Filmstar Bronze and Glow versus Bar of Gold

Filmstar Bronze and Glow palette above and Bar of Gold below

So I thought I would do a little comparison between Charlotte Tilbury's highlighters, I'd thought about doing this a while ago but then the Bar of Gold sold out but I recently saw on Charlotte's Instagram that she's re-launched it. Yay!
I'm pretty sure it is limited edition again but who knows.. it might be re-launched again next year if there is enough demand..

Anyway- onto the comparisons, I will be comparing it of course to Charlotte's other coveted highlighter from her Filmstar Bronze & Glow palette in the shade light to medium. Now the Bar of Gold I have is from her first launch a couple of years ago and I am assuming that the formula and packaging is the same. 

Charlotte Tilbury's Bar of Gold, Skin Gilding Highlighter

A little bit about the packaging on the Bar of Gold, it's well- cheap- is a bit harsh but kinda true.. it's like a cardboard box with a magnet closure and of course we all know the packaging of the Filmstar palette is just gorgeous, rose gold, good weight to it, nice strong clasp closure, great sized mirror, all round lovely.

The Bar of Gold just doesn't have the same quality packaging or look about it, no mirror, just a rose gold cardboard box with magnetic closure, its lightweight- good for travel I guess and pretty small but miles away from the Filmstar palette's packaging.
And if you buy it online like I did and have some of her other products the packaging for this might be a little bit of shock like, it was for me. That being said mine is a couple of years old so the packaging may have been up-graded but from what I can tell online it still looks the same. Not that it changes how amazing the highlighter is I thought I would just get that out in the open first..

Price comparisons - Filmstar is $68 USD and the Bar of Gold is $42 USD, now compared to product given for that price, you get a net weight of 16grams for the Filmstar although you do get a bronzer and a highlighter for this so for the sake of the review lets half it, so 8grams and for the Bar of Gold you get 5.5grams. So there is clearly a difference between the two, you're getting a lot more highlighter (and a great bronzer) in the Filmstar palette than the Bar of Gold.

Both photos above taken in direct sunlight, no flash. Top Swatch is Bar of Gold and Bottom Swatch is Filmstar Bronze and glow highlighter.

Now for the actual colour comparisons, I tried to get as real to life images of the swatches as possible. Pre swatching these next to each other I was nearly positive that the Bar of Gold was darker than the Filmstar highlighter but my brain must of completely made that up as the Bar of Gold is definitely lighter and slightly more on the yellow/light gold shade.
They are both beautiful highlighters and are different. They both have that gorgeous glow about them, both can be build up to create the most intense highlighter ever, if that's what you want or can just be dusted over to give a subtle illusion of youth and glowly golden goddess-ness.. 

Both photos above taken inside natural light, no flash. Top Swatch is Bar of Gold and Bottom Swatch is Filmstar Bronze and glow highlighter.

The Bar of Gold has slightly more shimmer, in the way of teeny tiny bits of glitter in it compared to the Filmstar highlight which still has it but just slightly less. The Filmstar feels slightly more buttery but really they both feel excellent. They both give that illusion of youthfulness that we all dream of in a highlighter.

Wearing Charlotte Tilbury's Bar of Gold has a highlight on cheekbones, below eyebrow, on mobile lid on top of Champagne diamonds shadow stick, down the centre of my nose, cupids bow and tear ducts. Photo taken inside in natural lighting.

To round it up they are both gorgeous golden based highlighters and can be used in so many different ways, eyeshadows, tear duct highlighters, put on top of lipsticks, cover your whole body in... Loads of uses! They are so gorgeous I feel like eating both of them right now (I'm too weird!)

The Bar of Gold is a lighter highlight colour, slightly lacking in the packaging department and is not as good value compared to the Filmstar palette. The Filmstar palette has excellent packaging, that mirror!, and you get much more bang for your buck compared to the Bar of Gold.

Same highlighted places as above but photo take in direct sunlight. Wearing Miranda May on my lips with a touch of Mega Melon Juicy Shaker in the centre of my lips.

So to round it up I would say, if you are deciding between buying either the Filmstar palette or the Bar of Gold definitely go for the Filmstar Palette but if you already have the Filmstar palette and want to add to your collection you wont be disappointed, it is gorgeous and definitely different, although the packaging lets it down I still absolutely love mine and use it often.

IT Cosmetics- Superhero Mascara

 

IT Cosmetics Superhero Mascara

 

Now another little recent addition to my makeup collection thanks to my Lucky Bag 2017 from Beautylish is IT Cosmetics Superhero mascara.

 

I am always on the look out for a good mascara.. always... never satisfied in the mascara department, even if I have one I love I will always be up for trying a new one.. So to my delight I found a new one to add to my trials.

 

 

I have tried IT cosmetic's mascaras before, I used the tightline primer little guy but my sister got it in the end, think it flaked too much for my liking and I didn't quite feel the faff of putting it on before my actual mascara was worth my time but my sister loves it.. anyway that's a completely other subject entirely..   Back to the Superhero..

