Huge 2016 Beauty Wishlist | Halfway Through My 8 Month Ban!

Hello everyone, I hope you’re doing very well! Today marks 126 days since I started my ‘no buying makeup challenge’ and I am kind of in shock myself! To read about this challenge if you are new to my blog, click HERE. To get this far makes me so proud and honestly I am not exaggerating when I say this challenge has been life changing for me. Saving money properly for the first time ever and then being able to pay for my car insurance independenly and even putting in a good amount of cash for a new sparkly laptop (more on that in the update post tomorrow) felt SO good! I don’t earn a tonne of money as I only work around 8-12 hours a week and running a car is pretty bank-balance draining as it is. However by stopping spontaneously buying makeup left, right and centre I have managed to save a decent amount AND really use up all the stuff I already own which is wondefully satisfying. 

So as it has been exactly four months since I have not purchased any makeup, we are at the half way point now! My challenge ends on the 25th of May (my 21st birthday) and if I make it that far without buying makeup I’m treating myself to a Sephora haul yaaaaay! There are always makeup items that I really want to check out, partly because I’m always reading blogs and partly thanks to YouTube, so I thought it would be fun to write up a wishlist post. I managed to miss out a couple of things in my picture down below, but never mind I’ll mention everything that I can think of (with links too of course). 

By the way, these are all things I would LIKE to get in the next year but I probably won’t be adding it all to my stash. We’ll see how much makeup I use up too ^_^

Sephora

So starting off with Sephora, I really want to get my hands on Becca’s Champagne pop which I have a feeling will still be in-stock, as its making them so much money! The gorgeous highlighter created by Jacqueline Hill looks stunning on so many different skin tones and I would love to add a Becca highlight to my stash. Before I pick that up from Sephora though I will be checking Cult beauty who sometimes have it in stock.  I have wanted to get the Tarte Blush in Exposed it looks like a beautiful everyday shade and I cannot wait to try the amazonian clay formula! Sticking with Tarte I’m excited to pick up their CC Corrector which looks ideal for banishing the dark tones under my eyes. I love my Rimmel one (reviewed here) but to find more of a peachy tone would be awesome! Finally from Tarte, my heart is set on the Tartlet in Bloom eyeshadow palette, the colours look stunning and I have enjoyed the formula of Tarte shadows in the past so I am excited to pick that up! I totally forgot to add this brand, but I definitely want to pick up the Marc Jacobs Re(marc)able Full Cover Foundation it looks right up my alley for more of a special event, as its light weight on the skin but provides a solid full coverage according to reviews. AND of course the Sephora beauty insider birthday gift this year is a mini Marc Jacobs makeup item, so I am super excited for that! Finally I definitely want to pick up some of Kat Von D's liquid lipsticks, I just haven't quite decided which shades yet. 

Debenhams

I want some much from this department store, oh so much. Starting off with the MUFE Pro Bronze Fusion this was in SO many YouTuber’s 2015 beauty favourites and the unique texture and how beautifully natural it looks has landed it on this list! I also love the look of the MUFE Ultra HD concealers which come as both concealers and correctors - exciting stuff! I want to be able to swatch these in person first, so in the summer at some point I’ll be making a trip to Oxford street and figuring out my shades. I love how you can purchase Too Faced from Debenhams now, so on my list is the shadow insurance eye primer, hangover face primer and the love flush long-lasting blushers..I actually kind of want the palette which is available on the TooFaced website so if that’s available in the summer time I’ll be picking that up! The smaller sized pans and the wide range of colours are really appealing. 

