Review: Natural Collection & Rimmel's matte finish

Hi Guys!

So a few weeks ago I purchased some stuff from Boots and I just wanted to let you know what I thought about them.

[Above]

3 items from Natural Collection, Boots. Cost me £3.98 for all 3 items because of a 3 for 2 promo.

But anyway, what did I think?

Foundation: Frankly, this was crap, but RRP £1.99 who cares! I just wanted to have something in my bag to refresh my face if I was out and this does the job. I think that if you had great skin (which I do not) this would actually be an ok product. But for me, I could not use this in the morning, it wouldn't be enough for me, I would scare grown men. The consistency is a bit runny and so coverage isn't great. I actually really liked the colour and dewyness (is that a word?!).

Concealer: Firstly, I could have probably gone a shade darker but that's not Natural Collection's fault. Similar complaint as the foundation - too runny. It takes the redness out of my spots/blemishes but it's not hard core enough for me. I got this as a possible replacement for my clinique concealer but I am def going to have to invest in a new concealer.

Blusher: YAY!!! Love this blusher!! The colour is really pretty, just pink and gorgeous. Surprise surprise the staying power isn't great, but I don't mind reapplying. Great cheapy item to have. I've been using this everyday. I think I will get the other colours.

Overall conclusion: You get what you pay for. I am not put off Natural Collection at all. I would recommend this for people with great skin who just want to wear make up rather then people who depend on make up (i.e moi!). Also, i think this would make a great starter kit if you are just getting into make up. Safe pretty colours and nothing too fancy.

[Above]

Rimmel's Matte Finish.

What can I say? I love it. Totally happy I finally bought one. I will review this in two parts:

Rimmel: This is a Rimmel product (obviously). You can get a matte finish topcoat from quite a few brands now. I am glad I want for Rimmel as I love the maxi brush, especially for a topcoat where you can just plop it on; perfect!

Matte Finish: I love the matte look. But there are two things you need to know if you are venturing into matte nail world:

1) matte chips easier then 'normal'. Just a heads up!

2) the matte top coat fades. E.g I painted my nails last week and finished off with a matte topcoat. At the beginning of the week my nails were matte green and pink leopard print, by Wednesday they were shiny green and pink leopard print. There are two things you can do about this: i) reapply the matte topcoat, easy peasy ii) embrace the change, i just see it as a 2-in-1 nail look!

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NOTD: Green & Pink matte leopard

[ABOVE photo with flash - LA Colors in Palm Tree]

Hi Guys!

I've finally chopped off my talons and given them some love.

My friend at work sweetly left me a gift on my desk Friday; LA Colors in 'palm tree'. Pic above is 2 coats. LA Colors is a bargain at £1 and I have a few colours from them already and most of them are really good for the price (my beloved silver glitter is from LA Colors).

I wanted to do a strawberry or watermelon design on my nail (I like to optimise my short nails before they turn back into talons) but.....too lazy and stuck with what I knew.

[ABOVE photo L-R 12345] These are the polishes I used and the order I used them in:

1) Painted all my nails in palm tree, 2 coats

2) As you can see I've progressed from using toothpicks and blu tack. This time I used a bobby pin (photo BELOW) to draw on my uber messy leopard pattern . I poured collection 2000's ebony into a vaseline tin lid and dipped a bent out bobby pin to use as my tool. I used the yellow bobby pin for the next step...

3) I used Elf's 'fluorescent pink' to make little blobs inside my leopard pattern.

4) I then used Elf's 'clear' to seal

[ABOVE photo with flash - without matte finish]

and then

5) My new baby, rimmel's matte finish to make everything matte

[BELOW with flash - with matte finish - the final NOTD]

NOTD: matte temptation

Hi Guys!

Finally I got my hands on a matte finish polish :)

(Matte finish is used like a to coat, pop it on top of a nail colour and it will make it look matte).

Been wanting something like this for ages but wasn't sure if it was worth the bother. Well, I've had it for a day and a night and I am happy I got it.

FYI Boots are having their 3 for 2 event on beauty products (also baby products and hair products) so I grabbed two matte finishes (one for me, one for EK) and I also got a 2-in-1 top and base coat. RRP £4.59 each so I got 3 for £9.18, which equals £3.06 each.

(I was initially going to get 17's matte finish (under £4 btw) because it was the cheapest and had decent reviews, but when I saw rimmel's version I had to get it because I love the rimmel maxi brush polishes)

Anyways, enough with the words; typing is wearing down my nail tips lol ;)

As you can see, the matte finish is a...murky whitish colour. It does not lighten your polish, just makes it matte and bang on trend ;)

[BELOW PHOTO] Top thumb is with the matte finish, bottom thumb is without the matte finish...

[ABOVE photo] - Revlon's Tropical Temptation (a corally type shade) on it's own (2 coats)

[BELOW photo] - With one coat of Rimmel's matte finish

Last pic [ABOVE] taken by my mummy, both hands together.

Conclusion?

Ok so it's not curing cancer or ending world hunger but I think it's great and (hopefully) it'll encourage me to use more of my polish collection and it gives all colours a second life. And for me personally, a matte finish is the style I want - crackle top coats, nail art and glitter is all very well (and bloody fun) but matte finish in my opinion is cool and toned down, and with the right colour is, ironically, very grown up and polished.

Have you tried this? Interested or just another fad?