Anti Haul #1;

I watch a lot of Anti Hauls on Youtube and I really love the concept of talking about things that don't tempt me even slightly. I personally started my blog to share my opinions on things and its not always going to things I love or even want, but usually when I don't want something I pretty much forget about it straight away before I really have an opinion on the product or why I don't want it. But recently I've found a few products that I really don't want and want to tell you why.
This post is no way meant to be taken as me bashing brands or saying the products are bad, or that you shouldn't buy them this is literally my opinion on why I personally (probably) won't buy these things. I haven't tried any of the products so I obviously can't say anything for the quality, and if you buy these and love these then you do you!

 Re-Loaded Palettes - Makeup Revolution

The product or rather products that me want to write this were the newest additions to the Re-Loaded  eyeshadow palettes. Now let me preface this by saying Makeup Revolution is my favourite makeup brand, I'm very tempted by a lot of things they have come out with recently, I love the look of their new glitters and the Carmi and Tammi palettes look gorgeous. I'm sure the quality of this is amazing as with every eyeshadow I've bought from Makeup Revolution. However, I stumbled across these on Instagram and I knew I didn't want any of these palettes. All of the palettes have a few pops of colour, but are for the most part full of neutral browns. Its definitely a marketing tactic used by a lot of brands and I feel like I'm starting to see through it. They throw in a purple or a green, but the majority of the shades are brown and I have brown. I even have all of the pops of colour in other palettes. None of these palettes really give me inspiration to create any looks that I couldn't do with palettes I already own and I feel like this will be the same for most people.

Weekend Festival Palette - BH Cosmetics

Next up is another palette, a palette that sounded like it would be right up my alley! Festivals are my favourite place to be, for me the makeup is all about colour, glitter and all of the things I couldn't get away with wearing to work. I've just bought the Take Me Back to Brazil palette also from BH Cosmetics, so maybe I just have my fill for colourful eyeshadow at the moment. But even still I would expect this palette to pack more of a punch like the Take Me Back to Brazil palette which is full of vibrant, almost luminous shades. In comparison this palette has quite a few neutrals and a few of the colours are more muted. I would definitely have expected a festival palette to have brighter,  more glittery and shimmery shades. Compared to the Makeup Revolution palettes this is a lot more colourful, but for a palette named Weekend Festival I would have expected BH Cosmetics to have upped the amp by a couple of levels.

Hello Happy Foundation - Benefit

The next thing I don't want to buy is this foundation. Firstly I don't think I will buying anything from Benefit for the foreseeable future, I own a few of their products and really like them all but as they are not cruelty free I do not intend to buy anything else from them. My first thoughts about this foundation is that I don't like the packaging or the name. The bottle has a smiley face as is called 'Hello Happy' which to me sounds very childish, I know you can't judge a product by the outside but it doesn't really appeal to me as an adult and doesn't seem like a foundation that costs £25.50, it looks more like it belongs in Claires. It may be that everybody else thinks this is cute and great, but for me its the first thing that doesn't appeal. The bottle is also large and square with a spout on top, and again I could be wrong but I think its going to be messy and I can see it being a bottle that pours out way more product than you need. I've also heard next to nothing about this product, I've literally seen 1 review of this and I can't remember who did it or what they said which goes to show that nothing amazing was said about this. I've looked on the Debenhams website and it describes this as a lightweight foundation with to light-to-medium coverage. To me that sounds something similar to a BB Cream, which is not really something I tend to like, I prefer something more full coverage. I also think that £25.50 is a lot of money for a light coverage, if I'm buying a higher end foundation I raise my expectations and I definitely want more coverage. I just think that I could get something that does what this foundation does for cheaper, and I don't think its anything new.

