Current Favourites | #9

colorburst
Over the past few months I have been feeling much more adventurous with my makeup. Recently I have been enjoying trying different looks, out of my comfort zone, with new products. Here are some of the products that have made the cut of my top 5 favourites:

Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner - 063 Eastend Snob | I bought this mainly due to the recent Kylie Jenner 'plumped' lip craze. I personally don’t like to go quite as big as Kylie does but this liner is great to give a natural bigger look to your lips. I like that it isn’t too nude as I have naturally quite dark lips so it blends in well, and it also lasts all day. As it gives a matte finish I think it would go great with the much sought after 'Velvet Teddy' by MAC but if you can't get your hands on Velvet Teddy or would prefer a cheaper alternative, I like to wear this lip liner with either 03 - post here - or 08 from the Kate Moss x Rimmel range.

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter - SweetTart | I feel like I'm a little late to the game with this one. These lip butters were quite the rage a couple of years ago and I already had one in my collection, although it isn't a colour I grab for so often. 'Sweet Tart' is the perfect pink for me, which will be perfect to wear during the spring/summer months coming up. As the name suggests the formula is lovely and smooth on your lips and is very easy to wear. One layer gives a sheer colour or it can be built up to be more opaque. Although it doesn’t last a long time on the lips, it gives a nice shine and is a product that wears nicely so you don’t have to worry too much about reapplication.

Rimmel Exaggerate Waterproof Eye Definer - '220 Perfect Plum' | This is a much unexpected love of mine, I bought this late last year to give an autumnal colour to my eyes. I liked that it wasn’t too purple but it was enough to not look black or too intense. As a lot of the time I have to be ready for work by half 7 in the morning - a big struggle for me - I use this just to add a bit of something to my top lashes rather than spending time trying to create the perfect black line. It smudges easily and is quick to use on days where you don’t have time to do much with your makeup but want it to look like you do! I also find this great to add a bit of colour to my lower lashes for a more smokey look - when I have time to do something more interesting with my make up that is. I will definitely be looking out for more colours when I go to pick up another one of these. I didn’t expect much but have used it so much that it's almost time to buy a new one, although I think the purple has been discontinued which I'm very upset about.

L'Oreal Super Liner Perfect Slim - Intense Black | On the other end of the scale, this is my favourite eye liner to - attempt - a winged liner look. My hooded eyes make this a very difficult task for me but this eyeliner has changed that. I've tried many of these 'felt tip' liners in the past but none of them have worked out too well for me. Jade had always told me how great she thought this liner is so I thought that I would give it a try - thanks Jade! The tip of the liner is very fine so it allows me do small lines to plot out the wing and gradually build it up but is also great to just do a simple thin line. I would definitely recommend this liner for those with hooded eyes.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Concealer - 010 Porcelain | I won't go on too much about this product as Jade has already reviewed it - which can be seen here - but I've also been really enjoying using this concealer. In contrast to Jade I like to put this in the inner corner of my under eyes as it's the only concealer I've found which is light enough to brighten underneath my eyes. That being said I have found it to be a love/hate product as it takes a while to work out how best to use it. As Jade mentions in her post, it is thick in consistency so it is best to warm up the product before use. I also find it works very well if I apply the concealer before my foundation, I never used to like doing this as I used concealer to cover whatever my foundation didn't, but I found that my makeup tended to go patchy throughout the day. This way of application has completely changed the way my makeup looks on my skin. Putting this concealer on first means I use less foundation and it goes on smoother and lasts a lot better on my skin. Also, where the concealer is think and slightly drier in consistency, when putting foundation on over the top, it doesn’t move around and stays in place all day. The dryness also, I have found, helps dry up any spots you have making them go quicker. Which is always a good thing!

What are your go to products at the moment?

~ Lucy xo

Rimmel Lasting Finish Concealer | Review

beauty
The Rimmel Lasting Finish Concealer is a new addition to the shelves of the high street beauty isles. I hadn’t heard anything about it when I picked it up but was intrigued by the thought of a high street full coverage concealer - something which is usually reserved for high end lines.

This concealer is very thick and so in turn is incredible at covering blemishes. Its so thick though that it can be hard to blend so needs to be warmed up before application. You can do this by rubbing the product between your fingers before applying or, like I do, sit on the pot of concealer whilst you do your foundation, brows etc until you want to conceal. It’s waxy in texture so has good staying power and the pigmentation is unlike anything I’ve tried from the high street. Because of this though blending is paramount. This isn’t the kind of product you can throw on your face and walk out the door looking your best, it takes a bit of time and effort. Blend once. Blend twice. And then blend again.

