Quick Review: Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder

A few weeks ago, when I decided that having more pan than powder was a bad idea, I decided to try something new - I usually get a translucent powder, or a very light shade, just to set my foundation - but I went for something different this time.

On an impulse buy, I got the Rimmel London Stay Matte pressed powder in the colour Silky Beige, which is basically just a natural skin tone colour.  Nothing crazy or super dark, just a normal colour that fits my light skin quite well.

After swapping foundations last month, I needed a bit of extra colour, as the shade I have does come off as a bit yellow in some lights.

I use a very light application on a large powder brush, and just sweep it across my T-Zone, chin, and a bit on my cheeks if I need it.  It lasts all day for me, which I'm impressed with, and uses natural minerals for shine control.

Although I like the effect this has, I am in the market for a new powder, something a bit more natural, without parabens and all the other crap they've thrown into this as filler.

For something cheap and easy to pick up, it is a pretty good product, and until I find something new to replace it, I'll stick with this one.

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Review: Glossybox February 2013

Glossybox is a monthly subscription of 5 high-end beauty product samples (with some full-size products sometimes, too) for £10 + £2.95 p+p)

You can Glossydots by reviewing the products in a quick survey, or by inviting friends, and redeem points for a free box.  Each survey is worth 50 points, so if you review 5 products a month, every 5th Glossybox should be free.  You get 200 Glossydots for every friend that signs up and places an order (1000 Glossydots = 1 free box)


February's Glossybox was Valentines Day themed - 'here to make sure you’ll have the night of your life whomever you end up spending it with.'  

I don't know if I got the leftover products no-one else would want, but I hated this month's box and wouldn't have chosen any of them.  This blog post will not be a good advertisement for Glossybox.  It is the first box I've actively disliked and been completely disappointed with - so if you're after an uplifting read, this is not the place to be.  Sorry.

The box itself is very pretty this month - with a big pink bow and pink tissue paper, very Valentines-esque.  That's where the love ends.  I honestly thought I'd never love anything ever again when I opened this box - like all capability for happy feelings had been sucked out of me.  Maybe the box contained some rogue miniature dementors, I don't know.


The first item in the box was an Anatomicals shower gel.  It's a full size, and it smells of rose, so I get to smell like Turkish Delight for about 3 minutes until the smell wears off. 

There's really not much to say that I haven't already said in the review of the last Anatomicals product Glossybox sent me - except that this isn't as nice as the grapefruit exfoliating body scrub.  

It is a good size, the packaging is nice and bright, but the smell doesn't last and you need quite a lot to get a good lather.  I wouldn't say it's worth more than the £2.99 it costs.

The next item was Sassoon Professional Illuminating Restore, a deep-treatment conditioner loaded with all the parabens and chemicals you could dream of, which you leave on for about 15 minutes after shampooing, and rinse out to find no change whatsoever to your hair, and get out of the bath/shower disappointed.

I just don't understand how a deep conditioner could contain three different types of alcohol.

It does contain Hydrolyzed Keratin, however it's in such small amounts that I don't see it doing much in the way of improving the condition of your hair.  I know I didn't notice any difference in mine, apart from that it was quite drying and made my hair very difficult to comb out.  

It's also a case of paying for the brand rather than the product with this - as it has a RRP of £20.75/130ml.  Vastly overpriced in my opinion.



Third in the box was the Fat Cat mascara from MeMeMe - a range I've wanted to try (although what I actually wanted to try was the foundation, and maybe the highlighter).  

If you're looking for a mascara that creates a look SO natural noone will believe you're wearing any at all - this is definitely the mascara for you.  The only way I could tell I had mascara on was when it fell onto my cheeks after about 5 minutes.

It's the thinnest coating I've ever had from any mascara ever - I don't know if it's the formula or the big bristle-y brush, but it doesn't seem to hold on the lashes, and it's not buildable.  Maybe I have freak-of-nature lashes, but every other one I've tried has worked for me.

It has a RRP £7.99/8ml, although I wouldn't recommend this mascara at all - there are far better high street mascaras out there for a fiver.



