I have mixed feelings about this product. I love the packaging but I do find the fact that it’s so chunky a bit of a problem – especially because I have thin lips and when I apply this it tends to go all over the lips and everywhere else and I’m constantly having to wipe around my mouth! 

However, I do love the texture and look of the balm. It has a subtle pink shimmer (Minty Fat Balm)that actually looks a bit like lip gloss and a nice minty flavour that feels quite refreshing. It does leave the lips feeling hydrated. 

I did have a bit of a problem trying to wind it up and the lip balm ended up cracking – I’m not sure if this is what usually happens or if I just happened to get a faulty one. 

Reading up online it says that you can actually apply this to your cheeks as a blush – I may give this a try as I love the shimmer pink colour!

www.superdrug.com

This is going to be a difficult review to do.  Not because the product is bad, but because it does so many different things that I’m going to find it hard to remember to add it all in!

At first glance, the packaging is sleek and smart – shiny black with the red metallic signature ‘Lola’ logo on the front.

When you open it up, there are 2 face products in their own metal pans (not merged together like others!), that have been beautifully embossed with a Mandela style design.

However, this isn’t about how beautiful the product is to look at, it’s about how beautiful it can make you feel.

The principle is simple.  Blush your cheeks with one side, highlight with the other.  But its more than that.  Because these are a different type of face product.  They are both home to hidden inner glow particles.  You know, the ones that make you look like you’re radiating with inner beauty.  They are also so finely milled that your face almost takes on an airbrushed, soft-focus to it.  I did have to double check that it wasn’t my new bedroom lighting, and have taken this out and about with me on various jobs, and yes, it does have inbuilt soft-focus.

But it doesn’t stop there.  If you’re prone to getting a shine on later in the day, this does help to keep it at bay a little longer.  I would advise, with all makeup application, using primers appropriate for your skin, but if you’re a blush-and-go kind of girl, then this will keep oil spots away for a little longer.

And finally.  Does it last?  Definitely!  For me, in my particular makeup discipline, longevity is key, and on a personal level, its essential for my own face.  This is now a staple kit favourite, I’d recommend it for anyone really.  Anyone who wants to make sure their makeup lasts on their face, anyone who professionally needs to be able to guarantee that their makeup application will last, but also to the makeup artist who wants to create a ‘wow’ with their makeup technique.

Definitely one for everyone’s makeup bag.

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

Its a good day when you can find a blusher in so many shades that looks great for a very reasonable price.

When I was given one of BeautyUK’s 5 colour blushers, I put it in my ‘to test’ pile and didn’t get around to it for a few months.  No reason other than time constraints and not getting a chance to send it to one of the other MAF testers.

I really wish that I’d started trialling this earlier because I absolutely love it.

Its one of the every-popular 5 bar blushers, where you can pick out individual shades for highlighting, contouring and blushing, or just swoosh a big old brush through the lot and blush-on that way.

Okay, so it doesn’t have the longest lifespan on the face, it’s not one for all-day wear, but it is great for an instant pop of colour that’s very blendable, and works very well for professional makeup shoots.

Give it a try, its only £2.99 at Superdrug, not going to break the bank, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how good this is!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

Bronzer.  The staple of every makeup artist’s kit, but something we’re all searching for to get the perfect colour.  I don’t use shimmery bronzers all that often, they can translate quite badly in pictures, leaving the model/client looking greasy and shiny, and just not that great!

I came across the Estee Bronzer quite a few years ago, when a bronzer I’d been using was discontinued and my quest for the perfect bronzer was on again.

What makes this one so perfect though, is that its a duo.  A Pale and a Darker shade, together in one very large compact, yes, it’s huge, around the size of your palm!

I love it for contouring and creating ‘fake’ shadow, for hollowing out cheek sockets, for adding depth where needed, and when I’m doing a very natural makeup, for swooshing over eyelids. 

For me, this has been a staple in my kit for such a long time, that it’s a no-brainer to just keep rebuying it over and over again, and I really hope that Estee keeps it as part of their core line and doesn’t discontinue it!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

Benefit Coralista

I’ve used this blusher for about 3 weeks now and I love it!! It looks very bright in the box but its suprisingly sheer. Its gives a lovely sheen to the cheeks and a pop of colour which I would imagine would suit all skin tones.

It is very similar to Nars orgasm but less glittery than this. For me I have to apply a few layers of Coralista as with the nars orgasm.

Hayley Mitchell

I don’t do face shimmer.  I don’t like how it looks, I don’t like that it makes you look shiny and greasy.  I can’t bear a false deer-in-the-headlights look.

