Best Dressed at Cannes 2014

Every year the international Festival de Cannes is held in Cannes, France. It celebrates films from around the globe and each year many famous faces turn up to either promote their own films or to see the premieres. Cannes 2014 attracted a large amount of glamorous celebrities this year and here are my best dressed from the festival and red carpets. 

Blake Lively

My best dressed over the week and a half had to be Blake Lively! She dazzled in everything she wore. I love how different each of her looks were for her different appearances. She first stunned in a gorgeous burgundy Gucci Premiere red dress with a long plait. Then for a TV interview appearance she wore a beautiful short floral Giambattista Valli dress. Then she re-appeared on the red carpet in a beautiful Chanel dress and finally topped all of the looks with her graceful black and white Gucci Premiere gown, accompanied by her husband Ryan Reynolds. Her hair and makeup also looked great at each of her appearances. 

Uma Thurman

Uma Thurman looked magnificent in this long white Marchesa dress. I love the intricate design around the shoulders and neckline.

Eva Longoria

White was very popular this year with Eva Longoria also sporting this beautiful white Gabriela Cadena gown that almost looked like a wedding dress. Maybe all the celebrities were just too excited for Kim Kardashian's wedding! I love the fit of this dress on Eva and the detailing down the side makes this dress pop. Her hair and makeup looked fantastic too. 

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Rosie looked amazing as per usual on the Red Carpet. I loved all her fashion choices this year from the elegant strapless silver Gucci Premiere gown to a more risque Cushnie Et Ochs dress with a long slit to show off her supermodel legs. 

Jessica Chastain

Jessica Chastain also consistently impressed with her fashion choices at Cannes. I love the bright and varied colours she chose for different events. She wore a bold blue Versace dress, a flowing Elie Saab purple gown, a short patterned Alexander Mcqueen dress and finally she wore an elegant and classic black Givenchy gown. 

Kendall Jenner

Kendall Jenner stunned in this chic Chanel dress. The Kardashian sister certainly seems to be enjoying her new supermodel status as she posted tonnes of pics on her trip to Cannes. The lucky 18 year old then went on to Paris and Florence for her big sister Kim's wedding to Kanye West. 

Cheryl Cole

Cheryl looked stunning on the Cannes Red Carpet. I love how she went for a glamourous Monique Lhuillier black dress that was exciting and different. 

Who was your best dressed on the Cannes Red Carpet this year?

My Skin Saviour - Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask Review

You can probably tell from the title of this post that this is going to be a positive review; over the last few months it has done amazing things to my skin so I though it was time for a little mini review...

This face mask is a cream that you apply a thick layer to your face as the very last step in your skincare routine just before bed, overnight it serves as an intense moisture mask that quenches skins thirst and dehydration. The bottle recommends using around twice a week however to be honest my skin is so dehydrated I tend to use it four or five times a week. In the morning my skin feels hydrated and dewy with no pesky flaky dry patches and looks plump and healthy; what more could you ever want from a hydrating face mask?

I was worried it would break my out as I was apply thick creams onto my face most nights of the week but there has been no sign of that what so ever, it also works wonders on long haul flights and at soothing and hydrating sunburn if you are lucky enough to be jetting off on holiday this summer. It is around £20 for 100ml which I think is great value for such a high-quality product; the smell is also delicious and fruity!

If you have dry skin or just need to give it a bit of a hydration boost, I would 100% recommend this. 

7 Days, 7 Lipsticks

This week I decided to challenge myself to wear a different lipstick everyday of the week, during the week I am usually extremely lazy when it comes to lips; I mostly just whack on what's in my handbag whilst I'm rushing out the door. With a few weeks of solid revision for my uni exams looming ahead of me I decided to set aside a precious two minutes in the morning rush to brighten up the day with a different lipstick. It also gave me the opportunity to have a good dig around in my lipstick box and come across some little treasures I had forgotten all about! Here is how I got on:

Monday - MAC Patisserie 

I thought I would start the week off with the newest addition to the lipstick family, I bought it a few days ago after reading beauty blogger ViviannaDoesMakeup's recommendation. It's a lovely pink nude, your-lips-but-better lipstick in the 'Lustre' finish. 