Selfridges/ Hourglass

Starting off with Charlotte Tilbury, I have wanted to pick up the Light Wonder foundation for the longest time and looking back, I regret purchasing the concealer over that base back in the summer! Light wonder ticks so many of my boxes, its light weight, dewy on the skin and the colour match is great from the swatch. Plus it contains 40ml over the standard 30 so I think it’s worth the money! I can’t wait to purchase the lip cheat in Iconic nude as it’s a shade I envision myself wearing on a daily basis. The one area of makeup that I’m pretty stingy with are lipsticks, I own hardly any that cost over £10 but this year I’d love to add one of the matte revolution lipsticks to my stash. Moving on to my all time favourite brand, NARS, I have quite a few things on my wishlist! Starting with the NARS All day luminous weightless foundation which has intrigued me for quite some time, but since I was (and still am) so obsessed with Sheer Glow I didn’t feel like picking it up in 2015. This year however I really want to try it out, along with the brand new NARS Velvet matte Skin Tint which isn’t even out yet, but it sounds DEVINE! I own the tinted moisturiser and I only really like using it during the summer time because it is SUPER dewy. This new tint has more coverage as is apparently between a dewy and matte finish, it sounds like absolute perfection! This year I will also hopefully be picking up the NARS Audacious Lipstick in Barbara, it is the shade that has always caught my eye and I have heard so many wonderful things about this line! The Velvet Matte Lip Pencils are a line I would like more of, the formula is so comfortable yet long-lasting on the lips, in particular I want Dolce Vita. Finally in this catergory, I only really want ONE thing from Hourglass and that is their Mood Exposure Blush, the lovely Jasmine (blog here) raves about it all the time and she has the perfect taste in blush tones, so I am sold! 

U.K Drugstore + U.S Drugstore

As you can see the majority of things I want to try are higher end, as i’ll be saving money before purchasing I like to reward myself with higher-end items because the quality 9/10 times speak for itself. However there are a couple of things that I would like to try this year from boots, with the Soap&Glory Kick Ass powder at the top of my list. The yellow tone looks great for brightening the under-eyes and although i adore my Kat Von D shade, I only use that on special occasions because I’m so afraid of running out! I also want to try the Soap and Glory Once Heck Of A Blot primer since my skin has definitely become more normal/combo and I would like to have a bit of oil control around the nose (this is all so new to me!). I also really want to see if the Seventeen stay time concealer comes in my shade as I’ve heard so many good things about it. I will also be doing another beauty joint haul because I love me some U.S drugstore makeup. I need to stock up on a few wet’n’wild lipsticks and I also want to purchase one of the beautiful Milani rose blushers. The L.A Girl Endless lipliners are also on my wishlist because I have heard so many good things! And finally I’ll be stocking up on the L.A Girl Pro Concealer in Creamy Beige because it is soo good for under the eyes and really brightening too. It’s a staple in my cream highlight and contour routine!

OTHER

So I’m going to group the other things into my last category because I have written a LOT already! I really want to add a Morphe eyeshadow palette to my stash this year, of course i’ll be after the 35O but as it’s usually out of stock (i'm on the waitlist but knowing my luck it'll be in and out of stock before May). I don’t mind really, I just want to try one of their palettes as I’ve heard a lot of good things! I also want to pick up the Zoeva cocoa blends eyeshadow palette because it is STUNNING, the shade selection is right up my street and getting this over the 35O would kind of satisfy my cravings y’know? I will definitely be replacing at least one of my beauty blenders  this year and I’ve heard the black one is better than the others, so i’m going for that. I know I have a bunch of eyeshadows as it is, but I simply HAVE to get some Makeup Geek Shadows from beautybay for my Z palette, because there are so many I have wanted for the longest time. I also want to pick up some liquid lipsticks from the brands Stila, Dose of Colours, Girlactik, Anastasia Beverly Hills and Colourpop. Half of those are U.S brands so I’m planning on using a courier service again which’ll package a bunch of them together and calculate taxes and shipping there and then. I have a few YouTubers who I’m going to turn to when I go through this process and of course I will be blogging about it when the time comes! and FINALLY last but not least, I would love to get a Zoeva brush set this year, mainly one of the eye ones. I have lusted over these for the longest time, and I am seriously lacking in the decent eye brushes which is a shame since I have so many eyeshadow palettes.  

THATS A LOOOONG WISHLIST RIGHT THERE! See if I had not been on this ban at least half of these products would be in my stash and my bank balance would hate me. Lets be honest, none of this is stuff I NEED so it would be awesome if I could try out some of these in 2016 but I don't aspire to get every single thing here! I think I'm over the whole 'blowing most of your wage on makeup and then not being able to buy much else' phase and I find it much more rewarding thinking about a purchase for a while, before splashing out. 

