L-R Rimmel Stay Matte, Nars Sheer Matte, MAC Prolongwear, L'Oreal True Match, MAC Studio Fix, L'Oreal Lumi Magique & Rimmel Match Perfection
For about two years now I have gone through numerous bottles of foundation, some that absolutely did not agree with my skin and some that were just bearable but I have yet to find the perfect foundation for my oily skin.

My main issue with my foundations is preventing my oil from breaking through, I blot and touch up with powder but still the oil is determined to break through my foundation and sit on the surface of my skin making me look super shiny.
Not only do I need a foundation to help with oil prevention but I also need one that will stand the test of time, a minimum of eight hours staying power is imperative when I am in work.


Based off other people's suggestions on Instagram I picked up the Estée Lauder Double Wear foundation from Debenhams this week and after only two days of use I can definitely say that I have seen a difference.
It 100% prevents my oil from breaking through during the day, I don't have to touch up with powder either which could not make me happier. But I do still have a few nit picky issues with this foundation that prevent it from being my perfect foundation, first issue being that it doesn't have a pump! I hate not having a pump on foundation, it's messy and just hard work but I did read somewhere that the MAC pumps fit the Double Wear's bottle so I will try this to see if it works. Second issue, the shade, I did get colour matched in Debenhams and the shade down from this one was far too light against my neck (I like to match my neck because my neck and body are more tanned than my face) so I tried a shade up which was the shade Pebble, when I first apply it to my skin it looks fine but during the day I feel like the colour changes? I'm not sure if i'm imagining it or not but although my skin is still matte I feel like my face looks a little muddy. Whether it's due to the amount of oil it's absorbing or just the way it oxidises on the skin i'm just not quite sure on the shade.
I will probably do an in depth review on this foundation as an update on how I get on with it.

So I would love to know if anybody else has any other suggestions of foundations for oily skin! Drugstore or high end i'm willing to try anything at this point, also has anybody had the same issues I have had with the Double Wear foundation? Although i'll keep using it for now i'm not sure that I will re-purchase, I may look for an alternative.

Thanks for reading.




This week I added to my little MAC eyeshadow family and purchased the shade 'Woodwinked', this is a pretty well known shade from MAC and i'm so glad I picked it up.

MAC - Woodwinked


As you would expect from a MAC eyeshadow, it's feels like butter, the texture is super soft and the formula is also very blendable with my Sigma E25 (Similar to the MAC 217) brush.
I didn't get any fall out when I applied this shadow to my lids which is definitely a bonus and a lot less hassle.


MAC describe this shade as a warm antique gold, in the pan it looks like a shimmery deep brown shade, but once swatched it completely transforms into a warm bronze shade with shimmer running through, perfect for that 'Bronzed Goddess' glow. With it's Veluxe Pearl finish this shadow has a metallic shimmer with a high shine.



If like me you are not one for chunky glitter in eyeshadows then this neutral shade should be right up your alley. This bronze colour is definitely versatile, worn alone for that sun kissed look or worn as a lid colour with a black shadow for a dramatic smokey eye this shade is suitable for all occasions.

Now normally I don't purchase MAC eyeshadows in the pots, I purchase the pan only because I can put them in my MAC palette but I bought this from a girl on Depop so I figured I would just depot it.
If you are not familiar with Depop it is kind of like a combination of Ebay and Instagram where people sell their unwanted things, mainly clothes and make-up. These shadows normally retail at £13.00 I bought mine for £9.00 including postage. But BE WARNED, if you use Depop or already use it people do sell replicas of MAC products and you do have to be careful of what you are buying, when i'm looking I make sure the seller has wrote on the product 100% genuine. Some of the replicas stick out like a sore thumb and you can tell straight away from the sellers photo that they are fake, but just a heads up if you do buy anything from them.
I also sell some items on Depop, if you would like to follow me my username is @kelmckib

Find this eyeshadow online at MAC Cosmetics.

