December Makeup Empties

The third post of my empties involves makeup products. Can you believe I have finished all of these?! Technically there are a few disappointing products that I am chucking away but most of them as you can see are properly empty things.

Eyeko Fat Brush Mascara – a mascara that did nothing to my lashes. If you like no makeup makeup maybe this one is for you but even if I have very minimal makeup on I want my lashes to stand out so I want my mascara to work for me. I think I am never going to get another Eyeko mascara as I have always been disappointed with them.

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer – one of my favourite concealers. It’s an amazing product and very affordable. I will for sure get this again.

Eylure Brow Pencil in Dark Brown – I love this eyebrow pencil. It’s hard but not too hard, does not drag on your skin and leaves enough product. It has a spooly on another end so you always have something to brush your brows with. The pencil has lasted quite long so if you want to buy something that you don’t need to re-purchase too quickly then I recommend this brow pencil.

Essence Brow Gel – one of my faves! I will dedicate a post for this product on it’s own. It’s that good!

Collection Fast Stroke Eyeliner – A great eyeliner, easy to use and is jet black matte.

Gosh Lip Oil – a very interesting lip moisturiser. I’m not sure how hydrating it really was but I loved the texture of the product and kept using it up just because of that.

Bodyshop Honey Bronze Drops – I really liked using this in summer. Not sure if it did give me much of a bronzed look but then I did use it all up, so maybe it did do what it was saying it would?

L’Oreal Slim Line Eyeliner – I liked this felt tip eyeliner, it was black, stayed well on my eyes and very easy to use.

EX1 Invisiwear Foundation in F100 – this is one of my favourite foundations and I wore it on my wedding day. I already have another tube of this magic in my stash.

L’Oreal Infallible Fixing Mist – a good highstreet makeup fixing mist. Good choice when on a budget which I normally am on.

Vichy Dermablend Translucent Powder – I cannot believe that I have used this up. Has anyone ever used up a big tub of translucent powder? I enjoyed using this and even more happy that I have finished it (only because I want to try other things)

L’Oreal Miss Hippy Mascara – one of my most favourite mascaras. It makes your lashes voluminous and dark. This was my mascara choice for my wedding and I need another tube of this goodness. I need to dedicate a post to this mascara.

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer – I have gone through multiple tubs of this. I use it for spot concealing or when the foundation did not cover enough of my rosacea and I need to add some more coverage for some parts of my face.

Becca Eye Brightening Corrector – I was given this by my friend as she found it did not cover her dark circles enough. I had quite high hopes for this product but I did not like it at all. It’s sticky and thick but not in a good way, it does not correct the blue circles and it makes any concealer crease which does not happen to me normally. It’s not worth the money or the effort in my opinion.

L’Oreal Nude Cushion Foundation – I have finished this quite quickly. I think I will write a separate post on this foundation so wait for my full review.

Phew, I don’t think I have ever managed to finish that many makeup products around the same time. I wonder if I bought them all around the same time and if that’s the case then maybe I should cap in my makeup hoarding….. Emmm… Yeah, not going to happen.

 

 

H&M Makeup Haul Review

In my last post I have talked about a makeup haul that I did. I have picked up a few bits from H&M to try out. Now that I have used the products I can tell you what I think of them.

I have got 2 H&M nail polishes and so far I have been enjoying wearing them. They don’t last on me super long but they don’t chip super quick either, just an ordinary lasting power. Pearl Bisque is a pearlescent white and I really like it for this time of the year. It’s got that holiday sheen and is not a stark white. Purple Aurora (pictured above) is a duochrome purple with a hint of metallic green.  I’m not sure if the duochrome effect translates once the nail polish is on the nails but I think it is still a nice colour.

I really like creamy liquid like eyeshadows so when I saw H&M Fluid Hues Eye Colour I knew I had to give it a try and I can tell you that it’s love. These are very pigmented & stay on the eyelids for the whole day. You need to work with them fairly fast cause once they set they do set.  You can use your fingers to blend out if you fancy so it makes it a very easy use eyeshadow. The colour I got is Shifting Sands which is a beautiful light bronze.