Personally I don’t love this product for under the eyes. I have used it under the eyes and it covers everything, doesn’t crease and lasts all day but I find it just slightly too heavy for me - I prefer the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer. If you’re  particularly concerned about dark circles though this will cover them up beautifully as it has a correcting tone to counteract the blue. I’ve heard this product is much like the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer, personally I haven’t tried the Laura Mercier one although it has been high on my wish list for a while.

What’s your concealer pick of the moment?


~ Jade xx

The Contouring Edit | Barry M Chisel Cheeks Contour Kit & Maybelline Fit Me

127
Contouring is a step we all take to make our cheeks more chiseled and our noses more straight. It’s a step I prioritise in my makeup routine - along with my brows - and one I hate to skip. 

For my contour in the past I have raved about the Sleek Face Form Kit in ‘light’ - review here - which I still love, however recently something new has entered the ring, the Barry M Chisel Cheeks Contour Kit. This new little gem from the high street contains a contour shade, a bronzer and highlight shade. The contour shade is the best high street contour colour I’ve tried - even better than the Sleek version - as its very ashy and pigmented which is the perfect combination to create realistic contour as most contour shades from the high street are too warm toned which doesn’t create a shadow but rather a brown stripe across your cheek - not a good look. The bronzer is pigmented and completely matte which is great to add warmth to the face without it looking like mud, which bronzers with shimmer can do. The highlight shade is great for highlighting under the eyes because it is also matte. It has been my first time using a matte highlighter and I can say I prefer it to shimmer ones. I often find that shimmer highlighters look too overdone like you’ve had a fight with a fairy or touched cheeks with a Kardashian whereas a matte highlight still brings light to places you want to bring forward without everything being too reflective. These powders aren't the mist blendable though so it's better to start light and add more rather than going straight in with a lot of product and not being about to blend it out.

Worth the hype? | Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer

age rewind
The Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer has been getting a lot of buzz recently. Its been out a fair while however it seems to have just caught on, a little late some might say. I decided to pick it up after hearing so many things about it wondering, is it really worth the hype? 

Quite simply, no. I don't think it is worth the hype and I'll explain why. Firstly the packaging really irks me. Although this product is meant to be used under the eyes rather than on blemishes the sponge applicator on the end still screams bacteria collector to me which isn't a good thing. There's not a lot you can do about it either, unless you remove the sponge but I'm not sure how well that would work. 

Then there's the amount of wasted product you get. I've only used mine maybe five times and it's already nearly half way gone. The sponge collects a lot of the product which you can't get out so you end up using a lot more than you need to. 

Besides the packaging though I also don't like the main event, the actual product inside. It's marketed as an 'anti-age' under eye concealer which is supposed to banish dark circles and fine lines. That to me means it would be light in texture and also reflective to bring light to the area but this product is neither of those things. I find the product to be quite heavy for an under eye concealer which seems to bring down my under eye area rather than lift it and because of the heavy nature I find it creases easily - not so good if you have fine lines. It's also not a lightening product so for me it doesn't do anything in the way of rewinding my age - not that I really need to as I'm still under twenty but that's besides the point. I'm also really disappointed with the shade range. Generally you want your under eye concealer to be a couple of shades lighter than your skin tone to highlight the area and rid any dark circles. I have the lightest shade of this concealer and it's far too dark for under the eye, it's even to dark too use on the rest of my face and I'm not a fair skinned girl. 

All in all despite hearing so many good things about this product it really didn't do it for me at all, maybe it's overhyped to the point my expectations were so high it could never perform that well. I don't know but what I do know is I shan't be picking this up again.

Have you tried the Maybelline Age Rewind concealer? 

~ Jade xx

Repurchased products

batiste
I often post my favourite products in ‘current favourites’ posts however I’ve never mentioned those products which may not be the most exciting or new to the world but are so good that I’ve had to repurchase them, some of them not just once but time-and-time again. So, I compiled a list of some of the products that I’ve repurchased over the years, some of them I’ve mentioned before, others I haven’t and some are necessities which you may not traditionally think of as being favourite products but you repurchase them anyway.

L’oreal Infallible foundation | This is a product which I have spoken about before and written its own post on - which can be viewed here - it’s an all round great foundation that I’m currently on my third bottle of.

Revlon Colorstay concealer | Again this is a product that I’ve written its own post on - which can be seen here - but this is my favourite concealer which I don’t think I’ll be leaving behind anytime soon. As soon as I ran out of this I had to go and buy a new one, and to my annoyance Boots was sold out.

