BD Trade Secrets Dream Shimmer Highlighter

RRP: £7.99

--What does the promo say?--
"Add effortless shine to cheekbones, eyes and body with this stunning textured shimmer compact.  Delicately swirl across the skin to help enhance your features with a radiant sun kissed shimmer."

--Packaging--
The shimmer brick comes in a shiny gold-effect compact made of plastic, which closes securely using a click mechanism. Equally, the mirror is of a generous size.

--Application--
Sweep over face for a naturally sunkissed effect. Focus more on the cheeks for use as a blusher. Warning: a little goes a long way, so start sparingly and layer up!

--Appearance--
The brown shades dominate over the pink and white, but equally you can choose to dip your brush more in the pink shades depending on the effect you want. This is also why you should apply this sparingly if like me you are very pale and don't want to look like you've been Tangoed. Done correctly, however, the effect can be very natural-looking.

--Scent--
Nothing discernible.

--Texture and consistency--
Smooth and easy to blend.

--Longevity--
Perhaps needs touching up once during the day, but that's all. Generally lasts well.

--Value for money--
While the casing feels a bit cheap, and I personally would maybe prefer pinker tones to dominate, it's a decent bronzer/shimmer brick that stands up well to its main competitors this summer. Available now at Tesco!

Too Faced Candy Bars

RRP: $25/€22/£17
Retails at: Sephora, www.toofaced.com, ASOS, HQHair, Debenhams, Boots, House of Fraser
# of shades available: at least 3, but this seems to depend on country + stockist

--What does the promo say?--
"These glimmering bars of candy colors are created using four complimentary shades of sugary shimmers that can be used individually as eye shadows or combined together as an all over illuminating face and body blinger! Candy bars have never been more decadent!"

--Packaging--
Too Faced is probably Benefit's nearest rival in terms of kitschy, leap-off-the-shelf packaging, and this is no exception, combining a girly pink box with a funky shiny black case, all of course topped off by their characteristic swirly vintage script. Utterly vintage with a twist of modernity. The case itself is a bit big, though, giving the impression that you get more product than there actually is, and while you get a decently-sized mirror, no brushes are included (although this is less problematic than it sounds - see below).

--Application--
No brushes are included, but fear not, as this applies very well indeed with your fingers when you have no brushes to hand (although I have one of the lighter compacts - Tropical Truffle - so don't know how you'd get on with finger application if you had one of the darker palettes). Just smear onto your eyelids in any combination you choose - the choice of colours seems to adapt well to any manipulation, whether you choose to use all four colours at once or fly solo. To apply as a shimmer brick, just use an ordinary big powder brush.

--Appearance--
On the eyelids this works fabulously, responding well to all kinds of mixes of colour and suiting any complexion. It's subtle enough for day, yet shimmery enough for night. As a shimmer brick, however, a different story is told: there's not enough glitter/shimmer for this to have nearly enough impact on the décolletage and the darker shades just lend a muddy look - a shame.

--Texture/consistency--
When used as a shimmer brick with a brush, this is disastrous - shadow flakes everywhere and can lead to wastage. However, when applied using an eyeshadow brush or fingers to your eyelids, it glides on with ease and there is no wastage at all.

--Longevity--
On the eyelids it is just fabulous - can't remember the last time I had an eyeshadow that was of such high quality (it probably came from MAC or Prescriptives). Doesn't crease at all. Not even my Agnès B shadows, which cost €3 more, can quite compare to this in terms of staying power.

--Value for money--
I got mine in the sales, so all the better. However, for even further value for money, cash in on the highly attractive British exchange rate (if you usually operate in euros at least!). Even if you pay full whack for this, you're getting a really good product, despite its shortcomings and general multi-use failure - even if this wasn't advertised as a Bobbi-Brown knockoff, I'd still pay the full RRP for its excellent performance as an eyeshadow quad alone.

perfect partners
Liquif-Eye, $17.50/€15/£10
Shadow Insurance Eyelid Primer, $17/€14/£11

Glow by J-Lo Limited Edition Shimmer Eau de Toilette

RRP: £26.00 for 50ml

--What does the promo say?--
"This fragrance from Jennifer Lopez is fresh, sexy and clean. It has top notes of orange flower, grapefruit, and citrus, middle notes of rose, sandalwood, and amber and bottom notes of jasmine, vanilla, musk, and orris. And for the fragrance's 5 year anniversary, it will be available for a limited time with body shimmer built in. With this limited edition comes a personal touch from Jennifer - a new wearable charm made from CRYSTALLIZED - Swarovski Elements."

--Packaging--
A gorgeous, curvaceous bottle - much like the lady herself. It's got a pinky, bronzy glow to it that should attract paler and more tanned girls alike, and a small, sophisticated silver spray top. Hanging around the main body of the bottle is the aforementioned Swarovski 'Glow' charm. It's all very attractive and feminine without being so girly as to alienate a whole subset of women.

--Application--
Just spritz wherever you desire - cleavage, wrists, neck...however, I'd advise doing this while you're still naked/in your underwear to avoid getting glitter all over your clothes.

