And the highlight of this post is...

You may, or may not, have heard that theBalm Cosmetics are releasing a new luminzing,highlightering, shimmery shadow goodness in the form of 'Cindy Lou-Manizer a.k.a.The Con-tour Artist'. The swatches are making me hyperventilate! It is very pretty and looks to be a great shade for us pale skin girls.  I am waiting patiently until it arrives on our shores though, shipping off of theBalm website to Aberdeen is $25!  Thats one dollar more than the actual item itself!
I digress, seeing the new release made me take another glorious look at my 'Mary'.  This is one of the best highlighters I have tried and I thought I would do a comparison with a product from another of my favourite brands, Benefit.  

Meet 'Moon Beam' liquid highlighter and 'Mary-Lou Manizer' powder highlighter.

So lets start on ease of use.  'Mary' is nice and easy, just lightly dust across where you require a little glow and you're done.  The 'Moon Beam' is a bit trickier because it is liquid.  A little goes a long way with these liquid highlighters and it's usually best to just put a few dots along where you need it and then blend.  This is the bit I struggle with as I often feel I end up undoing my base to blend this.

So colour wise, initially they would appear in the same colour family, so to speak,  'Mary' is a bit of a lighter, champagne gold whereas the 'Moon Beam' has a bit more warmth to it. However, once you get to blending, that changes more than I had expected!

The 'Moon Beam' ends up with a reddish, apricot tone to it which is totally different to the 'Mary'.  The change is quite drastic, and although it is very pretty, it has the potential to change the make up look that you were intent on having. It's still nice and shimmery but on my pale skin, to suddenly have reddish tones along the top of my cheekbones makes me look a bit oddly flushed.  Not ideal if you were aiming for Kim K. style contours.

A few more pics just because I was thrown by how much the 'Moon Beam' changed!  

It's very pretty and on skin with a bit of a tan, the apricot tones would look gorgeous but for now, 'Mary' suits my paleface and my needs much better.

'Moon Beam' is discontinued now but that's not to say it won't come back, however, I did some digging and found a blog post by What Larry Loves, which compares 'Moon Beam' with a super cheap, easy to get a hold of alternative, if the colour sets you aflutter!

I got my 'Mary' from feelunique when they had a 10% off sale however I have noticed it has went from £15 to £16! Sad times!  Save your pennies up and wait for the sales folks! 

Hugs,

Jodi

xxx

E.l.f Studio Lip Definer and Shaper

A while back in a previous post, here, I mentioned I use the e.l.f. Lip definer and shaper and as I still enjoy using it, I thought I would go into a bit more detail.

This is a dual ended device which makes it ideal for your handbag.  It also has a sharpener on it which I find to be a nice little touch.

One end has the Lip definer, which is the darker shade which I find to be an ever so slightly blue tinged pinky mauve.  The shaper end is more like a highlighter which you would use to help define your cupids bow and round the edge of your lower lip.  

The pictures have got a slightly brown looking tinge here, thank you iPhone, but it is pinkier in real life whereas the shaper end is more of a champagne pink colour.  The shaper could, at a push, be used as a highlighter elsewhere on your face if you were really strapped for space.  It would need to be blended in with fingers I think as it would need the heat to help melt it a little bit.

I like to apply this all over the lip as it gives a neutral but better look and I find it makes my teeth look a wee bit whiter thanks to the slight hint of blue. It is soft to apply and therefore does not drag, it struggled a wee bit in the summer months as it was so soft and I would definitely recommend a spell in the fridge before you try to sharpen it or you will get one messy sharpener!

For during the work day, I like to apply a wee bit of lip balm over the top, usually my trusty carmex, to give a sheen and to add some SPF

Overall, I really like this as a no fuss liner that can be worn on a day to day basis and it won't break the bank!  

Do you have a go-to lip product for daily use?

Have you tried any e.l.f. products?

Hugs,

Jodi

xxx