I also want to have a one-in-one-out system with my bases after my challenge is over because I hate hoarding so many foundations/TMs when I only have one face AND they all have expiration date! This'll mean that there will be more base reviews on my blog because I really want to try some new stuff in May. YAAAY for making the halfway point, and heres to the remaining 4 *chinks glass filled with your favourite beverage* Also if you have been thinking of going on a makeup ban for a while, I hope this post gave you the inspiration to do so! (although I totally understand if it had the opposite effect D:)

Are any of these items on your wishlist? 

Thank-you for reading ♥

 Bloglovin' | Tweet Me | Instagram | Facebook

Huge 2016 Beauty Wishlist | Halfway Through My 8 Month Ban!

Hello everyone, I hope you’re doing very well! Today marks 126 days since I started my ‘no buying makeup challenge’ and I am kind of in shock myself! To read about this challenge if you are new to my blog, click HERE. To get this far makes me so proud and honestly I am not exaggerating when I say this challenge has been life changing for me. Saving money properly for the first time ever and then being able to pay for my car insurance independenly and even putting in a good amount of cash for a new sparkly laptop (more on that in the update post tomorrow) felt SO good! I don’t earn a tonne of money as I only work around 8-12 hours a week and running a car is pretty bank-balance draining as it is. However by stopping spontaneously buying makeup left, right and centre I have managed to save a decent amount AND really use up all the stuff I already own which is wondefully satisfying. 

So as it has been exactly four months since I have not purchased any makeup, we are at the half way point now! My challenge ends on the 25th of May (my 21st birthday) and if I make it that far without buying makeup I’m treating myself to a Sephora haul yaaaaay! There are always makeup items that I really want to check out, partly because I’m always reading blogs and partly thanks to YouTube, so I thought it would be fun to write up a wishlist post. I managed to miss out a couple of things in my picture down below, but never mind I’ll mention everything that I can think of (with links too of course). 

By the way, these are all things I would LIKE to get in the next year but I probably won’t be adding it all to my stash. We’ll see how much makeup I use up too ^_^

Requested | Battle of the drugstore liquid liners

Hello everyone! I frequently say that eyeliner is a staple in my makeup routine and if I could only wear two makeup products for the rest of my life, it would be concealer and liner for sure. So, because of this unending love for the stuff I have quite a large collection of them and as I keep getting questions for recommendations I thought I’d combine them all into one post. It’s not a good idea to have such a huge collection by the way, since eyeliner’s 'recommended' shelf life tend to be around 6 months, but normally when there are special offers...3for2s etc. I end up buying a new liner or two..this has got to stop!


The reason why I love lining my eyes is because it makes the biggest difference! Eyes look larger, you can do a little flick to make them look longer or you can go all out and do a classic wing - timeless. Somehow my makeup never quite feels complete without those two lines on my eyelids and so it’s not really so surprising that I have tried so many. Also just a quick note, I am a big fan of drugstore and high-end makeup however there are some products which are only worth picking up from the drugstore - eyeliner being one of them. The reason being is the range you can find in your local boots or superdrugs is fantastic and so is the quality - so don’t overlook the drugstore if you’re used to picking up liners around the £20/£30 pricemark, you could save a pretty penny!

There are four types of eyeliners available, pencil, pen, liquid (pot) and gel. This post will only cover pen liners and liquid pot liners because they’re the ones I typically use on a daily basis to line my top lids. Pencils are better for tight-lining and the water line. Gel liners are brilliant, but that is for another post. So let us begin!

Pen Eyeliners

These are the eyeliners which look like a pen and so are comfortable to hold. Many people recommend this type of liner for beginners because you typically have the most control over a pot liner. Less product is dispersed and its less messy too. The main problem you can run into with pen liners is that they have the tendency to dry out quickly - always store them downwards! This way the ink will be built up near the nib and you won’t have the frustration of drawing half a line and then running out. Price wise pen liners are pretty budget friendly and if you are a newbie to lining your eyes I may have the perfect one for you!

