Review: Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer || RRP: £4.19

 

Less than a fiver for the best concealer ever? Well that's something I can get used to! Since starting using this the only thing I've regretting is not welcoming it to my life sooner! I have nothing but praise for this little £4 tube of wonder that beats any high end brand concealer. Thick and creamy in consistency with incredibly full coverage, but blends out easily to not look obvious and although I'm not sure on the full '16 hour' claim, the wear time is still pretty impressive and withstands both full working days and long nights out.

 

I have just one problem with this product ..one! And that's that it doesn't take very long at all before it looks like the picture show just below. But that's hardly a big deal is it? A little bit of writing rubbed off the tube is nothing to worry about. Every other thing about this gets a big, big thumbs up from me!

 

 



Using the doe-foot applicator this works fantastically well covering both under eye circles and blemishes without going cakey/creasing (okay well it creases under the eye a little bit but what do you expect when it's your eye?). I've this concealer in two shades (1 - fair, and 2 - light) but you can see that there's quite a big difference between them on the bottom picture below. Most of the time I use 1 - fair, but if I've got a bit of fake tan or a darker foundation on then I can just mix in a touch of 2 - light to make the shade more appropriate. It's also available in shades 3 and 4 too.

 

 

 

If somebody told me that I could only have one item of make-up for the rest of my life then this concealer would be a serious contender to be 'the one'. If you've not tried this yet then I urge you to try it and you won't look back! £4.19 well spent!

Hair Oils Collection

|| Instagram: Hannahripley1

 

Hey girls. I'm sure you're all aware that 2012 was the year that using oil as a treatment for dry and damaged hair really took off, with countless variations from high end to high street and even Primark offering up different concoctions for us all to try, and I for one was fully on board with the hair oil hype. After trying out my first one (Babyliss Pro Argan Oil) it was love at first use and I was eager to see what else was out there on the market to give a helping hand to my frazzled ends. Needless to say, my hair's now in the best condition that I've ever had it, it's split end free and growing at a good rate and my only 'secret' would be the incorporation of oils into my hair care routine. Some are put on wet hair, some on damp, some on dry, most on both and are brilliant for using a 'finishing product' to keep any flyaways at bay on styled hair as well as using a healing leave-in treatment.

I know I've gone a bit overboard and don't need all these (there's 11), but hey - what can you do? There's a huge variety in my 'collection', ranging from the apparent 'best of the best' hair oil in the form of The Original Moroccan Oil, to the super pricey Ojon Rare Blend Hair Oil, the 'up and comer' in the popularity stakes: Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment, all the way down to the cheap and cheerful high street offerings of L'Oreal and Tresemme, plus a £2.50 tube picked up from Primark (Hask Argan Oil). There's obviously a range in prices and value, but also a range in quality and intensity, sizes that range from 10ml to 30ml to 100ml, and some bottles with pump dispensers and some with pourers. We all need variety in our lives.

L-R:
L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil, Tresmme Liquid Gold Restorative Complex, The Body Shop Mango Beautifying Oil, Lee Stafford Argan Oil Nourishing Miracle Oil, Avon Adance Techniques Moroccan Argan Oil, Babyliss Pro Argan Oil, Ojon Rare Blend Oil Total Hair Therapy, Hask Argan Oil from Moroccan, The Original Moroccan Oil, Osmo Berber Argan Oil, Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment.

Longest photo caption I've ever written right there! This post isn't really intended to review any of these oils in full because that would take me far too long and you'd be here all day reading it too, plus I've already reviewed most of these individually anyway. If you're interested in reading more about any of the oils pictured then here is a list of the ones that I have reviewed with a clickable link to their post:

- L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil

- Lee Stafford Argan Oil Nourishing Miracle Oil Treatment

- Avon Advance Techniques Moroccan Argan Oil

- Babyliss Pro Argan Oil

- Ojon Rare Blend Total Hair Therapy

It's quite hard to make much of a dent in any of these because with all of them only a tiny amount is needed with each use and a little goes a long way, plus with the way that I chop and change between which one I'm using I'm struggling to foresee even one of these running out any time soon - looks like I'm set for life on the oil front! There's none that I dislike at all, just some that are better suited to different circumstances or 'hair days', and some are more intense than others or better value for money, but all are good and I like using them all. I tend to stick to one that I use all the time for a week or two, and then I rotate things around and start using another for a while, but at the moment my three favourite ones are the Lee Stafford one, Babyliss and 'The Original', but ask me again in a month and I'm sure I'll reel off a different list.

