Alchemist Holographic Palette. Review and Swatches.

I've been haunting Sephora websites, the U.S and the U.A.E ones for the Alchemist Holographic Palette. Very difficult to do, when on a holiday...Well, anyways I finally got my hands on it, as it STILL ain't available in Sephora UAE. Thank you Glamazle!!!
So, Kat Von D has been working on this palette for 7 years. (That's a long time developing 4 shades.) However, I believe, those long years of work did pay off.

 The Alchemist holographic palette is housed in a white cardboard box with raised artwork which is a raised holographic A, surrounded by filigree. Unlike the metal-matte palette, this fits nicely into your hand and is easy to work with.
The Kat Von D website states that the formula features Double Dimension Technology with refractive pearls dipped in prisimatic coating.

It consists of four pans of holographic powders, which are Emerald (green), Saphyre (blue), purple (Amethyst) and Opal (pink).
These powders can be used on eyes, lips and the face, or can be used over other products as transformers. 

Opal: Iridescent warm pink with gold pearl.
Amethyst. A cool lavender which gives a blue shift.
Saphyre: A bluish white , gives a blue  shift.
Emerald: A greenish white which gives a green shift with gold pearl.

 All colours are nicely pigmented, but I found them slightly drying , though they blended fairly easily.

Opal is mostly iridescent instead of holographic, but a very pretty highlighter on it's own. 
My favourite though is Amethyst, which is a lavender highlighter with cool undertones. The colour shifts to blue, brightening one's skin and giving you an ethereal look, giving you a feel of Lady Galadriel.
The powders can be layered and mixed to amp the highlighters anfd give you a futuristic look straight out of 2050.
The palette has been compared to the Anastasia Beverly Hills Moonlight palette, and though the colours are similar they, do contain more glittery. So if you want a subtle every day look, the Alchemist Holographic Palette is the one to go for.

#Alchemistholographicpalette #KatVonD #Highlighters #makeup #Alchemist

Marc Jacobs, The High Life. Essential Hues and Coveted Colors sets. Reviews and Swatches.

So, wandering around Sephora, I came across the  Marc Jacobs Essential Hues and Coveted colors 3 Piece petites Highliner Gel-Eye Crayon set. Yes...I couldn't resist.

Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye crayons are one of my favourite eye liner formulas. 
They actually managed to transform a gel formula into a crayon, which is creamy, intensely pigmented, and easy to apply. 
The lighter colours are buildable, and the full-size crayons have a built in sharpener at the end of the other end. They're twist up crayons and the colours are always slightly unique and different from the other brands. They can be easily smudged and are extremely long lasting. As in, they DO NOT MOVE! You will need to go in with a heavy duty eye-makeup remover to remove these, because ladies, this is one eye-liner that is NOT going to budge, whether you use it on the eyelid, the tightine or the waterline.
The only drawback I could find with these was that I didn't like the sharpener. When I tried to sharpen mine, the formula is so soft that the tip broke off and considering how little the product is for the price, I was highly annoyed. However, instead of the sharpener, just use a piece of tissue, and rub the tip against it to give you a nice point.

This is a nice set to introduce yourself to the Marc Jacobs highliners.
Each set is AED 95 at Sephora. There are two sets available right now. Each consist of 3 mini size crayons.
For those who like basics, We have the Marc Jacobs, The High Life Essential Hues set.

The Essential Hues highliner set includes:

1) Blacquer : neutral black with a satin finish.
2) Sunset: a warm copper with gold pearl.
3) Ro(cocoa) a cool dark brown with gold pearl.

For people like me who loves coloured eyeliners The high Life: Coveted Colors set is the one to go for.

Marc Jacobs, The High Life: Coveted Colors set consists of 3 shades:
1) Jazz(berry): a warm plummy with a pearl finish.
2) Navy noir: blue-black with blue pearl
3)Intro(vert): a cool green with silver glitter.

The sets are of great value, when you consider one full size highliner sells for AED 100 each.

As you can see in the picture above, the only difference in the full size eyeliner and the one in the package is the addition of a sharpener in the full size one, which is pretty useless in my opinion as I did have a bad experience with it.

Marc Jacobs has released matte versions of his highliner last week, which as usual won't be available in Dubai for some months. We're still waiting for the Marc Jacobs liquid lipstick to arrive in Dubai!

Have you tried the Marc Jacobs Highliners? Individuals? Sets?
 Did you like them?
Leave a comment with your opinion please.

#makeup, #Highliners #MarcJacobseyeliners #MarcJAcobsbeauty #beautyblogDubai

Sally Hansen's Big Peel Off Base coat.

I absolutely adore nail polishes. Unfortunately they need to be taken off every few hours for wudu purposes.

I don't know if it's only me but red nail polish is a big mess to take off! 

So the Sally Hansen Big Peel Off base coat seemed like a boon from heaven for someone who adores wearing nail polish.

