Review: Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream

Now this review has been a long time coming! Yet another sample I received in a She Said Beauty box has won it's way into my heart. The Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream:

  

So what exactly is this product of the moment, BB (Blemish Balm) cream? Well it originates from South Asia, South Korea to be precise and has exploded in popularity since it's use on the theatre scene. It's most easily described as a tinted moisturiser with a wide range of other benefits (depending on the individual product) and is seen as a skincare and makeup product combined.

 This particular BB cream boasts the following:

• natural and flawless coverage for all skin tones
• oil-control and a natural matte finish
• essential nutrients to revitalise skin
• all day hydration
• SPF30.PA++ to protect against UV rays and free radicals
• helps reduce thr formations of wrinkles and lines
• a long lasting formula

The qualities that particularly resonated with me were the skin balancing because I have a combination skin type and love products that dry the oily bits and moisturise the dry bits. Also the SPF as it is always important to protect the skin in any weather! 

The whole range of Ginvera products are green tea focused and it is used as a main ingredient. Green tea is a natural antioxidant that is 20x more powerful than Vitamin C - very good stuff.

My first impression of this product is that the formula was *very* runny. This fact combined with the design of the sample packaging meant I lost some to leakage (hence I was pleased when their next sample in an SSB box was in a tube!) However due to this thin texture it is very easily blended and my skin absorbed it quickly. It left a matte finish but pleasingly didn't cling to the drier parts of my complexion. The colour scared me a little at first as it seemed far too dark for my skin tone, but with enough blending I was pleasantly surprised at how it dispersed. 

It gives a light-medium coverage depending on how much you put on and how much you blend it. It seems to be easily buildable too, so perfect for days where you're skin just isn't behaving! I was also pleased at it's longevity - it comfortably lasted a full day at work and I didn't need to retouch or apply any blotting powder.

The only thing that put me off this product was the smell. It is slightly biscuity and quite strong, but seems to fade once it's blended in.

Overall I am very impressed. Granted I haven't tried a large number of BB creams, but this really does give me little reason to keep looking for my perfect one. I am likely to invest in the full sized tube in the near future to see how it performs over the long-term and may even be tempted to try a couple more products from the company.

This product along with the full range can be ordered from www.janiro.co.uk and is priced at £20 for a 25ml tube.

Review: Yves Saint Laurent Faux Cils mascara

A brief introduction to this product taken from the YSL website:

"This award-winning volumizing mascara achieves a dramatic result in a single stroke. The secret? The triple-film complex. A coating film for intensity, a conditioning film with pro-vitamin B5 and aloe vera for curves and a fixing film with vinyl polymer for long-lasting effectiveness. The brush applicator combines nylon fibers of varying diameters for volume enhancement, as never before"

You can get this for £23 at Boots. I wouldn't normally spend this much on such an every day make up staple unless I was having a particularly bad Monday or was experiencing a day of absolutely no willpower. Thankfully this wasn't the case here as I received it as a rather lovely gift; I was really excited that I was going to be able to try such a talked about product!

As with all YSL cosmetics this mascara comes in the traditional luxurious looking reflective gold packaging which looks suitably posh and impressive in any makeup bag.

The wand is a standard length and the brush is dense and quite long. It picks up just the right amount of product needed and doesn't overload your lashes after one sweep. You can definitely tell the difference after this one coat, but the mascara can easily be layered without clumping to produce an even more dramatic look. An extra positive is that this product conditions your lashes at the same time. I can honestly say that the formula both lengthened and volumised an impressive amount. My lashes were defined and I experienced no fall out during the day.

The only downside with this (other than the obvious and to be expected high-end price tag) is how quickly the tube dried out. With most mascaras I've usually found this to happen as it's running out after a couple of months, but with this I was surprised to see the bristles starting to stick together after only a few weeks. I'd expect this seemingly superior formula to last a little longer considering the cost!

 (After only a few weeks use)

I'd be happy to receive this as a gift again, but I'm unsure as to whether I'd repurchase this myself. If YSL could extend the life of the product to guarantee a solid three months of clump free use I'd definitely be tempted.

Have you tried this mascara? What did you think?

Review: LaylaD Natural Beauty Honey Moisturiser

In my last post I mentioned my slight annoyance at the fact beauty boxes often send out cards within them detailing products that aren't actually in the box. I was quite sad this month when I discovered that She Said Beauty had teamed up with LaylaD and were including their Honey Moisturiser in the boxes. It was however missing from my box :( I'd heard some good things about their products and I expressed my (lighthearted) distress in a simple tweet. Before I knew it they had tweeted back offering to send me out a sample themselves and of course I said yes. Hooray!

I'm @lucicouture on Twitter if you'd like to follow! :)

So this cute little pot very quickly found it's way into my life:

I tried it straight away and adore it. As a general rule I love honey based products (I'm still upset that MAC discontinued their Naked Honey Skin Salve), but this seems perfectly suited to my skin type and leaves it feeling soft, but not greasy despite the seemingly rich consistency. It has a very gentle fragrance and as the cream glides on so well I found that a little goes a long way.

From my experience of the company so far I'd highly recommend them. I really like that their products are organic, paraben-free and not tested on animals. They are also a family-based company and source all of the ingredients for their products locally in the UK.

A full size pot of this moisturiser costs £12.99 and can be ordered online. Check them out at their website www.layladnaturalbeauty.co.uk to browse their full product range and I'm sure they'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. You can also follow them on Twitter (@layladbeauty) for updates!

Let me know what you think if you have tried it!