Beauty Favourites | January 2015

The start of 2015 has been promising! I was gifted some gorgeous products at Christmas by my very generous family and boyfriend. I've been given them a full road test along with some other products that I purchased with my own money so let's go...

Urban Decay Naked Palette. The OG and the forerunner of the Naked palettes. It took me several attempts at my birthday and Christmas lists to finally get this baby and my oh my was it worth the wait. I'm a neutral eye kinda gal and this palette, as the name would suggest, just does the job right. I am a particular fan of the shades 'Naked' and 'Buck' for all over the lid and in the crease. I've also been using 'Half Baked' to push on some sparkle into the centre of my lid to open up the eye and 'Smog' for something a little smokier.

Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 Hour Nude Foundation in 100 Ivory. I bought this a few days before Christmas as my teeny tiny sample of a Benefit foundation (the name escapes me...) was running low and I needed something new. Drugstore foundations are probably my most sought after products to try. I'm all about the base (no treble) when it comes to make-up as I like to even out my skin tone and reduce any redness going on. I didn't love this at first, I found it didn't give as much cover as I'd like but since persisting with it and changing the tool I use (more on that further down), I can whole heartedly say that I love it! When it's buffed into the skin properly, it really does a good job at evening out and giving a natural finish to the skin.

Clinique High Impact Mascara in 01 Black. This was another gift from a family member this Christmas that I find myself reaching for on an everyday basis. It was on my list as I had tried a sample out from a magazine many months ago and held onto it because I loved it that much! It makes my lashes so effortlessly long and thick at the same time but not too much that they look spidery or clumpy. I love the wand as its a soft fibre one; I don't get on well with plastic ones at all.

Maybelline Brow Satin Eyebrow Pencil in Mahogany Red. For a long while now I have been searching for a eyebrow pencil that somewhat matches with my hair colour. I'm a full on natural ginger/redhead/strawberry blonde whatever you want to call it with extremely fair blonde eyebrows. However, brow products that I try out are always too cool toned and grey. It comes with a thin wax pencil on one end and a setting powder on the other and the colour just works really well at making my brows look a little thicker and more suited to my hair colour.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick SPF 15. I'd say its pretty common knowledge that the Eight Hour Cream is somewhat of an icon in the beauty world. It's extremely moisturising and can be used on many parts of the body where dry skin can occur. I've had this lip balm for a very long time and its pretty much attached to me all throughout the winter months. You can actually tell how long I've had this as it know comes in much more swish packaging.

Zoeva 106 Powder Brush. My lovely boyfriend very kindly got me the Zoeva Rose Gold Brush Set that I had been lusting after for months for Christmas and it has not failed me. I absolutely love this powder brush for setting powder and bronzer. It's ridiculously soft and washes really well.

Zoeva 102 Silk Finish Brush. This is very similar to the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush but has slightly longer bristles and has a rounder shape. I love this for the Rimmel Foundation I just mentioned. It applies the product really well, is extremely soft and isn't so dense that I feel like I am tugging at my skin, especially my eyes.

Zoeva 227 Luxe Soft Definer. A blatant dupe for the MAC 217 for much less money and from what I have heard, much better. As you can see from the photos, this brush has been very well loved and I often partner it with the Naked palette. It applies and blend eyeshadows so incredibly well that it makes blending so seamless and easy. I could honestly just sit and blend for a considerable amount of time. I think I may find myself on love-makeup.com stocking up on these as I use them so much!

I hope you found this post useful and has maybe swayed you into trying one or some of these products for yourself. Let me know what you have been loving this month in the comments below!

Make-Up Haul - MaxFactor, Soap & Glory & KIKO!

A shopping trip to Westfield's without browsing at the make-up aisles of Boots and KIKO? No, it doesn't make sense to me either which is why I obviously partook in such an activity. My list of products to try had been growing alarmingly over the last month or so; thanks to the beaut ViviannaDoesMakeup in particular.

MaxFactor Face Finity All Day Primer. I have been neglecting the primer department of my make-up routine for quite a while now. I really didn't get on with the Maybelline Baby Skin primer, the texture above all just made me squirm a little bit when I applied it. However, I have heard some good things about the fairly new-ish primer from MaxFactor and the assistant there told me it was oil free which is a great feature for me. I'm excited to try this out and really see if it keeps my make-up from slipping away; the bane of my make-up routine.

