Revisiting my May Purchases;-

I find quite often that I fall in love with a new item, but a few weeks later I'm completely over it, which is why first impression posts count for nothing. I'm always reading first impression posts that have no follow up and I'm left wondering if somebody still likes a product or even uses it a couple of months down the line and whether I should waste my hard-earned money on it. Seeing as I have this habit for forgetting about my blog altogether I am the worst for it. So today I thought it would be fun to revisit the products from my First Impressions post from back in May and update you on my current thoughts for the products now I've tested everything out for a few months.

Revolution Re-Loaded Palette Iconic Division

First up is the Revolution's Subculture dupe. I was freaking obsessed with this palette for a month or two, other than the eyeshadows I'm trying to pan this year (see my last update here) this was the only eyeshadow palette I used for a long time. I think the quality of the eyeshadows is really good for the price point, but there are a couple of duds. The light green is so glittery and I think I've only put it on my eyes once and I find I really have to pack on the yellow shade if I'm using it on the lid or it goes on patchy. But the orange in this palette is my favourite orange shadow ever and I absolutely love wearing it all over the lid. I still find the colour scheme of this palette very inspiring, but I haven't picked it up in a little while. I really want to use this more over the next couple of months as I think the shades scream Autumn!

Revolution Fast Base Stick Foundation in shade F1

I am in two minds about this foundation stick.When I put this on its easy to blend and creamy and gives such good coverage! Its not quite full coverage, but it isn't far off. I find it covers most of my blemishes without concealer, but it doesn't quite master my under-eye circles from years of staying up late to watch Netflix. I only need the smallest amount to give me really good coverage so my skin still looks like skin which I love. It does take a long time to set and it looks very dewy until I powder my face. This just doesn't have any staying power on me. I can wear it out for a few hours and it looks fabulous, but if I wear this to work by the time I come home I look a total mess, and I begin to notice it breaking down by lunchtime. I find that it bunches together around my nose and between my eyebrows, it lets a lot of oil through and I find if I touch my face it can completely wipe off! My skin does tend to be on the oilier side, so people with drier skin may get on with this better than I do. I do still use this, but only really if I'm going out to dinner or something and I know I'll take it off after a couple of hours. I have just ordered the new Revolution Conceal & Define Foundation so hopefully that will work a bit better on me.

e.l.f. Flawless Finish Foundation in shade Light Ivory

I think this foundation is really average. The lightest shade is a little too dark and yellow for me, so e.l.f. could do with expanding the shade range. Before powder it is quite dewy, the coverage is medium, which is fine for me once I apply concealer. It isn't the most long-lasting so if I wear this to work, by the time I get home it has started to bunch up around my nose and has let some oil through, but its better than the Revolution Foundation Stick. This does have spf 15, so I used it a lot during summer and I never had any sunburn (at least on my face), which does win it points in my book. I don't think I'll repurchase this as there was nothing that made it amazing to me, but if you're looking for a cheap, drugstore foundation that does the job its pretty good.

e.l.f. Magic Matte Mist & Setting Spray
The first setting spray I ever bought was from e.l.f. and it made me love setting sprays. I use a setting spray pretty much every time I do my makeup and also with shimmery eyeshadows sometimes to intensify them. This setting spray was just as good as the first time I tried it, but I did notice that there is only 60ml of product, whereas the Revolution setting spray has 100ml for the same price and its just as good. Because there is so little product I've already finished this and bought a Revolution setting spray, which I will probably continue to do as I know I'm getting more bang for my buck.

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation in shade 2 Fair

This is my favourite of the three foundations I bought back in May and I would have been upset if it wasn't because it was over 3 times the price of the other two. It has a demi-matte finish, which I think gives a really natural skin look. Its not heavy on the skin, which I really like. It has medium coverage, a little more than the ELF foundation, but not as much as the Revolution foundation stick. I don't mind the coverage day to day as I can cover up any blemishes with concealer. This one wears a lot better than the other two, but it still isn't perfect. By the end of the work day it has begun to break down a little and some oil starts to come through if I don't powder throughout the day. But if I'm only wearing this for a few hours I can get away without wearing powder at all. During the summer months this did slide around my face a little if I wore it for long periods of time, but when its colder it doesn't do that. I really like this foundation, but I don't know if its holy-grail status. I would love to find a foundation that lasts through and entire work day and evening, I'm not sure if I'll ever find this but I'm happy to use this up and then start searching again.

Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder in shade 1 Fair 
When I first bought this powder I had mixed feelings about it, but it has definitely grown on me. This powder is finely milled, it provides a little coverage and mattifies your face without making it look cakey. I personally feel like all powders give your face a look that is not skin-like and you can tell if you have one on, but this does that the least out of every one I've tried. While I do like it, I have to top up my powder once throughout the day with most foundations, but my skin can be oily so that's quite normal for me. It may be because I'm a drugstore girl through and through I'm not sure that its so much better than other powders I've tried for a fraction of the price, so I'm not sure if I will repurchase this or hunt for a better powder when I eventually finish this.

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think?

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Peel Off Glitter Glue - Does it Really Work?

So for the first time I actually bought something that was advertised to me on Instagram. A little while ago I was scrolling through my feed and an ad for Beauty Bay showed up, the first product pictured was this Gypsy Shrine Peel Off Glitter Glue. I'm not somebody who uses glitter on a regular basis, but as this was a week or so before Reading Festival I knew I had to pick this up. If you're like me and only wear glitter once or twice a year during summer then this review is probably a little late in the year for you, but I absolutely have to talk about this.

I basically want to spend my entire time at festivals covered in glitter and gems, but I always find that by the end of the day I am gem-less and half of my glitter is missing. I've used glues that barely stick and I've also used ones that I can't removed without a body scrub and acetone, so the idea of a glue that I can peel off at the end of the day really appealed to me.
The glitter glue costs £10.00 for 35 grams of product. Before I used this I used to spend a couple of pounds for glitter glue from Amazon. This tube is much, much larger than any other glitter glues I've owned, but I still think that £10.00 is the top end of what I would spend on a good glitter glue. The Gypsy Shrine say this glue is formulated from a face mask, which is what makes it peel and its supposed to leave your skin feeling smoothed and treated after using it. You can buy it for yourself from Beauty Bay (here) and from The Gypsy Shrine's website (here).
A lot of glitter glues come with a doe foot applicator whereas this is in a squeezy tube. I find it easiest to apply this with my fingers, then wait for it to dry a little and peel it off my hands.
When using this with glitter I do still find that by the end of the day I have glitter all over myself, but I think a lot of that is because of my messy application. I tend to pour glitter onto my fingers and press it into the glue, then brush off any excess with a powder brush. But at the end of the day when I use this glue, my glitter looks completely intact. I don't think I lose a lot, if any, glitter throughout the day, which is not always the case when I use other glues. The glue doesn't bunch up or peel, it looks pretty much the same as when I applied it.
I've also used the glue underneath gems, both individual gems and those gem patterns that go around your eyes. Most gems do come with a sticky backing, but I seem to find they peel throughout the day or completely fall off. So I applied a little of the glue to the back before applying them to the face. With this glue the gems don't move around at all or come off, which is a massive improvement.
The removal process on the other hand is something else... With the gems its easy, just peel them straight off and all of the glue comes with it. Easy, no mess, no problem. With glitter, its a whole different ball game. You first need to find the edge and pick at it until it comes away from the skin. I couldn't get the glue doesn't peel off in one piece like I hoped, it comes away in small sections so its a little fiddly. The feeling is what I didn't enjoy... I was removing this in a bathroom near Reading Festival's main stage at the end of the night (because the lighting was 10,000x better than in my tent) swearing at myself with watering eyes. A random girl asked me if I was okay and I explained that I had peel-off glitter glue and she nodded knowingly and walked away. This is like taking off one of those really painful blackhead masks that we've all seen in viral videos of girls screaming. Removing glitter just under my eyes was tear-jerking. The fact that this didn't peel off in one go only made matters worse.
Once removed, however, my skin felt tight like I'd used a face mask and no glitter could be seen. I didn't have to scrub or use any harsh chemicals to remove it, so my skin wasn't irritated in any way. So although the removal was painful and a little fiddly at least it didn't take half an hour of scrubbing with acetone, which is genuinely something I've had to do before!
I will say I think this glue is perfect for face gems, and I will continue to use this for both gems and glitter because there is a crap-tonne left in the tube. But I would only recommend you picking this up for glitter if you're prepared for pain. But... this is by far the best glue I've ever used for glitter and gems that stay perfect all day and all night.

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New Makeup First Impressions (All Cruelty Free);

So I've been buying a few bits of makeup over the past couple of months and trying them out, so I thought I'd bring them all together and share my first impressions.