The Sally Hansen website describes the base coat as:

Just paint on the base coat, apply polish as usual and enjoy the manicure. When it’s time for a new look, simply peel off the polish in one fluid movement! No scrubbing, soaking or fussing – just a clean, healthy-looking nail.

The base coat goes on an opaque white, but dries  to a clear base coat. The first whiff you catch smells more like craft glue but the smell immediately goes away as the base coat dries down. 

After two coats of nail polish including Essie's Gel Setter top coat, the nail polish did come off easily in one fluid movement, without requiring excessive scratching or scrubbing. The base coat is brilliant especially if you're in a hurry to remove your nail polish, and the non-requirement of polish remover is a relief, especially if you need to remove glitter nailpolish.

However, here come the cons.

1) The consistency is slightly more runny, thus the fingers need to be absolutely straight for the base coat to dry, or it almost always does bunch up in the corners, though that wasn't very visible after a couple of coats of nailpolish on top.

2)A thicker coat than usual is to be applied, and the base coat needs to dry completely, before applying nail polish on top, otherwise it takes a little more work to peel off the nail polish as it doesnt come off as easily.

3) The  The base coat was not very long wearing, and a couple of hours of constant use of water caused the polish to slip right off a couple of fingers.

The short wear time isn't a problem for me, as I have to take off the nail polish anyways for wudu after every few hours, but it is an annoyance for those who want a longer wear time. Though, it does last for up to 2 days without chipping.

#SallyHansen, #Nailpolish #Peeloffnailpolish #Bigpeeloffbasecoat #nails #bblog

Laura Mercier Holiday Caviar stick Eye Colour Collection. Review and Swatches

I had been drooling over the Laura Mercier Caviar sticks for some time at Debenhams, but couldn't justify a purchase of AED 138 for just one colour of eye shadow. Well...I would have given in if I hadn't come across the holiday caviar stick collection at Sephora.
Laura Mercier releases a holiday Caviar stick collection every year. The Caviar sticks are cream eye shadows in pencil form. This set contains four  caviar sticks, two metallic and two mattes. Rose gold, Amethyst, Aubergine and Tuxedo.
This year they are packaged in a festive, metallic leopard print box.

The Caviar stick formula is smooth and pigmented. The formula easily blends out before it sets and is long wearing, with most shades giving a wear time of 6 o 8 hours.

The set is of pretty good value as it gives 4 minis for AED 138. The caviar sticks are easy to wear especially if you are in a hurry or travelling. They're easy to fit into your makeup bag finish your eyes on the run. Plus the formula is easily blended out with your fingers so no brushes required.

 Rose gold: The Laura Mercier Rose Gold Caviar stick is a medium gold with warm undertones and a soft sheen. This was a colour which I thought wouldn't show up easily on me,as it is too close to y skin tone, but it gives a beautiful highlight on the eyes. It is buildable and the light gold colour compliments all skin tones.

Amethyst: A medium bronze-taupe with a red undertone and a  metallic sheen. It was highly pigmented in one swipe, with a creamy texture that wore well upto 8 hours. 

Aubergine: Aubergine caviar stick is a dark plum  with a matte finish, and highly pigmented in one swipe.

Tuxedo: Matte black with a cooler undertone and a creamy texture.

The Laura Mercier Caviar stick collection is easy to use and very handy when you're in a hurry or have whining kids twisting around your ankles!
Have you tried the Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks? What's your favourite shade?

Pinterest hacks tested. What worked? What didn't?

If you're like me, you probably have a zillion pins saved on your Pinterest hoping that one day, you will get around to doing them. From household hacks and recipes to edible playdoh and paintings, I have a million Pins, but barely time to try them out, a million other ones that I just plain forget when I do have the time. 
Why not read a nice book when you do have some peace and quiet?
Then there are Pinterest dupes for make up, especially the incredibly hard to get dupes for the Kylie Jenner lipsticks and there are beauty hacks which can save you a lot of money. Why not make a home made mask with all natural ingredients instead of wasting money at salon products?
Problem is, most of them don't work the way you want them to. At the end of the day it becomes a waste of time, and even worse , a waste of food, which might just end up irritating your skin.
So I wasted my time, so you don,t have to and tested out some Pinterest hacks for you.

Read on to find out what worked!

Strawberry face masks for acne:
So after the baby, my hormones decided to take their revenge on my skin. I started getting huge, painful pimples which would refuse to go away! and when they did, there was another painful bump already starting. My skin was dry and scaly with zits errupting everywhere. Nothing was working. No ointments, not toothpaste, nothing! The acne treatments started to irritate my skin making it worse, to the point that it was reacting with big angry bumps even if I applied moisturizers.
In desperation, I turned to google, hoping that natural ingredients would work where store bought, or dermatologist recommended medicines weren't working.
I came across this strawberry mask which worked wonderfully! It soothed my irritated skin, calmed down the angry zits, and within a week my face started looking like mine, instead of a spotty red sponge which was my face at that particular time.

This mask is quick and easy to make, and the best part about it is that it gives instantaneous results.