I have to admit that I have not had time to try the H&M Treasured Eye Gems but I can’t wait to find the perfect occasion to whip these babies out.

Overall I am very impressed with the H&M makeup and I think that they are great purchases. I am now thinking that maybe I should go and get some more items from them. If you have tried anything let me know how stuff worked for you.

H&M Makeup Haul

I did a little H&M makeup haul. I walked into H&M and just could not resist some of their makeup. It’s affordable, looks pretty good and hope that it also works ok on me.

I got two nail polishes, a liquid eyeshadow and some sparkly gems to go on the skin (Christmas funky makeup!)

I’m going to try them all out and report back to you how it all works out.

Travel Friendly Eyeshadow Combo

I don’t know how about you guys but I find myself quite often doing my makeup somewhere else but home. Because of that, I try to take with myself makeup that will not smash, break or spill. I have been really enjoying eyeshadow pencils to take away as they are easy to carry and use.

The two pencils that I reach for quite often for my ‘take-away’ makeup up are Bourjois Colorband Eyeshadow in Rose Fauviste & Collection Eyeshadow Pencil in Hot Chocolate. I use Rose Fauviste all over my lid and then I add Hot Chocolate to my outer corners. No brushes needed, I just use my finger to blend everything out and voila! Super quick, super easy and great when you are on the go.

If you find yourself often staying somewhere else (maybe at your other half home) or like me, you cycle into work and change there then try eyeshadow pencils for your eye makeup. It will save you lots of time, space and energy.

Maybelline Color Drama Lip Pain Review

I like various lip products but my favourite must be hybrids between lipsticks and lipglosses. I like to have an opaque colour on and at the same time I like the product to apply easily, stay on well enough and not dry my lips. Therefore it is not a surprise that when I saw Maybelline Color Drama Lip Paints on the shop shelves I have picked some up.

Maybelline claims that these lip products have an intense colour and they do not lie. These are one of the best pigmented glosses I have ever used. I call them glosses as they are not straight liquid lipstick, as such, they apply easily and they do stain your lips a little bit so when wearing off they do that evenly. Color Drama Lip Paints are super easy to use and to wear. I have two colours Stripped Down which is a very nice nude and Fight Me Fuchsia which does not need explanation. Normally I am not a bright colour wearer and when I was buying these I thought that Fight Me Fuchsia is going to be a waste of my money but I was quite wrong. I love it! I have worn it on a night out, I have worn it to work and I think it’s a bright colour that you can pull off for any occasion. I also keep reaching for Stripped Down whenever I am getting ready for work and have no time to think what lip colour would work, it goes well with any look.

I am very impressed with this new Maybelline release and I know for sure I will be using these up and getting new ones when time comes. Have you tried Color Drama Lip Paints? What do you think?

Tidying up my makeup stash

I am a makeup junky and a hoarder as I like to use up everything I got. I try this as otherwise it feels like a waste of money getting rid of something that was not used. I like to try new things but with that comes a lot of stuff that just do not work for me. I normally try to keep things and give them a try as much as I can but sometimes you have to admit to yourself that it is time to stop and give up.

I am trying to declutter my makeup stash (as you might have noticed from some previous posts). One I do not want to use things that have expired but I also need to be honest with myself that if I have not used something for a long time it is time for it to go.

First up is Kiko Extra Sculpt Volume Mascara. I have heard Kathleen Lights rave about this mascara but I found it blah! I did not like the brush on the wand it was too big and cumbersome for me to use. It did not make my lashes look amazing so I have moved on to things that I like more. Another Kiko product that I am chucking away that was bearly used is their Universal Fit foundation. I have an oily combination skin and this foundation disappears from my face in a few hours. I need a long lasting coverage so this will never work for me.

Max Factor  Face Finity Foundation is going away from my stash because the shade is not right for me. It has pinky undertone and does not suit me at all. I do not reach for it and it just takes up space. I will not use it up and sadly I have to get rid of it.

