No Money March: The Budget AM Skincare Routine

We're trying something new today. Videos.

Now I must admit, I'm not going to be able to get a video up every week, but I've decided that every now and then I'll drop on into a regularly scheduled post slot. I'm finding that I have a lot of ideas for content that make for lengthy posts and I figured some people might want to see them in video format. :)

No Money March: The Budget Contouring Palette

I know "strobing" is the latest makeup trend but I still think contouring is the most effective way to chisel out some cheek bones and add dimension to the face. I've seen the more high-end contouring palettes and while they look pretty I just couldn't justify dropping the cash on them since I wasn't sure how much use I'd get out of them. Then I found out NYX had one so I figured I'd have a look at it, and here's what I think.

So the palette is £18 in the UK and it's made up of 8 shades. My breakdown of the functions of those shades breaks down to 3 contouring colours, 1 bronzer, 1 banana-powder type shade, 2 shimmer highlights and 1 matte highlight/light face powder. This is currently available in the UK from Boots, Selfridges, Very.com and FeelUnique.com.

I'm really pale and I find most of these shades workable for my skin. Both of the shimmer highlights are lovely on me, the top left corner "Ice Queen" is a lovely pale pinky shimmer that looks lovely on the cheek bones and "Nectar" (top right) is an orangey peach shimmer that I use as a blush topper but I can see this working well on deeper skin tones as well. The formula on the shimmer highlights is the best in the palette, these are really soft and buttery.

The matte highlight "Soft Light" (second from the left) is slightly more powdery feeling. I use this as an all over face powder but it could work as a highlight on darker skins. "Cream" (the yellow shade) is really interesting because I though it would be too dark to work on my skin but I find it blends out great and really brightens the centre of the face. With it being another matter powder it's not as creamy as the shimmers but it's definitely not what I'd call chalky either.

For the bronze-y shades I find I can only really use the two centre shades. "Tan" (bottom left) is too dark to bronze with and too warm to use as a contour and "Hollow" (bottom right) is just way too dark but the formula is pigmented and blendable on both. "Sculpt" (centre right) is my perfect contour shade and "Toffee" makes a nice pale bronzer.

The packaging isn't the most glam looking and it feels a bit cheap, but it's really functional. It seems to be marketed as a pro product so the clear lid makes sense and the hard plastic is durable so I can see this traveling well. I also like that the pans are removable so if you just wanted to travel with one of two shades you could easily pop them out and put them in another palette.

In terms of bang for your buck, it works out at £2.25 per pan and each of the pans is 2.7g. For value it works out similar to their other bronzing products which run for £8 for 9g. I think these are really reasonably priced for what you get.

I also wanted to make an honourable mention to the Spectrum Collection Tapered Finishing Brush, for budget contouring, this brush is amazing. The pink handle and blue bristles is fun and the tapered cut makes it really easy to apply contour where you want it. It's a lovely soft brush that picks up product well and blends it seamlessly and it's a synthetic brush so its cruelty free.

No Money March: Olay Daily Facials Cleansing Cloths

I could have titled this post many things referencing the unlikely-hood of what you're about to read, but there were so many choices that it all got a bit overwhelming and so I went for the obvious. Basically, Emily of Beauty Broadcast has been talking about the Olay Daily Facial in a Box on her channel for years now. So despite them being two of my top skincare loathes in one (foaming and face wipes) I just had to try them, and I'm pleasantly surprised.

These aren't your typical face wipe. They come in a box and they're dry cloths that you dampen and then they lather up. I picked up the kind for sensitive skin (in the UK I've only seen the "Sensitive" or "Normal" varieties, but in the Us I believe they carry options for both "Dry" and "Oily/Combination" also) and you get 30 in a box.

The sensitive cloths have holes in the cloth which gives them a slight texture that offers a tiny bit of gentle exfoliation to the skin without them being scratchy or abrasive at all. The actual lather is nice and soft and they cloths remove makeup really well without leaving the skin feeling stripped or dry. I personally use these to remove makeup either as a first cleanse or as a lazy night where I just want to remove the makeup and get to bed, but I can see them working equally well as a morning cleanse.

