Becca Pasa Doble nail polish

I love this nail polish from Becca's Balearic Love collection. It's so unusual to see such a dark shade feature in a summer collection - and yet it is surprisingly summer-appropriate (just look at the promo pics - though obviously being a bronzed goddess and having the beautiful face of an equally bronzed god to show it off against helps!). It's a gorgeous shade. Really, it's almost black, but if you look very closely or sheer the polish out a bit (see third pic with one coat) it's deep plum.

This is the first Becca polish I've tried. They're very reasonably priced at £12 (this was even more of a bargain with a 25% VIP discount). The formula was good - fairly thick but easy to apply. The lasting power wasn't great, though I did do the manicure in a bit of a hurry and was using quite old Nails Inc base and top coats so I don't want to blame that entirely on the polish.

I'm looking forward to wearing this when our own weather turns a bit more Balearic!

More Becca goodies...

I couldn't resist when Becca had another discount offer a few weeks ago - it is probably up there in my top three make up brands (along with Nars and one other that is more interchangeable!), so I took the opportunity to add a few more products to my collection. Here's what I bought... I hope to add some more detailed reviews of the individual products soon.

Luminous Skin Colour - Nude
I had wanted to try this legendary tinted moisturiser for a while. Having no idea what colour to go for I plumped for Nude which seemed like the safest option. It's... interesting. I'll review it in detail when I've used it a few more times - still getting to grips with it at the moment. What I would say is that it is incredibly sheer so not great coverage but it does give good glow. I'm just not sure yet whether it's too glowy for my combination (read 'shiny'!) skin and also whether this shade is quite right for me.

Eye Tint - Pewter
I read a few good reviews of this online and having two other Eye Tints (Vicuna and Baroque) which I love, I thought I'd give this darker, more dramatic looking shade a go. I have to admit that the first time I applied it I made a complete hash of it - it definitely requires a more careful application than the lighter shades. So I need to practice with this a bit more before I make up my mind on it.It is lovely swatched though.

Sheer Tint Lip Colour - Leticia
I am an absolute sucker for corals and peach so this 2010 addition to Becca's (fairly limited) lipstick range was a no brainer. I have to say it does not disappoint - I am in love with this lipstick. More pics soon!

Beach Tint - Guava
Another coral colour calling my name. At first swatch this seems slightly more liquidy than the other Beach Tints I own (Grapefruit and Fig) but the colour is everything I hoped it would be. It's a very soft shade and I think it could work well on fairer skins. It's the perfect compliment to Leticia lipstick.

Nail Colour - Pasa Doble
This blackish-plum polish was a bit of an impulse buy - I'd never tried a Becca nail colour before and I like the idea of darker shades in summer - plus I love anything Spanish. A quick swatch with two coats is below. Very dramatic!

Butter Lip Balm Spf 25
Another impulse buy - I was intrigued to see what a lip balm with a high spf would be like as usually when I go on holiday I buy one of the specialist lip products that protect your lips by leaving a thick white coat on them! This is lovely - it makes the lips look soft and plumped and somehow manages to have the spf without being white and opaque. A couple of reservations; I like vanilla but I find the vanilla scent of this a bit strong. And the consistency is such (it is indeed quite buttery) that I can image it melting quite easily in warmer weather... time will tell.

And lastly, a couple of brushes.

Small Polishing Make up Brush #56

I saw this being used on one of the Zuneta videos to buff cream blusher under the cheekbones, and was interested to try this method of application, as normally I apply cream blusher on the apples or on the cheekbones and (lightly) around the temples. I was surprised that the bristles were a lot less stiff than I thought they'd be so actually I found application of cream blush with this quite difficult. Again, I just need to practice a bit with this and would be interested to hear from anyone else who has this and how they use it. Although its recommended for buffing cream blush to the apples of the cheeks, at the minute I am preferring to pat on my cream blush with the Becca Cream Blush / Bronzer Brush (truly a great brush!).

Eye Colour Blender Brush #35
This was a gift with purchase. I haven't tried it yet and will be interested to see how it compares with my only other eyeshadow blending brush the MAC 217.

So there we have it. Some lovely products to try out over the next few weeks and having done a quick face of the day with the Guava Beach Tint and Leticia Sheer Tint Lip Colour this morning I am loving them already. Will report on my other purchases in due course! Next on my Becca hit list is the Opal Shimmering Skin Perfector - I have and love the Pearl shade but think I need something warmer for the summer months.

Becca purchases

I almost fell over in excitement when I saw Becca were offering a 20% discount on all products (thanks Vex and the City for the heads up!). So I took the opportunity to snap up a few products that I've had my eye on for a while.

