The Friday Review: Esteé Lauder Double Wear Light Foundation

So this isn't a new release by any means, but I mentioned it in a favourites post not too long ago and thought it deserved a post of it's own. Minus my brief stint with the Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation, I've never been a big spender when it comes to foundation. That being said, I'd been struggling with foundation breaking down on me this summer and wanted to try this to see how it faired.

First off, the shade range on this foundation is pretty good. I feel like brands on the whole have gotten a lot better with their shade ranges as I always used to struggle to find something light enough to suit my ghostly complexion. The packing is also quite nice, both in the sense of it's pretty with the nude bottle and the gold lid but it's also good for travel since it's a plastic squeeze-tube container.

The formula itself is nice, it goes onto the skin like a moisturiser and has a buildable light to medium coverage. It evens the skin tone out well but I'd still go in with concealer to cover up any blemishes or under-eye issues. I like how my freckles peek through this foundation a little and feel like this helps he foundation to look really skin-like. The finish is quite middle-of-the-ground, it's not super matte and it's not super dewy. I still like to set it down with a powder to matte it down a bit, but if you're a dewy girl you could mix this with a liquid highlight to get some more glow.

The wear-time is nice. I've come to the conclusion that there isn't a foundation in the world that can handle my summer t-zone so I always find myself having to touch-up that area but everywhere else wore perfectly through full work days. If you really struggle or you need it to last it pays nice with primers to give it an even more long-lasting effect on the skin. This is the foundation that I reach for when I'm going out after work because it'll only need a tiny bit of touching up to look decent again once I've clocked off.

A Thing For Eyeshadow Sticks

I've loved eyeshadow sticks since the days of MAC Shade Sticks and while my original cream shadow stick is long gone it's nice to see that the format is coming back and other brands are releasing their own take on this convenient, multi-purpose product. In this post I'm going to have a look at some of the highs and lows of what's on the market at the moment.

So lets just get the most disappointing pick out of the way shall we? I'd heard lots of great things about New Look's recent beauty launch and some of the face products I've tried have been lovely, but their Pure Colour Eyeshadow Sticks didn't hit the mark for me. The colour is so sheer that I can't imagine anyone would be satisfied with the colour pay-off enough to leave it as it is and i just needs to be topped with a powder shadow. With that in mind it's been really ard to test the actual lasting power of the product, because really it doesn't manage to last through the blending process, never mind the day.

I had a very similar issue with the NYC City Proof 24hr Waterproof Eyeshadow. I couldn't really test the lasting power or the waterproof claims of this products because it's so sheer that for me it's an eyeshadow base rather than an actual eyeshadow. This product also has the disadvantage of having the worst packaging for an eyeshadow stick, the lid isn't secure at all and will 100% fall off if you tried to travel with it.

The No7 Stay Perfect Shade And Define eyeshadow sticks are a little better. A decent colour selection and the colours show up nicely on the eye but these one's struggle with wear time. If you're out for a couple of hours this might be an option for you but it does crease even when set with a powder shadow after a relatively short amount of time.

Things are starting to look up with the Bourjois ColourBand Eyeshadow & Liner. These are actualy really nice, creamy to apply, nice pigmentation and wears well on the lids. The only problem I have with these is the shade selection is quite small. They do have classic black, brown and champagne colours as well as a few wearable brights but the colours are generally a bit shimmery and they could do with expanding the range a bit more to include some more unique colours.

A comparable product to the Bourjois is the Charlotte Tilbury Colour Chameleons. These are great eyeshadow sticks that are pigmented, easy to apply and last well on the eyes. The thing that sets the Colour Chameleons apart for me is the shades, I have the shade "Golden Quarts for Hazel Eyes Day" and it's so unusual. I'd pitch the shade as a rusty gold with green-ish undertones and it has flecks of golden glitter and it was just love at first swatch. They also have an amazing green and a gorgeous smokey purple that I may have to pick up in the future. At £19 each they're a treat but hey aren't too crazy for what they are.

