February Favourites 2015 | KMC Beauty

by Kelly, February 26, 2015

This month i'm super organised and have rounded up my February Favourites in time for the end of the month, the last time I did a favourites post was November last year so it's about time I did another. I will say my favourites this month are very lip orientated but I couldn't just pick one so I had to include them all!


Marc Jacobs - The Lolita palette
This month I have rediscovered my love for The Lolita palette by Marc Jacobs, I bought this last year but I have been reaching for it quite often this month. As a sucker for warm toned eye shadows this palette hits the mark, the super blendable shadows allow you to create a daytime or night time appropriate look making it very universal and when your feeling like getting all dolled up the beige-gold glitter in the middle gives your look that extra glam feel.
Find it online at Sephora.

Maybelline Baby Lips Dr Rescue - Too Cool
I picked this up on a whim when I was in Superdrug a few weeks back, I always like having lip balms in my bag when i'm on the go. I didn't actually realise there was more than one Dr Rescue I thought they just had the clear one but after going online I now realise there are different colours you can get. However I am pleased that I picked this up, I constantly find myself applying this on a daily basis, if you don't like menthol or cooling products then you might not like this, it's not an intense cooling sensation on the lips just a light fresh feeling which I like. After coming back from skiing at the beginning of this month my lips have been fairly dry, I apply a generous layer of this a few times a day and my lips are definitely noticeably better.
Here at Boots.

L'Oreal Paris Color Riche Collection Exclusive - Jlo's Nude
L'Oreal Paris Rouge Infallible Lipliner - Always Toasted 708
My ultimate lip combo this month has most definitely been Jlo's Nude paired up with L'Oreal's Infallible Lipliner in the shade 'Always Toasted' these two are a match made in heaven, the longevity of the lipstick itself is good but throughout the day when the lipstick starts to wear off the lipliner is still going strong underneath.
Who needs Velvet Teddy anyways..
Find the lipstick here
The lipliner here
Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil - 630 Nude Perfection
Keeping with the nude theme, on days when I feel like something with a matte finish I reach for this lip pencil by Maybelline, with it being in the form of a pencil it's super easy and quick to apply and great for on the go, also with it being a matte finish it lasts on the lips all day long. A tad drying but not unbearable, would also pair nicely with the 'Always Toasted' lipliner by L'Oreal but it doesn't bleed so no lipliner required. I definitely think I need to pick up more shades from this range.
Online at Boots.

Thanks for reading!

One Brand Review - Origins | KMC Beauty

by Kelly, February 22, 2015
For Christmas last year I had a few Origins products on my wish list that I wanted to try out, I was lucky enough to receive some of these as presents and have been trying them out since January.
I have four products from the Origins range that I want to share with you and let you know what I think.

Drink Up Intensive
So this is an over night mask said to "quench skin's thirst" I do not have dry skin, I have oily skin, however oily skin still needs hydration so I thought I would try this out. I didn't use this mask every night as I liked to alternate with another Origins product I will get too shortly, if i'm honest I didn't feel like this mask did anything for my skin, it's not your typical mask where you apply it and it sets to a dry finish, this is more of a combination between a lotion and a gel, a little goes a long way and i find that a small amount will cover my entire face but when I wake up the next morning my skin feels like there is a layer of grease on the top of it which isn't too pleasant to wake up to.
The mask contains a ton of different oils, plant and fruit extracts but the one scent that prevailed to me was apricot, which I liked and this product did not break me out in anyway.
I only have the 50ml as it came as part of a set which is now unfortunately out of stock.
You can find the full size here.

GinZing
The GinZing Energy Boosting Moisturizer has been a popular product for a long while now and I am definitely with everyone else on this one, I love this stuff, my skin drinks it! I use this on alternate days and I haven't even made a dent, I do not need to use a lot of this on my skin, within 15 minutes of applying the surface of my skin feels dry again which I love, I can't stand the feel of something sat on my skin greasing it up and weighing it down so this is perfect! When I run out (in quite some time to come) I will definitely be repurchasing this orange zesty moisturizer again.
Find it here!

No Puffery
Morning bags? Not a problem, a quick application of this under the eyes in the morning gets me set for the day ahead. I apply the No Puffery Cooling Roll-On before I apply my make-up and I am normally in a rush most mornings so the fact that this gel like formula drys almost in an instant is great for me. There is no scent that I can pick up, leaving my eyes irratation free, the metal ball head makes for easy application and helps dramatically reduce my under eye bags.
Find it online here.