Rimmel Stay Matte powder | I’ve used this product for years and so have lost count of how many times I’ve actually repurchased it. I’ve differed before but this is a product that I always go back to.

Boots Botanics Shine Away Moisturiser | This product has featured in a previous ‘current favourites’ post - which can be seen here - and after using it all up I had to buy another right away. I’ve tried many moisturisers in the past that are all directed at oily skin that all promise to give shine control but none have ever followed through until I came across this baby. 

Batiste dry hair shampoo | For the days when you can’t be bothered to wash your hair or your between washes but your roots are looking a little greasy dry shampoo is always the answer. Batiste is a dry shampoo I’ve been using for years and although I’ve tried others none quite eradicate oil like Batiste does.

Bio-oil | One of those master oils which vanishes hyper pigmentation, scars and marks but also adds moisture to the driest skin. I’ve gone through a few bottles of this and it’s great. I love a good multipurpose a product and I’ve even used this on the ends of my hair when things are looking a bit dry but I don’t have a hair oil on hand.

Toni & Guy Glamour drops | My favourite hair oil. Perfect if you have frizzy hair or if things are looking a bit dry, also great to smooth down anything that keeps sticking up. Its also not heavy so it won’t weigh down your hair.

What are your repurchased products? 


~ Jade xx

The best drugstore concealer

beauty
It’s been known for a while in the beauty world that the best drugstore concealer is the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer, which is most likely why you can never find it in the aisles of boots for it’s always sold out. However, I’ve recently been trying out a new concealer which I prefer to the Collection one *gasp*.

The Revlon Colorstay concealer is more moisturising and less thick than the the Collection concealer, meaning it isn’t drying on the skin and doesn’t emphasise any dry problem areas - which is my biggest niggle with the Collection Lasting Perfection, it covers a lot but if you have a blemish thats drying out or your skin is on the dry side it just emphasises that. The Revlon Colorstay is also suitable for under the eyes and for the rest of the face because although it is lighter in texture and more moisturising it still packs a lot of pigment to cover dark circles, blemishes and redness. It is slightly more expensive though and I also struggle to find this in my shade in Boots as well - it’s always when I’ve completely ran out too.

What’s been your latest discovery from the drugstore?

~ Jade xx

Maybelline fit me concealer | Review

concealer


I’ve been testing this concealer out for the past few months now and it’s safe to say I really like it - I’m on my second tube already. The packaging is nothing to be wowed over but it’s the product inside that counts. The concealer itself is quite a liquid-y consistency which makes it easy to blend which is why I love to use this concealer under my eyes and around my nose as it’s light and natural so it doesn’t crease or look to heavy but still has really good coverage - I use the real techniques contour brush to apply it. I have used it as a blemish concealer also and really liked the semi-matte finish it gave but with enough coverage to cover up my spots, however due to my oily skin it didn’t last throughout the day unlike my MAC pro long wear concealer which I also love. If you are going to use this concealer as a blemish concealer I would recommend putting some on the back of your hand before applying it for otherwise the bacteria from the blemishes will sit in the doe-foot applicator and be spread around your face, creating more blemishes. The shade range isn’t the greatest for this concealer - my local Boots only stocks four shades, two for fair skin tones and two for medium skin tones although there are six shades total. I wear shade 20 of the ‘fair’ skin tone range which is incredibly yellow, although this is great for me as I have very yellow undertones in my skin anyway for someone like Lucy who has pink-ier undertones it wouldn’t work although she also has fair skin. That being said it’s very affordable priced at £5.99, blends really nicely and has good coverage for a high street concealer. Maybelline is fast becoming one of my favourite high street brands along with Rimmel as I’ve also been enjoying Maybelline mascaras and the colour tattoos a lot recently also.



Have you tried the fit me concealer? If so what do you think of it?

~ Jade xx

My current go-to products

beauty



Today I thought I’d share with you what makeup I tend to wear on a daily basis/current go-to products. The majority of these products are long time favourites but a few are new to me.
(Left to right: Sleek blush, Maybelliene colour tattoo, MAC mineralise eyeshadow, Lancôme rouge in love)

What are your go-to products?

~ Jade xx

Photography information

Canon 600D with 18-55mm lens, Canon 24mm lens or Sigma 70-300mm lens. Canon EOS M with 18-55mm lens or Canon 24mm lens. Any edited photos are edited using Photoshop CS6. Picture source is given for any photo used that is not directly ours.