Pixi Makeup And Skincare

 Pixi, or Pixi by Petra to give the brand's full name, is a cute, affordable range of cosmetics and skincare from makeup artist Petra Strand. I love the pretty mint-green packaging, and the accents of pastel pink and purple. I was delighted to be given so many things by them to try out, and I'll talk you though the items I'd definitely recommend.  Sorry about the glaring winter sun in the picture (above), it's bleached out the Rose Oil bottle a bit, which is a shame as it's one of the most darling things in the collection - a pastel green and pink bottle with a gold top, it looks so cute on display, and it smells amazing. This is the perfect cure for winter skin, and I like using it as a night oil for both the dreamy scent and the skin nourishing properties. The Lip Lift Max is great, a lip plumping gel that gives a glossy bee-stung look, and if your lips suffer from dry flakiness in winter, you'll like the apricot Nourishing Lip Polish.  I was pretty darn excited to get the collaboration Pixi did with four YouTubers. This includes a fab double-cleansing product from skin guru Caroline Hirons; a solid balm to dissolve makeup and daily dirt, and a follow-up cleanser to make sure your pores are squeaky clean and ready for the next step of your skincare. This works so well, and has been an autumn cleaning staple these past few months. There's also a glowy blusher from Aspyn Ovard, an American vlogger I've followed for years. Unlike the rest of Pixi's range it came in a bright blue box, and stands out for all the right reasons. It's a silky deep-rose blush with very fine gold glitter that blends well, it's the blush that Nars' Orgasm wishes it was. I'm in love with the eyeshadow palette in collab with It's Judy Time, a YouTuber I'm not well acquainted with, I'm sure the names she chose for each shade mean something to her viewers, including the odd 'It's Mommy's Life.' I was surprised how creamy the matte shades are, and there's some really nice neutral colours going on. I thought I wouldn't care much for the bottom row of shades (below), but those two browns are incredibly rich. The black-looking shade is actually a greyish navy with flecks of glitter that don't stay put - it's the only duff, but the others more than make up for it. For £28 this is a bargain.  I added a cheeky swatch of the Multibalm in Wild Rose (above), which I think is a great value product, and would make an ideal stocking filler for Christmas. It's a cream blush in an incredibly flattering shade for anyone, and you can use it on your lips as well. I like the rosy, illuminating glow it gives me. The final of the four YouTuber collaborations is this bronzer and highlighter palette (below) with Maryam Maquillage - eek, someone else I haven't heard of (but two out of four ain't bad). A quick Google search tells me she does makeup tutorials and nail art on her channel. I'd say this palette is much more suited to mid and dark skin tones, City Kitty is the only shade I could use on my  fair face, with 917 at a push. The other shades would make good eyeshadows though, I think Empress is so pretty.  Quick shoutouts to the Flawless Primer, an illuminating base coat that can also be mixed with foundation to make skin look dewy - I think it works really well. Also the Makeup Fixing Mist, which you spray into your face (with eyes closed) to set your makeup - it does a great job and smells pleasant. The Glow Tonic is a Pixi classic, a 5% glycolic acid that removes dead skill cells, tones the skin, and preps it for flawless makeup application - everyone should try this at least once.Thank you Pixi for this box of treasures, it's been great to get so well-acquainted with a brand. There's so much more I want to try, including matte liquid lipsticks, nail polish, and their Ultimate Beauty Kits (they just launched the 4th edition). Have a look at what they have, this is a hard-working brand with a great price point.