Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer

Effective concealer in a range of shades that evens out complexion and camouflages imperfections...

There are so many concealers floating around that promise the world [and perfect skin] but I'm sure I don't need to tell you how many of them leave lots to be desired. Thankfully, this isn't one of them! 

Designed with yellow base tones, so you can mask even the most stubborn of dark circles, Bobbi Brown's creamy concealer corrects just about any discolouration. It's creamy enough to blend with ease and works well in conjunction with other brands.

As with all concealer, you should ideally pick the colour that is a step lighter than your foundation; Brown provides this product in 15 different shades, both warm and cool tones, so you're bound to find a match.

Whilst this product is great for fixing panda eyes and blotchiness, it's not so good on spots. From experience, I've found that whilst it will cover them, it tends to wear off during the day. That's not to say this product isn't durable, more that it works best on low level blemishes rather than full on breakouts. If you have skin prone to spots, I'd recommend looking elsewhere for a lighter alternative, as the concealer is quite a rich texture in itself and does start to get 'heavy' if you're slapping a lot on.

As with all Bobbi Brown products, the packaging is sleek and simple in pure black and white. This product is small enough to sit in the palm of your hand and ideal for slipping into small clutch purses or pockets.

You can pick up Bobbi's creamy concealer for around £20 in House of Fraser, John Lewis or on the Bobbi Brown website.

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Oil-Free Mattifying Lotion

Shine Reducing Lotion from Boots' Skin Clear range

There's having a healthy glow...and then there's just being downright shiny. This problem sound familiar? Thought it might...

 

As someone who has to adhere to a pretty strict diet in order to keep oily skin under control, I can tell you that I've tried just about every product on the high street that promises to banish shine. Sadly, most don't seem to understand that while you do want to keep your skin hydrated, you don't want all the extra oiliness.

 

Oil-Free Mattifying Lotion from Boots has been my go-to product to solve this dilemma for the last couple of years. It's effective, gentle enough to use every day and most importantly of all, it's cheap! There comes a point where products you're going to use day-in-day-out need to have a reasonable price tag; this stuff has just that!

 

Apply to cleansed skin and you'll immediately notice a difference. It absorbs excess oil and gives your skin a smooth, dry feel, without leave you feeling like you've stripped your skin of all moisture. It's light enough to work straight on top of when applying your makeup and leaves you with a fresh, natural complexion.

 

The Skin Clear range at Boots also features cleansers, face washes, blotting papers, scrubs and rapid spot treatments; having tried a couple of these, I feel confident in saying that the whole collection seems to be effective in providing great skin care, minus the greasiness you can find with so many of these products. Well worth giving it a try!

 

This product can be found in all Boots stores for just around £2 [so you're hardly going to break the bank!]

 

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CharlottePick




Enola_Jay

WE'RE BACK!

First of all...

Sorry for leaving you all!

It's been SUCH a hectic few months for the two of us; Charlotte's moved away to start her English degree (whoo!) and Enola's got herself an internship while she does her foundation year in Fine Art. We are busy ladies! But fear not, The Hush Peony is getting up and running again and will be better than ever this year.

We'll be bringing you all the usual cosmetics reviews, along with news of our various outings and countless recommendations! There's a lot planned, you lucky people. We hope you're looking forward to 2014 as much as we are, it's going to be a BIG year!

Watch this space gang!

London Fashion Weekend

We have seen the future...

...And it involves pinks, natural shades, geometric print and a return to Victoriana. We are very, very excited.

Show bag this year, designed by Sibling. Featuring;
Maybelline, Lavazza, Label.M, Beauty Candy and Kusmi tea

Now if you're following either Charlotte or myself on Instagram, you'll know by now from the deluge of photos that we've been at London Fashion Weekend [be jealous!] so I figured I'd just give you darlings a little update.

First off, apologies for the shocking photos, I've not got around to uploading the shots from my camera yet so you'll just have to make do with phone pics, I know, shockingly unprofessional of me but such is life!

PRETTY IN PINK
That most girly of colours is going to be popping up in shops across the globe, be it in high street stores or a little further up the market. You're probably picturing something garish that only Barbie would wear right now, but don't - there's a pink for everyone. Absolutely anything from pastel blossoms [think Antonio Berardi's SS 14 collection],  to in-your-face hot pink will be the big thing so work it into your wardrobe where you can. If rose shades aren't usually your thing, branch out and pick up a purse or some statement jewellery and keep yourself on trend in a more subtle way.


BACK TO NATURE
Earth shades and khaki, with a few feathers here and there, oh and something of a 'big house in the country' feel. This trend is about texture and tone. Autumnal shades from right across the colour wheel will be seeing you through to winter this year, with looks for pretty much everyone to feel comfortable in. You can't go far wrong with rich browns and some luxurious fabrics. Orla Kiely's SS 14 pieces showed off some great posh girl field trip looks for the coming seasons, whilst Mulberry hit the mark with a stunning tonal range that'll keep you looking stunning even when we get to the cold depths of winter.

SHAPE UP
Just when you thought it was safe to put the 70s back in its box, it rears its head again in the form of geometric prints and bold blocks of colour. Holly Fulton's AW 13 collection features some reasonably calm patterns in a great range of tertiary colours, whilst House of Holland appear to be predicting varying degrees of blinding design well into SS14, all with their trademark edgy twist on retro classics. Not for the faint hearted and certainly not one for the minimalists out there, but if Bauhaus patterns are your thing then go wild.

VICTORIANA
A personal favourite of mine because it means smart chic with lots of black and white. And lace! As you might have expected, Chanel were all over this trend with some stunning monochrome pieces; Meadham Kirchoff also presented some dark and distressed looking ensembles that put something of a grunge spin on that classical romance look. Dolce and Gabbana's gold, black and red scheme evokes a sexy, somewhat Gothic feel and what's not to love about the baroque style embellishments? 

So, at the end of the day, pick a trend and just go with it. If you're not feeling the feminine pinks - go wild and fill your wardrobe with chocolate browns and all things furry. Not into retro print? Keep it sleek and simple with some black crushed velvet and a pristine white collar.

Have fun darlings!

Very Irresistable EDT by Givenchy

Floral, feminine and flirty fragrance from Givenchy

Firstly, I am no expert on perfumes and I cannot describe fragrances very well at all so this may be a very brief review! I’ll start with what I know – the bottle is beautiful. It is a graduated pink tinted bottle with a slight twist in it.

Right, on to the difficult part – describing the smell of this Eau de Toilette… It is apparently a mix of five roses and star anise (a spice) making it very feminine, floral but giving it a twist of aromatic spice that contrasts beautifully to the scent of the roses. It is also a very subtle and delicate scent and I adore it. When I think of Givenchy I immediately think of elegance, class and sophistication and every time I use this perfume I feel like I have had a little spritz of that luxury.

Overall, this fragrance is subtle, floral, and feminine and I love it, I love the cute pink twisted bottle and I love the elegant luxurious brand.

This Eau de Toilette is available in a 30ml, 50ml or 75ml size and is sold at Superdrug, The Perfume Shop, John Lewis, Boots and Debenhams at £33 to £36 for the 30ml size.

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