I have had this Effaclar Duo + serum for a really long time. Bought it because everyone was raving about it but then I do not suffer from acne anymore so I do not use it. I have had it for too long to keep it so off it goes too.

The last item I am throwing away is by Collection and it is their Eyeshadow Pencil. This one always crumbles on my and does not apply or blend in a nice way. I do not reach for it and I do not like using it. (Saying that I do have another two shades and those are staying).

How often do you guys declutter your makeup? Do you feel bad when you have to get rid of stuff as I do? (I always do but have to keep telling myself that this is a must).

Natural Collection Brow Gel Review

I like to find affordable makeup gems. I get such a satisfaction when I find products that are really great and don’t cost too much so I like to smooch in Boots or Superdrug every now and then in an attempt to find that new gem. When I saw a little bottle of a new brow gel by Natural Collection I straight away snapped it.

I got a Natural Collection Brow Gel in Dark Brown and tried it on myself the next day. I was so excited but from step one it did not go well for me. Firstly, the bottle is tiny so I have expected the brush to be tiny too but it is not. It is smaller than a mascara wand but only by tiny bit so it is still too big for brows. It’s that big that it just smeared the gel all around by brows even though I tried to comb them as carefully as possible. Trying to clean up that smearing also made me take off my foundation as the product would not remove nicely. I was so upset but told myself that maybe it’s just a first day mishap therefore I have tried using again the next day. Guess what? Same things happened. The colour is ok but everything else has not worked out for me and I am very sad about it. I thought that finally we will have a great eyebrow gel that you can get everywhere in UK and is affordable.

I am not a fan of this Natural Collection Brow Gel and would not recomend it to anybody. If anyone has tried this and liked it let me know why and what do you do to make it work for you.

 

Tidying again

Last year I wrote a post about clearing out stuff and trying to downsize on things. (here) Having less stuff is currently quite a hard work especially as I tend to unknowingly accumulate things over and over again. As such I keep on trying to stop myself, look through all that I have and make sure to get rid of things that I know I just do not use, do not need and will not miss. Once that is determined I through them away or donate them. I did another makeup clean out today and feel so much better for it. Now I just need to try and not clutter myself again.

LA Girl Haul

I was quite excited to have found out that Beauty Bay stocks LA Girl products on their site. That of course has led me to a haul straight away because come on! Who is not keen to try US products that you have heard so much about?

I picked up mainly lip products and a concealer. I heard that LA Girl does them pretty well. I chose two LA Girl Glazed Lip Paints & two different matte lip products – a matte lipstick and a matte liquid lipstick. And of course I got the famous Pro Conceal concealer.

I look forward to writing up in-depth reviews for those. Do you guys have a preference on what I should review first?

By Terry Ombre Blackstar Dupe

It is time for me to share the best By Terry Ombre Black Star in Misty Rock dupe that I have found. I introduce you with the dupe that is called Rosie for Autograph Cream Eyeshadow in Movie Star Crush.

The two eyeshadows are from different ends of price points. By Terry costs around £30 whereas Rosie for Autograph one is just £12.50, the price difference is quite big as you can see. They both are housed in a metallic looking stick form casing which makes the eyeshadow retractable. When swatching or using on your eyelids both of them feel and apply exactly the same. Yes, I do not feel any difference in how they apply or blend out. Both are buttery creamy and both are quite long lasting on your lids. Saying that there is a slight difference colour wise and to me it is just a small difference. Rosies cream stick is a little bit more purple based which makes it a bit darker when Misty Rock has less purple undertone and looks a little bit more brown (but there is purple and it is visible in some light).

Because the texture is so similar and the colours are not too different I cannot be more happy to have found a dupe for Misty Rock. I do like it but I do not think that it is worth buying it especially now that there is an alternative which does no cost your whole salary. Stock up on Rosie for Autograph Cream Eyeshadows as they are Ombre Blackstar without unreasonable price tag.