Dream Glow Kit - Anastasia Beverly Hills

The last product I want to talk about is ABHs latest addition to their Glow Kit highlighter range. This is one that I have seen on a lot of anti hauls and seen literally no reviews on - it seems like nobody wants this! I am no different, but I think my reasons are a little different. This seems to me to be another holographic multi-coloured highlighter palette. Now personally I love different coloured highlights, I go to a lot of gigs and festivals and I think its really cool to have your face glowing purple or bright pink in the light and its something that I love to experiment with. But at this point we've seen it before, Anastasia have their own Moonchild kit and I personally own the Ultra Cool Glow palette that Makeup Revolution do. I think most people who do like a brighter highlight are still not going to be brave enough to wear it to work every day and it’s going to be reserved for special occasions so it will take forever to use up this kind of product, so I think right now is not really perfect timing to release yet another one of these. I think all of the people that want a bright coloured highlighter palette already have one and those who don’t just don’t want one!

Is there anything new out that completely doesn't tempt you in the slightest?

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None of the photographs used in this post are mine they have been taken from Instagram Debenhams and Beauty Bay.

18 Eyeshadows in 2018, Update 3;-

So it seems like my blog has basically turned into an update center for my 18 Eyeshadows in 2018 project. I haven't posted at all this month, I am working on a lot of ideas for posts, but I've been too busy this month to finish any! I have been using my eyeshadows all month and I'm here to share another update.

Smashbox Mini Trio - all shades left

I've managed to finish up the lighter brown in this palette this month. After my last update this eyeshadow became really crumbly and every time I used this chunks would crumble off until nothing was left. I'm really glad to be done with this because I definitely have dupes of this across multiple palettes. I don't think there's a lot of progress on the darkest brown, I've been trying to wear the shadow down on the outside edge. I'm still using this in my brows and I've also used been using this on my lower lash line since I finished the other shade so I'm hoping more progress will show soon. I'm really eager to get this one out of my collection as soon as possible now there's only one shadow left.

Mac Quad - Shades 1, 2 & 3

I'm glad to finally say I finished the cream shade in this palette, less than a week after my last update. I then moved onto using a mixtures of a couple of shades in my Sleek palette all over my lid, more on that later...
There's a bit of a dip developing in the light pink shade, I'm still using this on my inner corner and sometimes on my face as a highlight.
I've also started using the taupe shade this month, because I had barely used this in my project so far. I've remembered why I don't use this, its because its really not very good. When I first started using this it just looked like a glittery mess on my eyelid and I really didn't like it. However, I've now started to use this with a setting spray all over the lid with a cool toned brown in the crease, which makes a nice everyday look for work. I think using a setting spray has meant that I'm seeing quite a bit of progress already even though I've only been using it for a couple of weeks. I definitely have similar shades in my collection that are better quality I'm determined to see more progress before I give up on this one. I'm hoping if I continue to use this quite a bit I will hit pan in the next couple of months.

Freedom single shadows - all shades

I've finally managed to hit pan on another shade this month. You may not be able to tell from the photo but there is a tiny bit of pan on the bright pink shade. I'm really glad I've finally hit pan on this shade because if I'm honest I've got pretty bored of this. I'm sure I'll go back to this at some point, but I think its not likely to be until next year. When I started this project I said I only wanted to hit pan on the shades so I have met my goal on this one, I may try to expand this a little but I can't see me working on this too much more. I will say that although I don't get a lot of fall out from these shadows, but I do think they are on the more powdery side and from the two shades I have hit pan on so far it has taken around 2 months of using the shades for 3-4 days of the week, which I don't think is too bad.

I have also used the middle red shade a few times through the crease with a light brown all over the lid. I think it gives a very 90s grunge vibe, while be wearable enough to wear to work. I don't think you can see any progress on this one so far, but I didn't think that I would use it at all until Autumn so I'm happy to get a little head start.

I have also used all of the purple shades a handful of times, again I don't think there's is any noticeable progress in these. I did try all of the shades out in different ways with different looks to see if I can find a way to make this wearable to work, but I haven't really succeeded. So I'm going to reserve these shades to the weekend and hope I can at least make a little dent by the end of the year.

