The Skint-tember Finale - Highstreet VS Highend (Drugstore Dupes/Alternatives)

We couldn't end Skint-tember without looking for some high-street alternatives to higher end products and I've had a good rummage through my collection over the last few days to pick out some that I think are great.

I'll get this one out of the way because I have already mentioned it this month but I thought I'd touch back on it in case you missed my original post: if you still have took the plunge and picked up the Urban Decay Naked Palette and the price is putting you off, you might want to give the Revolution Redemption Iconic 1 Palette a go. The original post include side-by-side swatches so you can see how close they come and it's a steal at just £4 compared to the Urban Decay's £36.

My First ever MAC Lipstick was their "Lady Danger" which is a great matte orangey red. The dupe I've found for it is the Maybelline Colour Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil in the shade "Fab Orange". While I would say that the Maybelline is a teeny bit darker and slightly less orange-y toned than Lady Danger, on the lips you wouldn't be able to tell that it's two different lipsticks. Additionally, I find the pencil application method of the Mabelline makes it easier to get a smooth lip line without having to use a lip line.

I love Estée Lauder Colour Envy Lipsticks and the shade "Tumultuous Pink" is a particularly nice, bright pink shade. In the picture I'm wearing "Tumultuous Pink" on the bottom lip and on the top lip I'm wearing NYC Expert Last Lip Colour in "404 - Air Kiss" and, again, they're practically identical. If we're being picky the Estée Lauder is a tiny bit more blue in undertone and obviously has a better wear time but the NYC is much more of an affordable option at a mere £1.99.

I've been a fan of the Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliners for years and last year I picked up the Christmas set that included the shade "Faint", it's a lovely light brown that offers a subtle definition that I really like on the lower lash line especially. Side by side against the Rimmel Scandleyes Eyeliner in "004 Taupe", you can hardly tell a difference. "Faint" is a tiny bit warmer than the Rimmel option but the lasting power is very comparable and the Rimmel is just as creamy to apply.

When I was building my first ever MAC quad, I made the mistake of picking up a shade without swatching it first and got suckered in by how lovely it looked in the pan. MAC's "Gleam" is an amazing glittery peachy-pink shade but it's a nightmare to apply, it's bitty in texture, the glitter falls down constantly, and by the end of a day wearing it you have no eyeshadow left on and glitter all over your face no matter what you're using for a base. So while It does actually cost a tiny bit more to pick up the L'Oreal La Palette Nude Blush, you're getting more colours for your money and the 5th shade from the left is a dead-on match for "Gleam" but it's nice and creamy to apply and doesn't fall down at all.

And finally, the dupe that I'm most excited by. When I first heard about the By Terry Ombré Blackstar in "Misty Rock" I had to have it, it was so unique and the formula was nice too, but the £28 price tag made my eyes water a little bit. I justified it because the colour was so unique and I've used it a tonne, but then I picked up the KIKO Long Lasting Stick in the shade "05" and it's identical in colour and the formula is creamy and long-lasting. I will continue to use and love "Misty Rock" but when it's time to repurchase, I think I'll be picking up another from KIKO.

The Friday Review: Eyes To Mesmerise

So I've been having a bit of a cream eyeshadow moment of late, they're just so easy. It all started when I picked up my first By Terry Ombre Blackstar and has become one of those things that I just keep picking up, and I found myself gravitating to this little beauty:

I was actually looking to pick up one of the Charlotte Tilbury Colour Chameleons, but after spending around 10 minutes trying to decide on a shade (my eyes are that not-quite-blue-not-quite-green colour that was giving me a hard time to decide) I spotted the Eyes to Mesmerise, particularly the shade "Veruschka" and it was love at first swatch. I've really gotten back into khaki-greenish tones on the eyes and this one is lovely.

The texture is slightly whipped-feeling, it's almost a mousse eyeshadow rather than a cream, and I find that it applies best with a slightly fluffy, but firm-bristled, synthetic brush. You have to work at it a little to get the colour intensity to a full colour which makes it difficult to go overboard with but after that little bit of work it looks great. The only thing I'll note is that the lasting power isn't amazing. I'll wear it for work but if I'm going out after work I bring it with me knowing a quick touch-up in the toilets will be needed before I leave for the night, so if that's a deal breaker you might want to steer clear.

