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? 

New purchases

I believe the American term is a 'beauty haul' but I'm British so I'm just going to sensibly call them purchases.

Had a bit of a spree in House of Fraser yesterday. First up I bought a new Chanel Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eyeshadow in 63 Abricot. I saw this colour on a You Tube vid and my interest was piqued, and in the flesh it is even more stunning. I almost didn't buy it because of the price - surely the most expensive single eyeshadows in the market?? But I suspect I'll get a lot of wear out of it. The beauty is that its quite light so can be used for highlighting, blending etc but it also has enough depth to be used as on its own on the lid. I think it will look beautiful with greens and blues too though I'm less keen on the latter.

Next up I headed to the MAC counter with two things in mind - an eyebrow pencil and the 217 blending brush I've heard many raves about on You Tube and Make Up Alley. I'm usually faithful to my Laura Mercier eyebrown pencil in blonde (but nowhere in Croydon stocks Laura Mercier, yet) and had planned to get another pencil, however the MA suggested a powder would work better with my brows, and an eyeshadow at that! Sceptical at first, I tried the MAC charcoal brown eyeshadow with their 266 brush... and the results were spectacular! I had that soft, thick, natural look I've often admired but never been able to achieve with pencils - now I now why! Powder, it's the way forward people. Needless to say I walked away with the eyeshadow, 217 and the 266 brush. I do think MAC make up assistants are among the best - they really know their stuff and what will work, and are very efficient - that's if you can get near them as the counters are always so rammed. I don't actually have a lot of MAC products in my collection as I am a bit of a cosmetics magpie and tend to get distracted by nice shiny luxurious packaging a la Chanel. But maybe I'll explore further....

I also picked up across the road in Allders a Christian Dior Ultra Shine lipstick in Shiniest Meringue, on sale for £10.50. I love these lipsticks - I previously had one in Shiniest Papaya which was one of my favourite lipsticks ever - sadly discontinued. Shiniest Meringue is a subtle 60s pink - great for pairing with a smoky eye I suspect, though would probably work best with skin that has a bit of colour.

I haven't figured out how to upload pics etc but will hopefully have some images of the above in action in the not too distant....