Pretty Head – UK Make Up Reviews

Sexy Mother Pucker lip gloss by Soap and Glory claims to be able to make your lips 10 times bigger by using super fill microfillers that react with the water on your lips. An impressive claim, which unsurprisingly was over exaggerated and didn’t happen!

I bought this lip gloss for £5 from ebay (see links below), which is actually very cheap as I have seen this retailing from £7.99 to £12.99 in various shops. This product comes in a pink, retro, cardboard package that is designed to almost look like a newspaper headline that says “WORLD EXCLUSIVE- Lip size found crucial for sexual attraction”. The gloss itself comes in a plastic tube with a regular sponge applicator; it has quite a nice smell almost like chocolate. The lip gloss goes on easily, however it’s quite sticky and the colour is a bit darker than what I would have considered to be nude. After a few seconds it starts to tingle, this sensation gets stronger for the first few minutes and as I look in the mirror I think I can see my upper lip looking a tiny bit bigger! I didn’t take measurements or anything so this could have been totally psychosomatic, especially as I thought that I could feel something happening. After 5 minutes my lips most definitely didn’t look 10 times bigger than when I had started and to be honest I doubt anyone’s would! Also on a random note, could you imagine if it did actually work how stupid you would end up looking with lips 10 times their normal size?! The lip gloss lasted for a good 2 hours before it needed reapplying, it wasn’t very shiny or very nude, but did give a nice subtle look to the lips. I generally like my lips to look glossy, so in future I would buy this is clear instead of nude, however I am not disappointed with the purchase as I didn’t pay full price. I do wonder whether you might get the same effect with other cheaper lip plumping glosses, especially as the price gets bumped up because it has the ‘Soap and Glory’ name attached to it.

I would recommend this to anyone wanting a natural make up look or for people wanting bridal make up as it enhances your natural lip colour and size without making it look totally unnatural. I wouldn’t recommend you buying your first tube from a shop as it is a lot of money to waste if you don’t like it, ebay is where I have seen it the cheapest – links at the bottom of the page.

Pros: The lip gloss smells nice almost like chocolate, it is easy to apply, seems to increase lip size a bit, it looks nice when it is on the lips and it lasts for a while.

Cons: The gloss is quite expensive, does not live up to its claims of 10 times bigger lips and the shade nude is darker than what most would consider to be nude.

This range was bought out for Christmas 2008 and cost £3.99 at the time of purchase, they later went on sale for 99p and I am not sure if The Body Shop still do it, however they might be bought back for this Christmas so keep your eyes peeled! The lip balm comes in a white plastic little pot with a dark purple sticker on the front that has Christmassy looking gold stars on. The white sticker on the bottom can be pealed open to reveal a list of ingredients, which is useful for people that are sensitive to certain chemicals. There are no instructions on any of the labels, but lets be honest, most people know how to apply lip balm! The lip balm itself has a very strong, mouth watering smell that’s more like blackcurrants than plums. It is a very dark purple colour and there are visible shimmery bits, that although visible aren’t giant blobs of glitter like you get in makeup for kids! You can use either a lip brush or your finger to apply the product; I opted for my finger as it’s generally easier though maybe a bit messier. The balm when on your finger is a much lighter shade of purple than it is in the pot, and the shimmery bits look even better, so don’t let the dark colour of the balm when in the pot put you off – it doesn’t come out that colour when on your lips! It is very moisturising when on the lips, probably due to the inclusion of organic beeswax and a little bit goes a very long way. The shimmery bits look very nice and subtle; the colour however is relatively dark and so I would only recommend using a tiny bit of this product if you are fair skinned. If you have an olive to dark skin tone I think you could get away with using quite a bit of the lip balm with good results. The lip balm makes your lips look quite glossy, something that I was not expecting from a balm and I could still feel it on my lips for an hour after application. Despite feeling very moisturising, it didn’t really have a big, visible effect on any of the dry and chapped bits on my lips, which is normally what you buy a lip blm for. I don’t think I would have paid full price for this lip balm, however for 99p it isn’t too bad, especially as it contains organic ingredients. I would recommend buying products cheaply off of ebay in case you don’t like them, however seen as this was out for Christmas 2008 I don’t think that you would have much luck finding it on there now.