Collection Extreme 24hour Felt Tip Liner |  £2.99
This is a newer liner in my collection so not one I have used frequently but I have to say I’m vey impressed. The nib is pretty slim with a sharp point meaning it’s easy to create a flick and actually lining the eyes is a piece of cake. Some nibs can be pretty thick meaning its easy to make a mistake or over-do the line but not this one. The pigmentation is awesome, one swipe is black enough for me and that is always a good thing! It dries quickly, doesn’t smudge and lasts a decent amount of time on the lid - not sure about 24 hours, but it stands its ground! No crumbling, flaking or fading. Removal wise it comes off easily too, again another thumbs up and really what else do you want for 3 quid?? The liner is very affordable so I would recommend this one to total newbies. The only thing I’m unsure of so far, is how long the pen lasts once opened, but to be honest even if its around 2 or 3 months I still think it’s worth repurchasing a couple of times a year - especially in a 3for2!

Rating: 9      Repurchase: Yes!

Jordana Fabuliner Liquid Eyeliner | $2.99
I picked this up over a year ago from beautyjoint.com (my go to for American makeup)...but I only got around to opening it a few weeks ago. Turns out I shouldn’t have bothered ordering this...it left me very disappointed. Although the nib looks promising (very similar to the collection one) the pigmentation is rubbish! And it was rubbish from the first swipe, so unless I got a bad one I don’t understand why they bother making such useless liners. It takes a good few swipes to get a half decent line and by that time my eyelid started feeling rather abused and scratched. Bottom line: AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

Rating: 0   Repurchase: Nope!

Soap and Glory Supercat Eyeliner Pen Carbon Black Extreme | £6.00
I discovered this a couple of months ago after having it in my collection for AGES. The liner lasts an impressive amount of time without drying up, that’s for sure! Anyways the nib is pretty easy to line and it lasts a decent amount of time on the eyes. I wouldn’t say a full 9 hours but it stretches to 7 at least (this could be different depending on the primer you use, if you do use one). It doesn’t smudge which is another plus and it’s easy to remove at the end of the day. Based on all these points it was one of my favourites, but I’ve realised that there are more pigmented pen liners for a similar (or cheaper!) price point and they’ve lasted longer on the lids for me personally.

Rating: 7  Repurchase: Probably not!

Topshop Magic Liner in Engraved |  £6.50
This is the one that’s knocked the crown off Soap and Glory’s head! It has the best nib from all of them in my opinion, its longer than the others, thin and soft enough to feel comfortable but not so soft that its hard to form a line. I think the nib is made of a foam like material. The size makes it easy to line the eyes and also to create a thin flick, or a thick one too. It’s the quickest pen eyeliner to use when I want to create a flick and it’s also very black. It remains intact for a good 9 hours at least. Please excuse the swatch above, I cleared swatches off my arm with a makeup wipe and didn’t wait for it to dry...which resulted in the liner bleeding D: It does not normally do that! Though it does have a wetter formula than most pen liners. The liner is easy to remove at the end of the day and doesn’t flake off. The only downside is that apparently it dries up pretty quickly, as pen liners are notorious at doing. So I’ll probably stock up on these during Topshop’s 20% off sales.

Rating: 8.5  Repurchase: Yes but in the sale lol ^_^


Roundup: So there we have the four pen eyeliners and for me the collection one has come out on top! It’s the best for beginners. I would also recommend the Topshop magic liner for those of you who are a bit more experienced with eyeliners and love to do a cat flick because it’s the one that helps you achieve that look the easiest!

Liquid Pot Liners

These are my go-to liners over the pens because they’ll last you months and months before they dry out. I also started out with lining my eyes when I was 15 using this type of eyeliner...quite impressed with myself because it is no mean feat! Liquid pot liners come with a pot of liquid that you dip the brush in. Formulas really vary from totally matte to glossy and so do brush sizes. These eyeliners are more messy than pen liners because you may have too much product on the brush and overload your eyelid. However once you get the technique right and get used to a particular liner it can be just as quick to line and wing your eyes with these, as it is with pen liners.

  

Collection Fast Stoke Liner in Black and Brown | £2.99 | Review

This liner has already been featured on my blog as one of my favourites of all time because its affordable, super pigmented and easy to use. The nib when you first get it does help you achieve a neat line in one stroke and the point is fine enough to get a wing. This liner also lasts for ages! The value for money is awesome. I love the brown liner for a slightly softer look, but the black is my most used. So you can understand why I had to write a review. However I have two issues with this, firstly after a few months the shape of the nib becomes distorted meaning its very hard to achieve a thin line, as you can see from the swatches above. Secondly quite a lot of people have said that it can sting their eyes so if you have sensitive ones perhaps keep away. I tend to go for this liner when I want a strong wing and for the price it’s pretty good! P.S I am definitely chucking these two away though, those lines are ridiculous.