The only thing that has me a bit torn is the value for money. At full price they're £4.99 but they can be found on offer for £3 in a lot of places, so for face wipes they're a reasonable price but I just think that face wipes are generally not the most cost effective way to wash your face. However that being said, these are really nice and they're a lot cheaper than the Skyn Iceland Glacial Cleansing Cloths (£13 for 30) and they are the only other face wipes I've used that I'd recommend.

No Money March: The Affordable Brand Overview - LOC Cosmetics

I've spoken a lot about Birchbox lately (although rest assured that I have no sponsorship or affiliations with them, they're just doing some cool things lately) and I've been waiting for this UK launch since I saw Tati's video about her collaboration with them (here). Birchbox recently started up there first in-house brand LOC (Love of Colour) and I managed to get my hands on the whole collection, so lets have a look.

So firstly, when I say "the whole collection" I should be clear that the whole collection currently consists of just 5 products. They have 2 eye shadow sticks and 3 lip crayons available at the moment and if the US line is anything to go by I feel like it won't be long until the range expands a little.

The first thing I picked up were the eye shadow sticks. I have both shades but of the two I personally find "Champagne Problems" to be the more wearable shade, it's a nice cool silvery-taupe shade with shimmer and it makes a great lid shade and also works nicely on the lid. The other shade available is "Perfect Cents" which is a warm golden shade with shimmer. Both shades are really pretty, I just find that really warm shades don't sit as nicely on my skin tone.

The formulas on these are amazing. They apply nice and creamily to the lids and you have a decent amount of time to work with them so they blend out really effortlessly. Once you've blended them in they set down on the skin and are pretty much budge-proof. I don't experience any creasing with these at all.

I also really like the matte lip crayons. These are currently available in 3 shades: "Skinny Dip" (a warm nude), "Trouble" (a vibrant slightly warm red) and "Uncorked" (a bright berry). I find the formula on these to be comparable to the Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencils, they're not quite the same but they have that almost powdery feeling finish on the lips and the staying power on them is really good.

They're super affordable products at £8 each for the eye pencils and £6.50 each for the lip crayons. They're also available in value sets which makes them an even better deal, you can get all 3 lip crayons in a set for £14 or if you want the whole collection thats available for £25 so definitely high street pricing. Being an in-house brand these products are currently only available to purchase via Birchbox's website.

My one gripe with these is the amount of product you get. The shadow sticks contain 1.35g of product and the lip crayons are a mere 0.6g a piece. Now for the shadow sticks it's not too bad as I find the standard amount of product for an eyeshadow pencil to be around 1.6g a piece. The lipsticks however, not so much. I compared these to the Nars pencils before and Nars give you 2.4g of product for £19, so LOC give you a quarter of the amount of product for around a 3rd of the price. I do really like the LOC lip crayons but I can't honestly say I feel they give you value for money.

No Money March: New Revlon Mascara Marathon - Volume + Length Magnified

So today brings us the closing instalment of our Revlon mascara marathon, and I have (accidentally) saved the best for last. While I thought I'd love the All-In-One that we looked at on Monday, it's the Volume + Length Magnified formula that really left a lasting impression on me.

I must admit, I struggled to see what would be different about the claims for this one and the All-In-One, but these claims seem to be a lot more realistic:

"Create envy with every lash flutter using the Revlon Volume & Length Magnified Mascara . The high-shine fibre formula provides amplified volume and length for big doe eyed lashes.

It’s all about the brush:

The Revlon Magnifying Lash Brush has a unique square brush, which anchors the formula to lashes, coating them individually for intense volume and length."

This does have that same lash-fibre formula as the All-In-One, but I feel that the Volume + Length Magnified has a wand that is better equipped for depositing the lash fibres onto the lashes in a way that looks more natural. This wand is a traditional bristle brush and I find that it's a really good size (neither over nor under sized) and that the bristles aren't too long or too short either. It's basically a standard no-frills-attached mascara wand.