First up, the legendary Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl. When I visited the Becca store in Kensington last year the lovely lady there used this on me (along with Duende Bronzer and a peachy lip and cheek cream) and I fell in love with the amazing glow it delivered - however I wasn't able to buy it as it was out of stock. Since then, literally every time I've been by the Becca counter in Fenwick it's also been unavailable as it has on the usual websites. At last it is mine!



Next up, a Beach Tint in shade Fig. This is pretty identical to the cream cheek colour in Turkish Rose, which I do already own, but the idea of having that lovely shade in a longer lasting beach tint was too tempting.

I did purchase a cream cheek colour too, in the shade Hyacinth, which gets rave reviews. It does look absolutely stunning on first swatch, transforming to a pretty coral pink. I don't have many colours like this in my blush collection and am looking forward to trying this when the weather gets a bit warmer.





I bought a sheer lip colour in the shade Estella, which I'd been curious about for a while. I own one of Becca's lip colours in Gisella which is a caramel nude, and from the description of Estella I was expecting it to be much pinker. It actually swatches quite beige (very similar to Gisella in fact) and I don't see any pink in it so I'm kind of wishing I'd plumped for the new pink 'Valentina' instead.

Finally, a couple of wild cards. I hadn't tried any Becca brushes previously but have been over the last couple of years upgrading my brush collection and as I have quite a few cream blushers I decided to try Becca's cream blush brush, which also gets excellent reviews. I have tried this once with Turkish rose, and am really pleased with the results (also, how pretty are the bristles??). I also bought a concealer brush, yet to try.


So that's my not-so-mini Becca haul. I shall hopefully post some more detailed reviews of these products when I've put them to use.

If you're thinking of making use of the discount be quick - it ends midnight tonight (BBE20 - www.beccacosmetics.com/uk). Have you bought anything from Becca recently? 

Becca Fallen Angel palette

Well it's taken me a while to review this little beauty - I photographed it when it was shiny and new about 6 months ago and its in nowhere near as pristine a condition now. One of my favourite make up purchases ever I think.

I've been spurred on to finally write this review as I've just written a post on a peachy lipgloss and cheek colour from Laura Mercier's new Lingerie Collection (view here), and thought it would be interesting to compare the shades.

The palette contains a lip and cheek creme (Nectar), a lipgloss (Sunrise) and a highlighter (Narcissus). The shades are quite subdued and I would say they veer more orange / apricot in colour than peach or coral.

The palette makes it a breeze to create a pretty and polished five minute face. All the products can be applied with finger tips - i usually just add a tinted moisturiser, tidy my brows and curl my lashes and am good to go.

As I mentioned in the aforementioned LM post, the texture of Laura Mercier's creme cheek colours and Becca's lip and cheek cremes are quite similar - both apply really easily, are soft and smooth rather than sticky and blend well - and have similar lasting power (average). The lipgloss is lovely - its so soft (not at all sticky) and feels really moisturising on the lips, though as expected doesn't last very long. The colour is actually quite nude.

The highlighter is really nice too - similar to Nars multiples in consistency. I usually add it to the browbone, cupids bow and sometimes the cheekbones and bridge of nose.

Here are the shades swatched on the inner arm (from left, Narcissus, Sunrise and Nectar) with the more pinkish Innocent Peach creme blush and  Naked Apricot lip tint from Laura Mercier (right two), for comparison.

And here's a v quick look I did this morning, without the highlighter for some daft reason.

I purchased my Fallen Angel palette from Beauty Expert - I don't think its widely sold now but you should be able to pick it up on eBay or elsewhere online if you have a hunt around.

More Becca goodies on their way!

Just had to post about my latest 'splurge' (I'm afraid I just can't be doing with the word 'haul', though splurge isn't much better is it?!) as I'm really excited! I blogged recently about my newfound love for Becca, and was about to place a very large (and costly!) order on Beauty Expert when I did a quick search and found a site called Beauty Bay doing some Becca products half price - and as luck would have it, quite a few of the ones I wanted were on there!

I've purchased:

Creme blush in Byzantine
I already have the creme blush in Turkish Rose which is fast becoming the only thing I'll put on my cheeks, but this looks like a gorgeous colour for summer.

Eye Colour Powder Shimmer in Shantung
London Make up Girl recommended this as a colour for warmer skintones on her blog so I thought I'd check it out - I'm a sucker for a browny gold eye and this looks divine.

Glossy Lip Tint in Champagne
I'm not really one for lipgloss but I like it now and again and this gets 100% good reviews on MUA so I thought I'd give it a go.