Sleek Au Natural Palette - Shades 1, 4, 5 & 6

So I started using my Sleek Au Natural Palette a lot more during this month after I used up a couple of other shadows. I used all of the shades that I was trying to pan. However, I noticed that the paler shades were super powdery and going on pretty patchy, I was struggling to get an opaque colour and getting a lot of fall out all over my face too! Because I was using the matte shades as a base it was making my overall eye look crappy and I wasn't really very happy with this. I took a break from this and have been using my Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 Palette and enjoying it so much more. I don't know if the quality in my Sleek palette is because this palette is getting old or if its because I have better shadows now. I knew that I wasn't going to finish the darker shades this year and while I do really like the shimmery champagne shade I don't think its special enough to keep the whole palette, so I've decided I'm pulling this palette out of this challenge and declutter all together. Part of me feels like I'm giving up as my 18 eyeshadows in 2018 is now down to 14, but if I hadn't done this project this would have sat at the back of my drawer not being used so I'm glad I tried to give this one last whirl. I may add another palette into my project, but for now I'm just enjoying using different palettes and pairing them with the shadows already in this project.

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18 Eyeshadows in 2018, Update 2;-

Another month has passed, so I thought it was about time to share an update on my finish 18 eyeshadows in 2018 project. I've finally hit pan on another shade and I'm starting to see a little progress in a few other shades.

My sample sized Smashbox palette is up first. I use the lighter shade in my crease and under my lash line and I use the darker shade to fill in my brows every time I wear makeup, but I can see barely any progress on either shade. I'm just going to poodle on with this as the dark brown is the only shade I can use in my brows, so I probably won't be focusing on either of these shades at the moment.

Next up is this Mac quad, and I'm trying to use the shades other than the dark brown. I really thought I'd be done with the cream shade this month, but the last little bit at the bottom seems to hanging on for dear life. I should definitely be done with this by the time I post my next update. I'm just starting to see a little progress in the light pink shade as I wear this a lot with the bright pink in my other palette, it makes for quite a nice inner corner highlight but I'm not really focusing on this one yet. I've also used the taupe shades a couple of times as it goes really well with the purples from my other palette, again I'm not too worried about focusing on this shade at the moment.

Next up are my Freedom eyeshadows. A couple of days after I posted my first update I managed to hit pan on the sparkly brown shade in this palette, which I'm really happy about. I'm not surprised that this is the first shade I hit pan on as I wear this quite often to work. I'm really glad I've finally hit pan on a new shade, but I've decided to retire this one for a little bit and I'll focus on trying to hit pan on a few other shades, I might use a this more later in the year once I've hit pan on a few more shades. I've used the bright pink shade quite a lot all over the lid with the lighter pink from my Mac palette and I'm finally starting to see a dip forming. I've also used the purples a couple of times, but you can't really see a noticeable difference yet. I ended up taking a week off from this palette in the middle of the month because I wanted to use a new palette. I'm hoping to get a bit more use out of the pink and purple shades over the next couple of months while the weather is warm as they're shades I prefer for summer.

Lastly is my Sleek Au Natural palette shades 1, 3, 5 & 6 from the top line. As with all of my updates so far the only shade I've used is the shimmery champagne shade.  You can see that I've made a little bit more progress in this one, but I was hoping to see a little more. I've used this quite a bit all over my lid with a pop of colour (usually pink, purple or orange) in the crease and its a really easy look to create. I'm hoping that I'll get more use out of this once I finish the cream shade in my Mac palette as I'll then be using the white shade from this one to set my eyeshadow primer and hopefully when I have it in my hand every day anyway I'll use a few more of the shades.

I'll see you this time next month for another update, please let me know if you're doing any projects as I love reading them.

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New Makeup First Impressions (All Cruelty Free);-

Let me preface this post by saying I have been so good this year. What you are about to see is nearly all of the makeup that I have bought so far this year. April was my birthday month so I had a little bit of extra money in my pocket. I'd also ran out of a few essentials and I have recently been having trouble with the only foundation I owned (read more on that here). So I decided it was about time to treat myself to a few new makeup bits and I wanted to give you my first impressions here.