Hope you enjoyed reading my review!


If like me you are obsessed with Beauty Vloggers on Youtube then you have probably seen these lip glosses before, pretty much every well known Beauty Guru uses these in their tutorials on a regular basis, so I jumped on the band wagon and ordered some to try out for myself.

L-R Rose Hill, Nude & Buttercream

At first glance the packaging is average, didn't really appeal to me very much, a little bit tacky for my liking, there is definitely cheaper drug store lip glosses with nicer packaging than these. However on the side of each tube of gloss there is a mirror which I think is super handy for when your on the go and you keep glosses in your hand bag, you don't need to bring any unnecessary mirrors along with you. Going for a night out? No problem because not only do they have a mirror on the side but when you twist out the applicator out from the tube there is two LED lights on the inside of the applicator to provide light for you to see what you are doing even in the darkest of situations! I know this company aren't the first to have an idea like this as Collection did something similar with their Hotlights Lipglosses but I still think it's very handy.


As far as pigmentation goes these glosses are just as pigmented as I heard they were, they are very opaque as you can see, one stroke gave me the swatches in the photo below. I chose the colours that I thought I would get the most wear out of, although I know that Gerard Cosmetics also offer some very bold and daring colours in their range, including an ocean blue and a black colour.


Application of the gloss was a breeze the doe foot applicator made it very easy and the gloss went on super smoothly.
Actually wearing these glosses on the lips I didn't find them very sticky, sure if you go out when it's windy and you have long hair then yes your hair is going to get stuck in the gloss, I think this goes without saying with most glosses but when they are actually sat on the lips they don't feel sticky or gunky.
My only issue with these glosses is their longevity, I found myself re-applying after just one hour of wearing them, I hadn't ate or drank in this time either, so that is a little annoying. I don't particularly mind re-applying make-up, just maybe not as frequent as every hour. If you layer these glosses over lipstick you may not find yourself re-applying as often, I managed to stretch to two hours over a MAC amplified lipstick before I had to re-apply.

With that all being said I pleasantly enjoyed these glosses, they are beautiful shades and look lovely on the lips, I just wish they stayed a little longer.
I would tell you how much you get in each tube but I can't find a quantity on the tube anywhere and the website doesn't even say which is strange.

These glosses retail at $24.00 each, however I purchased 'Jaclyn's Decadent Duo' which gave me four shades to choose from and you get two glosses for $39.00, I then purchased my third gloss alone.
More often than not this site ALWAYS has discount codes, you can find them on most Beauty Vloggers Youtube channels, I used the code 'London' for 20% off and free shipping.
Considering these glosses came from the US shipping was also really quick, I ordered them on the 1st of July and received them on the 8th of July.

Find these lip glosses online here.

Hope you enjoyed my review!





Ulta Haul | KMC Beauty

by Kelly, July 02, 2014
You didn't misread the title of this post, it is an Ulta Haul. For those of you who are not familiar with Ulta it is a US based drugstore (similar to Superdrug in the UK). Unfortunately I didn't have a trip over to the US to purchase these goodies, although I wish I had. I used a company called Shipitto, which in a nutshell they basically act as the middle man in your purchasing. I use the assisted purchase on their website which means that you tell them which website you want them to buy off and which items you want, you then deposit the required amount to Shipitto so they can buy whichever products you want and when they receive your parcel from your chosen company they forward it to you. This really is a brilliant little company for getting all the items you can't get in the UK.



