URBAN DECAY VICE CREAM LIPSTICK {REVIEW}

Lipsticks and Lip glosses are my most purchased cosmetic items 

and I honestly didn't need to buy anymore, but I did!

Like a magpie, I'm drawn to them and I was truly like a kid in a candy store 

when the latest URBAN DECAY store opened its doors in Gateway recently. 

They seemed to have zillions of eye catching shades and formula's on display, 

just a slight excited exaggeration I know, but in fact they do have an 

extensive selection.

 From bold brights to Dark, sexy shades and super-versatile neutrals their lipstick

 shade range seems to have it all, as there's something for everyone.

Their infamous Vice Lipstick comes in a massive lineup of over 100 shades 

and in six finishes.

so here's a quick run down of what's on offer regarding their formula's :

MEGA MATTE:

 super-intense matte

COMFORT MATTE:

 our creamiest matte

CREAM:

 the original: creamy, badass luxury

METALLIZED:

 cream with a high level of pearl

SHEER:

 a punch of colour with a sheer, shiny finish

SHEER SHIMMER:

 slightly transparent finish with floating pearl and a smooth texture

I decided to go for a trusted Cream formula in the shade VIOLATE

 and having never used an

UD Lipstick before I wasn't too sure what to expect.

This Cream formula has a super-creamy texture, which I enjoy and is packed

with nourishing ingredients, leaving the lips soft and conditioned and never dry.

 Aloe vera, jojoba, avocado and babassu oils nourish and soften lips. 

Illipe butter (derived from Malaysian illipe trees) provides long-lasting moisture.

 Whilst Vitamin C and vitamin E provide a hit of antioxidants.

You will be pleased to know that just one swipe provides 

an unbelievable lay down of colour and it stayed longer than many 

other cream lipsticks of a similar price that I own.

The pigment load in all of the Vice Lipstick is insane 

and the Cream formula applied smoothly (without dragging or skipping)

 and to be honest, it feels amazing on the lips. 

After the first application I was in love and could only then fully understand

 all the buzz around the URBAN DECAY Vice Lipsticks, not only do they

deliver, have beautiful packaging, but they're also

slightly very addictive, which I wasn't expecting!

This is my 2nd review that I've posted Posts about 
URBAN DECAY 
and so far I'm loving what this brand has to offer and it only goes to 
confirm my tweak to their logo

URBAN DECAY
Beauty With An Edge
(For All Ages)

Urban Decay

Vice Cream Lipstick

R

250

£

16.50

$

18

URBAN DECAY

L'OCCITANE IMMORTELLE DIVINE FOAMING CLEANSING CREAM {REVIEW}

Cleansing is the first important step in your twice daily beauty routine. 

It's vital to start with a clean canvas before applying any treatment creams.

Even though I'm more of a Cleansing milk/lotion kinda a girl and always have 

been I don't mind slotting a cleansing cream or balm, as my second cleanse

 into my skincare routine every now and then.

I've been using the 

L'Occitane 

Immortelle Divine Foaming Cleansing Cream

 twice a day (am & pm) for this past week and whilst this is not a full 

long term review, I felt it was enough time for me to form an opinion 

and straight off its like no other

cleansing product that I've ever tried, as it's a cream in foam texture.

This Foaming Cleansing Cream has been formulated for all skin types,

to be used following the Divine Cleansing Balm, as the second cleanse in the

Divine routine.

(I used this product 2 ways, as a second cleanse post using another cleanser

 and several times on its own)

 This rich luxurious cream transforms into a dense, generous foam on contact 

with water to cleanse the face without drying the skin, 
it gently rids the skin of impurities, traces of make-up and pollution, 

which it does with relative ease.

After a minute or so of massaging it's easy to rinse or you can remove with 
a wet face cloth and yes it does leaves the skin looking
 and feeling both clean, fresh and above all soft and Divine...

Being a lover of the all of the products in the 
L'Occitane Immortelle Divine Range, 
this foaming cleansing cream contains the same anti-ageing 
immortelle essential oil, as the other products in the range 
along with Vitamin E and all of its antioxidant benefits, whilst
 95% of its ingredients are from natural origins.

This cleanser doesn't come cheap and whilst it forms an important part of

 the Divine regime and when it comes to high end brands and let's face it, 

the Divine range is high end, I always advocate that you buy and use 

the prescribed products in the range to ensure the best results.