High-Potency Night-A-Mins
I was really disappointed with this "renewal cream" I applied it at night time and washed my skin the next morning, my skin looked and felt no different than before applying it, it also did the same thing as the Drink Up Intensive mask and gave me that horrible layer of grease on my skin when I woke up. In addition to this I couldn't bare the smell it reminded me of aromatherapy oils or as Origins like to call it "relaxing aromas" this is fine when your having a massage but not on the face. Maybe this works better for maturer skin and they may notice a difference, sadly it didn't work for me.



So in January I fell into the hype over the Jaclyn Hill Favourites Palette, hearing about the Morphe eyeshadows being amazing quality at an amazing price I couldn't resist. I received my palette early this month and figured I would just do a swatches post as I haven't had chance to try out every single shadow in the palette yet other than swatch them all.


Jaclyn Hill Favorites Palette - Swatches rows 1-4 left to right

I will say that some shadows are definitely more pigmented than others especially the shimmer shades they are all incredibly pigmented and glide on the skin when swatching. The shades I have tried so far blend very well on the lids.
This palette retailed at $27.99 (around £18) which is an amazing price for all these shadows unfortunately where I got stung was the shipping that was around $10 which was fine until I was hit with a £14 customs charge when it arrived in the UK. 

This palette is now sold out as it was limited edition on the Morphe website.
If you didn't manage to get your hands on it don't panic, I am giving one palette away plus some other goodies when I reach 100 followers on Bloglovin! Any help to reach my goal would be greatly appreciated.





Today i'm sharing my love for the Charles Worthington Strength & Repair Heat Defence Spray, I used to be absolutely obsessed with the old Salon Shine Results Heat Protection Spray but last year the whole line was given a shake up and everything was repackaged. Now whether the line was also reformulated I do not know, I wanted to get the same spray again to do the same things for my hair as the old one did and I think this hits the mark.
My hair is no stranger to the heat, between hairdryers, straighteners, curlers and the sun it definitely gets a thermal bashing, recently I have gone back blonder and we all know that bleach drys out the hair a lot! I picked this up before Christmas and I haven't been disappointed.
I spray this generously on my damp hair before I blow dry it and we all hate those spray bottles that spray out too much product or the ones that feel like your being hit with a water pistol but the spray top on this just provides a mist of product into your hair which is nice.
Although this product makes no detangling claims I definitely think that after I spray this into my damp hair and go to brush it out it has definitely helped detangle it, because if I don't use this spray I am yanking the hairbrush through my hair like crazy. In addition to this I think after I dry my hair it has a nice healthy shine to it.

I don't think I could go a day not using this product! I don't have any other products from Charles Worthington if you have any suggestions of what I should pick up next i'd love to know them.

Find the Charles Worthington Strength & Repair Heat Defence Spray at Boots.




Aside from lipsticks, the next item of make-up I seem to accumulate a lot of over time is concealers. I am always on the look out for new concealers to try as I don't think I have found one yet that has become a 'staple' in my make-up routine.

The key features a concealer must have for me are as follows, firstly it needs to stand the test of time, if my concealer doesn't last me the duration of my working day it's no good to me. Brightening is key, I like to look awake, a concealer one shade lighter than my foundation helps me achieve this, I sway more towards pink undertones as they compliment my fair skin better.
Not to sheer and not too thick, for me there is a very small window when it comes to the consistency of the product, if it's too sheer it's not going to do anything for me, if it's too thick it will more than likely crease under my eyes, even when I set with powder this is a common problem as I have oily skin.

I have rounded up the concealers in my collection and created my top five.