Rating: 7      Repurchase: Possibly

  

Rimmel Exaggerate Eyeliner | £5.29

This was the ORIGINAL eyeliner in my life, the first one I used back when I was just getting into makeup and funnily enough the other day I found some clips from a geography project, in which I was the news reporter and the first thing that came to mind was - girl your wing was on fleeeeek. (And I don't use the word fleek on a regular basis fyi) For real guys, my liner was more on point at that age than it is most days now! ._. That’s what I get for continuously opening new liners and trying to use up each one without wastage. Anyway I really don’t know why I didn’t repurchase this liner sooner, its opaque with one swipe, the brush is wonderful and sturdy, not too thick, nor too thin and the formula is also super. It doesn’t flake or smudge and it stays put! There is no stinging and the brush keeps its shape pretty well. I think I get at least 8 hours of wear from this before it starts fading. It’s also easy to remove at the end of day, so no tugging required. Ding ding ding ding, we have a winner!

Rating: 9 Repurchase: Yes I would.

Bourjois 16hr Linear Pinceau Liquid Liner | £6.99 | Review

I cannot believe how long it’s been since I reviewed this...and it’s still going strong! Give me a moment to get over my shock here because I reviewed it in January 2014..what?! Anyways this has a super fine brush tip and from all the liners its probably the most similar to an actual makeup brush. Very thin and very flexible. I think it’s a good choice if you always get your liner too thick, or if you have a small lid space because you can finely line the eyelids without much trouble. It’s not as pigmented as the Rimmel one but you can build it up. The main issue I had and still do sometimes is that it just doesn’t last well - UNLESS you have a good base in place! And sometimes that just means dusting some translucent powder over the lids before applying the liner. Overall I’m really impressed with how long this has lasted..and if you can get on with it, it’s awesome value for money!

Rating: 7.5  Repurchase: Probably not.

Seventeen Semi Permanent Tattoo Me Liquid Liner | £4.99
Finally a tricky little liner, but the one to go for if you always find your eyeliner leaves your lid half way through the day. The word tattoo is an accurate representation of how long this’ll last, not permanent of course!! But it is without a doubt the longest lasting liner in my collection. The nib is super thin and I think this is the bit which makes it somewhat tricky to use, especially as the formula is a little sticky? However the pigmentation is awesome, you don’t need to keep going over the line, one swipe is enough. The best way to use it in my experience is to start with the inner corner and take your time. Once you get the hang of it, it’s all good but I have warned you it’s not the easiest. Also to remove it I always go in with an oil based cleanser.

Rating: 8  Repurchase: Yes, especially if I was going on holiday to a really hot place.

Roundup: So all in all the pot liquid liners came out stronger than the pens, pigmentation wise and I generally have enjoyed using each of these. The one I would recommend to beginners, if you’re feeling confident to use a pot liquid liner is the Rimmel one as the brush is pretty firm and easy to draw a line with. Of course if you’d prefer a smaller brush, go for the bourjois one but make sure your lids are well prepped and if you’re looking for a budge-proof one the Seventeen one is calling your name!

I really hope this post was useful for you! Eyeliner is a staple in my makeup routine and I’m always trying out different brands...but after sitting down and comparing them all I think I’ve found MY personal favourites too ^_^

What is your go to liquid liner?

Thank-you for reading ♥

 Bloglovin' | Tweet Me | Instagram | Facebook

Requested | Battle of the drugstore liquid liners

Hello everyone! I frequently say that eyeliner is a staple in my makeup routine and if I could only wear two makeup products for the rest of my life, it would be concealer and liner for sure. So, because of this unending love for the stuff I have quite a large collection of them and as I keep getting questions for recommendations I thought I’d combine them all into one post. It’s not a good idea to have such a huge collection by the way, since eyeliner’s 'recommended' shelf life tend to be around 6 months, but normally when there are special offers...3for2s etc. I end up buying a new liner or two..this has got to stop!