If you're looking to really treat yourself and are looking for an eyeshadow stick, you don't have to look any further than the By Terry Ombre Blackstars. They've been mentioned on the blog before and whilst they are unbelievably pricey for an eyeshadow pencil, they are also really nice. The shade selection for these is so on point, there doesn't seem to be a single colour that doesn't look pretty and they're so unique that I can just about justify spending the money on them.

However my top eyeshadow pencil pick is the KIKO Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadows. They're pigmented, long-lasting, easy to apply AND they're £6.90 a piece. So you can pick up 4 of these for the same price as just one of the By Terry and they're so comparable. Last month in my "Highstreet VS Highend" post (clicky link here) I mentioned KIKO's "05" being a pretty perfect dupe for By Terry's "Misty Rock" and with 31 shades in the collection, I can imagine they'll be something for everyone.

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.

Fleur's Lip Launch

When Fleur De Force announced that she was releasing a makeup line I headed straight to feel unique and signed up to the waiting list. In her videos her lipstick has always been something she gets right and I just had a feeling that the lip products in the range would be something worth trying. While the eyeshadow quads looked nice they weren't really unique to me and I decided against picking them up but maybe I'll give them a go if she releases some more unique combinations in the future as they did look nice.

While they're currently only being sold on FeelUnique.com the price £6.99 each price point puts them as a high-street product for me so I thought it would be fair to include them in skint-tember and for the money they seem to be really nicely though out products, I can see myself possibly trying out some more shades in the future.

So I just picked up two shades to begin with, and the shades I have are "Starry Starry Night" and "Written In The Stars". I like how she's got a clear theme with the product names but I do think that it will be hard to continue with the "star theme" if she goes on to release more products but I like the amount of thought that's gone into the products. I picked up a light shade and a darker shade to see if there was any difference in the formula and from what I can see it's a nice consistent range and both the lighter and darker shade show up glossy and opaque as the mentioned in the description for the products. The packaging is also nice, a gun metal top and doe-foot applicator and the "Fleur De Force" logo on them, and the lipgloss tubes reflect the colour of the product inside which I like.

In terms of the actual formula, the glosses are thick on the lips and you can feel them during wear but they are a smooth texture rather than a super sticky gloss. The thickness gives them a decent lasting power on the lips and they're comfortable and moisturising on the lips rather than sticky feeling. Fleur describes them as "somewhere between a lipgloss and a liquid lipstick" and I can see why she'd use that description, they're glossy in finish but are also opaque on the lips and don't need too much building-up. I will mention with the darker shades, I did experience a slight bit of bleeding with "Starry Starry Night" and that's not something I get very often with lip products so if that's something you struggle with I'd keep that in mind.

Review Friday: Revolution Redemption Palette Iconic 1

Sticking to our affordable beauty theme for September I thought I'd try out some majorly affordable make-up products and picked up some bits from Freedom at Superdrug (sorry Boots, you're still my favourite). I got really excited about their Redemption Palettes as they're often coined as being the perfect dupes for the Urban Decay Naked Palettes and that was a theory I needed to test.

So firstly, packaging wise, I actually prefer the packaging for the Redemption Palettes than the original Naked Palette packaging. The Revolution packing is compact and has a good close and the plastic makes it easy to keep clean, my only complaint packaging wise is that there's no mirror, but in their defence, they're £4 a palette so I guess I can forgive that.

Shade wise, I can see why there's a lot of hype around these palettes, heres how Redemption Iconic 1 swatches shade-for-shade against the Naked 1:

And the shades are super pigmented too so that's really nice. My only point is the blendability of the shadows. Although the Revolution shades are super pigmented, they don't blend together as nicely as the Urban Decay shadows, but for £4 VS £38, if you're thinking of picking up the Naked range, I'd give the Revolution Iconic Palettes a go first.

Brand Binge - Maybelline

I've seen a couple of vloggers do videos where they focus on one makeup brand, do a full face with products from that brand and then review the products and I was interested to see how that concept translates into blog from. So I thought I'd have a go and here's the first brand: Maybelline.