Revolution Conceal & Define Concealer in shade C1
This concealer blew up a few months ago and I have been itching to get my hands on it, but I really wanted to use up the shades that matched me in my Revolution Concealer palette before I bought it, now I finally have this in my collection. I've been using this for around a month and I really like this concealer! The consistency is a little thicker than most concealers, but it blends out really easily. The coverage of this is pretty high, its not high enough to cover really angry breakouts but for brightening my under eyes its pretty much perfect. I bought the shade C1 which I think is meant to match the shade F1 in the Revolution Fast Base Stick Foundation which I also own, the concealer is just slightly lighter, which makes it great for highlighting my under eyes. The doe foot applicator on this is slightly bigger that on most concealers, which is good for an even application of product, but I do find that it gives me more product than I need so I usually wipe a little off on the side of the tube before I apply. For my under eyes this is the best concealer I've tried so far, and I can see myself repurchasing this when it runs out. For just £4.00 I don't think you can go wrong and I think this deserves all of the great reviews I've read.


Revolution Baking Oil
I have lusting after a face oil for the longest time, but all of the ones I've seen in my Instagram videos are around the £80, I like my skin but not that much. One of the reasons I love Revolution is because there are products that I cannot afford and they always come through with an alternative! This is just £6.00 which is amazing. I noticed as soon as I open the bottle that this does have quite a strong scent, so if you don't like that or you have sensitive skin I would definitely be cautious. My skin can be quite temperamental, but this hasn't reacted with mine at all. As with most oils you apply this to the skin with a pipette inside of the bottle.
I don't actually bake but I read a couple of rave reviews by people using this as a night oil, which is how I used this at first. As my skin can be oily so I was a bit dubious about using it under foundation. Within the first week my skin was noticeably more moisturised and I had no dry patches. Whenever I stop using this for a couple of days, I can tell that my skin is drier. I have also just started using this under my L'oReal Infallible Matte Foundation, I explained in a recent re-review that I was struggling with this clinging to dry parts of my skin, using this oil has completely changed that. The foundation still has a matte finish, but it doesn't cling to any dry patches because I don't have them anymore. By the middle of the day I notice my skin looking oily, but I notice this with or without using the oil and I try to powder my face at around lunchtime. I haven't used this under a more dewy base, but I will let you know if I do. With it being an oil it does also take a little longer to sink into the skin, but I personally don't mind it.
I don't very often find skincare products that actually make a noticeable, which is amazing especially for the price. I can definitely see myself replacing this when I finish it. If you're lusting after an expensive face oil, I would definitely trying this one out first.

Revolution Renaissance Flick
Another thing I picked up from Revolution is there new liquid eyeliner. I think this only came out a couple of months ago and my other eyeliner has just ran out so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I don't wear liquid eyeliner all of the time, but I've had a chance to test this out on a handful of occasions. This eyeliner is super black and long lasting without cracking or smudging. The nib is super thin which makes for a precise application and the curve of the bottle makes for easy holding. All around I really like this so far. I find pen eyeliners do dry up quite quickly so I feel like always replacing them, but for just £5.00 I don't mind so much. I can definitely see myself repurchasing this.

Barry M Showtime Mascara
This mascara is a repurchase for me. This makes my lashes longer and thicker, but it doesn't blow me away. I have quite long lashes anyway so I do like this for every day, and you can layer it. Its cruelty-free, cheap and easy to pick up so that's really why I picked this up again. I'm quite strict on replacing my mascaras every couple of months, so I can see myself picking it up again, but its not the best I've ever tried.

BH Cosmetics Take Me Back To Brazil 35 Color Pressed Pigment Palette
In my opinion this is the most exciting thing about this haul. I've been looking for a palette with a lot of matte colourful shades because I have quite a lot of shimmery colourful shadows, but not alot to pair with them. I couldn't quite find anything that fit the bill for quite a while, then I stumbled upon quite an old video review on this palette. This is based on Rio DeGenero carnival and another palette by BH Cosmetics called Take Me to Brazil. This palette contains every bright shade under the rainbow, some are pretty much neon. There are both shimmery and matte shades, but there are definitely more mattes. The white shades at the bottom are also duo-chrome so there are definitely a lot of shades to pick from.
 I searched online and it seemed to be out of stock everywhere I checked but I became obsessed, I watched a tonne more reviews and even favourited some looks done with this palette on Pinterest. Then a couple of weeks later I was browsing online and found this in stock on Beauty Bay, but I convinced myself I didn't need it. I'm forever saying I don't need more eyeshadow and I won't buy anymore... but it always happens. I ended up not being able to sleep because I was thinking about this palette (I'm well aware of how insane I sound), so I bought it and I'm so glad I did because it was out of stock again by the next day!
I was super excited about this palette and when it came I swatched it and I was even more impressed as the shades are super bright and pigmented, the yellow in this palette is more opaque than any others I've used. I will say that there may be too much to choose from, if that's even a thing. I didn't use it for a couple of weeks because I felt overwhelmed by the choice of colours, I just didn't know where to start! I have now used this a handful of times and I'm enjoying it so far, but some of the shades are a little powdery and I get quite a bit of fall out.

