Treat yourself Tuesday: bumper beauty review

It's been a while since my last beauty review but #treatyourselftuesday is back and it's a bumper issue! I've treated myself to some new beauty bits and bobs from The Body Shop, Soap and Glory and Seventeen - a girl can never have enough make up and I just can't resist anything new, that promises to give me a good glow or just simply smells lovely.

Nivea
I recently read about this article in the Daily Fail and just had to put it to the test myself - after all, it's just 99p for 50ml! According to the product test the writer did, the standard Nivea Creme in those navy blue pots, with no fancy packaging or wild claims, can plump your skin, smooth wrinkles and give you the same result as face creams that retail for £100. Certainly worth a look in my opinion! I've used this for a week so far and my skin is lovely and soft. It's quite thick and hard to apply at first, so perhaps suited more to mature or dry skin, but once you've worked with it, it blends in. It does leave my skin quite shiny, but when I use the serum mentioned below, followed by my usual foundation and powder, my face is moisturised and not shiny at all. I'll let you know if it works wonders in a couple of weeks...

The Body Shop
I have always loved this place, ever since I was young when my mum took me to the factory in Littlehampton and gave me £10 to spend in the shop. £10 went a lot further back then and I made sure I spent every penny, buying those little bath balls for 5p just to use all my pocket money up! Back then, the satsuma range was my favourite but now, I'm a little bit in love with the new honey collection.

In my Body Shop stash was the new honey lip butter. I love their lip butters and this one is nice - it's light, has a yummy scent but it's perhaps not as creamy as I would have liked it to have been. The shea butter balm and passionfruit butter balm remain my favourites but this new one is still a nice pick me up to keep in your handbag. Verdict: 3/5.

I also bought the Honey and Oat 3-in-1 Scrub Mask and absolutely love this. It looks like lumpy porridge and has that kind of consistency too but oh my good, it feels lovely and cool when you put it on! The scent isn't overpowering and the scrub action is gentle. I've left this on for 10 minutes whilst in the shower and it's felt so nice on my skin, plus I looked nice and fresh after it was all washed away. I like the way this scrub feels and it's gentle to the skin, compared to the tingly effect you get with my fave masks, Soap & Glory No Pores Allowed and Good Things Five Minute Facial Mask (both amazing products, go try them now!) so if you've got sensitive skin, this is a great choice for you. Verdict: 4/5.

I also bought a bargain duo from the Vitamin C range, where for £16 you get their microdermabrasion face wash (which I have yet to try) and their radiance serum. The serum has a light scent and feels like velvet on your skin when applied. It sinks in and gives you a great base for your make up. Verdict: 4/5.

Soap and Glory
My favourite brand always has something new to catch my eye. I bought the Archery™ Brow Tint and Pencil in Love is Blonde as my eyebrows are quite light and not very dense so I always need some help to define them so people know they are really there. It has one fine felt tip end to colour in your brows and then a slim, waxy pencil end to help define and shape them. It's easy to use, the colour is light but can be built up and  the result is really natural. Easy to use and the best result I've had from a brow pencil. Verdict: 5/5.

I have slightly oily skin and always need to set my make up with a brush of powder. I love Soap and Glory's One Heck of a Blot  as it's light, invisible on the skin but really effective at managing shine, but the Boots I went to didn't have this in stock. So, I chose the new Kick Ass Instant Retouch, which has a slightly yellow hue to counteract any redness. I applied this first with a sponge but it was far too thick on my skin, so I now use a brush. It does the trick and I found I didn't have to reapply during the day but I'll be buying the other powder again when this one runs out. Verdict: 2/5.

I think with these two latest purchases, I really have tried every Soap and Glory make up line going!

Seventeen
This bargain make-up brand from Boots always keeps on top of the trends and is great at interpreting high end products at a snip of the price.

In my latest Seventeen binge - it is buy one get one half price on all make up at Boots right now - I snapped up the new Wow! Highlighter, Perk and Paint Jumbo Eyeliner Duo and Wet Look Lacquer Eyeliner.

Highlighter - you only need one small pump of this and even that's a little too much, it's easy to blend and leaves a nice glow on your cheeks without looking too shiny or using glitter particles that can leave you looking like a teenager in the 90's. This is a great product to give you a lift, it'll last ages and does just the same at Benefit's High Beam for a fraction of the price. Verdict: 4/5.

Perk and Paint lower lash line, Wet Look Liner upper lash line, S&G Archery Brow Tint on my eyebrows

Perk and Paint Eyeliner - eyeliner is my signature look, I just don't look right without it. I love the smoky eye look and loved the idea of this duo as it has a pinky white highlighter stick then a black kohl pencil at the other end to line your eyes. The highlighter again offers the same kind of look that Benefit has in their make up range but for much, much less and the kohl pencil is easy to blend. I still find I need an eyeshadow base or a quick brush of eyeshadow over my liner to make the pencil stay and stop it from transferring to the top of my eyelid but I found this was easy to use and I was pleased with the result. Verdict: 3/5.

Forgive the red tone to this photo - poor lighting in my bathroom!

Wet Look Eyeliner - if you read my review of the L'Oreal Paris Blackbuster Eyeliner, you'll know I like a bold result from a liquid eyeliner but aside from Soap and Glory's Supercat, I've yet to find it.Well, this wet look liner doesn't quite make the grade either but it is easy to apply, gives a clean line and has staying power too. I was just a bit disappointed that the finished look didn't look as 'wet' as expected. I'm a fan of felt pen liners rather than the traditional tiny brushes but if you have a steady hand, this product does the trick. Verdict: 2/5.