Next  was a loose shimmery eye powder from Mica Bella Cosmetics.  It does say on the description that it's a pigment, but I refuse to call it that as it is not pigmented well at all.  The description also boasts that it contains 100% Natural Mica - except for the possible Carmine and Titanium Dioxide.
Carmine is a colouring which is known to cause severe allergic reactions, and Titanium Dioxide is dangerous when inhaled in micro-ground form as it is in this product.
Aside from that, it's generally just not a very good product.  I wore it today in place of my usual dark brown crease colour, and it lasted all of about 30 seconds.  The shimmer disappeared when I was blending it out, and the rest either soaked into my skin somehow, or was blown away by a gentle breeze somewhere between leaving the house and getting to my car.  I was left with dirty brown smudge patches on my eyelids.  So cute.
Here's the kicker though, the RRP is £14.95/2.5g.  If you pay that much for this product, please seek professional help.


The final, and most insulting, product in the Valentines Day box was a lipstick from Miners Cosmetics. 'Perfect your pout with Miners Cosmetics range of stunning and vibrant Lip Colours.'
 I'll have to double check the shade I received, but I like to call it Slutty Robot.  Now if you do like to dress as a slutty robot, this lipstick is PERFECT.  For everyone else, however, you will want to rip your face off when you try it.
It's a frosted, shimmery, very light lilac/pink, and it feels and smells about as cheap as it makes you look.   It sits on top of the lips rather than being in any way moisturising, and just applying it for the photo to the left made my day a whole lot worse.

(The colour I have is 'Dreamer')
RRP. £3.99/4g. 


The people at Glossybox also added a heart shaped lolly to the box as an extra treat.  That was the highlight.  Hopefully next month will be a whole heap of amazingness, or my subscription will be gone.

Fingers crossed!


Previous Post: My Miracle Procuct - Tamanu Oil
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My Miracle Product: Tamanu Oil

Tamanu Oil is a product I've been using for over a year now, but I kind of lost my bottle when we moved house, and I've just rediscovered it's amazing-ness when I found my bottle last week.

It's a soft, smooth oil with so many amazing properties - wound healing, anti-inflammatory, scar healing, pain relief and my personal favourite - skin clearing.

I can't remember exactly where I heard about it (probably a YouTube video) but I researched it before I bought some, and learnt that it was used in the late 1920's by a nun to treat the pain of conditions such as rheumatism, sciatica, shingles and later she used it to treat leprosy - with positive results.

It comes from the nut of the Tamanu tree, which is native to South-East Asia, and islanders have used it for years as skincare.

The oil contains:
Up to 17% Palmitic Acid
Upto 17% Stearic Acid
Upto 50% Oleic Acid (Omega 9)
And upto 50% Linoleic Acid (Omega 6)

These together possess a capability to promote the growth of new tissue, along with anti-bacterial and anti-oxidant properties, it's perfect for a skin clearing remedy.

So I figured it was worth a go - it's not expensive and I only bought a small bottle so even if I hated it it wouldn't be too much of a waste.

I apply mine twice a day - morning and night, just a small amount straight onto my problem areas - redness, spots, dry skin, acne scars etc - and I can feel an improvement almost straight away, but after about a week of use you can see the improvement. It only takes a few days to fully heal spots and dry skin.

It doesn't clog up my skin or leave it feeling greasy and dirty - it absorbs really quickly and makes my skin feel fuller and brighter straight away.

I've used it for other problems, too - cold sores, damaged hair, burns, razor burn, cuts - it speeds up the healing process for all of them, and I can see now why my skin got so crappy when I lost my bottle!

I also turned my step-mum onto Tamanu Oil, for her arthritis pains, and she definitely felt an improvement (until she tried to take the bottle in her hand-luggage on a flight and it was confiscated at customs).

Different brands of the oil have different smells - my first bottle smelled very nutty, whereas my second bottle had a distinct smell of curry, but it all does the same thing, and the smell fades off as the oil absorbs into your skin.

There are a few different 'recipes' for the different uses of Tamanu Oil, for scar healing, massage blends for pain relief, dry skin, but my favourite way to apply has always been straight from the bottle, just 100% Tamanu Oil straight onto the skin.

I use it either before or in place of my moisturiser (if using before, make sure it has mostly absorbed into your skin first) and just put my finger over the top of the bottle, tip it up and use whatever I get out - you don't need much, it's really moisturising.

It makes my skin feel like it's had a really good drink.  That's the best way I can describe it, I think.  It's super hydrating and moisturising, makes my skin softer and fuller and I've fallen in love with it all over again.

I found that the best place to buy it was from Ebay, from sellers with a high rating.  It generally costs between £4-10 for 10-60ml, depending on the seller.  I found a cold-pressed 30ml bottle for £4.19 from AkomaTradeUK on Ebay.



I definitely suggest trying Tamanu Oil for skincare, leave comments below if you've tried it and let me know what you thought!



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