Pros: It smells nice, is handbag sized and lasts a long time. It feels moisturising, gives a glossy finish and would look really good on olive to dark skin tones.

Cons: It is too dark for pale skin tones unless lightly applied, it isn’t really for people wanting to achieve a natural makeup look, it didnt have a noticable effect on my chapped lips and the smell can get quite sickly after a while.

As you may have gathered from reading most of my other conditioner reviews, I have very dry hair and normally use Pantene Pro V for dry and damaged hair. However I am always open to trying new products, so whilst in ASDA doing the weekly shop I decided that I would try Dove’s Heat Defence Conditioner, which was on special for £1.00 instead of the usual £2.99.

This conditioner, like all the other shampoos and conditioners by Dove, comes in a plastic bottle shaped like a surf board. This one is red, probably chosen to fit with the whole heat defence theme. Dove claims that this “New Heat Defence Therapy System actively protects against heat damage at every step of a woman’s hair routine from washing to styling. The Advanced Protecting Serum contains millions of micro particles that protect and strengthen hair from damage caused by frequent heat styling.” I straighten my hair pretty much every day, sometimes more as it is prone to frizz, so obviously protecting it from heat damage is very important to me. Usually I just use a heat defence spray such as Dove Heat Defence Mist or TRESemme’s heat defence spray, so I thought that my hair would probably benefit from being doubly protected. So after shampooing I put a big blob of the conditioner onto my hand and spread it through my long hair and left it for about 5mins (3mins longer than is necessary apparently, but as my hair can be really dry it needs all the help that it can get). I can normally tell whether a conditioner has worked or not as soon as I rinse it off, if it hasn’t worked my hair feels like straw, however once rinsed my hair felt lovely and smooth. After drying and straightening my hair was still silky smooth and didn’t look as dull as it usually does. Obviously I would have to use this product over a long period of time to be able to assess whether it does actually protect your hair well from the damaging effects of heat styling, but for £1 I am more than happy to add this product, proven results or not, to my hair care regime. However I am pretty sure that this is a promotional price and that soon it will be going back to £2.99. If this were to happen I would be paying a lot of money every week for it as I have to use a lot of conditioner on my long hair and a 200ml bottle would only really last me 4 washes, which isn’t great value for money considering you could get double the amount of conditioner from Pantene.

Pros: Leaves dry hair feeling soft and shiny and it may help to protect hair against the damaging effects of heat styling. At the moment it is only £1 so great value for money.

Cons: Doesn’t last long if you have long hair and you can only really tell if it works when used over a long period of time.

I am only 22 but have started to notice fine lines around my eyes and on my forehead, which both scared and upset me! I decided that now was the time to start tackling the little wrinkles head on, although I do wish that I had started earlier! So I went to Superdrug and spent about an hour looking at all their anti-wrinkle products and finally I settled on Garnier Stop. Garnier claims that the “SPF 15 protects against the sun’s damaging effects, the moisturiser reduces the first signs of ageing, and visible pores and it leaves skin hydrated and smooth”.  I was initially attracted by the fact that this cream was designed to combat the first signs of aging, which I have and I thought that seen as it was summer the SPF 15 would be beneficial. I paid £6.99 for a 50ml pot, which seems to be the average price for this product in shops; of course you could try and get it cheaper on ebay (see links on page).

The pot of cream comes in a square, cardboard box, covered in information about the cream as well as pictures and diagrams. The pot itself is made from orange glass with a white, plastic, screw on lid. Garnier advise you to apply the cream twice a day onto a cleansed face and neck, in circular, massaging motions. The first thing I noticed when I opened the pot was the amazing smell; it smelt mouth wateringly of oranges and it is definitely the nicest smelling moisturiser I have ever come across. After cleansing, I applied the moisturiser as directed to my face and neck, after a few seconds it really started to sting, especially around my eyes! I have quite sensitive skin so I sort of expected this to happen, however I tried it on my dad – a big strong man, and he said that it stung too! Despite this I persevered every day until the cream ran out, as it is said you have to give face creams 6 weeks to see an effect. The stinging did start to subside a little after the first few applications, however I did have to use a different cream around my eye area (one of the places that I hoped this cream would fix) as the pain was so bad.