I find this product to be very lengthening to the lashes and you can easily build volume with it if you take the time to build it up. I can comfortably apply 2 coats and started to see the tiniest amount of clumping on the 3rd coat but it does give a very fluttery looking lash. I think this is the all-rounder of the bunch, it gives length, volume and the lashes still look nicely defined with this.

That being said - I am interested to see which of the bunch you prefer if you've tried any of these?

No Money March: New Revlon Mascara Marathon - Dramatic Definition

So our Revlon mascaras takeover is still going strong and today we're looking at the Dramatic Definition formula. It's occurred to me that in none of the previous posts have I mentioned the price, I picked mine up at an introductory price of £6.99, but once full price these will retail for £9.99 a piece which seems to be the standard for high-street mascaras these days.

Like the Ultra Volume that we looked at on Tuesday, this was one from the line-up that I really couldn't see working for me since I have quite short lashes and this product claims to:

"Exaggerate your look by using the Revlon Dramatic Definition Mascara. The smooth, flexible formula coats lashes for clump-free definition ensuring lashes appear endless.

It’s all about the brush:

The Revlon Lash Separator Brush coats and separates each lash for dramatic, bold definition, whilst the tiered bristles define and separate every lash, resulting in thick, heavy black lashes."

This mascara has a rubber bristle brush and the bristles are distributed in 5 rows that are quite spaced apart from each other, the tip of the wand is also quite flexible. I picked this up in non-water-proof and I feel like the formula on this mascara is exactly the same as the formula on the Ultra Volume, so a tiny bit of smudging but no flaking.

When I think of defining mascaras I tend to think of "barely there" lashes, or lashes that are naturally long and full looking that don't need much help and with just one coat thats exactly what this mascara does. I find that the first coat with this one doesn't deposit much product onto the lashes and it does leave a really defined look to the lashes.

That being said, if you try to build up any type of volume of length you will notice the definition in your lashes disappear pretty quickly. I can apply 2 coats comfortably and the mascara builds on itself nicely but by coat 3 things can start looking a tiny bit clumpy and I needed the 3rd coat to get the length I wanted.

If your lashes aren't too short or you don't mind a tiny bit of clumping, this might be for you. I also think you'll like this if you're looking for a more natural lash.

No Money March: New Revlon Mascara Marathon - Super Length

Day 3 of Revlon mascara's week and if you're wondering how I'm choosing what order to post these in by now - it's the rainbow song. You know, the one that goes "red and yellow and pink and green...". I didn't want to go in order of preference because I thought it would ruin the surprise of whether or not I got on with it. But that aside, lets have a look a todays pick: the Super Length formula.

The Super Length mascara is the one in the green packaging and as a girl with short lashes, I thought this one would be something I'd get on with. The marketing claims on this product state that it's"

"A luscious formula, which glides on easily and builds up quickly to create incredible lash length.

It’s all about the brush:

The innovative Revlon Stretch Brush tip coats even the smallest of lashes, whilst the long side bristles pulls the high-shine, length fibres through lashes to create serious super lashes."

Now I have no idea what brush the marketing people were looking at when they came up with those claims, but it cannot possibly have been the brush on this mascara. The brush is a stand bristle mascara wand but it's easily twice as big as most, which makes it quite clumsy to apply. I did find that the mascara offered length but it didn't seem any more lengthening than any of the others in the range and it offered next to nothing in terms of volume.

This is the only one from the range that I picked up in the water-proof formula. I don't usually wear water-proof mascara as I don't usually need it but for the purposes of testing I wanted to try one and I found that while the water-proof formula didn't smudge at all, it flaked off more than the non-water-proof formulas.

No Money March: New Revlon Mascara Marathon - Ultra Volume

Day 2 of the Revlon mascara take-over week and today we're looking at the "Ultra Volume" formula in the pink packaging. Of the 5 different formula's available this was one of the two that stood out to me as something I didn't think I'd get on with, but in the interest of offering a complete review of the collection I gave it a go anyway.