I really enjoyed my weeks trial with the Divine Foaming Cleansing Cream 

and even though the product is DIVINE sadly it hasn't converted me.

I'm just not a huge fan of these types of cleansing products, so personally 

I can't justify the price.

To read my previous Divine reviews

L'Occitane 

Immortelle Divine 

Foaming Cleansing Cream

125ml

R

560

£
28

$
39

Photo Source

URBAN DECAY BACKTALK PALETTE {REVIEW}

Launched in South Africa last year 

Urban Decay is popping up literally everywhere on social media, 

especially with their recent spate of successful eyeshadow palette launches 
from their Naked Heat to their latest Born to Run palette which, 
as the name suggests, saw people around world "running" 
to buy this latest UD addition. 

In between these and in my opinion the prettiest of eyeshadow and face 
palettes was launched... 

BACKTALK

I've had my eye on this since its launch and if there was ever a palette that 

seemed to tick all my personal preference boxes, it was this one.
It was inspired by the Vice Lipstick shade of the same name, 
which I also have a review on coming up soon.

Like two palettes in one, this travel-ready case holds eight nude-mauve, soft berry 
and muted rose eyeshadow shades on one side 
and four coordinating shades of blush and highlighter on the other.
and more importantly there all very wearable and universally flattering on
 most skin tones.
The double-sided, removable mirror acts as a divider between the eyeshadow 
shades and the blush and highlighter shades and
even though it did add to the weight of the palette it was handy.

With all the hype surrounding the Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes,

 from way back when they launched their first Naked Palette, 

I was expecting great things from my R860 investment, as that what it would be 

for me an investment.

I've been looking for this kind of combo "go to" palette, that has all the 

eyeshadows and cheek colours that I need in one package,

 for what seems like forever...

You'll be glad to know, that even though I can be a hard critic, 

my pretty, eye pleasing purchase has not let me down 

and it's all that I've been looking for.

Besides looking "good" it also performs "good".

The pigments of all 12 colours in the palette are both rich and velvety 

and easy to blend with a good true colour payoff.

(I must mention here that good make-up brushes are important tools with 

any make-up application.)

The longevity of the shadows is impressive and even more so when used in 

conjunction with their Eyeshadow Primer Potion.

(I have a full review coming up next month on this product)

Overall this palette didn't disappoint and I find that I'm using

every colour on offer, which is a huge bonus, so non of those unusable

wasted shades in this collection.

Definitely it's a good useful mix of both matte and shimmer finishes, 

which I personally found to be very flattering and not ageing for the eyes

like some glittery and shimmery shadows can be.

Now for the bad news, after me raving about how great BACKTALK is

 unfortunately this little beauty was a Limited Edition and we all know 

what that means YES it's sold out Online

and it seems to be also sold out in all of their boutiques in SA.

To make matters even worse you can't buy the individual colours that 

make up this palette.

Whilst I understand that this isn't very useful to you,

if you do happen to find one around, either in SA or overseas

(I believe Sephora still has them on their website) 

my advice would be to grab it quickly.

However it has made me realise just how good the UD palettes and pigments

 are and I have more reviews on products from this edgy brand 

coming soon.

A piece of advice,when you see something newly launched from UD

and you take a shine to it, don't procrastinate too long

 otherwise like all good things...

It will be UD Gone...

URBAN DECAY

BACKTALK EYE & FACE PALETTE

R

860

(Sold out in SA)

£

39.50

(Still available on UD UK Website and in Debenhams and Selfridges)

$

46

(Exclusive to SEPHORA and still available)

UD is formulated is 100% Cruelty-free and free from Parabens 

BEAUTY ADVENT CALENDARS LAUNCHING IN THE UK {AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 2018}

It's my favourite time of the year, as I love doing research for my, now annual,

 series of posts on what Beauty Advent Calendars will be on offer 

for 2018.

Each year seems to bring an even bigger and better selection than the year before

and some of the cosmetic houses are launching as early as the end of August

which is fast approaching.

Alas we get very few of these exciting advent calendars here in South Africa,

but I just love compiling these posts and it could be handy if you are planning

 a trip to the UK over the next 3 months or so.

I also have many readers of my blog in the UK, so hopefully you'll find

my upcoming posts helpful. 