5. Benefit Fakeup Hydrating Crease-Control Concealer
This is a concealer for 'No make-up, make-up days' if you aren't familar with that term it's basically on days when I am going for a very minimal make-up look. It's just slightly too sheer to be part of my everyday make-up looks as I prefer something with fuller coverage.
Cheapest place I found this at was QVC - here

4. MAC Prolongwear Concealer
A long standing favourite in a lot of peoples make-up drawers i'm sure, just not at the top of my list. This is too thick for me, I only use this when I need serious under eye coverage (AKA major bags) to hide my tiredness but it's just a bit cakey. It also creases on me quite a lot.
Find it at Debenhams

3. Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer
The most expensive concealer in my collection, I have a lot of love for it. The reason why it's not at number one is because of the colour, it's bordering on stark white and I can't bring myself to spend the money and purchase another one until I have used this one up. The coverage is brilliant, it's super blendable and the creasing is minimal.
Save 17% and get free delivery at lookfantastic

2. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer
Formally known in the UK as 'Maybelline Eraser Eye Concealer', I got mine from the states so mine has the US name on it, another popular with a lot of people and recently it's been out of stock everywhere in the UK for quite sometime. When I was in the US last month I bought another one as a back-up because they had some there, at the time this was my current favourite until I found my number 1...
Currently in stock at Boots

1. Maybelline Face Studio Master Conceal
I found this a couple of days after I bought a back up of my Instant Age Rewind last month, I hadn't seen it before and noticed it was new so thought I would give it a try. It's very comparable to MAC Prolongwear it's just not as thick, it creases under my eyes ever so slightly but this is an on-going issue with all my concealers. I use a damp Beauty Blender to blend the product out and it just looks flawless, sits well on the skin, doesn't feel cakey and lasts all day. I use the shade 'Light' and I think this is quickly becoming my new favourite.
When/If this becomes available in the UK I will add a link.




Recently I have just got back from the States (hence the lack of posts or atleast that's what i'm blaming) and while I was there I picked up three shades from the new Color Sensational Creamy Mattes range which has yet to be released in the UK, hopefully they will actually release these here because Maybelline brought out out the Color Whisper range in the US that I really wanted to try more of and that actually never ended up coming to the UK which was a huge disappointment. I will say that I feel like they take far too long to bring their merchandise over the pond, get it together Maybelline!

There was no logic when picking up the three shades I got, I didn't have any particular colours in mind if i'm honest I just picked up the ones that looked as though people hadn't tested them on themselves and then put them back on the shelf. Side note that is a pet peeve that's why we have testers people. The only shade I had heard of prior to buying these was 'Daringly Nude' I have seen someone on Youtube use it before and I remember it looking nice I just don't remember who I saw use it.. It could of been Amanda Ensing.

With that said the three shades I picked up were 'Lust For Blush', 'Daringly Nude' and 'Craving Coral' I really am kicking myself for not going back and picking up more of this range because now I think about it Maybelline might decide not to bring these to the UK and I should of got more shades while I had the opportunity.


The basic shape of the packaging itself is the same as most of the other lipsticks from Maybelline however the acutal casing is a plastic matte mauve colour with the chrome bottom and lipstick surrounding which is nice looking, nothing spectacular but it looks tidy and well put together.

The price point of these lipsticks is definitely a plus, compared to the normal retail of Maybelline lipsticks here in the UK which is around the £6.99 mark (please note this may vary from different retailers) I got these beauties for $5.89 which converted into pounds for UK readers that is around £3.92 depending on the exchange rate. With that said I think all of us UK residents can agree that this is undoubtably depressing, think of all the extra lipsticks we could buy if they were all that price! Nevertheless like I said, price point (US) is definitely a bonus.

When applying these lipsticks they all went on smoothly, I do have terribly dry lips at the moment from cold weather so my lips aren't too even and are a bit rough, for this post I decided not to do close up swatches of the lipsticks on my actual lips as they are in need of some serious hydration. Two layers gave me my desired opaqueness, I found one layer to be slightly lacking as I wanted optimal colour payoff, I don't find these to be one swipe and you get crazy pigmentation, a minimum of two layers is required in my opinion.


I got a good seven hours wear with one touch up after a meal during the day and considering these are matte lipsticks I didn't expect any colour transfer but I discovered when drinking from glasses that they did slightly. Considering I already had dry lips to begin with upon trying out these lipsticks (bad timing to try a matte range) they definitely didn't make my lips any dryer than they already were, compared to my Maybelline Color Drama Lipstick which makes my lips feel a tad dry during the course of the day.

As an added bonus when I removed the lipsticks with a make-up wipe they had not stained my lips.
In conclusion I would say I am a fan of this range, like I said I wish I had picked up more but fingers crossed they will come here, I have scoped around online and can't see any expected release dates for the UK.

If you are a US reader I found these lipsticks at Walmart


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