Leave me a comment and tell me your current favourite!

*Just realised that I should have included some sort of non-bragging disclaimer to this: these have been accumulated over the course of about 10 months and weren't very expensive, and if they were then it was most likely a Christmas present! I also solemnly swear I will not buy any more!!

See It. Want It. Own It. | Models Own 50% Sale Haul

You might not have noticed this before I pointed it out.. but there is some kind of black spot on the lens of my camera which I can't figure out how to get rid of an it has shown up on everrrry picture! If anybody knows why my camera has this and how I could get rid of it then advice in the comments below is extremely welcome!! ..But in the meantime please excuse that pesky dark smudge on this very picture heavy post :)

The Collection

The Blues

Bluebelle | Hed Kandi - Balearic Cool | Feeling Blue

 The Greens



Jade Stone

 The Darks

Mixed Up | Gun Grey

Hed Kandi - Ibiza Mix | Mushroom

 The Neutrals

Utopia | Naked Shimmer

 The Pinks/Reds/Oranges

Red Alert | Coral Reef

Soda Pop Pink | Peaches & Cream

 

Ibiza Mix | Mixed Up | Gun Grey | Mushroom | Naked Skimmer | Eutopia | Soda Pop Pink
 Peaches & Cream | Coral Reef | Red Alert | Bluebelle | Feeling Blue | Balearic Cool | Jade Stone

So, there we have my brand new 14 nail varnishes from the Models Own 50% Summer Sale. I made an incredibly dramatic saving of £35.00 on this haul!! I daren't tell my mum that I spent nearly £40 on a nail varnish order but my friends and boyfriend all think that I'm crazy. Before this I had never, ever owned a Models Own nail varnish before and a lot of them are quite well known such as Eutopia and Mushroom, and especially the Hed Kandi collection (Ibiza Mix in particular) so they were ones that I knew I had to try out and see if I loved them as much as everyone else does. The rest of them were more of a 'see the colour, like the colour, order the colour'. I definitely had A/W in mind when I was ordering the likes of 'Gun Grey' and 'Mixed Up', but I also wanted year round brights and pastels. Atleast now I have lots to play with and don't need to be buying any more for a while.

I put off doing this post for over a week because I ordered a large pack of nail wheels from eBay so that I could swatch the colours but they still haven't arrived yet so I decided to go ahead and post without swatches. Knowing my luck the nail wheels will arrive tomorrow!

So, did you jump at the chance of half prices nail varnishes like me?

And someone please tell me they ordered as many as 14 so I don't feel alone!

Link me your own hauls too please - I'd love to see!

And don't forget that I am currently running a celebratory 200 followers GIVEAWAY that ends at the end of this month.

Enter now if you haven't already!

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN

♥





SheSaid Beauty Box | September 2012

I feel quite delayed in posting this as I received my box over a week ago, but anyway, I'm not 100% sure whether September's SheSaid Beauty is the 4th or the 5th one that I have received from them but I can hands down say that it has been my absolute favourite. None of the products inside were dramatically disappointing as some in the past have been completely and utterly naff, plus it contained 4 full sized products with the total price of the products inside the box coming to at least £17. When you're paying just £9(+p&p) for the box (I actually have been paying £4.50 as I got a 50% off deal on a 6-month subscription), you can see how they work out as being good value for money - you're definitely not being ripped off by them.