So first things first: foundation. The foundation I picked for this post was the Dream Satin Liquid Foundation in the shade "10 - Ivory" which is a tiny bit too dark for me but other than that teensy issue (which lets face it, I have with at least 90% of base products) then this is quite a nice pick. It's very emollient on the skin which makes me think you might really like this if you have a dryer skin type and I'll definitely have to check back in winter once my face starts to dry up a bit on that front. The coverage is decent for a very natural-finish foundation and the lasting power is good. The thing that really makes this foundation stand out for me is how nicely it breaks down on the skin, it doesn't leave you patchy or orange-y at all.

My second base pick is the Instant Anti-Age Eraser Eye Perfect & Cover Concealer, which I had to majorly hunt down to get my hands on. The shade "light" was particularly tricky to track down but after getting my hands on one, I can see why. Much like the foundation I picked up from them, it's a nice coverage without being heavy and it's hydrating but stills packs a punch where lasting power is concerned. The price points on these products are brilliant too, definitely worth a go I'd say. (Although whats with the sponge-tip-thing? trés germ-tastic if you ask me).

To set everything I dusted on some of the Fit Me Pressed Powder in "115 - light" (are we sensing a theme here?) which is a product I usually keep in my hand bag and while it's great for on-the-go touch-ups, for me, it's not a setting powder. It's a lovely, finely-milled powder that's weightless on the skin but for me, the oil control just isn't there and it doesn't lock my make-up in place the same way as a MAC Mineralise Skin Finish Natural or my Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot, for me those to are the bench mark for setting powders and this just doesn't seem to be one of those products to me.

To chisel in some cheekbones I reached for the Master Sculpt Contouring Palette in "01 - Light Medium" and this has quickly become a staple in my collection. It's the perfect contour for those with a fairer skin as it's light but it's not orangey or muddy. Then to warm up the cheeks I nipped in to the blush side of the Dream Sun Bronzing Powder With Blush and ran some of the bronze-y side down my neck to blend the foundation in with my actual skin tone. Now for me, this was a flat-out bad product. The Master Sculpt and the Fit Me Pressed Powder are finely milled and pigmented powders, so Maybelline can do a good powder formula, but I found the Dream Sun to just be a bit chalky and I felt like I had to do a lot of work to get some colour out of it. I'd give the bronzing blush a miss if I were you.

Then moving on to eyes, I used the Eye Studio Colour Tattoo 24hr Gel-Cream Eyeshadow in "05 - Eternal Gold" as my base, from what I could see Maybelline don't currently offer a standard primer that would be comparable to say the Urban Decay Primer Potion but the Colour Tattoo's are great for holding powder shadows in place. I was going for a gold-y shadow look on the eyes and this made the colours pop a bit more and kept my shadow looking fairly polished all day long.

I topped the Colour Tattoo with some shades from their The Nudes Palette, which I've been reaching for a lot recently. The shadow's are buttery soft and I find the formula completely comparable to more expensive brands, the shimmers are slightly easier to work with than the mattes but you get 12 shades for around £9, which compared to the Urban Decay Naked Palette range, it's a steal.

I tight-lined with a little bit of the Master Drama Khol Liner in "Ultra Black", which I'd completely overlooked for a while because I'd gotten very much caught up in the Rimmel Scandleyes ones but these eye liners are not messing around. Creamy to apply, good lasting power, It's safe to say I won't be picking up another Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in "Perversion" while Maybelline still have this formula on their shelves.

To finish off the eyes I brushed on a few coats of their The Colossal Volume Express Cat Eyes Mascara which was a dud for me. Mine came with a massively faulty wand that was bent in on itself to the extent that I had to re-work the wand to actually use it, and the formula just did nothing for my lashes. I'd love to try a few more from the line as I was under the impression that Maybelline were sort-of known for their mascaras but this just didn't hit the mark for me. I used the Brow Satin Brow Pencil in the shade "Medium Brown" to fill in my brows. I really liked this when I first got it because tit has both the pencil and the powder and I was just getting into pencil brow products at the time, now I'm more into a pencil formula I find I rarely use the powder end and would much prefer a spool-y brush on the other end. That being said, the pencil is nice and the shade selection is quite good, especially for the price point.