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18 Eyeshadows in 2018, Update 4;-

Okay, so its long over due (my last update was at the beginning of July) but it's finally the time again for me to share my next update in my 18 Eyeshadows in 2018 series!

I watch a lot of Pan That Palette videos on Youtube and a common thing to happen is after a couple of months of steady progress you reach a plateau. I feel like I'm there at the moment, this update definitely doesn't have as much progress as I'd like it to. I have spent a week away where I didn't take these shades (I was at a festival and I needed a rainbow palette) and I've been sick so I haven't worn a whole lot of makeup. But it's made me feel a little unmotivated, especially as I have a lot of products I'm not using so I think going forward I may use a companion palette a week to spruce this up and get more looks out of the shades I'm trying to pan. But here's what I have so far...

Smashbox Mini Trio - all shades left (1 done)

This. damn. shadow. I basically added this palette to my project because I thought it would be easy to finish considering I used the shades most days and its a mini. The shade left I use on my eyebrows pretty much every time I do my makeup and sometimes to deepen up my eye look so I thought it would have been all used up in the blink of an eye... but its still hanging on. I'm getting so so fed up of using this because I know I have a perfectly good brow pomade going bad in my makeup drawer! I feel like I've made such an effort to use this that I don't want to give up either, I've been working on wearing down the product on the sides, so I'm praying that one day soon this starts disappear quickly so I can finally get rid of this palette.

Mac Quad - Shades 1(done), 2 & 3

I feel like I'm slowly poodling along with my Mac palette. I still use the light pink shade as an inner corner and all over face highlight, but not as often as I'd like. I use another highlight that is more subtle on my face during the week and I often forget to highlight my inner corner a lot. Over the last week I've been trying my best to remember to use this on my inner corner every day, I think at this rate it will take me until the end of the year to hit pan.
I stopped using the taupe shade for most of the last couple of months as I'd got a bit bored of it, but I picked it up again at the end of last month. I'm still using a setting spray with it every day which is just an annoying step that I have to do to make this shadow look okay. I don't really love this but it makes an easy work look with a brown in the crease (the one from the Iconic 2) so I'm persevering until I see pan. I think it would look nice with a pinky toned neutral in the crease so I want to pair this with one this month.
I'm thinking that I may add a companion palette to my project to provide me with a bit more inspiration to create different looks and then swap it out every couple of weeks. Hopefully then I'll feel a bit more excited to use these shadows again.

Freedom single shadows - all shades

I want to first say that I don't envision myself hitting pan on the light pink, chrome or purple shades in this year. The light pink I haven't touched because I've been using the one from my Mac palette. The others are just not really wearable in my working week, I've used the chrome a couple of times and the purples quite a few, but I don't really see any progress and I can't see that drastically changing anytime soon. I mostly wear these on the weekends, but that's when I do most of makeup experimenting and recently I've been using different palettes at the weekend so I don't get bored of using my project palettes during the week.
The only shades I've really used from this palette is the two reds this month. Quite a few times I have worn the middle red shade all over the lid with the slightly darker shade in the crease. I don't think there is a lot of noticeable progress yet, but I think that there will be in the next couple of months.

Revolution Iconic 2  Palette - Shades 1-5

Ever since I decided to remove my Sleek palette from this project the palette I've turned to is my Iconic 2 palette. I use the cream shade to set my primer and I use the matte brown in my crease pretty often. The third shade is also pretty similar to the shimmery champagne shade that I liked from my Sleek palette so it has been a good replacement and the palette as a whole is a lot better quality to the Sleek one. I've also used the coppery shade a few times since I started using this palette. This is another palette that I've owned for quite a while that I don't really get excited about using anymore, but I think it will be quite good for creating work appropriate looks. The first 5 shades are the ones I can imagine myself making the most progress on so these are the ones I've decided to include.
As we're at the beginning of September I don't know how much progress I can make with these shadows by the end of 2018 so I'm not going to set myself a goal other than I want to see how much use I can get out of the palette, above is my starting place.

Do you have an ideas to get yourself out of a project rut?

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