Anyway, enough rambling and onto the products inside the box and what I thought of them:

1) Ginvera Green Tea Whitening Marvel Gel
In the box we received a 10ml sample size tube and the full size 60ml tube costs £22.00 so this product isn't exactly on the cheap side. I read so many glowing reviews on this product and I too have fallen for it and am considering buying the full size at some point. It is basically a gentle facial exfoliater that 'helps remove deep layers of dead skin'. It came with a leaflet explaining all the active ingredients, how they work, directions for use and the expected results including refining pores, balancing oil secretion and evening out skin tone - claims that many products make but I feel that even after just 4 uses from my sample size that I can see evidence of these results and feel it could perhaps be my new wonder product.

2) Collection (2000) Primed & Ready
A bit of confusion as to why if Collection 2000 rebranded themselves and dropped the '2000' from their name they are still releasing products labelled 'Collection 2000'? This full size 18ml primer costs £5.99 and feel very silicone-y on the face, something I try to avoid as I am convinced that these block up my pores and break me out. I used this once on just a regular day and didn't feel like it made my make-up last any longer through the day or didn't really make that much of a difference when applying.

3) Collection (2000) Fix Me Up
Another Collection/Collection 2000 product - I've never had two products from the same brand in one box before. But this full size 18ml spray bottle also costs £5.99 and although I don't think that SheSaid ever makes any promises that their samples will be 'luxurious', I do feel that this brand and their products have a very cheap feel to them, especially with the new packaging. This misting spay is supposed to make your make-up last for longer when you apply it over the top of a completed face. Do  I think that this worked? Erm.. I couldn't see any noticable improvements to how well my make-up lasted unfortunately. It really did just feel like spritzing water.

4) DHC Deep Cleansing Oil
I'll be honest and say that I haven't trialled this product just yet as I've finally found a skincare routine that works perfectly for me and I don't want to go mixing it up too much. In our boxes we received a 30ml sized bottle which costs £3.50 which I think is quite reasonable after all the good things I have heard about this from other people's reviews. Also available are 70ml bottles and 200ml bottles for £9.50 and £18.50 and SheSaid offers an exclusive £5 discount code on this product at www.dhcuk.co.uk/dhc/shesaidbeauty. This is an oil cleanser and these seem to be incredibly popular at the moment and they apparently 'dissolve' the make up from your face and then rinses away to reveal a fresh and non-greasy clean skin. I cannot wait to try this out really because I really like the sound of it.

5) Amie Spring Clean Cooling Clay Mask
This 15ml sachet costs £1.50 but the full size 75ml can also be bought for £4.49. This is a brand that I have never heard of before but I do love a good clay mask as a Sunday treat! This claims to help draw out dirt and impurities while soaking up excess oil to help prevent blemishes which sounds like everything you could want from a clay mask. I put this on and there was more than enough to cover my whole face but after about 5 minutes I did start to get a little tingling feeling in my face, kind of like a stinging feeling, so I washed it off and my face was bright red! After a few minutes this faded away and I went back to a normal colour but I did have quite fresh and bright looking skin. Did anyone else feel like they were allergic to it when they used it? Or is that just me?!

6) Popchips Barbeque
A little bonus in the box- bit random putting food in a beauty box isn't it? But nothing wrong with a little treat and as these are not baked and not fried and only 46 calories a bag then they're supposed to be healthier and guilt free compared to your regular crisps. These were pretty tasty and I enjoyed them as a snack but don't think they'll be something I'll rush out again to buy in the future. 23g bag costs £0.79 and an 85g bag costs £1.89.

All in all, I LOVED the Ginvera gel, wasn't impressed with the two Collection products although I felt that they had potential and they excited me when I opened up my box, the DHC oil cleanser is something I'm very excited to try out, the Amie clay mask left my skin bright and clear and definitely oil free even if I did only leave it on for 5 minutes and the Popchips were a yummy bonus!

I also wanted to make a little point of saying that I noticed that the new box is now slightly smaller and has changed colour too. I store things inside these boxes and stack them up and when I put this new one of the top of the pile I couldn't help but notice the differences.

Left: September box, Right: August box

If you like the look of this box and fancy subscribing for your own at £9(+p&p) per month

then you can click my referral link before to sign up!

https://www.shesaidbeauty.com/invite/JKWWS
♥