We're sticking to the non-water-proof formula so in terms of smudging and flaking it's really similar to yesterdays pick. The main difference I found in the formulas was that this one doesn't seem to have the little lash fibres. Here's what the claims are:

"Introducing Ultra Volume Mascara, allowing you to create massive, volumised lashes with a conditioning, clump free formula, which plumps lashes for intense volume.

It’s all about the brush:

The Revlon Lash Plumping Brush has triple grooves to hold the mascara formula for maximum lash volume, whilst the short and long bristles eliminate clumps; ensuring lashes are thick and voluminous."

So the brush on this one is a standard bristle brush but I do think the bristles seem to be a bit more spaced out than they are on other wands I've seen. I also notice that while the wand doesn't seem to be upsized at all, the bristles do seem to be a bit longer than you would typically find on a traditional bristle mascara wand.

I'd say of all the mascaras in the collection, this one has the most accurate claims. On my lashes it gives a lot of volume and not much else. It's not particularly clumpy for such a volumising mascara but it does give that almost spider-y look to my lashes. I think this is because while it's really volumising, it offers little in terms of length and so if you have shorter lashes like mine, this isn't going to balance them out amazingly.

I personally think I'll get the most use out of this product as a layering mascara on top of something that's really lengthening just to add a bit more drama. However if you have long, thin lashes, this might work a treat for you.

No Money March: New Revlon Mascara Marathon - Ultimate All-In-One

So we're having a theme within a theme this week. We're on a month of high street beauty bits and I'm devoting this week to a pretty big launch from Revlon. I've liked a few of Revlon's mascaras in the past but they recently pulled the plug on every single mascara they had on offer and replaced them with a new line of 5 new ones, all targeted at a different lash concern.

Today we're looking at the Ultimate All-In-One Mascara, which is the one with the red lid, and after looking at the marketing behind these mascaras, this was the one I wanted to try the most. Revlon market this as "the holy grail of mascaras" and claims that it features

"5 lash transforming benefits leaving no lash behind, allowing you to achieve:

- Volume

- Length

- Definition

- Lift

- Intense Colour

It’s all about the brush:

The revolutionary small but mighty Revlon Power Mini Brush has a hollow core, designed to maximise the amount of formula to the lashes, as well as a unique mini oval shape for easy application, which reaches and covers every lash to create an intense and unbelievable length lash look."

If those aren't bold claims, I don't know what are. Honestly? I was really disappointed with this one. I find that while the hollow sections are intended to hold product to create an "unbelievable length lash" actually make it near impossible to build any length at all. As I applied the mascara volume built up very quickly and as I applied more coats to try to build length I found my lashes started to look clumpy.

The formula also has little lash fibres in the formula but the teeth on the wand aren't long enough to comb through the lashes so any fibres that are deposited onto the lashes aren't necessarily straight. In terms of the formula I got the non-waterproof and I didn't notice massive amounts of smudging or flaking and it was easily removed at the end of the day with a cleansing oil.

No Money March: Soap & Glory Archery Brow Putty Dip Pot & Brush

Brows have always been the one area of makeup that I feel like I can never get quite right. I have naturally sparse, mousey brows and I've always dyed my hair darker and in a way that makes my natural brows look borderline non-existent. With that in mind, every time a new high stress brow product launches, I get a bit excited and so I picked up the Soap & Glory Dip Pot & Brush pretty much as soon as I saw it had launched.

So the packaging of this looks very much like a jumbo pen eyeliner packaging, it's quite a thick tube with a pull off cap and initially I thought the product would be in the cap of the packaging. When you pull the cap off there's a clean brush underneath and the product is in a pot that you unscrew from the bottom of the product.

My initial though is that the packaging is a little clumsy. This is essentially a brow pomade type product and it would have been much more practical for them to package it as a pot with a separate brush like other brands have released and I think S&G have packaged it this way to make it look like it's something really different. At £10 full price it's at the same price point as most of Soap & Glory's other brow products and it sits in the upper end of high-street pricing.

