My Current Favourite Highlighter

When it comes to highlighters I am a little bit obsessed...  I am just drawn to their glowy goodness!  However I have acknowledged and accepted this obsession and have stopped myself buying any more for the time being.  The one I am going to talk about today is a rediscovery, my auntie brought me is back from Florida a few year ago (yes, years, I'm not good with these make up use before things haha) and it just sat in my drawer for rather a long time.  In January I had a good look through all my make up and decided to start using some products that I had been ignoring - this was one of them - I sat it out with my brushes and things in an effort to make me use it, but it didn't really work until very recently!

The main thing that has put me off using this product is the packaging, it's got one of those horrid brushes on top which dispenses out an uncontrollable amount of powder.  Why it's got this brush I have no idea because I hope to god people don't use this all over their face!

The product I am going to talk about is Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Illuminating Veil in the shade Nude Glow.

With a lot of highlighting products I find that they have a heavy gold shimmer, NARS Albatross for example, which is really pretty, but it can be rather obvious if you are heavy handed and go over the top with it.  What I like about this one is that is has more sort of pinky/peachy coloured shimmer in it.  I feel that Nude Glow is quite an appropriate name for it, it just makes your skin look very naturally glowy!

With flash

Natural lighting, no flash

Instead of using the brush which comes with it I use a small tapered powder brush, specifically Sigma F35, I also have the Real Techniques Contour Brush which is a similar shape and would be good too.  However this can be quite messy as you need to unscrew the top and just dip it in!  It does have a filter but the holes are quite big and mine has a lot of powder sitting on it at the moment.  Then I apply it to the tops of my cheekbones and sometimes just under and above the arch of my eyebrows.

As a comparison I have applied it beside (from left to right) Illamasqua Powdered Metal in Ether and NARS Albatross, with Nude Glow at the end.  You can definitely see the difference in colour, although it does still have a slight gold element to it is more pinker than the other two.  It is also quite buildable which is good for if you were going out at night and wanted a heavier highlight!

I adjusted the highlights in this photo to bring out the colours in each powder

With flash

Unfortunately this was bought in America so it's not available in the UK, I think there is some Physicians Formula on Amazon but it is just silly prices!  Here is a link to the item on their website anyway, where it costs $12.95.  However, I think I will have enough to keep me going for a while, it's so huge!

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P.S. If you are a follower, remember to enter my giveaway [link] - it ends on Saturday! :)

Not Like The Movies Vs. Silvery Lilac

Forgive me if I seem rather obsessed with this sort of colour!  Here is another comparison of O.P.I.'s  Not Like The Movies (not CF, from the Katy Perry Collection), this time with Barry M's Silvery Lilac which is one of their recent releases.  Previously I compared it to Knackered which you can see here.  However Silverly Lilac is much more of a dupe which is very exciting!

In the bottle they look very similar and fortunately this follows through when you apply it to the nail - or nail wheel in this case! 

It is Barry M on the left and O.P.I. on the right, this took a lot of concentration to make sure I didn't forget which was which between coats haha!  I used 3 coats of each to make sure they were opaque.  From the photos you can see that there is a slight difference but it's not all that noticeable!  SL looks a bit more green and NLTM looks a bit more silver.  They both have the subtle glitter through them but in NLTM it just looks like dots rather than glitter, you can really see the sparkle from SL in the out of focus middle photo.

I think that I actually prefer Silvery Lilac which is only £2.99 and cruelty free!  However I haven't actually tried it on my nails yet so when I do I'll show another quite comparison between them.  I am really pleased to have found this, especially as the O.P.I. is just a mini one so won't last for very long!

L-R: Barry M, O.P.I.

L-R: Barry M, O.P.I.

L-R: Barry M, O.P.I.

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Origins VitaZing Vs. Soap & Glory Glow Job

Origins VitaZing is my staple daily item, I use it every morning before putting on my make up.  This is good for me as I am terrible as routines!!  However due to Origins' parent company Estée Lauder recently being put in the spotlight for either lying about animal testing, or starting it up again (I'm not sure of the details), I have been on the hunt for an alternative!

I really did not expect to find one at all to be honest, never mind one which is so similar!  I saw it mentioned on Behind These Closed Eyes' blog, and knew I had to go out and try this ASAP!  The product is Glow Job (oooh err!) by Soap & Glory.

Price:  VitaZing comes in at £26, however I used to buy it with my staff discount so got it for £22.10 (it used to be £25, and my staff discount used to be 20% so would get it for £20, booo!) and Glow Job is £9.

Application:  You only need a pea sized amount for both of these creams, any more than that and you can end up with streaky and uneven coverage.  VitaZing is easier to apply in that you just rub it into you skin and it changes colour - actual voodoo magic - whereas Glow Job contains bronzing balls which burst to release colour.  So for this one you need to apply it to your fingers then rub them together to burst all the balls (lol...) and mix in the bronzeness before putting it onto your face.  You do not want to just rub this straight on, you will end up with the beads bursting all over the place and it will be hard to make it even after that!

Appearance/Scent:  VitaZing is a beigey colour with tiny dark specks, and Glow Job is just pale white colour until the beads are burst and mixed in when it turns to a more golden tan colour.  Personally I prefer the smell of VitaZing, it is a fresher fruity smell where as Glow Job is sweeter, reminds me of something but I can't quite think what...

Packaging:  I prefer VitaZing's packaging for this one as it's a flip lid so much easier when you're in a rush in the morning!  Glow Job is just a twist on lid which can be awkward at times.  However, every morning when I go to use it VitaZing has a gooey, congealed bit at the nozzle which I need to wipe off before using which is really annoying! I'm sure this isn't really to do with packaging but just thought I'd throw it in there!

So here are some really awkward pictures of my face!

Without any face make up on

Wearing Origins VitaZing Moisturiser

Wearing Soap & Glory Glow Job

And my overall thoughts on them both...

VitaZing:  I prefer the application and smell of this but it is no longer cruelty free in my eyes and also has quite a hefty price tag!

Glow Job:  Love the price, it's also more accessible as it's available from Boots rather than an Origins counter.  It does have a more greasy feel to the cream which sank into my face however it left more of a residue on my hands.  It also doesn't contain SPF which is a bit annoying, however it means you can wear it for occasions where there will be photos taken and it won't make your face look shiny!

So to be honest I'd say they are quite interchangeable!  Except Glow Job is almost a 3rd of the price and it is most importantly cruelty free!

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Knackered Vs. Not Like The Movies

I said in a recent NOTD that I thought that Not Like The Movies seems quite similar to Butter London's Knackered, which I don't own.  My friend Gillian owns it and she kindly took a photo of it on her nails for me!  It is quite hard to tell as they are both under different conditions but I would say that they have a similar tone - the green/purple duochrome - although Gillian's photo shows it distinctly more purple!  Also the glitter in Knackered is much more visible and very sparkly, it's very subtle in the O.P.I. one.  They are definitely not interchangeable but do have similarities.  I kind of want it now... oops!  Maybe Gillian will let me paint my nails with it, hint hint!!

Butter London Knackered

O.P.I. Not Like The Movies

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