After 2 and a bit months(when I ran out) there wasn’t any effect on the fine lines and wrinkles on my forehead. Obviously there wasn’t an effect on the ones by my eyes as I had stopped applying the cream there after a few days. Maybe if I had carried on putting it there it would have had an effect, but I am not convinced. My skin did feel a bit more moisturised, but I still suffered from patches of dry skin. Another thing I noticed was that despite how little or how much cream I applied before going to bed, the next morning in the bath or shower as soon as my face got wet it would feel like I was covered in slime! This ‘slime’ was obviously cream that hadn’t been absorbed into my skin and instead just dried onto the surface, but it didn’t matter if I put a tiny bit or a lot on, it still happened! The ‘slime’ then started to peel off when wet, which was really quite disgusting, no wonder it didn’t have an effect on my fine lines if it wasn’t even being absorbed! Needless to say I wouldn’t buy this product again or recommend it to anyone.

Pros: It smells really nice and lasts for over 2 months with regular use.

Cons: It stings even on people who don’t have sensitive skin, it doesn’t work on fine lines and it doesn’t seem to be absorbed into the skin.

Eyeliner has been a staple of my makeup bag for as long as I can remember, I use both liquid and pencil liners and over the years have tried lots of different brands. Seen as I get through tons of the stuff, I thought I would try a cheaper brand, so I went for Boots Natural Collection liquid eyeliner in black costing just £1.99 and earning me 4 advantage card points. To be honest because of the price I wasn’t expecting much, however I was pleasantly surprised.

The product comes in a black plastic tube, with a white lid that has a thin brush tip stuck to it. For £1.99 you get 8ml of eyeliner, which is fantastic value for money seen as most other and more expensive brands of eyeliner come in 3.5ml tubes. The brush tip made application of the eyeliner very quick and easy, although if it was your first time using liquid eyeliner I would recommend having a few trail runs before you attempt to do it for best! It was very easy to make both thick and thin lines with the eyeliner, which comes out very dark and so does not require multiple coats. The brush being thin makes it very easy to do the flick at the side of the eye; you have just got to make sure that you haven’t got a lot of it on the brush before you start doing that bit.

Once applied this took a while to dry, but once it had it stayed on all day with only slight cracking (only noticeable up close). It was easily removed with makeup removers and even water, which is good as no one wants to be scrubbing their eyes! This product lasted for ages even though I used it every day for both on top and under my eye. In the end I ended up throwing it away because I had had it for so long that it had started to dry up and not because it had ran out! I would recommend this product for anyone on a budget or wanting to try liquid eyeliner for the first time (as if you waste a load of it, it doesn’t really matter since you paid do little!) It give a great, long lasting, dramatic look to the eyes that can be built up to as thick and as dramatic as you like.

I would recommend this product to anyone, I have sensitive skin and this eyeliner didn’t sting or irritate me at all. There is literally no difference between the performance and look of this eyeliner compared to the more expensive brands, so if you’re on a budget you’re not missing out on quality. I think that I will be using this eyeliner from now on and I have to say that so far I have been very impressed with the quality of Boots Natural Collection products.

The picture is as best as I could get and does not show the eyeliner in it’s best light, it is a lot better in real life! I have applied it to my eyelid and under my eye, chosing to use quite thick lines.

Pros: It is cheap, handbag sized and gives a great effect that lasts a long time. You also get a lot of the product for your money and it comes off very easily at the end of the day.

Cons: Cracks after wearing it all day, however this is only noticeable close up and something that you would expect with all eyeliners after a days worth of  use!

This Boots own brand tinted lip salve costs just 98p and is displayed next to the Nivea lip salves that are the same size and shape but cost a pound more. It comes wrapped in a very thin film of plastic, which you peel off before use. Unlike Nivea’s lip balms, it is not attached to cardboard, meaning that it is slightly more environmentally friendly and this is probably where Boots and in turn you, save a bit of money. The outer packaging is plastic, baby pink and displays the Boots logo and white writing that states that this product will “enhance your natural lip colour and protect and moisturise your lips”. The actual lip salve itself is a slightly darker pink than the packaging and in some lights it looks slightly lilac. If you look closely it almost looks a little metallic and I am still trying to work out whether it smells or not; it either has a very subtle sweet smell or it doesnt smell at all and it’s just in my head!

