My perfect solution from Collection 2000! (Collection 2000 Shimmering Glow Powder)

Member Name: xxfoxyredxx

Product:	Collection 2000 Shimmering Glow Powder
Date:	22/04/08 (141 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fab colours, nice and shimmery and long lasting

Disadvantages: No applicator or mirror but then it doesn't need reapplying through the day anyway

Having a load of points on my Boot's reward card to spend I didn't need anything at all but I felt a bit run down and wanted to treat myself. Collection 2000 is not one of my make up ranges. I'll be honest here. To me it's always been crap. I did use it when I was a kid with my pocket money along with Constance Carroll but I'm not a kid now!

I still see young people buying it and up until recently the ugly blue plastic packaging was most off putting. I'd rather pay more for stuff that is visually more appealing. Yes I'm snobby about it but then I can afford to be now I have my own money and can choose how I spend it.

However on this shopping occasion I took a fresh look at the brand and realised the packaging has changed a little since I last checked it and the range is far more modern in it's approach than it used to be with a collection of rather funky colours and new concepts like shimmer dust eye powder similar to that of Barry M and Mac. Prices have gone up with almost £6.00 for a foundation and suddenly this range is not as cheap as I remember it used to be though still cheap if you catch my drift. Also they do freebies if you spend £5.00 or more (quite often) and there's money off offers. Ok now I'm interested!

Now one thing I'm paranoid about is my pale skin. My Dad was dark skinned all year round naturally. He only had to look at the sun and he was as brown as berry. My mum has a hint of colour all year round and although not as brown as my Dad still grabbed colour and held it if she ventures out into the sun (she doesn't like to though).

Then there's me. Albino woman without the pink eyes. I can sit in the sun for hours and I get sore. I don't even go a little bit pink. An ex didn't believe me and paid for me to go to a top London salon for some tanning booth sessions. It almost cost him an extra mortgage and I used tan accelerators the lot to help me get a golden glow. I went twice a week and even the beautician couldn't understand why it didn't work and I got the money back. With the saved money I tried St Tropez and Fake Bake and all that achieved was me looking like a orange. Since then I've worked my way through bottles of Johnson's Holiday Skin, Dove, Nivea, Botanics.. oh believe me I've pretty much tried every recommendation I've ever heard of but I either stay white or go orange with one application so life has dealt me this crap hand and goth like I will stay! I obviously have no colour pigmentation in my skin, I lost it somewhere or never had it!

So I have to be careful what make up I'm using. I've only ever found one foundation, make and colour suitable for me so I don't look like I have a tide mark and pressed powder is still a problem at 33 years old! Blushers etc I'm ok with. I have one or two brands and trusted colours and I buy them, I'm nothing without blusher. I have no cheekbones and I look dead!

So when I saw this and I would get it free with my points I came over all daring but still, trepidatious and cynical!

I have tried bronzers etc and they're too dark even the light ones for me usually but this appealed cos it had a warm pinkish tone to the brown colour rather than a dirty, dark look and it had a nice shimmer rather than flat, hard edge to it.

The Packaging....

The base of this is a bronzy colour and tells me in my case it's Mosaic Shimmering glow Powder and that it is indeed Mosaic Glow (6). Then it tells me 'Bronzed mosaic powder to create a natural sunkissed glow'. Contains vitamin E. Then it tells me the ingredients and that it's a collection 2000 product. The top is clear plastic and you gently pull it on and off and it's very secure. On the top of that in blue writing It tells me it's collection 2000, Shimmering Glow 'Perfect sunkissed look'. You can see your chosen colour through it's lid as it's a compact. Decent enough packaging but you have to be careful not to break the plastic lid and if you house it in a make up bag the lid does scratch and the lettering comes off.

The Product....

Well it's a pressed powder. In this range there are different colours all in bronze and golds and I chose one that is a mosaic in pattern as it looked the most fancy. Mine has 3 different colours all in kind of square shapes and mixed up in the compact. All in all 16 sections. Now of course you stick a big brush in there and use them all at once and when you stroke the colour on you get a hint of all the colours mixed together which is very subtle and a has a shimmer. My guess is cos the squares are small you couldn't use them individually, which is rather unfortunate but the idea is to get a subtle hint of each colour and it's light reflecting.

The powder is hard pressed into the compact so it isn't loose. It comes off finely onto my big ole blusher brush with ease. Now this isn't a nasty hard cheap powder that you have to scrub at to get any colour onto an applicator, nope. It's actually very soft and silk like in texture.

Now getting the look you want is really very simple. Personally I like a hint all over my face and then I go a bit more heavy handed on to my cheeks to finish. This powder is very rich in which ever colour you chose. It glides over foundation and pressed/loose powder with ease. If you make a mistake you can brush it out and if you find it too shimmery you can calm it down with some pressed/loose powder over the top. If you make a mistake (I'm a novice and I haven't yet) again its simple to correct. Just use the less it more approach and build colours up gradually.

I personally love this compact. It's none fragranced and it's light on the skin. As it's none fragranced it doesn't upset my sensitive skin and block up my pores anymore than they already are. It doesn't show up imperfections even though it is highly shimmery and it does give a lovely natural glow to my skin tone and is great dusted over my shoulders and cleavage in the evenings.

Perfect for any woman of any age because you can make your face glow like a diamond for nights out or use it day to day and also this looks fabulous on the eyes! As my particular one has 3 colours in total in it I have complete eye make up which again looks great for evenings and in the daytime. It stays put on your face all day long until you take it off and removal is just as easy as removing the rest of your make up.

In Conclusion....

A must have! I never thought I'd rave about collection 2000 make up believe me but since I purchased this I've used it a lot, mainly for all over colour as a pep me up and then when I go out use blusher as well. It's just a really flexible product. It's not just cheap and cheerful, it's actually outstanding and not what I expected at the price. I will definitely repurchase this but it lasts forever, even using it everyday for the past couple of months I've still barely used any out of my compact and it looks new.

Perfect for any skin tone. Just select the right colour but even if your not going for the colour and just the shimmer you'll get that anyway. No glitter, no mess just a subtle, or not so subtle colour if you so desire without a fake look.

Quality... Collection 2000, recommended!

£2.49 per product (yes really!) in Superdrug and Boot's.

Summary: A great all rounder for your make up bag for £2.49!