Pressed Shimmer Powder in Odette
There seems to be a summery theme going on here - again this powder looks divine and gets great reviews - somewhere between a blusher, bronzer and highlighter I think.

Loose Shimmer Powder in Princess
It was between Princess and Mermaid and I opted for Princess as it's a pinky gold that can be used as a blush or highlighter, and I don't have any colours like that. Again I think this will be a v pretty spring / summer colour.. but I might have to go back for Mermaid if I like Princess as it sounds quite intriguing.
 
I placed my order on a Sunday evening and it was despatched today, plus free delivery, so I'm impressed with Beauty Bay (http://www.beautybay.com/) so far. Will report back when the good(ie)s arrive!
 
Still on my Becca wishlist:

Sheer lip tint in Vendela, Alina and Milla
Creme blush in Frangipani, Wild Orchid and Hyacinth
I'm also interested in the Beach Tint in Raspberry but I still have my MAC gel stain in Subtropical (now discontinued) which is a very similar colour and I just can't imagine that Beach Tint could better it - it's amazing.
 
Anyone tried any of these products or recommend any other Becca products?

Becca crème blush, eye tint and sheer lip tint - rave rave rave!

I purchased a few Becca items from beautyexpert.co.uk recently, tempted by a few reviews I'd seen on other blogs and a 15% discount I received when I made a purchase from figleaves.com

The items I bought were:

1. Eye tint in Vicuna

2. Crème blush in Turkish Rose

3. Sheer lip tint in Estella

These are they:

The packaging is a little schizophrenic - I like the rubber case of the blush but what's with the big silver disc in the middle? (It does however have a good size mirror inside which is a major plus). The eye tint comes in a non-descript but practical tube, and the lipstick in a shiny, silver case which screws open! It took me a while to stop trying to yank the lid off - old habits I guess - but now that I'm used to it I have to say I kind of like it, certainly a bit sturdier than some of the plastic cases that can crack or dislodge themselves at the bottom of your handbag.

The packaging soon became irrelevant however when I had a chance to try these products. I didn't know what to expect having not had a chance to try them in the flesh, so it was a bit of a risk buying online even with the 15% discount. Full price, the lip colour would be £21, the eye tint £17 and the cheek colour £22, so  Becca is certainly not cheap - it's easily on a par with the design house cosmetics - but that said, these products stand head and shoulders above any of my Dior / Chanel etc - yes, I love them that much. This is make up that makes me want to throw out my entire collection and start afresh!

Here's a swatch, from l-r, Estelle, Turkish Rose and Vicuna. I think this is pretty accurate.

First up, the cream blush in Turkish Rose, which seems to have something of a cult status on beauty blogs and MUA. I was dubious, when I opened the blush, as it looked like a kind of dull, milky mauve - not dissimilar to my Bobbi Brown pot rouge which I find a bit sticky and pore cloggy. On the cheeks this stuff is transformed - it gives a gorgeous, healthy, sheeny glow, manages to blend in perfectly with my skin tone and give the perfect natural flush. The ever so slightly greasy texture also belies the lasting power of this product - my cheeks still look rosy and sheeny at the end of the working day. I absolutely adore this - and so far it doesn't seem to be clogging the pores on my cheeks which is a problem I have with almost every blush I own. 

I was surprised, when I swatched this, to see that it appears to have a slight shimmer - this is not noticeable in the pan but that must be what creates the unexpected glow. I'm definitely going to investigate more colours in this line and have my eye on Frangipani which looks like a really pretty colour for the summer, as well as Wild Orchid. 

Second up, the sheer lip tint in Estelle, which I also adore. The Becca website describes this as a beigy pink nude, however I don't see any pink in it. Personally I'd describe it as a caramel nude, but confusingly, the Becca website describes another shade, Gisella, as a caramel nude! Anyway, judge for yourself!

Although my lipstick collection veers towards pinks and reds, Estelle has been a really pleasant surprise and I think I'm going to get a lot of wear out of this in spring and summer. The buttery soft creamy texture means you can apply it without a balm and it feels really moisturising on the lips. The lasting power is decent considering the texture - it does highlight the lines on my lips a little bit, once it wears off, but nothing a quick reapplication can't solve. Also, it smells of vanilla, an unexpected bonus for me as that is one of my favourite scents!

I now have my eye on a couple of other shades in the lip tints - Milla, which is described as a sheer blackcurrant, and Vendela, a sheer rosy nude which some have described as Becca's answer to Nars' Dolce Vita - a shade I love! 