--Appearance--
Unlike most perfumes, this leaves a beautiful subtle bronze shimmer wherever it's sprayed which can be easily blended. I greatly approve, as this is quite unusual for a perfume. The only brands I can think of that possibly also do this are Cacharel and Ralph Lauren, neither of which are especially affordable in comparison. The shimmer is also long-lasting, which is encouraging.

--Scent--
Part of me wonders if perhaps there are too many scents in this for them all to be individually discernible, but they all blend beautifully and the overall result is a musky, sophisticated, sexy scent that goes against the usual fruity, cheap-smelling trend of celebrity perfumes. This is clearly aimed at women rather than tweenagers!

--Longevity--
Both scent and glitter lasted excellently. Only needs reapplication once a day at most.

--Value for money--
Pretty good, especially given that it's limited edition and you have the added appeal of the shimmer as well. Top marks - especially seeing as should you want to test the scent, the original Glow gift pack contains shower gel, body lotion and 30ml of the perfume for just £21.

Benefit Realness of Concealness

RRP: £22.50 for 1.2g of Bo-ing, 2.5g of High Beam, 1g of Lemon Aid, 2.5g of Lip Plump and 2.5g of Ooh La Lift + mirror

--Packaging--
The packaging is very cutesy and compact, true to Benefit's usual form. It's a small purple-brown coloured box measuring approx 6cm x 8cm x 2cm, with a lovely dotty design on the lid. Inside everything is very neatly packaged, with the Lip Plump, High Beam and Ooh La Lift coming in small tubes and the other two products being embedded in the box. The box seems to shut magnetically so that it doesn't fall open in your bag.

--What does the promo say?--
"Sometimes a little concealing and perking up is all you need. It doesn't take a makeover, just this crafty little kit containing our famous concealers and enhancers. Kit contains: lemon-aid to correct discoloration on eyelids; boi-ing to hide even the darkest under eye circles; ooh la lift to brighten, lighten and tighten the eye area; lip plump to prime, smooth, and plump lips; and high beam to give your skin an ethereal glow. "

--Application--
For the tubes, just twist and apply directly to the relevant area of the face using the wand; apply the Lemon Aid and Bo-ing using your fingers or using a brush or sponge (n.b. no brushes or sponges are included). Pretty simple.

--Scent--
Didn't notice any for any of the products.

--Appearance--
Bo-ing: a brownish compact sample of the concealer.
Lemon Aid: a yellow compact sample of the eyelid primer.
High Beam, Ooh La Lift and Lip Plump: All are lotion type products in small tubes, with the former two being shimmery shades of pale pink and the latter being brownish. High Beam is an all-over face highlighter, Ooh La Lift is an under-eye 'de-puffer' and Lip Plump is a lip primer, to be applied before applying lipstick.

--Texture--
The three tube products are lotions, but aren't too runny or hard. The two compact samples are harder and are more like a lip-gloss consistency without the slidiness.

--How well do they blend into the skin?--
Lemon Aid, High Beam and Ooh La Lift are fantastic and very easy to blend in. Bo-ing is easily helped along with some water but doesn't fare too well on its own, and Lip Plump isn't intended to be blended in.

--Longevity--
All come across as fairly heavy-duty products - they don't seem to come off in any great hurry.

--Appearance on the skin--
The Lip Plump looks pretty scary when you've just applied it - it basically looks like you've applied concealer to your lips. However, when you've applied lipstick over the top like you're meant to, it's fine. The Bo-ing also has a tendency to make your skin look like there's just random orange patches on your face, mainly due to the difficulty in blending it in but also due to the colour of it - it looks browner in the box than on the face (though I have quite pale skin, so people with darker skins may fare better). However, all of the other products blend in wonderfully, with High Beam giving the wearer a lovely dewy glow.

--Coverage--
Only Bo-ing, Ooh La Lift and Lemon Aid are designed for coverage. The latter two work well, but I wouldn't buy the former, as I've used concealers that cover up better in the past.

--Ease of removal--
Absolutely fine - you can even remove them just using a normal cleanser, without having to use a makeup removal product.

--Value for money--
Quite good considering the prestige of the brand and the fact that you're getting five sample size products, which will save you money in the long run once you've worked out which ones you like. Plus, the box itself is an excellent size for travelling.

--Which ones would I buy?--
I would happily buy Lemon Aid (eyelid primer) and High Beam (luminescent complexion enhancer). Lemon Aid seemed to work really well as an eyelid primer and evens out the difference that you can see when people put powder/foundation on their faces and understandably don't want to put these products on their eyes due to them being too heavy. High Beam is just lovely to look at when it's on and a really light product for those days when you don't want to wear makeup but don't want to look like a total tramp :p
I wouldn't buy Ooh La Lift because I saw no visible difference when using it, and I wouldn't buy Lip Plump simply because I don't use enough lipstick - maybe if you had particularly bad dark circles or wore lipstick a lot you would buy these products and get enough use from them to make it worthwhile.
By far the worst of the products in the box was Bo-ing, on every level. I have used other concealers that covered up better, aren't as expensive as the full-size Bo-ing (which retails at £15.50 for 3g), are easier to blend in and don't make me look like I've been Tangoed. (Though having said that, the Benefit website says there are 3 shades, so it may well be that the one in the box was an unfortunate choice for me.)
However, I feel the box was a worthy investment and I will definitely be using it for travel.