Soap & Glory Kick Ass Instant Retouch Pressed Powder. I love the powder that is in the Kick Ass Concealer and have been on the look out for a good translucent powder so didn't think twice when picking up the similarly named pressed powder compact. What I am thinking twice about it picking it up from the Boots in Westfields Shepherds Bush. The Soap & Glory stand was a mess to say the least and even though I reached to the back to get my powder, it was still partially smashed *angry face*. Let's hope it redeems itself...

L'Oreal Infallible Stay Fresh Foundation in 120 Vanilla. Another VDM recommendation! I love trying out different foundations. It's the one part of my routine that I really rely on as I have a whole lot of redness, uneven skin tone and hyper pigmentation going on. Reportedly lasts for 24 hours but honestly, who wears their foundation for an entire day?! Not me but I like the potential. 

Soap & Glory Supercat Carbon Black Extreme Eyeliner Pen. My beloved L'Oreal Super Liner ran dry and I had heard a lot about this little number. I'm really hoping this is super black and doesn't drag on the eye which is a pet peeve I have with eyeliner pens.

Soap & Glory Archery Brown Tint & Precision Shaping Pencil. Now one thing I have been focussing on is my brows. I recently had them waxed (thank god!) and whilst I love them, they are a tad thin for me. However, this is nothing a little filling in cannot remedy. This is a product I have heard a lot about and thought it was time overdue to give it a whirl.

KIKO Color-Up Long Lasting Eyeshadow. Please note: I know I spell it 'colour' but it says 'color' on the packaging, to avoid any confusion. Back to the product. My oh my are these long lasting! Just upon swatching and a train journey home, these definitely need a little more elbow grease to take off. I picked '10', '20' '24'; a taupe, light brown and a purple. These were also in the sale at £3 a piece so I just had to pick up several shades! Very impressed so far and will definitely be creating looks with them soon!

L'Oreal Color Riche Lipstick in 'Julianne's Nude'. The main reason why I bought this is because Julianne Moore is a pale skinned redhead like me and logic said 'if it's her perfect nude, then surely it'll be mine too, right?' I popped it on whilst I was shopping as my lips were a little dry and I must say, I really do like it. I can definitely see this being my go-to everyday lipstick. 

Whilst my make-up collection is looking rather replenished, my bank account is feeling rather less so... 

Drugstore Highlighting Concealers: A Comparison

I'd have to say that concealer is one of my must-have products in my make-up. Ever since the age of around 13-14, those darling hormones kicked in and my skin has suffered with some pretty serious breakouts. Also, like a lot of people, I suffer from dark blue-ish circles under my eyes.

Concealer has been my best friend over those years and one day, my Mum kindly gave me her half used Yves Saint Laurent Touché Éclat highlighting concealer. I practised with it and noticed a huge difference in my face when I applied it under my eyes. The brightening properties of Touché Éclat awakened my tired eyes and I was in love.

However, I couldn't afford this new love so searched elsewhere for a cheaper alternative. I have tried 2 different types of highlighting concealer from 2 different brands. I have compared them both against each other so that I can recommend either one of them or in fact, both.

So, here are the two candidates:

Maybelline's Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer 

vs. 

Rimmel's Wake Me Up Concealer

L-R: Rimmel 'Wake Me Up' concealer and Maybelline 'Dream Lumi Touch' concealer 

Starting off with Maybelline's Dream Lumi Touch, I bought this a few weeks ago as I'd heard a lot of good things about it in the ol' bloggersphere. This product does not disappoint. The formula is very opaque and blends well under the eyes and around the nose. It has much more of a matte finish to it than the Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer. I think I prefer the matte finish just because I have oily/shiny skin and like to keep my base very matte and let my eyes and lips shimmer and shine! I really like the brush on the Maybelline concealer as it really reminds me of the Yves Saint Laurent Touché Eclat but without the price tag. 

Rimmel's Wake Me Up concealer I think is much more catered to those with dry skin or those who just like to have a dewy complexion. The formula is quite creamy so it blends well but can run the risk of being a little too sheer for my liking. Having said that, it is great and concealing under the eye circles especially if you don't want a heavy coverage finish. It also has a doe-foot applicator which I quite like but I do prefer the brush purely because of personal preference!

So, which one am I more likely to spend my money on? Probably the Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting concealer. I feel it's more suitable for my skin type and the finish I want. The Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer is great too and I still would recommend it. 

What do you think of these concealers? Have you tried any others from the drugstore that you really rate?

Thank you for reading this post!

Paris x