We’ve got bit of a thing for shimmer at beautyreviews, so got really excited about this product…

Benefit Cosmetics Hollywood Glo

There’s lots of shimmer to it and it has a bronze tint, but it suits most skin tones – as long as you don’t over-do it!  A little will make a lot of shimmer, so dab on sparingly for the best look.  It’s best used as a highlighter on the cheekbones, rather than all over.

We also like it when mixed with a liquid foundation, such as Clinique’s Superbalanced Make-up or Avon’s Ideal Shade – it seems to give a more radiant look.

One problem we had was getting it out of the bottle – as with most of the Benefit products this has fabulous packaging and the bottle looks great on the dressing table, but it’s really not liquid enough to be in a bottle, we’d have preferred a jar.

Sadly no longer part of the Benefit range, check out online discount make-up site, such as CheapSmells

New in the UK Arbonne Shop, this makeup primer applies beautifully to the skin – only a small amount is required and it blends in easily, leaving skin incredibly soft and covering up any blemishes but still leaving the skin natural looking.

Price: £21

Available from Arbonne Consultants:
Amy Waldorf
Fiona Williams
Sharon Vize

(Review by sharonv)

When we opened the parcel containing the Too Faced palettes we were so excited! The packaging of all their products is just gorgeous!!

The New Romantic Peacock Palette is a fabulous pink with a black peacock silhouette design… inside you’ll find lovely pinks and minky browns.

There are three eyeshadows: a shimmery mocha, a raspberry pink and a shimmery mink. I liked them all, but the most wearable, for day and night, is the mink. The raspberry pink is a bit daring on the eyes – be careful not to look like you’ve gone ten rounds with Ricky Hatton! As a blush it’s really good though!! The shadows are easy to apply and blend, they feel very light and silky on the skin.

Alongside the three eyeshadows are three lip glosses – I wear them all. There’s a raspberry pink, a neutral beige shimmer and a pale shimmer gloss. The raspberry pink is very versatile – you can wear it sheer or build it up for a wow-factor. The other two are lovely for daily wear.

And finally there’s a bronzey blush – if you’re very pale watch out, it can look a bit dirty if you put too much one, so build it up gradually.

Overall I was very, very pleased with this – it has become my main daily make-up and I will use all the shades (though maybe not much of the raspberry shadow), which is rare for me with a palette as I often find I don’t use half the shades.

The packaging makes this ideal for a gift… I’m sure most girls will be delighted to receive it!

Availability:
We no longer know of any stockists of this palette – if you are a stockist please let us know!

Lancome mascaras have always been popular with us, but it is only recently that we’ve been buying them again.

Hypnose is a volumising mascara, focussing on thickening the lashes without clumping – it does this very well indeed. We had some clumping, but not often and usually easy to remove with another sweep of the brush.

Lasts all day without flaking or smudging and you can build up lashes in the evening without removing your mascara from the morning. Being able to layer it up is great – one coat for day volumises extremely well, another coat or two for evening looks quite dramatic!

Available in Black, Brown and Blue.
Waterproof version available in Black, Brown, Blue and Green.

Available from:
Beauty21
Beauty Counter Direct
Boots
FeelUnique
Garden Pharmacy
John Lewis (stores)
Lancome

If you remember the green powders from the 1980s that told you they’d balance out redness, yes this is the same concept… the formula though is much different, because with this you will not go out looking like an alien from outer space!!

Users of Smashbox foundation primers already know the benefits of a smoother appearance to the skin, a softer touch and the all important help in filling out wrinkles – this product has the same benefits, along with the added balancing effect on redness. Note that it doesn’t hide redness completely, it balances skinton to look natural.

Use under foundation or alone to help correct any redness in your skintone – blends well using your fingers or with a brush or sponge (a sponge does tend to soak a lot of product up though). You may actually find that you don’t need a foundation as well.

Lasts well and if you do use foundation you’ll find your foundation will apply smoother and last longer.

A good investment if you suffer from redness, especially on the cheeks and chin.

Available from:
QVC
Smashbox (shipped from US, check shipping and customs charges)