All in all if they're all the same formula they might be a tad expensive for what you get but the shade on this one is just wonderful.

Treat Week - Other High-End Beauty Favourites

So once again, I'm bundling all of the other beauty bumf together, and this time with very good reason, because I didn't want to just be recommending any old product for the sake of getting this up to 10, so I've actually cut it down to just five products. My top five must-have, use-all-the-time high-end hair, bath and body bits.

Firstly, the Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser Invisible Oil Shampoo. I never got the hype around high end shampoo, until I tried this one. It's sulphate free, moisturising without making my oily hair go greasy quicker, and leaves my colour-damaged locks feeling silky-smooth and shiny. Love.

Another hair pick that you can pick up in Space NK is the Color Wow 1 Minute Transformation. I'm not sure what you're actually supposed to do with this, but I use it as a styling cream after I've blow-dried and straightened my hair to give it a bit of bounce and movement. I very rarely bother with hair products so the fact that I'm making a serious dent in this product just shows that it's something I'm loving.

Now I have two options for bathing, for the girl (or guy) that loves a luxury bubble bath, you can do no better than the Laura Mercier Honey Bath. I personally love the "Ambre Vanille" scent but it's just such a luxury product. Soft silky bubbles and a slightly moisturising feeling to the water in the bath, and the scent lingers, I've woken up the morning after a bath with this stuff and can still smell it on my skin.

And for those opposed to bubbles: the Aromatherapy Associates Bath Oils. I don't use these as often as some other bathing products but they come in very handy when I need to really relax. The "Relax Deep" scent is lovely for calming you down and these leave that lovely silky smooth feeling to the bath water that some other products of a similar type don't seem to give.

Finally, a fragrance. Now this was a tough pick between the one I picked and the Vitor & Rolf BonBon fragrance, but I had to give it to Diptique Do Son because it's just so unusual. It's really not the type of scent I normally gravitate towards but I'm addicted.

Cleansing With Elemis

I recently picked up a couple of mini's of some Elemis cleansers. Now Elemis for me are one of those brands where, because their products are quite pricey and I don't hear a lot of bloggers raving about them very often, I often give them a miss when I'm picking up new products to try. when I'm picking up new products I usually pick up things that I'm interested in personally and base my posts around products that I'm just purchasing for myself but I figured people might want to hear about these so here we go.

The first cleanser I picked up was their Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Facial Wash and I'm a little on the fence about it to be completely honest. I like it from the point of it being a lazy girls dream because in theory it's your cleanse stage and your exfoliation stage in one. This meaning you could strictly speaking use this, eye cream, moisturiser and go, but the formula does have some problems, especially for a pricier product. Firstly, the product actually says on the back "avoiding eye area" meaning to properly wash your face you'd have to use a different cleanser all over and then use this, which seems like a bit of a faff really. You should be able to use a cleanser on your whole face. My second point about the cleanser is that it's nothing special really. For almost £30 for the full size, the smell isn't luxurious, it doesn't feel particularly indulgent during use and it doesn't leave my skin feeling hydrated and supple after use. Generally I think there's a lot better out there for the money and so this was a bit of a miss for me.

The second product I picked up was the Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm, I love a good cleansing balm for my second evening cleanse so I was excited to try this. For me, the scent is too fresh to be an evening cleanse but I actually really like it in the morning for a more indulgent morning cleanse and my skin seems to really like it. It's more of a gel consistency than something like the Emma Hardie Amazing Face Moringa Cleansing Balm but more balmy than the Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel, for me the texture of the Elemis sits perfectly in the middle of those two products. I do like this but I still think I prefer the Oskia and the Emma Hardie as for me, they're both products I wouldn't have a problem using in the morning or the evening.

So not a great pair for me, I can't see myself taking the plunge for a repurchase on either of them as it stands, but they'll definitely make it to an empties post so I'll update you then.