Superdrug Skincare Review;

When it comes to skincare, I'm a very simple girl. I pretty much cleanse my face, moisturise and occasionally use an under-eye cream, which is why I don't really talk about it very often on my blog. But back in April I was in need of some new items and I found out that Superdrug's own brand was both cruelty free and and really well priced. I've been using all of these things for quite a few months and I think I'm finally ready to give a review.

Superdrug Naturally Radiant Brightening Eye Cream £5.99
I want to begin with the item I like the least so I can end this post on a high. I picked up this eye cream as it claims to brighten, reduce puffiness and dark circles and awaken your skin's natural glow.
My under eyes can get dry when not moisturised and are quite often puffy with pretty hefty dark circles from staying up to watch endless episodes on Netflix, so I want something that moisturises and brightens. I've used this pretty much every morning and night since I got it. The cream is lightweight and sinks into the skin really quickly and does a good job at keeping my eye area moisturised. However, this does absolutely nothing to make my under eyes look brighter or be less puffy. I've tried quite a lot of cheap eye creams and I find this a running theme throughout. So if you're looking for something that brightens this isn't it.

Superdrug Naturally Radiant 2 in 1 Moisturiser and Serum £5.99
The next thing I had to pick was a moisturiser. This claims to awaken skin's natural glow, hydrate and energize skin. Firstly the bottle to this has a pump which I find really helpful. I was a little confused with the consistency with it being described as a serum. This is a cream consistency. It soaks into the skin quickly and provides a good base for makeup. I have combination skin, most of the times its normal but it gets oily throughout the day but other times I suffer with dry patches. This works well most of the time, but when I'm suffering from dry skin this isn't great. When I don't have dry skin this makes my skin soft and it feels moisturised. When my skin is dry it doesn't provide the amount of moisture I need, so I tend to use my Revolution Baking Oil which helps clear my dry skin a lot quicker. I think this is likely to be a complete miss for those of you with dry skin, but I can see myself repurchasing this when I finish it as it does work so well under makeup and it is a good price.

Superdrug Naturally Radiant Hot Cloth Cleanser £5.99
This cleanser is my favourite out of the three things I picked up and the reason I wanted to pick up a few pieces from Superdrug's range as this has been compared to the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish. I've never tried the Liz Earle cleanser because it is triple the price for less product.
I really wanted to try a hot cloth cleanser as you don't need cotton pads and I'm trying to buy less single use products. The idea is you apply the cleanser to the face and use a hot muslin cloth to remove it. The muslin cloth comes free with a bottle of this too!
This claims to awaken skin's natural glow (I'm noticing a theme with the range haha), cleanse and gently exfoliate. I tend to clean most of my makeup off with a wet microfibre cloth and then I use this cleanser to clean off the remnants any makeup and cleanse my face underneath. My skin looks and feels clean every time I use this and I think this does a really good job. I even use this around my eyes and it never irritates my skin or breaks me out. I think this does what it says on the bottle for a really good price. I've just finished my first bottle and I will be picking up another when I'm next in Superdrug.

What skincare products do you swear by?

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18 Eyeshadows in 2018, Update 5;-

Its a new month which means its time yet again for another update on my 18 eyeshadows in 2018 project.

Last month I was getting pretty frustrated because I wasn't seeing a lot of progress and I was neglecting the rest of my eyeshadow collection for nothing. This month I think there has been a big change, both in my motivation and in progress. I have taken a break from one of the palettes a week and used another palette as a companion. I've also not used any of these on weekends, I picked up the Emily Noel and Makeup Revolution "The Wants" so I've been experimenting with that and I'm trying to come up with a 5 looks, 1 palette. I think being able to play around at the weekend has made me feel more motivated in using these shades throughout the week.

Smashbox Mini Trio - all shades left (1 done)

Okay, no surprise but this is the palette I've made barely any progress in (again), but I did manage to take the photo completely the other way up. I want this to be done and I'm already bored of talking about it. Moving on...

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

 About a week after my last update I finally managed to hit pan on the taupe shade in this palette, which was my goal for this one. I bought in my Iconic 3 palette and I've really been loving using this all over the lid with a couple of the matte, pink toned shades in the crease. I actually think it makes a really nice look, but I don't think I'll be using it a lot in the near future as I'm feeling the warm-toned looks now fall is approaching.
There's a little progress in the light pink shade but I haven't quite hit pan yet. I've been really good and making sure I highlight my inner corner every day. I used this shade for that quite a lot this month, but I have recently taken a week's break from this palette. I think this works better with cool-toned looks, so I will continue to use it for that and then use the champagne shade in the Iconic 2 palette for warmer looks.

Freedom single shadows - all shades

I have come to the conclusion with this palette that I'm only likely to hit pan on the red shades now, with the rest my aim is to just to try and use them more.
I've gone back to using brown shimmery shade a little this month and I've expanded the pan a bit. I hit pan on this pretty early on in this project and I'm glad I took a little break, because I've naturally gravitated back to this and I'm enjoying it again.
There's a little progress in the red shades. I've been wearing a look where I use the middle shade on my lid with the matte brown from my Iconic 2 in the crease and the right red on my lower lash line. I think its a good way to make even progress on both shadows. I haven't quite pan, but I hope I can hit pan in the middle shade in the next month.

Revolution Iconic 2  Palette - Shades 1-5

The palette that looks the most different this month is my Iconic 2 palette, because its has some essential shades that I use all the time.
I knew it would happen, but I managed to hit pan on the matte cream shade already, it did have a pretty good dip going when I first decided to incorporate it in my project. I use this every day all over the lid to set my eyeshadow primer and I'm really glad I've managed to hit pan on another eyeshadow, and I've expanded the pan quite a lot already. It may seem silly, but managing to break through and hit pan on any shade just makes me feel proud like I'm actually making the most out of what I own. I think I should be able to completely finish this by the end of the year.
I've also managed to hit pan in the matte brown shade in this month. I have been using this so much as a transition shade, but I'm still surprised I managed to hit pan on this so quickly! I don't think I'll be able to finish it all up by the end of the year, but I'm sure I can expand the pan a lot.
I've also used the champagne shade as an inner corner highlight with warmer looks and I've really been enjoying it.
I only added this palette to my project last month so I don't have any specific goals on this one I just want to get more use out of the shades I chose to include, but I would like to play around with the gold and copper shades a little bit in the next month. It would be nice to see a little progress and I think they will make nice fall looks.

I said in my intro that I would be putting 50p into a jar every time I hit pan on an eyeshadow and £1 whenever I finish one. I've stuck to that all year across all of my eyeshadow collection and I've also hit pan on a couple of shades not in my project (I've been trying to get better at posting that kind of thing over on my instagram if you're interested). I've now managed to save £10, which doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm really proud as its a physical reminder of how much I've used and enjoyed the makeup I already spent my heard-earned money on. I also said that this would be my fund to buy new palettes and that's kind of gone out of the window. I've bought 2 palettes this year and I definitely didn't use this money, but its a lot less than I would have bought in previous years and I think that is because I'm really learning the value of my makeup. I know how long it takes to use an eyeshadow so I don't want to be completely overwhelmed by owning loads of eyeshadow I can't ever finish. But I'm thinking as I finish my Freedom single shadows I might use this money to buy other singles that will fit in the palette.

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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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