6.20.2015

Anastasia Beverly Hills | Contour Kit in Light/Medium

6.20.2015

Everyone who keeps up with the beauty industry knows about the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit.  And I seriously mean everyone! It's considered the holy grail of makeup products and with everyone obsessing over it, I was curious to try it out.

Anastasia Beverly Hills as a brand is not as readily available to those of us in the UK as it is in the US. You can't test it out in your local Sephora because we don't have one of those. It's also a lot more expensive on UK websites. I know so many people who have bought ABH makeup from the much cheaper US website to suddenly being hit with huge customs fees when the post finally arrives. So it really worth all the hassle?

  Everything we know about the makeup ABH produces is by reading blogs, watching youtube videos (which are probably sponsored) and our own personal experiences. After launching an incredibly successful brow makeup range, they decided to expand their range and voila, what does everyone suddenly think they need... a contour palette! 


At £39, the palette is not extortionate by any means but for something that is not really necessary for your average makeup user, it does seem a little much. Unless you are a makeup artist, and this really is the ideal product for MUAs as it comes in Light, Medium and Dark palettes specifically for different skintones, you will not use every shade in the kit.

I currently have the Light/Medium Palette. Inside the kit are 6 different powders: 3 contour shades, 2 highlight shades and 1 highlight shade with a slight shimmer. The contour shades can seem a little orange on fairer skin tones but just seem bronze on my darker skin. I prefer the slightly grey shade in the bottom centre. It is the perfect contour shade. I also like to use Banana (the yellow shade) to set my under eye concealer but it is by no means a substitute for my Ben Nye Banana powder. While the powders feel very buttery, they do not seem to blend as quickly as other contouring powders I like, such as MAC Sculpt. 

It takes a bit more time and effort to get everything blended in so there are no harsh lines. (But then again I am a little picky as in my humble opinion nothing beats MAC Sculpt. Nothing!) But the end result is beautiful and my cheekbones look infinitely sharper and my under-eyes a little more brighter without giving my Indian skin a dull, ashy look which a lot of highlighters do.

6 shades for one person does seem like more than needed but if you are a major makeup enthusiast like me and you like to try different looks daily, then this is a palette you NEED! But if you want to save up for something that will be not be one among many, then go for a few individual contouring products such as MAC Sculpting Powder in 'Sculpt' or the Ben Nye Cream Contour products, Illamasqua's 'Hollow' Cream contour is pretty fab too. 

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit can be bought from Cultbeauty.co.uk or Beautybay.com

Love, ZAZZLES©  
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LUSH | Mint Julips Lip Scrub

We all know the feeling - dry, flaky lips that physically hurt when you smile, especially in the winter. The usual, temporary remedy... some Carmex lip balm on the go.  While Carmex does make your lips feel baby soft, it doesn't seem to remove the dead skin that forms when your lips are chapped. 

The look isn't particularly attractive when you're wearing your favourite matte red lipstick (FYI, it's MAC Retro Matte: All Fired Up) where your lips look like they would look better on Frankenstein instead. There is nothing worse than dry lips preventing you from rocking your matte lipstick which as we all know lasts a heck of a lot longer than normal, glossier lipsticks. But alas there is a cure! Or at least a temporary, more affordable one. 

The LUSH Lip Scrub is the perfect on the go remedy for lips that need a bit of rejuvenating.



My favourite of the collection is Mint Julips, the other flavours are Popcorn and Bubblegum. With a consistency akin to wet sand, it is perfect for gently exfoliating your lips while not too harsh on an already sensitive part of your face.

I usually dip my finger in once, making sure to get a decent amount of product (about a pea-size) and then rub my make-up free lips with the same finger until it feels baby soft and flake-free, ready for some lippy. You can then either wipe away the scrub or lick your lips together - sounds disgusting I know, but I assure you according to LUSH the scrub is edible. 

At £5.50 its not exactly affordable, at the end of the day it is just a lip scrub but considering that Lush always make wonderful products, its a no brainer. Contained in a glass jar it may seem quite fragile however I have had no problems with it whatsoever and I'm very accident prone. The product is inside a jar so not the most hygenic of packaging however it only takes a tiny amount of product to get smooth results. I highly recommend this, it is a must-have for your make-up bag.

Mint Julips Lip Scrub can be bought from Lush.co.uk

Love,  ZAZZLES©
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