Tuesday - Tarte Glamazon Lipstick in Inspired

Another relatively new one today, I splurged on this little beauty a few weeks ago whilst I was in America and I love it!  It is a really hydrating, rich formula which stays put for absolutely ages. It is a really pretty pink colour with the most beautiful packaging you have ever seen. 

Wednesday - Chanel Rouge Allure in 105 Inimitable 

I thought it was time to spice things up today and went for a deep red colour. I never ever usually wear bold lipsticks on a normal boring day but today I went for it. The Rouge Allure formula is probably my all time favourite and this colour is a beautiful deep blue-based red with a hint on sparkle. The formula is rich, pigmented, hydrating and really long lasting. 

Thursday - Revlon Lip Butter in 001 Pink Truffle

Today was just a boring day in my flat revising so I wanted something natural looking and easy to wear, I went for a wash of this lip butter in a beautiful dull pink as it is really moisturising and leaves a lovely glowing shine. I almost always have this in my handbag as it's so useful for on the go and the colour is super buildable. The only downside is that it doesn't have the best staying power, but you can't have everything! 

Friday - Topshop Beguiled

I think Topshop lipsticks are really underrated in the beauty world, I think they are one of my favourite budget beauty brands and they have such a good selection of colours. This lipstick can be built up to a really intense colour but I just decided to create a wash with my finger, the formula isn't drying, long lasting and affordable. 

Saturday - Topshop Brighton Rock

I enjoyed the Topshop lipstick I was wearing so much, I popped out and bought another one! This is a gorgeous springy-summery bright pink with a matt finish. It's so bright and pretty; I am completely in love with it! I am sure this will end up being my favourite lipstick of the summer. 

Sunday - Chanel Rouge Allure in 88 Evanescente

I though I would end the week with my all time favourite lipstick, Evanescente is the perfect pink-nude which keeps lips hydrated all day and really long-lasting colour. It has a satin finish and a more intense colour than the other Chanel lipstick formulas (Rouge Coco and Rouge Coco Shine). Unfortunately this lipstick is now discontinued but similar colours are Gracile (89) and Fantasque (112).

I had such fun doing this during the past week, why don't you give it a go too?

Haul #4: Beauty

A few weeks ago I went on a bit of an insane online beauty spending spree. I've been trying my hardest to limit the amount of beauty products I buy recently due to having way too much makeup that I don't use and spending money I should really be saving. However, I had a bit of a set back due to the Laura Mercier Souffle Body Creme, that I've wanted for ages, came back in stock on the Birchbox website where I had £10 of reward points to spend.. and it all went a bit downhill from there.

Birchbox

The first and gateway purchase was the Laura Mercier Souffle Body Creme in Ambre Vanille from Birchbox. As I've been getting Birchboxes for a while now I have built up my reward points to 100 which means £10 to spend on anything in the Birchbox shop. Seeming as I'd wanted the body souffle for a while now I thought why not spend it on that which made it £34.50 instead of £44.50. I'm so glad that I finally purchased this product. I love the rich scent and texture and a little goes such a long way. This purchase was definitely worth it. However once one online purchase had been made it was difficult to stop. 

Space NK

Then I received an email for £10 of any purchase over £40 at Space NK and I couldn't resist. As you can probably tell I like a good bargain and can justify a purchase if I've saved money on it. Plus it gave me a chance to build up my Space NK reward points. With all the freedom to buy what I wanted out of a choice of so many great products I decided to buy a Nars Lipstick in Damage, a Nars Eyeshadow in Ashes to Ashes and a Stila Eyeshadow in Golightly. This came to a total of almost £40 including the £10 off, oops. However I'm so happy that I decided to make these purchases too! I love the Nars Lipstick! The grape colour is so pretty but sheer so it's great as a day time lipstick and the texture and the formula is so moisturizing. Also after recently trying and loving Nars eyeshadow from my recent purchase of the Nars Hearts New York set, I wanted to try some different shades out. My other purchase from Space NK was a Stila single eyeshadow in the colour Golightly. I've never tried Stila eyeshadow before and mainly purchased it because I loved the name (named after Holly Golightly played by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's) and the colour. It's a gorgeous gold/bronze shade similar to Mac's Woodwinked and the texture is so soft. I can tell I'm definitely going to get a lot of use out of it. 

