Rodial Dragon's Blood

A while ago Debenhams sent me the Rodial Dragon's Blood skincare set. I'd never tried anything from Rodial before or heard anything about dragon's blood so was really interested in finding out a bit more about it. After doing a google search I found so many celebrities that use this I thought it must be good! I have problems with my skin quite often so I'm always on the look out for new things to try.

Firstly, the name got my attention. I wondered, why dragon's blood? The first thing that came to mind was Harry Potter! It turns out that dragon's blood is tree sap from the Sangre de Drago tree in the Amazon.

This is what Rodial says about each product:

Dragon's blood sculpting gel: An innovative sculpting gel that helps to define facial contours and add volume to sagging skin. Dragon's blood forms a second skin-like protective film, renowned to protect against external aggressions, reducing redness and inflamation.

Dragon's blood eye gel: This instantly cooling gel refreshes and hydrates puffy tired eyes with Rose Water, Arnica and Dragon's blood. Instantly brighter, the delicate eye area is restructured to thicken translucent skin and plump wrinkles. Hyaluronic Acid comforts dehydrated skin and refines the skin's surface for wide awake eyes.

Dragon's blood hyaluronic mask: A moisture drenched facial mask with instant visible results. Hyaluronic Acid and tensors immediately plump fine lines and tighten wrinkles whilst providing comfort to dehydrated skin. Dragon's Blood reduces redness with anti-oxidant benefits whilst Gransil smoothes imperfections for a smoother and firmer complexion. 

The packaging for this collection is really nice, I think it goes well with the whole Dragon's Blood idea just because it gives off that look without being a dark red. The products themselves come with a pump, which took me a while to figure out, I was taking the entire top off before I realised. Using the pump really helps when applying this because you can use the same amount each time without going over. For the eye gel however, sometimes I take the whole top off just because the under eye area is so small I usually don't end up using the whole lot.

As for whether or not the products work, in the description is a lot of things/names I don't understand. But I did notice a few things even from the first time of using them. The products sink in fast, leaving a really nice smooth texture to the skin which I really liked, most creams are too sticky and greasy. It really helps to even out skin texture too which is good for when applying your foundation as it gives you a much better complexion. I get a bit of redness on my nose and cheeks and using this does help reduce this. As for the wrinkles, I can't really say if it works as I don't have any but it does help to tighten and using all three of these products together gave my face an all around healthier look. 

The hyaluronic mask is great as you can use this overnight which gives the product a few hours to  really work into the skin. It's also recommended for flights, which until now I hadn't noticed or else I would be using it when I travel. There is always next time.

The only downside to these products is that the don't come in cheap. The sculpting gel is £75, the eye gel is £40 and the facial mask is £35. These are all available from Debenhams and the Rodial website. If you feel like treating yourself, maybe give these a try.

Have you tried the Dragon's Blood range yet? Are you a fan of the Rodial skincare brand? What is your favourite skincare item? 

 

MAC Sinfully Chic Face Kit

The Sinfully Chic face kit from MAC was part of their holiday collection for 2012 called Fabulousness. I was late in buying anything from this collection, trying to hold back a little on buying so much makeup but I eventually caved and bought this. I must admit that the packaging this year really did sway me, it's got to be the most beautiful holiday collection from them yet (in terms of packaging). I've never actually bought from their holiday collections before so I was interested to see what was on offer. As I don't own that many MAC items, I thought this would be a great way to try a range of their products. I do own a few lipsticks and lip glasses, both of which I love! So getting the blush and eyeliner was a plus. 

This set seems to big the biggest in terms of size, kind of like a clutch bag. And while I think it would be great just to pick up this set and take it with me, it can be a bit bulky so I've taken the items out and put them into my makeup bag to save space. You can also change out the products if you want which I think is a nice idea if you're going for a different look. The only other thing I'm worried about with the silk pattern would be getting it dirty, the texture seems like it would attract a lot of dirt so I haven't taken mine out. It sits on my shelf looking pretty instead.

Once you open the set, the two sides are divided by a mirror. There is a pouch with a travel size blush brush in (MAC 129) and you can always add your own brushes in with this. I already own the 129 travel brush when it came out with the wonder woman collection and I think it's great for when you are limited on space and it does the job. I have heard that the travel size brushes are nowhere near the same quality as full size but as I don't own the full size I can't compare. This brush is still better than a lot of other brands though.

The lip glass (be nice) included in this set is a pretty champagne colour, when on the skin it does come out clear and has quite a few glitter particles. The lipstick (Out to please) is a slightly orange toned nude, I think on my skin this would wash me out so if I were to use this I think I would put a more brighter gloss over the top. 

My favourite items in this set are the blush and eyeliner. The blush (pursue your passion) is much more orange than it looks on the site, it's a warm bronzey colour. I do like this a lot and don't use a bronzer when I wear this, I will sometimes put a more pink toned blush just on the apples of my cheeks to give my face a bit more colour. 

The eyeliner (technakhol liner in graphblack) is very soft and very pigmented, it glides on the skin so smoothly and doesn't budge all day. It's also really easy to take off at night. This is an eyeliner that doesn't need sharpening, you just twist the top whenever you need more. So an all around good product in my books! This is no longer available but if you are interested in the fabulousness collection, Debenhams still have a lot on their website.