I’d heard about Benefit’s ‘One Hot Minute’ a few times before I tried it, and kept reading that it was a healthy glow.  When I opened up the pot my heart sank, “great” I thought, “another shimmery face glow for 18 -21 year olds only”

I think I’ll have to eat my words.  It does look shimmery and shiny, but when you apply it, it doesn’t look how you’d expect it at all!  It just gives a healthy glow, that ‘I’ve been for a run on the beach, aren’t I healthy’ glow, the one we all want, but most of us never have.

What makes it great though is that the busy Mum or the woman who wants her extra 20 minutes in bed can also look great, a quick swoosh of this, some mascara and lipgloss and you’re good to go!

Yes, there is the potential to overload and look greasy, but as I’m the cautious type, a light dusting goes a long way, and just makes you look good.

Over the decollete you can load up more, in fact, you really ought to otherwise the risk of looking as though you’re having a hot flush is there.

I like how this is so versatile, it looks particularly stunning dusted onto the tops of shoulders, making them look bronzed with a healthy shine.

One Hot Minute?  Absolutely, ready in One Hot Minute!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

Barry M, recognised for their bright, vibrant and fun colours are not letting us down with their brand new blushers.

What sets them apart from other ’self-select’ makeup brands is that their products actually deliver results.  Okay, so there might be a little too much with the scent on their lipglosses, but you don’t get that with their blushers or other powder products.

What you do get is a smell, but it’s a lightly perfumed smell, not a chemical smell, which is actually rather nice.

The colour payoff though is great.  You can actually get too much colou, but the blend is very easy.  Buff it in and buff it away, and layer a little more.  They aren’t an all-day office product, these are very much fun and fashionable and very now.

The colours are so very bright, it might be a little off putting  – I’m not sure how well the bright orange will go down, I’ve yet to test that, but the 2 pinks and 2 reds with the terracotta are all wearable shades, just have a play.  For £4.50, you can’t go wrong!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

1 of the best blusher and cheek colours for layering.

Dandelion gives a gentle glow of colour, with the merest hint of shimmer, so this can be subtly placed on cheeks, cheekbones, temples and noses, but with a double layer, it really makes you look so healthy

I’ve had Dandelion in my professional kit for years, I must have worked my way through 6 boxes of it by now, and it works very well on it’s own if you’re a really pale porcelain face, but equaly well over the top of a tan or on dark skins.

I love to layer blusher.  Apply with a heavy hand and really buff it into the skin, almost to the point of taking it off.  Let your skin and the powder settle while you perhaps do your lips, go back and buff on some more and you’ll have perfectly flushed cheeks that will last all day, and the pairing of Dandelion as a subtle wash, with an extra layer on your cheek apple makes it easy!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

Probably the best blusher on the market, Smashbox Fusion Softlights in INTERMIX is like the bronzing balls of the 80s, pumped up with modern technology.

Baked in a very different way to most blush and cheek colours, the Softlights products are well known for their multipurpose use, but the fusion range go that one step beyond.

5 colours, with the merest teeniest hint of shimmer, enough to make your face appear ‘3d’ in photographs, but wihtout making you look greasy, these are shades of warm bronze, soft pink and peach and built in highlighter.

Yes, you can pick out each colour individually and contour, highlight and shade your face.  Personally, I prefer to swoosh a big brush through the lot and dust it onto faces.  Cheeks, noses, temples, jawlines, you name it, my brush hits it!

Gorgeous, gorgeous, you’ve got to have it!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

For those that have known me all my makeup career, you’ll know how much of a fan of Smashbox products I am.  I love their shadows, their glosses, HAVE to have their fusion softlights in my kit all the time, and was bowled over when I spotted their Ultimate Palette on the Just Beauty Direct website.

It’s very rare for me to get excited about an all-in-one palette.  There’s always a chunk of it that I never use, be it the glosses are blah colours, or that the cheek colours are straight out of 1982, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

I have long been a fan of the Smashbox Cream Liners, and was delighted to find 8 of their best selling colours in there.  And whilst I don’t use brow products myself, there is a good selection in here.

There is also a nice selection of cheek colours, a perfect selection in fact for contouring and highlighting, although they are quite shimmery, so do watch out where you put these!

For me though, the magpie in me was drawn to the eyeshadows.  Often you can find that these ‘cheaper’ palettes are loss leaders with poor quality products inside, but this palette’s eyeshadows have lost nothing from the regular full size ones.

Yes, there are some colours that I won’t use on myself, and perhaps won’t use professionally, but of the 70 in there, I’ve used most of them repeatedly!

A couple of months ago, I did 3 FOTD (Face Of The Day) shots for the Forum regulars, exclusively using the Ultimate Palette, please feel free to have a look here!

I won’t be adding it to my professional kit, but that is purely down to the kind of case I work out of (a desktop case), but I would definitely recommend it as a kit builder product for anyone, at £38, it’s worth that alone for the lipglosses, let alone the cheek colours, eye colours, brow techs, cream liners, brushes….

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com