Here's a complete 180 from my previous adventure-filled, photo-galore posts - a makeup review. I used to do 'monthly' favourites (though when have I ever done consecutive months?) and then went through a no-buy period during which I found myself less interested in makeup. Well, the makeup obsession is back now, and with a vengeance. I find myself on the Boots and Superdrug websites every day, constantly checking for deals and makeup dupes. So, as someone who loves a high-quality cheap palette as much as the next guy, here are some of the products I've picked up recently.
All the products mentioned below were purchased from Boots or Superdrug, except for Essence products which I got from Wilko, the only shop in the UK which has an Essence counter.
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If you're looking to try out colour (redness) correcting for the first time, this green concealer is great. The product itself is very creamy and easy to blend, and for £1.99, it's definitely a bargain. However, as with the majority of cheaper products, there are its downfalls. The creaminess means that it melts very easily and snaps often, so don't make the same mistake as me and twist it up completely when you use it! I find the best way to apply this is to twist it up a little bit, then use your finger or a brush to apply it to your face. The packaging isn't the best either - the cap has started to break and I fear that soon it will completely shatter on me...
Sleek Blush in Rose Gold, £4.99
A supposed dupe of the Nars Orgasm blush, this is a beautiful pink blusher with a golden sheen. I have been mesmerised with products with sheens for a long time now, and as soon as I found out about this I was already on my way to the store. And let me tell you, the sheen did not disappoint. I think I actually swatch this on the back of my hand more than I put it on my face because it's just so beautiful. The product is not the most pigmented, but I find that it's easier to apply as there's none of that surprise shock of colour which happens with very pigmented blushers. It's nicely buildable and blendable, whilst the golden sheet gives the face a gorgeous glow. As always with shimmery products, they will accentuate any bumps and pores on the skin, so use a pore-filling primer beforehand. Also, I find that the packaging is impossible to get into with short nails, and I once ruined my nail polish trying to pry it open :(
Collection Eyes Uncovered Palette in Nude, £3.99 (bought on offer for £2.50)
Ah, what a wonderful little palette this is! I'm a massive fan of nude eyeshadow (who isn't?), so when I saw this on offer for £2.50 at Boots I just had to get my hands on it. The eyeshadows are all extremely wearable for an everyday natural eye, yet can also be built up to create a more intense nighttime look. I love the range of shades, including a creamy white and a deep, almost black, brown. This is my go-to palette for a lazy daytime look, where I will also use the darkest shade as an eyeliner and to fill in my brows. This is the best palette for beginners, it's so easy and inexpensive.
Makeup Revolution Vivid Baked Highlighter in Peach Lights, £3.00
I'll say this now, this is not everyone's cup of tea. It's not even my perfect cup of tea for a highlighter, but I love it for it's sentimental value to me. I used to have an eyeshadow that was exactly like this highlighter. I never used the eyeshadow, but every time I swatched it my heart would swoon and I thought that there was nothing more beautiful than that pink sheen. After recently misplacing that, when I swatched this in the store, I had to have it. Like I said, I can't resist a good sheen! I personally only wear this if I want a bit more of a dramatic highlight, as the pink is a bit too cool toned for me and doesn't look natural on my skin.
Essence Satin Touch Blush in 20 Satin Love, £1.00
If there's one thing you have to swatch at the Essence counter, it's this. This is the smoothest, most velvety formula I've ever touched. For only £1, you're getting the quality of a £50 blusher - it's smooth, glides on easily, blends so well, and stays on like a dream. This shade is perfect for a natural look, it gives the most beautiful flush to the cheeks. There's absolutely nothing I can fault about this product. Maybe the packaging could look a little more high-end? But honestly, the package design doesn't bother me in the slightest, it's compact and sturdy, and that's the main thing.
As someone who has no other experience with eyeshadow bases or eyelid primers, I have nothing to compare this to. However, I can tell you that it's perfect for creating a smooth canvas for eyeshadows, acting as a concealer to hide away darkness and veins. It also makes eyeshadow last longer without creasing, a life saver for someone like moi who has ridiculously oily lids. It doesn't prevent creasing entirely, but my eyelids are hopeless so I didn't really expect it to in the first place. I also know for a fact that this is super cheap for an eyeshadow base, so it's a superb bargain.
Essence Lipliner in 06 Satin Mauve and In The Nude, £1.00
These are a bit of a hit or miss, but when they're a hit, they're the best hits you will ever know. You'd definitely have to swatch these in the store because they don't have the same formula across the board. Out of the two I have, Satin Mauve is much creamier and smoother than In The Nude. However, they both last a very long time and do not dry out the lips. I like to wear these on their own most the time, they're that pigmented and beautiful.
Essence Longlasting Lipstick in 06 Barely There, £2.30
I think I found my perfect nude. As someone with slightly darker lips for the typical nudes out there, I've long been on the difficult hunt for a perfect 'my-lips-but-better' nude. And this is the one. On anyone else, it would show up more mauve, and although I've heard this to be a dupe of MAC's Velvet Teddy, it has a pinker tone (although they're still very similar). This lipstick is so moisturising and glides on like nothing, that I can barely feel it on my lips when I'm wearing it. The one downfall with products like this - it really isn't 'longlasting' at all.
