MAKE-UP HAUL AND REVIEW
August 27, 2016
Hello everyone, long time no post! During my short break from blogging I've been gathering inspiration for more posts and doing my best to bring you some content that you'll hopefully enjoy. Recently I've picked up a few new (drugstore) make-up products and I wanted to let you all know what I thought of them and give you some mini reviews, so here we go!
SOAP & GLORY SUPERCAT EYELINER
Having heard a lot about this eyeliner from various other Instagrammers I thought I would pick it up and give it a try myself, and I have to say that I have quite mixed opinions of it. It is much better quality than other pen liners I've tried, so far it hasn't dried out, even when applied over the top of eyeshadow, and the colour is much more intense. It's super easy to apply and correct mistakes, and is very quick drying. However, with that being said the intensity doesn't last for very long, well not without an eye primer at least.
A quick swatch that shows the thickness of the nib.
A pic of my liner taken a few hours after application. My liner on my other eye had completely smudged and ran off two hours after application. Once the liner is dried it is very difficult to build intensity or correct mistakes and it can be quite a struggle trying to make my wings match sometimes, but that could just be down to my lack of pen skill!
OVERVIEW:
VALUE FOR MONEY: For £6, I think it's pretty good quality for a drugstore brand, but I don't really want to have to bother buying an eye primer just to stop it from smudging.
CRUELTY FREE: Soap and Glory's testing policy states : "At Soap & Glory, we absolutely do not test our formulations on animals, however we can't say that each and every ingredient that goes into them has not, at some point historically, been cleared for human use, by animal testing. We hope this answers your question." Make of that what you will.
WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN: If I manage to invest in an eye primer, then yes I would absolutely buy it again as it trumps any eyeliner I've previously tried.
MUA LUXE VELVET LIP LACQUER IN "UNITY"
MUA are one of my favourite UK drugstore brands, that provide good quality and fairly priced products, so I knew that I had to buy my first liquid lipstick from them and I am seriously in love.
The swatch shows the colour as a little darker than it is when it dries, but the colour is perfectly true to how it appears in the tube. The wand makes application fairly easy and the formula is so creamy. It takes a little while to dry but when it does it lasts all day with absolutely no issues. Before I bought it I swatched a tester in store and it lasted on my hand for nearly three days! (and yes I did shower thank you very much). I did find that my lips started to crack a little towards the end of the day but I just kept some lip balm handy, so if your lips tend to be a little on the dry side I would make sure they are buffed and balmed before application!
OVERVIEW:
VALUE FOR MONEY: At just £3, these liquid lipsticks are an absolute steal and are available in a wide range of colours and provide good dupes for higher end brands, so if some of the bigger names are a bit out of your price range I would definitely suggest investing in some of these!
CRUELTY FREE: They are indeed, their products are not sold in China, however whilst they do not test on animals some of their products aren't vegan so always check before you buy!
WOULD I BUY AGAIN: 100%
COLLECTION LASTING PERFECTION CONCEALER IN "FAIR"
In recent years I haven't been the biggest user of concealers, having tried and tested many in my early teens that left my skin looking and feeling worse, therefore abandoning it from my make-up routine altogether. However, after again seeing rave reviews from various people online I decided to try it myself and I am glad I did.
As a very pale person I've struggled to find shades to match my skin and I can't believe how close this comes to my natural skin colour. I can't fault the formula either, it's creamy, provides a full coverage (which I love) and is absolutely long-lasting. If I had to poke one hole in this product, it would be that it dries very quickly, so it can become a bit of a struggle to blend without coming short of dragging my beauty blender across my face. However, I am very impressed with this wonderful little product and when my current foundation runs out I might even invest in this brand's foundation!
OVERVIEW:
VALUE FOR MONEY: With great quality comes a very inexpensive price, at just £4.19 this concealer is such a bargain and fantastic for bloggers on a budget (like moi!)
CRUELTY FREE: They as a company are cruelty free but they give no clear explanation as to whether third party companies are cruelty free or if some products contain animal products, so if you like to be cautious I would definitely do more research into the company!
WOULD I BUY AGAIN: If they can provide straight answers on their testing policy, I would buy more of their products.
MAKEUP REVOLUTION ULTRA CREAM CONTOUR PALETTE IN "IVORY"
Now I must confess, that I haven't properly tested out this palette yet, so I can't comment on the longevity of the shades or the true quality of the product itself, but I have swatched the shades so I will just give you my initial impressions.
Left: Highlight shades
Right: Contour shades
This is my first proper contour palette and I have quite mixed feelings about it. The highlight shades are great, they match my skin tone pretty well and I'm excited to use them. As for the contour shades, well the first and third colour are almost identical and I feel like they would be a bit too dark for me personally, but I would use them sparingly if I were going on a night out. The formula is so-so, the colours are quite creamy but I found them very difficult to swatch. The palette seems to be quite a good dupe for the infamous ABH contour palette, but I'm not sure if the quality measures up to it, but hey that's to be expected with drugstore products!
OVERVIEW:
VALUE FOR MONEY: At £8 I would expect better quality for the price, but that's just my initial impression. It does come in other shades for those with darker skin so if you're a bit wary of the colours make sure you check them out.
CRUELTY FREE: They are indeed cruelty free as a brand as is their parent company but they can't claim all of their products are vegan friendly.
WOULD I BUY AGAIN: At this moment in time, the jury is still out. Maybe I'll save my money and invest in ABH.
MAKEUP REVOLUTION "FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE" EYESHADOW PALETTE
Top row L-R: Glimmer, Buffer, Peachy, Hope, Fortune, Skylight, Transformer, Midnight Rainbow
Second row L-R: Ice Cloud, Golden Coins, Cashmere, Tip Top, Yes Please, Green Machine, Smoothie
Third Row L-R: Caffeine Fix, Latte, Pink Diamond, Creme, Drama Queen, Lonely Planet, Blacqua
Last Row L-R: Soft, New World, Favour, Sunset Hour, Super Gold, Winning, Brave, The Revolution
Like most of the products in this haul, I had also seen so many people talking about this palette and I have wanted it in my possession for so long, so when I saw it in stock I just had to grab it. It's so hard to pick a favourite shade!
The quality for the matte shades is incredible, but some are harder to swatch than others and the lighter shimmer shades are almost impossible to build up. They are really long lasting and I'm very impressed with them. I've swatched most of the shadows according to colour group so you can see them for yourself!
Neutrals (top to bottom): Glimmer, Buffer, Cashmere, Caffeine Fix, Latte
Pinks and Purples (top to bottom): Peachy, Drama Queen, Winning, Brave (this shade looks much more purple in the palette but very dark when swatched)
Darker shades (top to bottom): Tip Top, Smoothie, Transformer, Blacqua
Glitter shades (left, top to bottom): Golden Coins, Pink Diamond, Favour, New World, Super Gold
(right, top to bottom): Yes Please, Skylight, Midnight Rainbow, Green Machine, Lonely Planet, The Revolution
OVERVIEW:
VALUE FOR MONEY: This palette comes in at around a tenner, £9.99 and is incredible value for money, there are a great range of shades in many colours, matte and glitter, they're great quality and I can't fault the value for money.
CRUELTY FREE: See above!
WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN: Absolutely
I hope you've enjoyed this post and I would really encourage you to check out all of these great drugstore brands, you won't be disappointed!
Rachel
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