I will be writing a blogpost each month letting you know what to expect 

the following month from just a few of the cosmetic houses .

To get the Beauty Advent Calendar ball rolling, here's what you can

expect to see hitting the stores at the end of 

August and September 2018

L'OCCITANE BEAUTY ADVENT CALENDARS

As always L'Occitane offer a choice of two advent calendars,

 a Classic (above) and a Luxury.

Despite loving this Provencal brand their Advent Calendar contents

are often very predictable and there has been criticism that the assortment

 contained too many hand creams, despite L'Occitane undoubtedly

being the Hand Cream experts.

 Hopefully this year they've stepped their content game up a little.

(L'Occitane normally have both of their Advent Calendars

available in South Africa)

Price

£49/£89

Available

21st September 2018

SOAP AND GLORY ADVENT CALENDAR

Always a fun,popular and affordable choice the Soap and Glory 

contains 24 mini products including many of their tried and 

trusted classics.

 

Price

£40

Available

17th September 2018

LIZ EARLE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

Beauty Advent Calendars are a great way to experience the best sellers

of what a brand has to offer.

This 12 day selection from the well respected skincare guru Liz Earle

 would be perfect for me, as I've sadly never tried any of her products.

Price

£80

Available

End of September 2018

DECLÉOR COUNTDOWN ADVENT CALENDAR

If you are serious about skincare then this beauty calendar filled with 24

 miniature products from the French brand Decléor is for you.

I can see from the above pic that it contains a great assortment of some

of their iconic best sellers.

Price

£80

Available

September 2018

Source of pricing and availability info and photo credits

Marie Claire Magazine

SUNDAY SAMPLE

As I'm sure you're all aware I'm a huge fan of the French brand

L'Occitane 

and especially of the Divine Anti-Ageing collection of skincare products. 

This range has grown considerably over the years from one product,

 and my absolute fave - The Divine Cream.

Earlier this year the

Immortelle Divine Foaming Cleansing Cream 

was added to this Luxury range 

and I've got a weeks worth of samples to try out, so check back on Sunday 

to see how I got on... 

Here are my previous reviews on some of the Divine products.

DOVE DERMASPA SUMMER REVIVED BODY LOTION WITH SELF TANNERS {REVIEW}

As part of Doves recently launched DermaSpa Collection
everything about this product the 

Dove DermaSpa Summer Revived Body Lotion 

sounded great on paper, as it's a

 " body lotion with self tanners for a natural bronzed glow"

Combining Doves skin care expertise with natural tanners, I thought it would be 

a great way to get that sun kissed look throughout winter or better still, 

as the name suggests,revive any remains of my summer tan.

It combines gentle, natural tanners and Dove Cell-Moisturisers® 

(key moisturising actives made from natural seed oils), 

which work at the heart of your skin cells*. This helps to keep your skin soft 

and smooth and makes that tan look even better.

This golden, quite luxurious feeling cream, did absorb easily into my skin 

leaving it feeling nourished, comfortable and non oily.

The idea is that this type of product can be used daily over the body

to moisturise the skin and to give a natural on going, buildable

bronzed glow.

I must also make mention that this product does have that fake tan smell,

which I personally am not a fan of.

As with all gradual or fake tans you do need to wash your hands thoroughly 

after application to avoid staining and remember that these type products 

generally do not have any SPF included so you will still need to use a

 separate one to prevent burning.

Admittedly I was slightly hesitant to purchase, as it seems that despite being 

available internationally in two options, Fair to Medium and Medium to Dark,

 it appears that we only have the Fair to Medium here in SA.

 Unfortunately I went against my all important "gut feeling" and bought a tube, 

despite have those niggling doubts that it wouldn't be the correct one 

for my skin tone.

I was correct,as it didn't really do much to give me a healthy bronzed glow 

and I feel that the Medium-Dark would have been a far better option.

 Another problem for me and one that I really couldn't handle, was

 that typical pungent chemical smell of fake tans,which unfortunately

lingers on the skin.

So on paper this product sounded great, but sadly in practise it wasn't so great.

If you have a very fair skin and don't mind the smell too much, then this easy to

apply gradual tanning body lotion could be one for you.

DOVE

Body Lotion Summer Revive  

200ml

R
74.39
(Current special price at Clicks)

£
3.85
(Current Special price at Superdrug)