Fenty Beauty Body Lava

Aside from the Glossbomb (love, love, love!) I haven’t really been that into Fenty Beauty since it exploded onto the beauty scene last year. Not that I don’t think it looks gorgeous (hello packaging!), I also think the shade ranges are incredible, but I just didn’t really need any new additions to my makeup collection; I have my favourites right now, and I know what works for me. However, show me a shimmer product, and I kind of lose all self control…

Enter Fenty Beauty Body Lava. A limited edition gel based body illuminator that may have already caught your attention should you follow Ri Ri on social media. Yes, it’s that product that she’s been glistening herself in, over on Instagram; and I have to admit, her demos did make it look pretty incredible… but does actually it work quite so well in the light of day?

I went for the shade ‘Who Needs Clothes?!” a gorgeous rose gold shimmer, the other available shade being a glimmering bronze aptly named “Brown Sugar”. You get a whopping 90ml of product – seriously, the bottle is huge – and yet again, it’s 10/10 for packaging. Side note, I actually thought the bottle was plastic when I ordered online; but it’s not, it’s glass, which just adds to the luxe feel even more. Mine’s taking pride of place on my dressing table, as it’s just too pretty to hide away… and way too big to store in my makeup bag! It really is a generous offering, which does justify the price. I can’t see me ever finishing the bottle – unless you wore it every single day, I’m not sure why anyone would though – this is seriously shimmery, and is more of a special occasion thing.

It has a floral vanilla scent, which I’d actually seen everyone raving about. To be honest, I’m not keen. I heard some people saying it smelt tropical and angelic – it actually reminds me of a vanilla perfume that I’d wear if I were ten years old. Maybe that’s a little harsh… the scent isn’t unpleasant whatsoever, but I don’t find it a sophisticated smell, and it doesn’t make me want to keep picking up the bottle for a whiff. That could just be me though, as every other review I’ve seen has really rated it. That though, is my only qualm with this product; and as I say, it isn’t an unpleasant scent so it doesn’t put me off wearing it at all – plus I’d be applying my own perfume over the top anyway; this scent is only as strong as say a body lotion scent.

There’s an optional Kabuki brush that you can also purchase with the product (or on its own if you wanted), to be fair I don’t think this is a necessity at all, I used my Zoeva Rose Golden buffer brush to apply this, and it worked like a dream. You’ll probably have a suitable brush in your collection already, and if not, you could find something slightly cheaper to do the job. Mind you, it is a super pretty brush. All that being said, I would recommend a brush to apply it with, it’s shimmery – really shimmery, and applying it with your hands may just leave you applying gold dust type handprints to everything for the next few hours.

I’ve inserted a few pictures below to show how the product looks as it’s being blended out, these photos were all taken with a flash. It literally blends like a dream – top marks again for that. A little also goes a very, very long way (I’ve shown in the first picture how much I applied, and this pretty much covered half of my arm) – which makes the size of the product even crazier, however I’m not complaining! It does however depend on how daring / subtle you want to go; I opted for a subtle layer, well as subtle as you can get with this product, which was still super sparkly. It was nice, easy and quick to blend out, quite enjoyable actually, and once it is blended it gives the most beautiful twinkle to the skin that can clearly be seen in the daylight, so will look incredible on holiday in the evenings. Sometimes it’s hard to get the full shimmer effect in pictures, but honestly, when this catches the light – it really glistens.

I also saw some comments about the product being sticky. Personally, I wouldn’t say it was sticky, but it does have a slight oily feel to it. Not in a greasy way. think more Nars Body Glow Oil, but more shimmery, and much less messy. I probably wouldn’t apply it directly underneath where I’m going to apply my favourite jewellery, or I’d at least wait for it to dry down… but it’s nothing major at all. You can however layer this product, and I think if you did layer it up a lot, it could get a little sticky – remember to blend, blend, blend. Once I’d let it dry down a little, I didn’t get any clothes transfer, however I was still glimmering ever so slightly after I had showered – personally I didn’t find that to be an issue, it kind of made my skin look like mine but better.

I’m really, really pleased with this product, especially with the size of it too. The price did slightly take me aback at first, until the bottle turned up and I saw how big it was. Plus, the product quality in there matches the price point. I don’t think there’s anything else like it on the market right now, and I’m really glad I’ve added it to my collection. I wouldn’t say you need both shades, so if you’re not sure, go to your nearest Harvey Nichols counter and have a play around; but I would say for me, it’s a must in my own personal collection and I honestly can’t wait to really put it to use on those long, hot summer evenings.

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