I don’t know about you, but in the current situation, dressing up, putting shoes and make up on have been really helping to keep me sane.
And Doll 10 really brought a big smile to my indoor face when they sent their latest and lovely makeup launches over.
The Doll Skin 6 piece perfecting collection, available at QVC, contains foundation, concealer, lipstick, mascara and a blusher which create a beautifully polished makeup look.
Their Hydragel Lipstick in Throwing Kisses is my perfect nude – simple as that.
It has a lustrous finish and is light, hydrating with good pigmentation, feeling super comfortable on the lips.
Wearing the foundation while in quarantine has become such a treat and luxury, and the Doll Skin Anti-Stress Skin Perfector foundation really fits the bill.
Its medium-high coverage helps smooth and even out skin texture, and covers a multitude of sins (not that anyone is looking!). It applies and blends very well, has a decent durability and polished finish.
Comes in six shades and I am wearing Medium, which is a good match for my skin tone, but needs a little bit of bronzer as I am (still) hanging on to a little bit of tan from Brazil.
Even though I should, I don’t often use concealer but the T.C.E This Covers Everything has put it back into my routine.
This heavy weight concealer indeed covers everything and it is great for under the eye. With a blend of silk pigments, it also helps leave the super delicate area with an awake look – and we all need that!
Although it has full coverage it is super light, applying and absorbing well, really adding to the foundation to more polished look.
It does not crease, I love the metal tip and comes in six shades and I am wearing Medium.
Surprise number one: a creamy blusher that suits my skin. The Dream Whip Multitasking Blush & Highlight Soufflé in You’re Making Me Blush is really a dream.
The super light gel formula blends really well and it does not sink on my scars, which is usually the problem with non-powder blushers.
The pigmentation is superb and this shade, a pearly pink-ish bronze, is really pretty, delivering a healthy flish to the cheeks.
Second surprise: a plastic bristle mascara that works for me. The Efforltlash XL mascara’s formula is jet black and shiny, delivering well pigmented separation to lashes.
I do struggle a bit with plastic bristles, but this delivered a decent finish, with good durability.
Finally, we all love a good brush. The No. 9 Eraser Buffing Brush is densely packed with super soft synthetic bristles to seamlessly buff creams and powders into its place.
The whole collection works together wonderfully, creating a great look, but every single piece is also very versatile in any make up bag. Also, how gorgeous is the packaging in blush pink and rose gold?
You can get the Doll 10 Doll Skin 6-piece Perfecting Collection gorgeous set from QVC. It costs £65 (plus £2.95pp) which is great value for six quality full size products at just over £10 each!
You know the drill, but I’ll say anyway: this post contains PR samples as products were GIFTED, with no obligation to post. Opinions are honest and my own.
Every season there are a couple of brands that will launch a product that stays with me for a long time. GOSH is certainly of them.
They are always focused on genuine Nordic ingredient, and are always introducing new ones into the lines. This season, meet the dandelion.
My favourite is the 001 Highlight Vanilla, which is a fabulous discreet highlighter, perfect to use alone or underneath a powder one for amped-up glow.
For the eyes comes the Volume Serum Mascara, which has the finest comb brush I’ve ever seen.
In the eyeliner department, there’s a fabulous super pigmented Giant Pro Kajal (vegan friendly, £7.49), the Giant Pro Double Ended Liner (£10.99). Durability is great and application easy, although I struggle a bit getting definition with kajals.
Now, the Eye Xpression eyeshadow quads (£8.99) are super useful: perfect size to have on the go, fabulous, versatile shades with the exceptional quality of GOSH shadows. Warm neutral BackToNature has become a fixture in my makeup bag.
Never thought I’d openly talk about wearing my subversions and perversions, but hey, here we are.
Subversion is a classic eyelash primer, white in colour to coat all lashes previous to receiving the mascara. The formula is creamy and the brush is a medium size, with bristles the pick all lashes.
Perversion is the ultra black mascara with a large brush. Despite the fact the brush is almost on the too large side for my taste, it does work very well. The formula is creamy and thick, and it gives decent separation and superb volume, lacking a bit in lengthening.
I got those (plus my all time favourite Eyeshadow Potion Primer) at the launch of the new Urban Decay shop at Carnaby Street, London. The European flagship store in split in two floors of all UD colourful fabulousness.
And I hear Urban Decays is opening three more stores in the UK by the end of the year: London King’s Cross (24 Nov), Nottingham (1 Dec) and Liverpool (9 Dec).
Mentioned many times before, but always worth reiterating: every season, GOSH launches something that stays it me until the next season. Fact.
I’ll start with my favourite product in the collection, the Overnight Primer Oil Essence. It won my heart just for being an oil. However, it is an addition to the massive selection of primers that GOSH offers.
Still on the makeup/skincare territory, comes the Foundation Plus+. With a dewy coverage, this foundation and concealer in one also provide nourishment from liquid sea minerals, hyaluronic acid and bladderwrack seaweed.
Also for the face, there is the super practical Contour’n Strobe Kit. A massive disc with a pretty highlighter, a soft blusher, a pretty bronzer and a great contour shade, for only 12.99.
Moving on from skin, I have to talk about the Giant Pro Liner. This chubby eyeliner might seem impractical, but it’s a blessing for thicker lines – the way I like mine. The tip is just thin enough o produce a decent flick.
More on eyes, the Lash Sculpting Fibre Mascara contains fibres in its formula that attach to the lashes, offering super volume and length.
What about brows? Covered! Also with fibres, the Brow sculpting Fibre Gel is a all-in-one brow product, offering colour, filling, setting and boosting.
Of course, their superb Velvet Touch lipstick range gets some autumnal matt additions: Cinnamon, Cranberry, Grape and Purple.
Every season gosh does not fail to impress. They always bring something out that stays with me until their next launch – and beyond.
Decidedly neutral, and very matte, this baby is all you need to keep your eyes in check. And its size means it’s handbag-friendly and the day-to-night transition is easy-peasy!
My second favourite is the Lumi Drops. A lovely highlighter with a tint, this light liquid formula will apply well and stay.
One that is already available (all the others launch in March), the Primer+ Illuminating Skin Perfector is really great.
Their big launch are the lip oils. Rather similar to the Clarins ones, these are the first “drugstore” version of the product. I am not big on lip gloss, but these are not too sticky and offer good moisturisation to lips!
Of course, I couldn’t leave the lipsticks behind. I have a mini arsenal of GOSH lipsticks at home, which come in to play pretty much every week.
Finally, the eyeshadow pencils. Oh, how I love those. I do not joke when I say my beloved Charlotte Tilbury Don’t have that much on them. I have the metallic ones, from a few season ago and this time they brought them out in matte.
Oh, the feeling to be sent something brand new, yet to be launched, that not many people have seen, just like you were let in to a secret….
It has a medium creaminess formula – not too dry, not too wet. It’s super black and glossy.
There is something about Benefit I canto quite gauge. I love their packaging, adore the name and the concept behind their products, see thousands of people who swear by them but nothing I tried seemed to quite work for me.
The formula is gel, in a watery brown colour, which is great and can be used on its own for a lighter, feathery and super defined look.
Mascara application (admittedly, 
The 
2015. What a fabulous year for the blog. I never expected all the amazing things that happened, brands, products and, above all, people I met.
Charlotte Tilbury
Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Love bite lipstick: usually a finish I don’t go for, a kind of lustre, but oh, boy, this is pretty. An orange red, with a fab sheen, but not too much, and great durability.
And a special mention to my favourite budget highlighter: 
So Many Lovely Things 