And finally, the lip. I'd left it quite neutral on the eyes so I wanted something a bit punchier on the lips so I slapped on their Colour Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil in the shade "410 - Fab Orange" which is an orange-y red (think Nars "Red Square" but more satin in finish). While these aren't as long lasting as the Nars pencils, they're obviously much less expensive and more comfortable. Personally, I never find anything that will last a whole day without touching up at all on my lips so I'm happy to opt in for a slightly more comfortable lip product most days and reapply every so often.

Disappointing Products: High-Street Fails

I'm not a massive fan of the typical "disappointing products" posts as they can be a bit negative and obviously everything in beauty is subjective and just because I didn't like it, doesn't mean you won't. So this isn't a post of me saying "I hate this product, don't buy it". It's me saying "This is a product I may or may not use or enjoy, but I was disappointed with it BECAUSE...", and in giving my in depth opinions, I hope I can help you make your own decision on whether or not it's something you'd want to give a go.

A quick one because I mentioned this in my review post last week is the Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation. I use this a lot and I love the coverage it gives, it's actually a beautiful coverage and the finish looks great in pictures and I'm really not knocking it in terms of it's appearance. That being said, when you see "25hr lasting finish" on a foundation bottle, you expect it to be a least somewhat long lasting and, for me at least, it's just not that product. Maybe it's not intended for my skin-type or maybe there's something I'm doing wrong with my application, but for me, it needs a mid-day touch up as it deteriorates in my t-zone by lunchtime.

Mascaras always make it into disappointing products posts it seems and the one I've been really unimpressed with lately is the Bourjois Liner Effect Mascara. It doesn't seem to do anything for my lashes at all except tint them. I have quite straight, short lashes so I need a mascara that does it all really and this one just didn't seem to do much.

And finally for makeup: the New Look Pure Colour Eyeshadow Pencil. I've been trying out a lot of shadow sticks lately and for me this works more as a sticky base if you wanted to go in with a powder shadow after applying. The colour is beautiful and it applies nicely, but it seems to blend out to nothing and even afew applying a few layers, it still looks sheer. It's a shame because there's lots of products in New Look's line that I've heard great things about and the concealer in the line is amazing, but these were just a bit of a miss for me.

A couple of skincare bits that I wasn't much of a fan of are both exfoliating products interestingly enough, the first being the Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Serum, firstly, it's heavily scented and I really don't get on with the fragrance in the product. That aside it just didn't seem to do much for my skin. It's the only exfoliating serum I've tried so maybe my skin just prefers a manual or liquid exfoliant but Nip + Fab do some amazing glycolic pads so the serum was a bit of a disappointment by comparison.

The last product I wasn't such a fan of was the Soap & Glory Peaches and Clean Cleanser which is a 3-in-1 product that is basically an exfoliating cleanser. I used this quite a lot when I first got it and really enjoyed it, but I tried to come back to it recently after not using it for a while and my skin seems to have gone off it. It leaves my skin feeling red and irritated and I think it's just a little bit too harsh.

The Friday Review: Rimmel Lasting Finish 25hr Nude Foundation

I've been in a serious foundation-testing mood of late (and may have had to expand my make-up storage solution as a result - can do an update post for anyone who's interested?), and one that I've picked up recently is the Rimmel Lasting Finish 25hr Nude Foundation, so I thought I'd share my findings with you all.

So when I saw this in Boots I think I got a little bit overexcited about the shade selection (if you're super pale or very dark skinned you'll probably understand the excitement of finding a perfect-skintone-match foundation on the high street) and grabbed a bottle to try. My first impression of the foundation was really good, it didn't feel overly thick on the skin and the skin-tone match was great. The coverage is actually really nice, it's light to medium and has a nice glow to it that I can imagine a dry skin type would really enjoy.