First up is the Revolution Re-Loaded Eyeshadow Palette in Iconic Division. I've said it before and I'll say it again I don't need anymore eyeshadow... like ever. But I have been eyeing this up since the day it came out. I kept justifying why I wanted it to myself because I didn't have any yellow eyeshadow in my entire collection, but I never bought it. I must have pointed this out in store a fair few times because my lovely boyfriend bought it for me as a birthday present. The palette is matte except for 3 shades, which I've really been loving as it makes all of the different shades stand out. I don't really like the lightest green shade as its full of chunky glitter and I don't really know how to make it wearable. Other than that I've really been loving this palette, its super pigmented and gives me a lot of inspiration for different looks.

Next up is the Revolution Fast Base Stick Foundation in the shade F1. This is the foundation that everybody and their mother seems to love, so I definitely wanted to get my hands on this. When I first saw this in store I was surprised at the shade range, especially considering this is just £5. I've never tried a foundation stick before, but this is very creamy and easy to blend, which I didn't expect. I'd say out of the 3 foundations I've bought that this has the highest coverage, I'd say its medium to high, it left me with an even skin tone and I only need to conceal my awful under eye bags and really flared up spots. However once I blend out the foundation it is so dewy that it literally looks like a layer grease over the foundation. I was looking for a more dewy foundation and I'd say my skin is combination, but this is definitely too much. I can set the foundation, but it still looks a little dewy and it takes a lot of powder, and by midday it will need powdering again. I also find that this foundation transfers really easily, if I have to take a shirt over my head its pretty much game over and it also bunches up if you wear sunglasses. I also think it gathers around my nose, chin and between my eyebrows by around midday. I definitely don't love this as much as I was hoping after reading all of the good reviews. I will still use this, but it will be reserved for days where I only want makeup on for a few hours or when I have bouts of dry skin.

Something I've actually tried before is this ELF Matte Magic Setting Spray. I used to buy quite a lot of things from ELF, but then I just stopped ordering from them. Now they're available from Superdrug I thought I'd try a couple of things. I had just ran out of my Makeup Revolution Setting Spray, so I decided to pick this one up from ELF. This was the first setting spray I ever used probably 4 or 5 years ago and its what made me swear by using a setting spray every day. Its an essential step for me to keep my makeup looking better for longer. I also remember when I first used this setting spray that a lot of people complained about the sprayer (is that even a word?) wasn't very good, and resulted in a pretty uneven coverage. However, I'm sure ELF must have changed this because it definitely gives an even amount of spray to your whole face.
I also decided to pick up this ELF Foundation in the shade Light Ivory, I picked this up mostly because Thrifty Beauty a panning Youtuber wears this in a lot of her videos and her face always looks flawless. I ordered this in the lightest shade and it is a touch too dark and too yellow toned for me. I can make it work, but it isn't my exact shade. The pump on this really annoys me because you can only push it down fully... I find that one pump isn't quite enough for me but two pumps is a little too much. But I can't just get half a pump from the bottle, which is a little annoying. The foundation itself is medium coverage, its a little less than the Makeup Revolution Foundation Stick but a little more than the Charlotte Tilbury. This is easy to blend into the skin and has a semi-matte finish, which definitely needs to be set with powder. It lasts a little longer on my face than the Makeup Revolution foundation, but I do still have to powder this during the day. On me this foundation tends to last most of the work day, but has usually begun to break down by early evening. I've read reviews claiming that this is really long-lasting, but if your skin is a little oily I don't think that's true. I think this is a nice every day foundation especially if you're on a budget as its just £7.50, however I don't think its good enough to have holy grail status and I doubt I will repurchase this when I'm done with this bottle.