What did you think of MAC's 2012 holiday collection? Did you purchase or receive any of these items? What would be your favourite product from MAC?

Nars Andy Warhol Palette

As I was spending four weeks away over the Christmas period, my parents gave me an early Christmas gift to go away with. I'd asked for this a few weeks before and the day before I left they gave it to me. I was really pleased to receive this, especially as it's not the cheapest palette.  

I do love the NARS brand, as well as Andy Warhol, so when I heard they were coming out with an Andy Warhol collection I knew I would end up buying something from it. There were lots of variations of palette's, three different self portrait palettes and three different flower palette's. I chose this one as I loved the design and the colours I'm more likely to use, it's perfect for a smokey eye and being quite compact is great for travel and putting in your makeup bag. I have so much eyeshadow already in lots of different colours and I'm not that adventurous with it so I knew if I'd gone for the colourful ones it would never get used. Black is something I usually use, even as eyeliner.

The packaging is great on this, I'm a fan of the matte black NARS packaging already (even though it gets so dirty!) Instead of the normal black box, this comes in a silver one with Andy Warhol written across it. The same design is seen on the actual palette. On the mirror inside there is a quote "Art is what you can get away with", this was such a nice detail but also manages not to take up much of the mirror so isn't so distracting. The quotes are different on every palette. 

The portrait on this is unfortunately an overspray so it will eventually rub off. I've bee trying to keep it there for as long as I can, it's just too nice of a picture :) As for the eyeshadows themselves, I've only used them a few times but they are really easy to apply and work with. The two grey/silver shadows are very shimmery as you can see in the above photo but the black has more of a matte finish. It's not fully matte though and does have some small glitter pieces, nothing too noticeable. 

The NARS Andy Warhol collection has much much more on offer than just these palettes. I've been looking at the edie gift set for a while now but I'm trying to hold back from buying it! It is limited edition though, so if you do find anything you like I would get it now. The collection is still available from www.narscosmetics.co.uk  www.selfirdges.com  and  www.sephora.com

Have you tried anything from the Andy Warhol Collection yet? What is your favourite NARS product?

January Sales ft. Lush!

I know January is almost over (finally!) and the sales have pretty much come to an end but I thought I'd share with you the things I did get just after Christmas. I was away all over /christmas and new year and I knew I wanted to try and grab some stuff from the Lush sale this year. I know it's really popular and sells out fast and sometimes even crashes the server. As I was 8 hours behind the UK I was able to log on at 4pm instead of midnight to try and grab some bargains, this worked out in my favour as it meant I wasn't staying up all night! I managed to grab 3 gift sets, I didn't really look too much at what was in them to be honest but I trusted that they would be good items because I've never heard a bad thing about Lush and it gave me a chance to try out something new for a small price. 

I picked 3 gift sets. The house of fun, Winter Wonderland and Christmas candy.

The house of fun comes packaged in a cute house! Which is obviously full of fun inside.
Included in this gift set was:
Space girl bath ballistic
Whoosh shower Jelly

Party popper bath ballistic

Rocket reusable bubble bar

In the Winter Wonderland set was:
Dream Cream body Lotion
Snowcake soap

The Christmas candy set had:
Rock star soap
butterball bath ballistic
Snow Fairy shower gel
popcorn lip scrub
Candy mountain bubble bar

A lot of these items I've never used before, but I've been loving them all and a few I've used already. I was a bit worried about using the snow cake soap for the first time what with all that gold dust on it, I was afraid I'd get out the bath looking like a glittery stripper but thankfully this never happened! 

Did you manage to get your hands on any Lush goodies in the after Christmas sales?

Fairy Drops Scandal Queen Mascara

I've wanted to try out this mascara for a while now and I managed to pick it up in the states sometime last year. It's currently not available in the UK but places like ebay might have it. This mascara was created by Japanese TV personality to try and create more of a curl in straight lashes. The first thing that attracted me to this was the shape of the brush, I'd never seen a brush shape like this. Before buying I'd watched numerous youtube videos where people swore by this mascara and thought it was the best thing, so I was hoping it would have a similar effect on my lashes.

There's been so much hype around this mascara I wanted to see for myself if it lived up to it. I've had a while to try it out now and I just can't get it to work for me. The first thing I noticed was the fibre's in the brush, these are supposed to lengthen your lashes. I found them incredibly annoying. The brush itself it too soft for me, I can't feel it on my lashes so can't really tell if it's coating them properly. The other thing is that it clumps like crazy on my lashes, I hate the clumpy '3 thick lashes' look. There is a difference between clumpiness and volume and this just got on my nerves. Now I know this works for a lot of people, and helps hold a curl but this did nothing for me, I'm sad to say. Maybe it is because I have naturally long and curly lashes, I'm not sure but I won't be repurchasing this as it's not cheap.

Have you tried this mascara? What did you think? 

Nail of the day: Glittery Blue

Today's NOTD is a mix of Headliner and Glass Slipper by Ciate. I got these in my Ciate advent calendar. As I spent Christmas away I never got a chance to really test out most of the polishes so I finally got around to using some. I'm in love with the colour blue and was happy to see this sparkly blue polish. I couldn't wait to use it, so I layered it over the teal colour and love the final result. I must love this colour a lot because I realised it's almost the exact shade of my iPod haha