Feel Unique

California Coral

Watermelon

Now my addiction was out of control and I just wanted to spend. Then I found a Feel Unique Voucher for 20% off. The next thing I know I had bought 2 Essie Nail Varnishes in California Coral and Watermelon and a Tanya Burr Lips and Nails lipgloss in Aurora. However I was quite glad I made these purchases as I'd had my eye on all 3 for a while now. I love the Essie Nail Varnish in Watermelon. At first I was a bit scared to wear such a bright pink nail varnish but I  love the bright shade now, it's perfect for summer. Also it lasts a really long time and has only just started to chip with no top coat after 5 days. I also love the colour California Coral. This is the perfect Spring/Summer shade and it isn't available in most shops like Boots and Superdrug. Also I'm glad I finally got the colour Aurora from the Tanya Burr Lips and Nails collection. After trying Afternoon Tea and liking the formula but feeling quite neutral about the light shade I decided to get one of the favourites from the collection which is a brighter pink shade called Aurora. I much prefer this colour and it's great for an everyday gloss. 

Selfridges

Finally my beauty haul ended at Selfridges and although I had already spent way more than I should have and finding many great products, this last product was essential. I had to replace my Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer as I've almost run out of my old one in the colour Custard. I bought the same shade this time around and although it is quite expensive at £22, I think it's 100% worth it as it's the best concealer I've tried and it has lasted me about 4 months, which is quite good considering I've used it nearly every single day.

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer vs. Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

Two concealers that always seem to be compared to each other are Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer and Collection Lasting Perfection Creamy Concealer so I thought I would share my opinion about the two. I'm probably stating the obvious here but the Nars is a luxury option at £22 and Collection the high-street dupe at £4.19.

First things first, these two concealers are like gold dust. You have no idea how long it took me to find the Collection concealers, going into every Boots and Superdrug I went past they were all sold out but eventually I came across them in a Boots in Nottingham. The Nars one- do not get me started, my colour, Vanilla, is sold out everywhere. I have the tiniest amount but it is only going to last probably two or three more uses.

The Collection Lasting Perfection Creamy Concealer I think is really good for its price. It has good coverage, the formula is really moisturising and it covers blemishes as well as brightening under the eye. The biggest downside is the colour range; there are not that many shades available, I am sort of in between Fair and Cool Medium. I bought both shades to mix together but to be honest I can't really be bothered so I usually reach for the Fair shade as the Cool Medium is far to orange for my skin and would probably highlight blemishes more than conceal.

The Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer on the other hand has a really good colour range of 10 shades, my shade Vanilla is the perfect match for my skin. I would say the the texture and formulas of the two are very similar; maybe the Nars one is slightly more brightening, but there is not that much in it. For me, I would say Nars one stays put a lot longer than the Collection one. I always find that when I use the Collection one I have to keep reapplying throughout the day.

Overall I think I do prefer the Nars Creamy Concealer but there is not much in it, I will repurchase both concealers again in the future. Have you tried either of these concealers, which do you prefer?

Drugstore Dash

I, Jessica Anne Thompson, am a beauty-shopping-addict. I just popped into Superdrug to pick up some cotton wool and left with a bag full of beauty goodies and completely forgot about the cotton wool. Here is what I picked up:

Eylure Naturalites Lengthening Eyelashes

These were very much an impulse buy, didn't really need them but hey-ho. I've tried them on and they are ok, I definitely prefer the Eylure volumising eyelashes instead of the lengthening but I am sure I will get some wear out of them at some point. 

Revlon Super Lusterous Lipstick in 415 'Pink in the Afternoon'

I've wanted this lipstick for a while but always seem to forget when I'm out shopping, but today I remembered and threw one in my basket. I once read somewhere that this was Audrey Hepburn's go to lipstick back-in-the-day and wore it throughout her most famous films, including Breakfast at Tiffany's. The colour is a gorgeous pinky-nude and I will certainly be getting a lot of use out of this. 

Blistex Raspberry Lemonade Blast Lipbalm

Newsflash: I actually used up a whole lipbalm without losing it. This never happens, never ever. I usually go through lipbalms at lightning pace because I always seem to loose them but the last one I had (which was the Blistex MediCare in Cherry or something along those lines, I can't quite remember) I finished I couple of weeks ago. I was just going to pick up a replacement but then this flavour caught my eye and it went straight in the basket. It smells and tastes amazing - not used it enough to judge whether its as good as the MediCare cherry one, but I will let you know. 