 

I like it...  I like it a lot.. Its black, deep black, holds a curl, minimal to no flakes. Doesn't transfer onto my upper lid from the tops of my lashes. Comes off easily in the evening  and doesn't irritate my ridiculously sensitive eyes. My lashes look a lot fuller and much more defined, the mascara is able to coat each lash and make them look a lot thicker at the ends which I love.

 

 

 

The wand is also really good to use, I can get right into my waterline with it, making it super dark along my lash line which in turn makes your lashes look fuller and more fabulous. And I generally manage to put it on without getting mascara all over my lids. Bonus!  I have been much more impressed with this one compared to my last IT cosmetics purchase.

Now is it my favourite mascara in the world ever? Perhaps not but its a definite new favourite. I'm still on the look out for the one. But it is a damn good mascara.

I'm super keen to find out what your favourite mascara of all time is? Leave your comments below..

 

 

RMS Beauty- Magic Luminizer

I'd heard of the brand RMS Beauty but had never actually looked any further than perusing it online, but when I received my Lucky Bag 2017 from Beautylish I was, well, pleasantly surprised to find I'd received RMS Beauty's Magic Luminizer, it is perfect, now that is a strong word to describe makeup I know. But for me this is perfection..

First a little about the brand, very natural, I mean properly natural, preserving their organic ingredients and using minimal heat when processing these fabulous ingredients into the final fabulous product, so basically your skin gets all of the delicious amazing ingredients.. So pretty cool ideology your skincare in makeup.. I'm in!

Now onto the product- The colour, a champagne-y luminous glow. It is a cream product but very thick, think lip balm in a tub but firmer consistency, a little goes a long way and you can definitely build up/tone down the colour intensity.

The colour is perfect, not too gold and yet not too pink, it blends in so well to the skin and with bronzer and blush, not leaving any streaks of highlighter anywhere and its is so quick and easy to apply, I personally just use my finger and dab it on. Stays put all day and doesn't smear or run off my face.

The highlighter doesn't come across as fake, very natural beautiful real highlighter, it just works so well with my other make-up products I don't worry about putting too much on and looking like a robot.. The colour and consistency of the product is exactly the type of highlight that you'd expect to see on a bronzed beach babe sitting in perfect lighting. Yeah think that's the look I go for..

I use it on my brow bone, tear ducts, cheek bone, bridge of my nose and cupids bone (usual highlighter places) but unlike some highlighters I love this on all these places.

Sometimes (most of the time) I don't like the same highlighter on say my cheek bones as I do on my brow bone and tear ducts but I love this little beauty everywhere- perhaps its the non-greasy texture of the product or the fact that the colour is so easy to work with in regards to colour pay-off.

Either way I am really enjoying using this product and have been pleasantly surprised by it. Do you guys have any favourite RMS beauty products and what ones should I try next?

Charlotte's Magic Cream

Charlotte's Magic Cream

 

After purchasing Charlotte Tilbury's Magic Cream for a third time I pondered on how I am long over due a blog post on this magical wonder.

Lets set the scene, I've never really liked face creams, yes I know they are supposed to be good for your skin and loads of other amazing benefits but because of my oily t-zone and super sensitive skin, one way or another I never found one that didn't develop a weird bumpy rash or made my make-up slide off my face.

So as I'm not getting an younger I thought I had better start addressing this lack of moisturiser in my life. I first got the mini Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream moisturiser when it first launched.

Now when I first started using it I thought with its thick consistency it was either going to make me an oil slip or develop some funky rash on my face but I was pleasantly surprised when neither happened.

My skin loves it!! It just soaks it all up and makes me look radiant, with my skin being hydrated and loved.

I use it once a day, in the morning before I apply my make-up. I let it settle into my skin before I start my make-up routine and I have just been so impressed with it. My under eye area loves it and it makes such a difference when I apply concealer to a lovely moisturised base. 

I am now onto my second big tub of this Magic Cream and I am still loving it! Although it is on the pricey side, a large tub does last me nearly over a year using it once a day and I am looking forward to trying out her new creams she has launching soon!

Do you guys have a favourite moisturiser that you cannot live without?

Lash Sensational, quite possibly!

Finally a drugstore mascara I actually like.. A big hello my new BFF Maybelline® New York new Lash Sensational Mascara!

 
I'm always on the look out for a new mascara, basically because I've never found 'the one' when it comes to mascara's.. Now I'm not sure if I'm committing to a life long love of this mascara but for a drugstore mascara I have been very pleasantly surprised!

I have the normal, non waterproof one, I tend to steer clear of the waterproof ones just out of my general preference.

It holds a curl really well, has a lovely black payoff even after one coat and does a pretty dang good job of staying put all day. Minimal if no flaking and my sensitive eyes and skin have put up no objections towards it.

It definitely separates my lashes and makes them look lovely and long. I also really like the applicator which is like a rubber comb, which makes application super easy and I seem to be able to keep the mascara on my eyelashes and not on my eyelids, which makes for a nice surprise!

