i don’t know about you, but i’m always way too scared to try new makeup products. i mean, makeup can be hella expensive, and the last thing i want to do is spend £20 on a new foundation just to find it doesn’t work with my skin.
so, i’ve been on a bit of a hunt lately for some new makeup pieces:
- foundation
i’ve gone through quite a few foundation brands lately; revlon colourstay, maybelline fit me, and of course dream matte mousse at one point of life. i’ve been using the fit me foundation in their lightest shade, but i’m just not super impressed by it.
now i know i can do a mean eyeshadow look, and that my eyebrow game is acceptable enough, but i’ve always struggled getting that flawless foundation look. i’ve never known if that was down to my skin, the foundation i’m using, or the way i’m applying it. my main issues are that the foundation is often too yellow toned or even orange (i’m super pale), and that the foundation creases super easy throughout the day, especially around my nose and smile lines.
i’ve heard great things about the primark ‘my perfect colour’ foundation being an amazing dupe for the £40 estee lauder ‘double wear foundation’. so, i thought i’d give it a shot!
i’ll be honest with you. i was completely blown away by this. i mean, i’ve literally never spent more than £12 on a foundation, so i can’t tell you if it matches up to the esteem lauder (or any other high end foundation). what i can tell you, is that it actually matches my skin tone perfectly, and works great with one coat for a natural look, or two coats if you’re looking for more full coverage. i must say though, that of course it ain’t perfect. it still creases by the end of the day, and does dry super fast so you have to be speedy with that beauty blender.
however, for £5, it’s a pure god send. definitely a new staple in my makeup routine.
- lipsticks and lip glosses
i’ve gone through quite a lip makeup journey throughout my life. i used to LOVE wearing lipstick, then i really got into liquid lipsticks after i discovered aliexpress fakes for £1. then, during uni, my anxiety started getting really bad and i couldn’t bring myself to wear lipstick out of the house. idk what it was about it. but i was just always really nervous people would think i would look silly as i have a kind of weird lip shape and they are in no way big and luscious. so recently i’ve been wanting to grab a couple of nude lipsticks and glosses to try and encourage myself to get back into the lip game. however, i’m not a fan of pink-ey undertones, and find myself going for colours that are too brown and definitely no longer a nude.
let me tell ya, i am in love with this trio of lip products. even more so because of the price. the two make-up gallery items are of course from the infamous poundland make-up range. they don’t say their shade (apologies!), but the shade range is quite limited so i’m sure you’d find them amongst the selection in store. the lip gloss is a tad gloopy and sticky, and a bit too pinky for me, but it works a dream on top of more brown shaded lipsticks. as for the ‘matt lip colour’, i am so so impressed!! this shade is the perfect ‘i wanted nude but a little bit extra’ shade, and the formula is heavenly. it kinda works like a lip cream, so is a little slide on the skin, but i haven’t found it budging super easy! in no means is it as secure as a liquid lipstick, but it’s definitely worth having in your bag for a measly quid.
the final product is from ‘the beauty outlet’. i’ve not seen many of these before, only in doncaster, england and in antrim, northern ireland. so, i’m not too sure how common they are. but basically, they’re massive beauty stores (of course) that sell things fairly cheap. the majority of the store is made of up w7 products, which focus a lot on dupes of high end products, so you’ll always be able to find a w7 ‘renaissance’ dupe palette or a kylie dupe. but other than w7, there are tonnes of other brands. some items sell for their normal drugstore price, while some are insanely discounted. i found this maybelline lip gloss for only £1.49! there is less colour in this one than the poundland gloss, however i definitely ain’t complaining. as there isn’t much colour pay-off, it works amazing with any shade underneath it with no clashing.
- body sprays
packing all my life into a couple of cases in order to move to belfast meant that i had to sacrifice some beauties. i’ve always been a keen lover of the victoria’s secret body sprays, and even if i wasn’t, it’s just one of those things that you always seem to get for birthdays and christmases. now, i know i could have put my sprays into my hold luggage but i was way too nervous they’d burst, so i just told myself i would buy some when i moved over. so, the search began.
i know i could’ve just rebought the victoria’s secret sprays i know i love, but what’s the fun in that?? i found a whole collection of sprays in poundland, so i got started on my awkward smell test of every one. these two came out on top. both were the few remaining of its kind so i’m assuming everyone else had similar smell preferences.
only from writing this did i even realise that the pink grapefruit & raspberry spray was a baylis & harding product, which makes this even more of a steal! it’s such a fresh smell, and although may not sound appealing to some, the scent reminds me so much of undiluted ribena which i love. it’s super nostalgic.
the second spray, by ‘twisted soul’, is a lot more of an actual scent. the baylis & harding product is a lot more fun, while this spray in the scent ‘sweet’ boasts some gorgeous tones of cherry blossom and vanilla, keeping it a lot sweeter an warm.
both sprays are a great size of 100ml so are great options for travelling! however, i loved their size as they are amazing for throwing into a handbag. as much as i loved my victoria’s secret sprays, i always found them a bit on the larger side as i prefer smaller bags.
- eyeliners
i absolutely LOVE the nyx vivid brights eyeliners, but £6 a pop is pretty spenny for me. of course, loads of my eyeliners just HAD to run out at the exact time, and i really just couldn’t be arsed spending £30 replacing a handful of eyeliners. so, although doubtful, i’ve been keeping my eye out for some cheap replacements.
these gems popped up in poundland and the beuty outlet that i mentioned earlier. the first eyeliner is a sparkly black colour from the make-up gallery pound land range. alone, this eyeliner doesn’t have much colour payoff to be quite honest with you. however, if you layer this on top of a standard black cat eye? gal it is a LOOK and i’d highly recommend.
the other two eyeliners are pure steals!! £1.49 each? both colours are gorgeous metallics that rely on the colour of the formula rather than specks of glitter to make them true ‘metallics’. i was quite worried about the formula at first, as i always go for waterproof eye makeup and these seemed quite creamy. however, i’ve been happily please with the longevity of these after applied.
this was a super long post, but to be honest i’m just getting a hang of things haha! i’m still too nervous to share this blog with anyone i know until i’m happy with the standard, so expect some more trial and error posts hehe
stay groovy
meg x
Meg saves money 