Barry M Lip Genie Lipstick, £4.99
If you've heard about this before, don't laugh at me. This was purely a purchase out of curiosity and novelty. For those who don't know, this is a green to pink colour-changing lipstick. Supposedly the lipstick adapts to the individual's pH, so the pink tone is sure to suit the person's skin tone. I don't know if it actually is different on others, but I've heard the real science behind it is that the green pigment turns into the (same) shade of pink due to moisture on the lips. And so I, armed with this knowledge already, decided to test it out. I can say for sure that licking your lips after applying makes the pink bolder, as well as adding tap water to a swatch on my arm. I've only tried this on myself, but from a little research online, it seems the colour is the same on everyone, and it is only the person's original lip colour that gives the 'uniqueness' of the colour. The product itself is moisturising, and it is quite pretty for a bright pink. I'm not a fan of the chemical scent, though, and it gives such a long-lasting tint that I couldn't even get it off after a whole day of eating, drinking, and scrubbing with oils!
Transparent lip liners are wonderful at preventing lipsticks from bleeding, and so, in an attempt to calm down the very messy, bleed-loving red lipstick I have, I decided to try this one out. It works wonders - it prevented that lipstick from going anywhere it wasn't wanted, for hours. Finally, a beautiful, non-drying red lip! I use it just on the edge of my lips, not inside or out, so it creates a barrier and the lipstick can't pass.
MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer in Dash, £3.00
Now here's a lip product that doesn't need the lip liner mentioned above! This is a matte liquid lipstick, with wonderful pigmentation and a lovely sugary scent. It's a truly 'liquid' type of liquid lipstick, rather than creamy, so it is a little more drying (and slightly tacky). However, over some lip balm, this will last for a very long time and wear beautifully without settling into lines. Trust me when I say this, it's transfer-proof - it will go nowhere.
GOSH Lip Oil in 002 Sea Buckthorn and 003 Rose, £7.49 (2 for £10 offer)
I wasn't going to include this before as it's over £5, however at the time of writing, there's an offer of 2 lip products for £10, and these are my favourite products I've bought, hands down. I never understood the hype around lip oils until I tried these on my lips. Even when I swatched it in the store, I wasn't too excited to try it - the strange scent threw me off a bit. But, try it I did, and it is amazing. I love the softness of the bendy applicator (I can't stop applying it because it's so soft!), and the lightweight feel of it on my lips. As someone who isn't a fan of the thick stickiness of lipgloss, I was so impressed with this. The scent, as I mentioned before, is a bit unusual. It's not something I like, but I don't particularly dislike it either. The colour also really makes no difference at all - I picked up the red (Rose) one thinking it would give me lips at least a bit of colour. It doesn't.
Oh K! Cleansing Pad Duo Pack, £5.00/£3.00
(This was half price at Peacocks and strangely the full price was only £3.00 - I paid £1.50. I cannot find it on the Peacocks website for the life of me, but it's sold in many other places for £5)
The first thing that made me pick up this little impulse buy (other than the fact that it was half price!) was the packaging. It had the cutest little box I have ever seen, with an adorable pink strawberry and a certain flair that only Korean beauty products have. Since buying this, I haven't looked back. Gone are the days of cleansing with my hands, this is so much easier and much more effective. And besides, it feels nice when using it. Isn't a product that can make your heart happy the best sort of product?
Oh also, another use for it - clean your brushes on it! There's two in the pack anyway, so I've got one for my face and one for brushes. It's much easier and better for your hands if you swirl those dirty brushes onto the pad with some shampoo, then rinse off. And voila! Wonderfully clean makeup brushes without dry hands or excessive scrubbing.
Simple Micellar Cleansing Water, prices vary depending on the store and offers
I don't think I even need to say a thing about this. It's just an essential that removes makeup like magic. No stinging, no scrubbing, just peachy cleanliness in a few swipes.
Simple Vital Vitamin Foaming Cleanser, prices vary depending on the store and offers
I use this at night after the micellar water, with the new cleansing pad I bought, and I'm loving this new routine. My face feels squeaky clean afterwards and without an overpowering fragrance or burning eyes. It does tighten and dry my skin, but my oil glands can - and will - overpower anything, sadly.
So...? Vanilla Body Mist, £3.99 (1/2 price, £1.99)
What a throwback to those tween ages where body mists and sprays were all the rage! As a lover of all things sweet and sugary, and even more so of gourmand fragrances (why only eat the sugar when you can wear it too?), I had to get my hands on this. This is absolutely divine, I would eat it if I could. Judging by the packaging, I wasn't expecting much in terms of longevity and...elegance, I guess would be one way of saying it. But I was pleasantly surprised, and impressed, by it. One spritz of this near my chest area had me set for a trip to the supermarket, followed by lunch out. And I was still smelling whiffs of it throughout the rest of the day. The fragrance is much nicer than I expected too, with deeper notes of something I can't put my finger on (sorry, you'll have to smell for yourself!) which make this much more wearable.
That's all the recent products I've bought that are £5 or less, and I must say, the high street brands have really impressed me this time! I already know that I'm going to have to try out more from these brands, I'm hooked. I'm excited to check out more lip products (as if I didn't already buy enough!), particularly the Essence lip liners and MUA liquid lipsticks. I was most happy with the quality of the body mist, and since sniffing the Boots range last time, I've been eyeing the Grapefruit and Sparkling Tea mists. I also heard that Superdrug had the same brand but different fragrances, so I'm excited to give those a whiff too!
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I love you
xxx