My main complaint about it is that the foundation claims to be "25 hour wear" and I'm finding that even when applied on top of a primer and when set with a powder, my T-zone in particular is very shiny a few hours into the wear. Admittedly, I have quite an oily skin type and those of you with dry skin may have no issues with the staying power at all, but oily girls beware, you will need to touch up with powder with this one. The wear on the rest of my face was lovely, I actually really like the look it gives to my cheeks a few hours in.

I find Rimmel foundations to be among the most reasonably priced products on the high street so it might still be something you want to try, I'm going to continue using it but probably not for days where I need the coverage to last all day.

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.

My (Somewhat Miniature) MAC Lipstick Collection

I've seen a lot of MAC collection based posts and thought I'd throw in my 2 cents and show you my MAC lipsticks. It's a fairly small collection by comparision to others you may have seen but I'd like to think I picked carefully and there aren't too many more that I have my eye on at the moment.

We'll keep things in colour order and start with "Costa Chic", this is one of MAC's Frost Finish Lipsticks and it's a summery pinky coral. Being quite ight in colour and heavy with the frost, it's one that I sometimes find hard to wear, but patted into the lips in the summer time is my favourite way to wear this one. Not the most comfortable formula either, I usually wear a lipbalm under/over it.

I picked up "Sounds Like Noise" when MAC launched their collaboration with Hayley Williams back in the height of my Paramore obsession, this is another one that I like to wear a balm or a gloss over because it's from their Matte Lipstick range and it's a bright, bold orange. It's probably my least worn MAC lipstick but I love the colour and it's a nice change to a red on a night out with the girls.

The first MAC Lipstick I ever bought was "Lady Danger" it's an orange-y red, again, from their Matte Lipstick Range and I'd probably say it's my most used. It was my signature lip colour for a while in my late teens and there's plenty of pictures of me on nights out donning this shade. Another one that's not super comfortable but the lasting power is better than most of the others.

My favourite pick of the bunch at the moment is "Lady Bug", a slightly deeper, true red from their Lustre Lipstick selection. It's a lovely day-time red that's comfortable and glossy. The lasting power isn't really there so it's one that needs reapplying throughout the day but it's good to brighten up your face without making you look too night-out.

And then finally, "Rebel". I love it because it's such a versatile shade, you can wear it full colour and it's quite purpley and vampy or can be patted into the lips lightly and it gives more of a berry stain to the lips. This one has found it's way to the back of the drawer for now but I always come back to it in autumn.

The Baby Beauty Blender (and How it Compares to the Original)

A few of you may remember a post I put up a while ago about how I'd finally managed to get myself a Beauty Blender (about time too!). After the success of that particular purchase, and because I just can't help myself (the Beauty Ban is over, yay!) I decided to pick up the mini version to see how that one works, and here's my thoughts.

Okay, so my first though, honestly, was "light green? seriously" because from the very first use, my cute little makeup sponge has looked hideous. While the original Beauty Blender got the colour pretty good with the pink, I think the orange colour that Real Techniques picked for their Miracle Complexion Sponge is the best colour for a makeup sponge I've seen, just because it doesn't make you feel like you're dabbing yesterdays makeup all over your face. Also, the Beauty Blender Micro Mini is about 1/4 the size of the original and is marketed for concealing and highlighting.

So other than the aesthetics, my feelings are pretty mixed, while the small size does make the mini one really nice for concealing under the eyes because the shape fits nicely under the eye, I think for highlighting it's too small as it doesn't diffuse the product the way I'd normally apply my highlight. The small size also doesn't help the ease of application, as the Beauty Blender sponges are very soft, the small size feels a bit flimsy to hold and it makes the application a bit clumsy at times.

So all in all, not my favourite. I will continue to try it out to see if there's a way I really like to use it, but for now, it's just not something that I'm reaching for. If you've found a way that this is amazing for you I'm all ears.