A couple of niggles I have are when I am taking it off at night it seems to come off in chunks, but hey that's nothing really to complain about, in the grand scheme of things its pretty good at coming off without too much fuss. And after a full days wear there is a small amount of transfer from where my lash ends touch my eyelids but nothing too noticeable.

All in all a winner for me!

Finally a drugstore mascara I like and can actually use! What's your favourite mascara?  As I'm always on the lookout for 'the one'!

Veruschka- Eyes To Mesmerise by Charlotte Tilbury

I love Charlotte Tilbury's Colour Chameleon Eye Shadow Pencils so much that when I saw she was bringing out Eyes To Mesmerise in cream eye shadows, of course I had to have one.


Eyes to Mesmerise in Veruschka

After much deliberation on which colour was going to be my first purchase it ended up being Veruschka.

I wanted something a little different to what I already had in my collection, yet a colour that would be wearable for both day and night.

Now I must say I am a little on the fence when I comes to this product, there are elements of it I love and elements I, well lets just say, don't love.


First of all lets talk about the loves. The colour is very unusual it is like a greeny grey, the exact words they use on the website is a, "minky-mossy golden grey-green" which I guess it is. It does have beautiful golden shimmer throughout it and mines definitely more a grey than green. But a very apt description.

A truly unique pretty colour.

So I love the colour but I also love how there is no fall out as it is a cream eye shadow, probably didn't need to say that and my sensitive eyes also love it, another bonus.

So with all these loves why am I not head over heels in-love with it.

Well, personally for me it creases, really badly within a few hours of wear. I have tried using it with my MAC Painterly Paint Pot as a base and it helps out for a good few hours but inevitably it creases on me.

Although I must say I do have very oily eyelids, so a lot of things do crease on me. But I am slightly more disappointed as I got on so well with her Colour Chameleon Eye Shadow Pencils that I thought I'd be on to a winner here but alas not.

I also find it actually quite time consuming and messy to use, I put the majority of it on my eyelid with my finger and then have to go and wash my hand or rub the excess off somewhere and then grab a pencil brush to get into the inner corners of my eyes, where my fingers don't fit and then under my lower lash line. I guess I just wanted it to be as easy to use as an eye shadow pencil.

That being said I could just use a brush for the whole application, so perhaps I am just being picky. But I do think that you get a better colour pay off when applied with a finger.

An overall round up from me would be, love the colour and the feel of it on my eyelids but unfortunately it creases really badly on my lids and I find it quite time consuming to apply.

But if you don't have a creasing issue and are a dab hand at applying cream eye shadows for sure give them a go, all the colours look absolutely stunning.

Pink Makes The Boys Wink



Far left- Dainty, Far Right- Tenderling Forefront- Orgasm, Brush- MAC 168

I love MAC cosmetics blushes, well lets face it, I love a lot of MAC's products. 

But I do have a little sweet spot for NARS blushes as well, especially, of course, Orgasm.

For my every day make-up looks I seem to go between the following three blushes, MAC's Tenderling and Dainty and of course NARS's Orgasm.

Left- Tenderling, Centre- Orgasm, Right- Dainty

Dainty is a mineralize blush which is has a very powder pink colour to it. Very girlie and young. It has a very small amount of gold shimmer to it and I love it for when I need to look a little more alive but don't want to draw too much attention to my blush shade. Although all of the shades are long lasting, with the mineralise blushes they don't seem to last as long on me as the next two, but I do love the colour, so onto my list it went.

Tenderling is a sheertone blush and for my skin tone it is the perfect shade of blusher for an extremely natural look. Even though my natural blush is a lot pinker than this shade it works so well on my skin. So I grab this one when I want all the attention to be on either my eyes or lips and just want an everyday quick make-up look, that can be applied in seconds and you definitely won't look like Aunt Sally. I also find that this shade blends fantastically with any contour shade as well. It has absolutely no shimmer or sparkle to it.

Orgasm by NARS, I think most people have heard the hype or knows someone who owns it, but here's my take on it. Firstly I love it and I seem to grab it all the time. I use it when I want that healthy, I have seen sunlight/been for a lovely walk kind of glow. It's a pinky coral and has the most beautiful gold shimmer in it. Too much for some people but I love it. Buildable, blendable and fantastic.

I find some of the NARS blushes to be less pigmented than the MAC powder blush shades but this can be both a positive and a negative. On one hand they are slightly easier to work with as you are less likely to put on too much but then I guess eventually you will end up having to use more, but not enough for it to bother me at all in the slightest.

I absolutely love both brands and my husband seems to love the packaging of all the NARS products, maybe this will allow me to buy more.. Maybe..

For all three the staying power is pretty dang good, but the mineralize one falls behind slightly but I never think..  Did I put blush on today? Or even worse, where has half of my blush gone? Which has happened in the past with other brands.

I just love my trusty three for my everyday blush!