Disappointing Products #1

Hello my lovely readers, I hope you’re all doing well. This post is something that has been in the pipeline for a while, and I thought it was about time I typed it up. Now before we divulge into the products I want to say that I am still using some of these products (due to hating  wasting makeup) and by ‘disappointing’ it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re useless. Sometimes you have high expectations and they just don’t live up to them. What works for me may not work for everybody and vica versa. My beauty blog is about things I love 90% of the time, but what good is a beauty blog if it doesn’t discuss the not so good sometimes either?? ^_^

1. SEVENTEEN Phwoarr Paint | Review

For me any concealer that claims to cover up dark circles has my interest so I gave it a shot after reading several reviews. Although the drugstore are notorious for having not enough shades, the fact that there were two made me assume that the light shade would be salmon coloured and the medium colour would be peach toned. THAT would have been brilliant for girls like myself who have horrendous dark circles that are not blue in colour, but  nope medium is pink toned, it looks bizarrely white/grey under my eyes and fails to colour correct. After reading promising reviews I was more than a little disappointed.....however it’s not ALL dark and gloomy, because I may have found two other uses for it...more on that later..but if you’re looking for a good cover all concealer, expensive but SO worth it - invest in the Kevyn Aucoin SSE. It’s changed my life for real.

 

2. Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Balm

Oh my goodness, you would not believe the hype behind this lip balm! It is insane, so SO many beauty bloggers and vloggers swear by this lipbalm, so naturally I had high hopes. It’s by one of my favourite skincare brands, but on this occasion I feel let down. It’s known to be a matte lip balm, and the thick texture contributes to that. However it seems to do NOTHING to sooth or nourish the lips for me, even when rubbed in/applied thickly at night. I’ve tried this in so many ways and to no avial. Honestly the only use I have for this is a matte base for when I want a matte look. I’m sad it didn’t work for me, but I think there are better lip balms that actually do what they say - for a couple of quid. Blistex, ily xox

3.  Rimmel London Scandaleyes Thick and Thin Eyeliner

I got this eyeliner free in one of those promotional ‘spend this much and get...’ and let me tell you if I had paid a fiver for this I would NOT have been happy. The tip of the pen is kinda in the shape of those posh handwriting pens we had at school which where encased in an olive green packaging and were for fancy calligraphy writing. The concept of having a thinner tip at one end seems brilliant but in reality the tip is hard and can be painful to apply to the delicate eye area. The liner itself didn’t flow well and I had to keep going over and over the eye for an even line, something I expect maybe after two months of use,  but certainly not on first use! I have tried twice more to make this work, but to no luck. In the bin you go, where you belong. (Try their exaggerate liquid liner it’s 100X better).

 

4. Natural Collection Lipliner ‘Almond’ (not pictured, chucked away I hated it that much)

A lipliner that just doesn’t line or fill in the lips nicely at all. The texture is really bizarre and on my lips it emphasises any dry patches extensively. It looks sickly on my complexion and every time I tried to make it work I was reminded that again this is not a product that I can get on with. Perhaps it’s the shade that makes me dislike it even more? Regardless not a product I would recommend, the Rimmel lip liners (both lines) are far superior and only one or two pounds more, so if I were you I’d skip past this stand and head to Rimmel.

 

5. Clinique - Take The Day Off Makeup Remover For Lids, Lashes & Lips

So this is actually from an UNETHICAL brand - owned by Estee Lauder. But I thought I should add it anyways as I know lots of ladies read this blog and I honestly think you should save your monies and skip this out. I purchased it in 2013 in the Debenhams sale and I expected excellent things from such a well loved brand on the blogosphere, however it was a miserable experience from day one. It’s in a two part solution, one of oil the other of the makeup remover. This is worth £17 so I would expect it to remove eyemake-up with no issues. However it took a lot of uncomfortable rubbing of the solution soaked pad, and still I have black smears around my eyes which I had to remove using a separate remover?! Ridiculous, I would be annoyed if a drugstore makeup remover caused me so much hassle, so the fact that this costs a lot of money for what is it, and still didn’t work, ugh I cannot express how frustrating that is. Bioderma is SOO much better, please don’t waste your money on this fraudulent rubbish which also funds Israel’s war crimes.