Collection Fast Stroke Liquid Eyeliner in Black

I just picked this up as I forgot to bring my normal Rimmel Glam Eyes liquid liner back to uni with me after the Easter break. I've not heard any reviews about it or anything I just picked one of the cheapest ones their was and hoped for the best. I will let you know if it turns out to be any good or not. 

Maybelline Colour Sensation Lipstick in 175 'Pink Punch'

I have never actually tried a Maybelline lipstick before but this colour just popped out to me on the shelf. Its a gorgeous vibrant pink; nothing like I already have. I am trying to be a bit braver and bolder with my lip colours at the minute and trying to steer away from my fail-safe nudes, so hopefully I'll get a lot of wear out of it. 

Vaseline Spray & Go Body Moisturiser in 'Cocoa Radiant'

I bought this because I wanted a cheaper everyday body moisturiser so I don't have to use my expensive Laura Mercier everyday. On first impressions after the couple of times I've used it, I really don't like it. The moisture literally lasts for 10 minutes and then is completely gone, I think I will do a full in depth review in the near future after a bit more time using it so look out for that. 

Nars Hearts New York Set Review

Although this palette has actually been around for some time now (since last May), I only came across it a few months ago but discovered it was only sold in America (unfortunately, especially since I was there over summer) so I forgot about it but always secretly wanted it. Then I was looking for it again recently and came across the set on Ebay for £60. The product was actually being sold in America for $75 which works out at about £45 here so after a bit of haggling I got it down to £52, which is still good value in my eyes due to it's limited availability and it was the only one I have found that I can buy. And this set is definitely worth the money! Included in the cute little box is a palette with a Blusher in the colour Amour, a bronzer in Laguna and 4 eyeshadow shades in Biarritz, Nepal, New York and Galapagos as well as a Lipgloss in Dolce Vita and a Nail Varnish in China Town. The set is actually worth $107 and the lipgloss and nail varnish are full sized and the blusher and bronzer are actually slightly larger than the regular full size ones.

New York Palette

I love the eyeshadow colours in this palette. Biarritz is great for a highlighting shade for underneath the eyebrow or as an all over the lid base colour. Nepal is a gorgeous light neutral shimmery colour that is great for an everyday eyeshadow shade. New York is a beautiful and unique plum brown colour that I can't get enough of. Galapagos is a dark brown shimmery colour. The four colours work so well together when applied too. Although New York seems quite intimidating in the palette for a neutral eyeshadow lover like me, it looks amazing when applied and is a lot less scary than it seems. I also love the fact that you get slightly larger than full sized blusher and bronzer in this palette. The blush colour is Amour which is a pretty pink shade, perfect for spring and summer and it can be used subtly or can be built up for a bolder look. I'm so happy that this palette came with Laguna in it as well. Laguna is the cult Nars bronzer that every girl should try and now I finally have it. Overall I love this palette and I can tell I will get a lot of use out of it. I think this palette was really worth the money. Most similar palettes are sold for £45 but with this one you also got a full sized lipgloss and nail varnish for only £7 more, which would usually cost £14.50 and £18.50. 

Nail Varnish in China Town

I was pleasantly surprised by this Nail Varnish when I first tried it. I'd never tried a Nars Nail Varnish before and I'd never really heard anyone talk about them or review them before so trying one had never really crossed my mind but now I'm so glad I did. I love the dark red colour of the varnish and it lasts for a long time without chipping. The only downside I would say about this Nail Varnish is that if you were to buy it separately it would cost £14.50 which is almost double my favourite brand of Nail Varnish, Essie. Luckily though I got it in this set so didn't have to spend too much.

Lip Gloss in Dolce Vita

I actually really love this lip gloss too. I have never tried a Nars lip gloss before so this was my first and I was so impressed. The colour is a great dusty-rose pink shade that is close to the natural shade of my lips but better. I imagine if I had gone to the Nars counter just for a lip gloss I probably would have bought this one. The formula isn't too sticky and a little goes a long way. The only issue I have with this lip gloss is the scent is like plastic and although it isn't overpowering or unbearable, it would be so much more appealing with a nicer taste/scent to it. 

I'm so happy with my impulse purchase. If you are in America or going there soon the set is still available on the Nars website so get it while you can!