Finally, the eye tint in Vicuna is another winner. On first impressions, I was worried that this wouldn't show up. My eyelids are quite dark and can look as though I'm wearing shadow when I'm not. As such, this being a sheer product, I thought my dark lids would show throw - no sireee! It is admittedly very light and sheeny (I'd describe it as a sheer gold), but it makes my eyes look lighter, fresher and alert  and doesn't settle into lines and make my lids look crepey as some powder shadows can. Again, the lasting power of this is amazing, it kind of sticks to the skin but not in a bad way. Beautiful in the sunlight. I love it and again going to investigate more colours in the somewhat limited range - this could actually usurp my Nars cream shadows which I love for the gorgeous shades and subtle smokey effects but hate for their creasing.

Here's a fotd from a couple of days ago when I had all three on - please excuse the crispy hair my Toni and Guy curl spray malfunctioned! NB In this shot I'm also wearing Kiehl's tinted moisturiser in Light and By Terry concealer, as well as MAC charcoal brown on brows. As you can see, it's simple and natural, but polished (I think!).

And a side on view taken this morning.

Plus a cheek close up - hopefully this shows the 'flush' effect

What's also great about these products is that they're foolproof. You can apply and blend the eye and cheek products with your fingers, be very liberal with the lipstick and not have to worry about it looking wonky or messy - I can literally apply all three in about two minutes flat and then only have to tidy up eyebrows, curl lashes and apply concealer for a polished but natural look.

All in all, the impression I get from this line is that it's geared towards those who like a natural, subtle but fresh look (read young!). As a 30 something woman, I find the formulation and shades of these products extremely flattering. I often feel, with a full face of make up - particularly when this involves foundation and powder   that I look older than my years. Becca has the opposite effect. Already, these three products have usurped most of the products in my extensive collection of other brands. I can't wait to try more, and if anyone has any Becca products they love, would love to hear some recommendations.

You can see some great videos on YouTube showing how to apply Becca products - search for Zuneta, which is another online retailer of this brand.

NB Beauty Expert currently has an offer of a free lip tint if you spend more than £50 on Becca products, so I may just be forced to get another blush and eye tint, and maybe one of the beach tints too!

Blog woes, Beauty Expert and Becca! (and Zuneta)

Hi all, the lack of my digital camera charger (now traced to a hotel in Surrey!) combined with being away last week and ill with tonsillitis most of this week has led to a woeful lack of blogging of late, so apologies for that. I've enjoyed keeping up to date with everyone else's beauty adventures though, and to cheer myself up I today placed my first order on beautyexpert.co.uk as I had a 15% off code after making a purchase from Figleaves (see end).

I bought a few pieces from Becca (a brand which I've never tried before) - the cream blush in Turkish Rose which seems to be a cult shade (I know London Make Up Girl is a fan of this one), eye tint in Vicuna and a sheer lip tint in Estella which I understand to be a pinky nude. I don't usually get on with matt nudes but I like the idea of a sheer one so I'm looking forward to trying that.

Other things in the Becca line I liked the look of were the lipgloss in Bellini, the Beach Tint in the new shade, Raspberry, and another cream blush in Frangipani. Also was tempted by the lip sheer in Milla but I have a lot of sheer berry shades so I passed on that. I might have to go back for a second look next month though as the code is valid til the end of March. Anyone have any other Becca must-haves (or must-avoids?). Incidentally there are some great videos from Zuneta*, which I guess is a rival to Beauty Expert, on You Tube, showing how to apply various Becca products.

I also bought Eve Lom's Rescue Mask which I've been meaning to try for a while and my skin certainly needs rescuing at the min! I was tempted by the Ren Enzymatic Skin Soothing mask which gets great reviews on the site and is £10 cheaper but I've been curious about the Eve Lom for a while so that won.

Less than an hour after I placed the order I received an email saying it had been dispatched, which is surely some sort of a world record! I will blog when I've had a chance to test out (and photograph!) my 'haul'.

The code for 15% off at beautyexpert.co.uk is FIG15 and it's valid until the end of March. Okay it's only intended from those who've purchased from Figleaves but it's already on several of the 'vouchercode' sites so I see no harm in sharing it here!

*Zuneta: I received an email from Zuneta a couple of days ago telling me about a 20% discount code 'Zunelle' but it didn't say when it expires. On two ocassions I've tried to make purchases from the Zuneta website only to receive an error message saying 'please enable cookies in your browser to continue'. Despite disabling virtually all cookies on my laptop I've never been able to actually buy anything, so I've kind of given up on Zuneta for a while as I can't be bothered to look into it at the mo - but hopefully someone else can make use of this!