 

That is it for part one, I know this isn’t the most positive post but hey that is just life, not everything goes the way we want it too, and these 5 found a way to disappoint me personally, but like I said for a couple of them they’re well loved! Just a little heads up.

Thank-you for reading ♥

 Follow Via Bloglovin' | Tweet Me | Follow on Instagram | Like The Blushing Giraffe on Facebook

Disappointing Products #1

Hello my lovely readers, I hope you’re all doing well. This post is something that has been in the pipeline for a while, and I thought it was about time I typed it up. Now before we divulge into the products I want to say that I am still using some of these products (due to hating  wasting makeup) and by ‘disappointing’ it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re useless. Sometimes you have high expectations and they just don’t live up to them. What works for me may not work for everybody and vica versa. My beauty blog is about things I love 90% of the time, but what good is a beauty blog if it doesn’t discuss the not so good sometimes either?? ^_^

Review | Seventeen Phwoarr Paint in Medium

Now being a beauty blogger I believe it is my duty to tell people about all the cosmetics and beauty products I’ve used, the great, the good and the not so brilliant. I’m the type of girl who reads reviews for 90% of the makeup I’m deciding to buy before I go ahead and purchase it. So I rely on those reviews that talk honestly about the not so great products! (ok this intro is far too long now..)

ANYWAYS so a few weeks ago I picked up this concealer. There wasn’t a massive buzz about it, but the reviews that I had read from some of my favourite bloggers promised great things and I’m always on the hunt for dark-circle banishing concealers. 

Unfortunately the first thing that let’s this down is the shade selection – there are only TWO. I just cannot understand why drugstore brands do not take into account the large variety of skin tones! Furthermore, the medium shade which I picked up is great if you’re an NC25 perhaps, but far too light for my NC35-NC37 skin tone.

I’m quite absent minded when it comes to paying attention with what brands claim their products can and will do, but because I was quite looking forwards to trying this and there aren't many drugstore concealers just for dark circles, I read all the great stuff and now I want to tell you how I feel this product lives up to it’s claims.

So it claims to ‘Wage war on under eye circles’ and as you can see from the above swatch it is salmon in colour. Because my main skin issue is my dark circles I’m constantly reading up on ways to get rid of the darkness, and many of you will know that correctors in peach or salmon tones are perfect for correcting the darkness. Salmon however does nothing for my darker circles and I am currently using a dark orange/peach tone from benefit. So yes this could work for you if you’re lighter in skin tone and your dark under eye circles aren’t a huge issue, but what frustrated me is the ‘light’ version of this should have been salmon and the ‘medium’ should be peach, as most people with medium skin tones have more yellow undertones and therefore salmon is pretty useless!

Instead of waging war on dark circles, it makes the area look ashy and highlights it so much so that I have to put a darker powder ontop to get rid of the white/ashy tone. Next this stuff is THICK. It’s creamy to touch in the pan, but far too easy to pick up too much and then struggle with the thickness of it under the eyes.  It isn’t easy to blend as seventeen claims, and I sometimes find myself tugging around my eyes to move the concealer about. Next issue is because of the consistency, putting any type of powder ontop will instantly cake and crease! Who wants that under their eyes?!

The good stuff is the packaging, they at least got this part right. It comes in a sleek little round circular pot, and I the little mirror inside is pretty useful for on the go touch-ups. There is a fairly sturdy clasp like system on the pot which is secure enough to not have to worry about coming undone.

You get 12g for £5.49 so the price is great, but I won’t ever be repurchasing this and struggled to find a use for it as I just cannot make it work for me. If you’re darker than NC35 or that skin tone, I’d advise you to save your money and go for the collection lasting perfection concealer, which is really creamy, heavy duty yet flawless looking for under the eyes if you have super dark circles! It also isn’t so thick that it couldn’t be used with a corrector shade underneath – something phwoarr paint struggled with. If dark circles aren’t a huge issue go for something even lighter!

I’m waiting patiently for the day when high-street brands open their eyes and realise that there are more skin tones than white and slightly tan, and hopefully they can start catering for all women of colour (take a leaf out of Sleek’s book!) I’m also in no way dismissing this brand, their ‘mirror shine’ lippies are a firm favourite of mine, but this just did not and can not work for me.

What are your favourite undereye circle saviours?

Review | Seventeen Phwoarr Paint in Medium