enough to have a stand), or there are many sites that sell it online (ASOS, FeelUnique, LookFantastic).

Do you own this palette? If not, YOU NEED IT!

♥

YouTube | Twitter | Facebook | Bloglovin' | Hellocotton

Foundation Review Video

I recently did a video reviewing 5 High Street/Drugstore foundations, and although most of you may have already watched the video, I thought I'd just post it here in case you missed it! I'm certainly no expert when it comes to describing foundations, but I did my best and I hope this may help some of you. I opted for a few foundations I'd heard great reviews about, and a few which I'd never seen before. 

I can also do an in-depth review of my favourites of the bunch here on my blog if you want me to do that?  Let me know!

Foundations Mentioned in the video:

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum 

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation

Bourjois 123 Perfect Foundation

17 Hide and Chic Foundation

MeMeMe Flawless Cream Foundation 

♥

Skincare Review | No7 Beautiful Skin

No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Water 200ml £9*

No7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream 50ml £12.50*

Being a complete skincare junky, I am ALWAYS open to trying any new brands or ranges. I think skincare is one of those things we must all pay great attention to. There's no point spending lot's of money on makeup to cover up our skin if we aren't spending the money on making sure our skin is up to scratch underneath it. No7 is a brand stocked in Boots, and is one I am often drawn to in terms of skincare and makeup (their infamous exquisite curl mascara is still a firm favourite of mine).

The beautiful skin range is a more recent launch for No7. Amongst the collection, there are balm cleansers, water cleansers, foaming cleansers, gel cleansers, exfoliators, masks, serums and both day and night moisturisers for all skin types. I am definitely more of a "cream cleanser" girl. I feel as though a cream and a muslin cloth cleanse the skin a lot more thoroughly than a water on a cotton pad. However, in the more recent hot weather (which now seems to have left us for the more typical British climate..i.e. rain and grey clouds) I have been reaching a lot more for the water cleansers in the morning, as a quick refresh and instant pick me up. I still use my Liz Earle cleanse and polish for removing makeup at night, but i just find that a water cleanser is a nice morning boost. This water cleanser is among many I have tried, and I can't say it is my favourite, but it is lovely. The smell of both these products are absolutely amazing, really fruity and summery. One thing I like on this water cleanser though, is the pump. Not a lot of the water cleansers I've tried have a pump, and require you to use the "tip and squeeze/shake" method (one which normally ends in an overly drenched cotton pad). The main thing that meant this cleanser wasn't up there with my favourites though, was that I didn't find it that good at removing makeup. Great for a skin boost in the morning yes, but removing makeup (even a light coating) took too many cotton pad refills and left my skin feeling a little tacky. 

The moisturiser is also really lovely. The cream is a nice consistency and again, smells amazing. It does feel quite thick on the skin, even though it says it's for normal/oily skin. I'm not too sure whether I slot into the normal/oily skin category, but it was either that or dry which at the moment, I'm not so much (since using my beloved ReGen cream). It would be nice if No7 came out with a beautiful skin range to suit "normal/sensitive skin" or just "combination skin".

Overall I was impressed with the few products I tried although they haven't taken the lead in the skincare stakes. I think that I will have to pop into Boots to have a little look at other items in the range, the cleansing gel and balm sound interesting. For now, my boyfriend has stolen both of these, and as far as I know (after a little lesson from me in how to use water cleanser - pretty sure he would have just splashed it all over his face over the sink) is enjoying using them, as he obviously doesn't need makeup removal. ;)

No7 is a really well priced skincare brand, so even if these products aren't for you, it's worth taking a look at what they have to offer, especially when the nifty little £5 off vouchers are floating about! (NOW NOW NOW). So the above products could actually only set you back at £4 and £7.50 which is a TOTAL bargain.

Have you tried anything from the No7 Beautiful Skin range? Anyone tried the balm or gel cleansers?

♥