 Ingredients:

1) Strawberries
2) Raw Honey
3) Lemon juice

Method:
1) Mash the strawberries up with a fork.
2) Add 1/2 tsp raw honey.
3) Add the lemon juice.
4) Apply this on a clean dry face, and leave for a minimum of 30 minutes. Rinse off and follow with your favourite moisturizer.

This mask works best when prepared freshly. I have frozen it up to 3 days, but the efficacy decreases when frozen. Make sure you use natural raw honey as the antioxidant and anti-bacterial properties of honey are rendered ineffective during processing.

This is one of the best natural masks for skin.
Strawberries are extensively used to manufacture beauty prodeucts, but in the commercial industry, only a small percentage of strawberries are used. Strawberries are rich in Alpha Hydroxyl acids, Vitamin C, Salicylic acid and folate.

Alpha hydroxyl acids: Also known as AHA. AHAs are great exfoliators, which increase blood flow to the skin, resulting in a decrease of fine lines and wrinkles. They also lighten dark spots and decrease acne and black heads production.
They are found in apples, citrus fruits and sour milk.

Vitamin C: Vitamin C contains L-Ascorbic Acid, which acts as an anti aging agent, helping to create younger looking, firmer skin as well as decreasing the effects of the environment on the skin and helps to even out the skin tone.

Salicylic acid: Fights acne. Helps fades acne scars and blemishes.

Folate: Helps in cell regeneration.

Lemon juice is a natural astringent and helps absorb the excess oil on the skin surface. It also helps to kill acne causing bacteria and lightens blemishes and acne spot. Talk about miracle ingredients in one!

Honey is a great moisturizer and skin brightener with antiseptic properties.

Do leave a comment if you tried this. This mask works wonderfully for me, but I'd love to know your comments on this. 
The only drawback for this mask is that it drips! So you need to lie down and can not go about doing your work, but I believe we can sacrifice 30 minutes from our busy lives to ourselves?

This is one Pinterest hack I give 5 stars!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Baking soda for dark circles:

Have you seen how many baking soda hacks are making rounds on every single social media page? From Pinterest to Facebook, we have baking soda being used for cleaning floors and unclogging drains (That one didn't work, by the way. There's an entire can of baking soda and vinegar down my drain...humph!) Then come the baking soda beauty hacks, for teeth whitening, blackheads removing and the one that intrigued me the most, dark circles! After weeks of entertaining guests, severe bouts of flu and a year of sleepless nights, thanks to the baby who still doesn't want to sleep in his bed, I have giant dark circles and look like a raccoon. So this was one hack that I just had to try out.

So, the lady said that all I had to do was soak a couple of cotton balls in a mixture of warm water and baking soda, and leave them on my eyes for 15 minutes every day for a week.
I carried this out every single day for 7 days. 
The first day I left it on for 15 minutes, but since that didn't make much of a difference, I started doing this for 30 minutes.
After a couple of days I did notice a difference in the dark circles as soon as I removed the cotton balls. My under eyes were definitely brighter and the dark circles had definitely lessened. However, after a few hours the eyes would return to their original condition, and the dark circles were still there after 7 days.

So, I believe this remedy does work temporarily. If you need to look your best, this 15 minute remedy does work and brightens the under eyes for a few hours, but the effects faded on me after a few hours. So this would be a good temporary option for a party . Baking soda is quite drying on the skin so, do remember to use a good eye moisturizer after this treatment.

Maybe it will work on  you if you get more sleep than I do. Please do let me know if it works for you. So, though this didnt work perfectly, it wasn't a complete bust. I would give this hack 3 stars. ⭐⭐⭐


Home made sugar lip scrub!

My lips are always incredibly dry and flaky. I go through lip balms, like people go through hand washes. But, the miser in me, (who normally is hibernating shamelessly, but pops up now and then.) refuses to buy lipscrubs. So when I saw this hack on Huda Beauty I couldn't resist. It's so easy to make, with ingredients you already have in your kitchen, plus it's cheap and lasts for ages!

What you need is

1)1 tsp Vaseline
2) 1/2 tsp Olive oil
3)Lip balm (optional)
4) 1/2 tsp sugar
5)1/2 tsp salt.

Take an empty container and mix all the ingredients together. I used a saved baby food jar. You can omit the lip balm if you don't have it. It only gives the scrub a nice bright colour.

The first time I made this, I picked up Almond oil by mistake instead of Olive oil, and it worked perfectly.
Salt and sugar act as fine exfoliants while, the vaseline, lip balm and olive oil nourishes and moisturizes the lips.
This can be stored upto 6 to 8 months, though you'll probably run out of it sooner.
Why waste money on an expensive lip scrub, when a perfectly high quality one can be made at home in approximately 5 minutes???

And that is the end of my Pinterest hacks, though I do have a Volume 2 coming up. I have been using the lip scrub and strawberry mask for a year now. So these have been my favourite Pins.
Do let me know if there are more Pins you want me to try out?

#Pinterest #makeupdupes #hacks #skincare #acne