I was definitely feeling like treating myself for my birthday as I made my first Charlotte Tilbury order. I have been lusting over a lot of Charlotte Tilbury products for a very long time. The packaging is to die for, and every product released seems to become raved about. However, the price is something that has held me back. I decided to pick up the Magic Foundation in shade 2 Fair. I ordered this directly from the Charlotte Tilbury website, and something I found amazing is that whenever you order a foundation you receive a sample of the shade you bought and a sample of the next darkest and lightest shade. Charlotte Tilbury's return policy means that you can return any unopened product. So if you try the sample of your shade and it doesn't match you, you can send back the full bottle for a refund or exchange it for another shade. This foundation is a demi matte finish, it doesn't make my face look flat and it does look a little bit dewy, but it doesn't look oily or greasy. The coverage is medium, it gives me a pretty even skin tone, but I can see any blemishes that I have. I have to use concealer on any break outs but I think this gives you a very skin-like finish which I definitely prefer. I always check my mirror at work during lunch time and this foundation looks pretty much the same as when I put it on. It still looks a little dewy but hasn't let much oil come through, and I don't usually have to powder during the day. I think is a really good no fuss foundation that lasts all day, it doesn't cling to dry patches or bunch up throughout the day either! This is by far my favourite of the foundations in this haul, and out of any I've tried so far.
I also picked the Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder. I want to preface my first impressions by saying I don't really like setting powders at all, I think all of them can make your skin look less like skin, but my skin can be oily so unless I want a greasy looking face I really have to use one. This powder is really finely milled and doesn't make your face look chalky or cakey, but you can definitely still tell that you are wearing powder. It provides a little coverage as well. Once on your skin this minimises the look of my pores and sets my foundation into place, but it leaves your skin with a satin finish rather than being completely matte, which is a finish I prefer. I would say this is a powder best suited for people who want a skin-like look. When I wear this I usually find that by lunchtime that the powder has mostly worn off and I definitely need to reapply, but I have to reapply with most powders I use. This is the best powder I've tried so far, but I still don't know if I'd repurchase this as I don't think that my face looks dramatically different enough to justify the price. This is £34.00 whereas most drugstore powders are under £10.00 so I expected this to completely blow me away, and although I like it a lot, it hasn't wowed me.

What new things have you tried lately?

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18 Eyeshadows in 2018, Update 1;-

Its been about 6 weeks since I posted my 18 Eyeshadows in 2018 so I thought it was about time that I update you on my progress. I've got to admit that I haven't made as much progress as I'd like, but this is my first eyeshadow panning challenge so I didn't really know what to expect. But even little progress is a step in the right direction and I want to set myself a few goals that I'd like to reach before I post another update next month.

My Smashbox palette is up first. I've managed to expand the pan all the way to the edge on the lighter brown shade this month. I use this quite often in my crease when I'm going to work, as its quite subtle. I would like to use this up as quickly as possible as there are some other shades that I think will work in the crease that I'd like to use more. I think that these shadows must be quite tightly pressed into the pan as I've found them really difficult to get through even though they're samples, but I'm hoping that I'll have this finished in the next 2-3 months. There's a tiny bit of progress in the darker shade, but I'm surprised there isn't more as I use this in my brows every day! But I'm not too worried about finishing this up quickly as its the only shade in my project that will work in my eyebrows.

In this project I'm looking to finish all of the shades in this palette except the dark brown. I've made some progress in the cream shade, which I use everyday to set my primer. By the look of the progress I'm hoping this will be done by the end of next month. I've used the light pink a couple of times on my inner corner. I'd like to get some more use out of this shade and the taupe shade, which I haven't even touched yet.

Next up is this palette of Freedom single shadows. I've managed to use every shadow, except the light pink at least a couple of times. I've used the sparkly brown the most, this is the only one with any visible progress. I'm hoping to hit pan on this in the next month. I've also used the pink shade a few times too, and I want to get as much use out of this as much I can. I quite like this all over the lid during the spring and summer.

Lastly, is my Sleek Au Natural palette shades 1, 3, 5 & 6 from the top line. I have only used the shimmery champagne shade. I use this on my inner corner and sometimes as a highlight. As it makes a really eyecatching highlight so I only really use it on the weekend, and I also quite often don't have time to even put this on my inner corner on mornings before work. I want to try and use this a little more so I can get some use from the other light shades in my other palettes.

See you for my next update in May.

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