Lorac PRO Palette 2
The biggest and most expensive of my purchases, but definitely the one I was the most excited for! Originally I was going to purchase the original Lorac PRO Palette as everyone raves about how good it is, but when I went on to the Ulta website there was a big banner advertising the new Lorac PRO Palette 2 exclusively available at Ulta first, so immediately I was drawn in. I love me a good neutrals palette, I typically only wear a neutral eye, or if i'm going out I might venture into smokey eye territory. The top row in this palette are all matte shades and the bottom row is all shimmers, all the colours look really appealing and I can't wait to try them out, i'm just not sure about the navy shade on the top row, is it me or does that look totally random in this palette?
The palette also comes with the Lorac Behind The Scenes Eye Primer, I don't typically use primers on my eyelids but i'll definitely try it out with these shadows to see how they work together.
Find online at Ulta for $42.00

L-R Celestial Coral & Petal Plush

Maybelline Color Elixir Lip Color
You may or may not have seen this on my Beauty Wish List at the beginning of June, see that post herebut I couldn't wait to get these in the mail as I had wanted to try them for a while, I picked the colours Celestial Coral and Petal Plush, when I got them out to swatch the colours on my hand I noticed that the Celestial Coral tube was faulty! So gutted. Basically the tubes have/had almost like a filter on the top to squeeze off any excess product from the brush when you get it out of the tube, this way your not getting out loads of excess product that you don't need, but my filter isn't on top of the tube of Celestial Coral it's inside of the bottle! So when I bring my brush out of the tube it brings out loads of this gloss, which is a bit of a bummer, it's still usable just a bit of a faff. Nevertheless i'm still looking forward to trying these out properly.
In the photo these two shades look pretty similar but in the tube Celestial Coral is more of a darkened coral shade whereas Petal Plush is a pinky coral shade with tiny flecks of shimmer inside.
Find online at Ulta for $8.99.
Update 10/09/2014 - These are now available in the UK! Find them online here for £6.99


Maybelline Color Whisper - One Size Fits Pearl
If i'm honest my reason in buying the Color Whisper's was because I saw Make-up By Alli using them in a tutorial and it really made me want to try some, she was using the shade Pink Possibilities but I picked up the colour One Size Fits Pearl which I am majorly regretting, swatching on the back of my hand it has NO pigmentation what so ever which is a real let down as I had high hopes for this lipstick, on the plus side it's pretty hydrating so maybe I could make it work as a lip balm, I don't know.
I would leave a link for this product if it was worth buying but it definitely isn't.


Maybelline Color Whisper - Pin Up Peach
On a more positive note I am not regretting buying the shade Pin Up Peach in the Color Whisper range, I immediately put this on my lips after I opened my parcel and it was so pretty! Not crazy pigmented but it gave me a 'my lips but better' kind of look which is really nice and work appropriate for me, super hydrating and the packaging is really cute too!
Find online at Ulta for $7.49 they also have a deal on where if you buy one you can get another one for 50% off which makes my purchase of One Size Fits Pearl a little less annoying with it being half price.


Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow - Copper Chic
What do you know, another Youtuber made me do it purchase! This time i'm blaming Casey Holmes, she really liked this eyeshadow quad and it was super affordable so I thought I would give it a shot, more warm neutral shades? Because one eyeshadow palette is never enough! I know, I have a problem.
Find online at Ulta for $9.99


Nyx Butter Lipstick - Gumdrop
Woah, I wasn't expecting this lipstick to be as bright as it is when I ordered it, it's a little intense for my liking but i'm hoping with nude gloss on top I can tone it down a notch so I can still use it. The picture online definitely passed it off as more of a nudey pink. Claims to give full coverage with a satin finish, looking forward to trying it out.
Find online at Ulta $3.59.


Nyx Butter Gloss - Crème Brulee
I'm sure many of you either have this gloss or have heard about it at some point, it's pretty well known, this shade in particular. Claims not to be sticky on the lips which I really like the sound of and I am hoping this will be a good nude gloss to use over the top of my Butter Lipstick to tone it down a little bit.
Find online at Ulta for the super cheap price of $2.99
Alternatively if you want to purchase from the UK find online at NYX Cosmetics for £5.00

Hope you enjoyed my haul, I think there will be more posts like this in the future as now I know I can get all these things sent to me from the US it definitely makes me want to buy even more.



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