Packaging aside its nice. The brush is small enough for you to not overload the brows and the product is dry enough and sheer enough that you don't end up looking like you've sharpie'd on your brows. The shade selection isn't terrible, there's 3 shades to pick from "Love is Blonde", "Brownie Points" and "Dark Chocolate", Soap & Glory's brow products usually only have 2 shade varieties so this is a step in the right direction for them.

With it being a brush that you have to dip into product it's not nearly as quick to apply as a brow pencil but I wouldn't say that it takes so long that it's impractical and the finished result is nice and natural looking. I do think it's missing a spool-y brush to comb through the brows as with the formula being quite waxy I like to comb through the brows both before application to make the shape easier to follow and then again after I've filled them in to blend in any areas that I may have been heavy-handed in.

All in all I think it's a decent product. While I have some gripe with the packaging it does work nicely and it's not unreasonably priced. If you're into brow pomades it might be worth checking out.

No Money March: Maybelline Dream Velvet Foundation

As a super oily t-zone sufferer, every time I see a new base product with the word "matte" in the title, it goes straight to the top of the "must try" list. So naturally, the second the new Maybelline Dream Velvet Foundation hit the shelves of the Great British high street, I was on that faster than I could say the products name. I've been testing it for a few weeks so let's have a look at what I thought:

First off: the packaging. I cannot explain the joy I feel when brands package products in sanitary containers. Seriously. Glass bottles and fancy jars are nice and all, but if it doesn't have a pump I'd rather have a squeeze-y tube any day. So +5 points to Maybelline for the packaging on this, I also like that the lightweight plastic makes it really travel friendly.

I also appreciate that Maybelline foundations tend to be on the more affordable end of the spectrum for high-street prices. While L'Oreal and Maxfactor tend to charge £10+ for theirs, this is comfortably in the middle of Maybelline's foundation pricing at £7.99 for 30ml.

The product squeezes out with a really whipped consistency, and feels almost like a thick mousse in texture. It feels nice and creamy going onto the skin but sets down with a matte cream-to-powder finish quite quickly. One thing to keep in mind is that this foundation does set really quickly - which is nice if you like to apply your makeup quite quickly but it does mean you'll have less time to blend it into the skin. I apply it to my face in sections to avoid streaking.

I would say the coverage is light to medium. If you just apply one thin layer to the skin you'll be able to see freckles and will need concealer to hide slightly bigger issues on the face. However as the product sets really quickly it is so easy to layer up with. I find that by the time I've finished the first layer I can go straight in with a second if I want to build it up. However the formula isn't completely weightless on the skin so the more you apply the more you will feel the product on the skin.

The wear time on this is great, I set it with my Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot powder as I do with all foundations (and no, I don't think I'll ver stop raving about that powder). I find that I do get a little shiny in my t-zone after about 5-6 hours of wear but I get that with most foundations. My only other gripe about wear time is that I find sometimes my cheeky start to look a bit cake-y as the day goes by, but this isn't something that happens all the time so it may be to do with other products I've been using - will check back on that.

I do also like that you can apply this in a variety of ways and it looks nice. I personally prefer to apply this foundation with fingers but I've also had a nice effect applying it with a damp makeup sponge (my usual preferred method). Which brings me nicely to my next point:

The Maybelline Dream Blender Foundation Sponge.

I picked this up as it's advertised as the tool to apply the foundation with and there was an offer on them when I picked mine up. Honestly? I can't say I'm a fan, and here's why:

While it does apply the mousse textured Dream Velvet Foundation nicely, it's not a massively versatile tool as I find the sponge is too firm to be used wet, and a dry firm sponge isn't going to apply most formulas to the skin in a way that give a natural finish. At first I really liked the idea of the handle as not touching the sponge would be more hygienic for the face and would also keep your hands foundation-free but I find that, again, it makes it more difficult to get a natural finish.

But by far the most annoying thing about it is the size. The sponge on the end of this tool is about half the size of a dry beauty blender, and because the sponge is so small, it takes so long to apply foundation that it's impractical at best. Personally I feel like for just £1 more, you can get the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge and that this is a far better tool for applying foundation.