I put this lip slave on my normal to slightly dry lips, applying more than I normally would and there wasn’t a noticeable difference in the colour. However my lips felt very moisturised, more than they do when using Vaseline, a little tin of which is basically the same price as this lip balm. When compared to the tins of Vaseline that a lot of women now days like to use, this lip balm can be applied with no mess what so ever, to use you simply remove the cap and twist the bottom of the stick, where Vaseline needs to be applied with a finger leaving a lot of mess. There wasn’t much of a shine on my lips, however they did look a bit healthier and the chapped bits felt and looked much better after just one application. After about 30 minutes the effect seemed to have worn off and my lips were left feeling quite dry, however bits that were dry and nasty looking before the first application looked better.

I would recommend this product for people who normally buy the Nivea lip balms as the effect is pretty much the same and both have the same staying power and quantity however you save a pound! It would also be good for someone looking for good wedding make up or aiming for a natural make up effect as it makes you look healthy without being over the top and adding an unnatural colour to your lips. I have been using this lip balm every day for the past few months and I still haven’t run out, so it really is good value for money. I would say that this is definitely a hand bag essential and will from now on replace my little tin of vasaline, especially in the winter months when lips are more likely to get chapped and dry.

I tried to get some pics of this lip salve on my lips, but even with my good camera I couldn’t get a picture that accurately showed the effect that this has and I wouldn’t want to put anyone off buying it. Normally I would recommend buying a product cheaply off of ebay (links on page) if it is your first try of it, however for 98p you haven’t lost much if you don’t like it.

Pros: Cheap, easy to use, very moisturising, lasts as long as the leading brand, gives a nice natural effect, handbag sized and has a noticeable improvement on chapped dry bits.

Cons: No smell/taste, (it will never compete with carmex lip balm on that front!), it doesn’t add much colour to the lips, so could not be used as a lipstick and it only last about 30mins, less if you’re eating or drinking, but this is the same as its main competitor Nivea.

I bought this foundation for £6.50 from Superdrug a few months ago because I had never tried a mousse foundation before and it was recommended by a friend. I was also attracted to the fact that it apparently stays on your face for 16 hours without needing a touch up, which is perfect for a girl on the go! The foundation comes in a glass pot, with a black screw top plastic lid, not the usual container you would expect foundation to come in. There is some information on the sticker on the top of the lid and then on the white sticker on the bottom, however this just tells you the quantity, shade, contact info and barcode, so if you need instructions or information on the ingredients you are going to have to try the internet!

The first thing that I noticed was how little you seemed to get in the pot, 18ml compared to the 30ml that you get in most non mousse foundations. The foundation had a slight smell, which was definitely not bad and it went on well using just my fingers. I picked the shade (natural beige) that was as close to my skin tone as possible, however I did think that in some lights I looked slightly orange. I thought I had applied the foundation evenly, however in some places it sort of looked like it was caked on. One thing I did notice was just how cool the foundation felt when I applied it to my skin; this is obviously where the “cool” on the label comes from. This would be really nice on a hot summer’s day; however seen as we never really get much sun in the UK it seems a bit pointless. It also didn’t cover up my dark circles very well, so if like me you have dark rings or other skin blemishes, you would have to use a concealer as well.

To test this foundations staying power I tried it both with and without a setting powder, with there being no instructions on the pot it isn’t clear whether you should be increasing its staying power with a setting powder.  With no setting powder there was still foundation on my face 16 hours after the application, however it did come off on my top and it looked like it had worn off by the end of the day. With setting powder by the end of the day I still looked like I was wearing foundation and a lot more came off when I removed it.

Overall the look this foundation gave me wasn’t very nice, even though I applied it properly, well as properly as I could without instructions, I looked a bit caked in places and slightly orange. At the end of 16 hours there was still some foundation on my face , however not as much as I originally put on and without setting powder it did look like it had worn off a lot. This product also.  only lasted for about a month and considering that for pretty much the same amount money I could get almost double the amount of foundation from another well known and trusted brand, it seems a bit of a rip off. I would not recommend this foundation for anyone who wants a natural make up look, anyone looking for bridal make up, anyone on a budget or anyone with allergies or sensitive skin as you are not told what the ingredients are.

Pros: A cooling sensation that would be good in the summer and some foundation remains after 16 hours.

Cons: Runs out quickly, can make you look orange, can also make you look a bit caked and is not good value for money