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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Re-Review L'oReal Infallible Matte;-

I watch a lot of Youtube videos where people go back to old Favourites and talk about what they think of the products down the line, and I've recently started using an old favourite foundation of mine and have found that my opinion on it had changed. I thought it would be interesting to revisit my old review on this and see what things still ring true and what I've changed my mind about.

The foundation in question is the L'oReal Infallible Matte, you can read my review from back in 2015 here. I remember this foundation being talked about a lot when it first came out, but I rarely hear anybody talk about this anymore. The formula of this is thin, making the foundation easy to blend, and gives a medium-high coverage.

The foundation was marketed with a matte, but not flat finish, which is something I would agree with. This is what initially drew me to the foundation because my skin used to be oily, but it could just be winter but my skin is a lot drier recently. My opinion on this may have changed because this isn't really suited to my skin type at the moment. I said in my first review that the product clings to dry patches, but that it doesn't look worse than bare dry skin. This is the thing I've my mind on most... Before going back to using this foundation I was using a very dewy and moisturising base (which I also didn't really like) and in comparison the L'oReal foundation really emphasises any dry parts of my skin. I also commented on the fact that I could use this without the need for a primer. I've now used this with a few different primers, but purely to try to stop this clinging to dry patches. I've found that primers can help with this a little... But not much. I will say that this foundation does last a really long time on the skin, in fact I think this looks better thoughout the day when my skin naturally creates oil. I have found using a liquid highlighter under my foundation makes this look the best when my skin is dry.
I said in my original review that this may be the first foundation I'd repurchase which was true at the time as I'm bottle two of this. However, I don't think this is the perfect foundation for me. I've also been thinking a lot about animal testing and L'oReal still tests on animals when there are now a lot of companies who don't, so I won't be repurchasing this for ethical reasons. I'll definitely use up what is left of this so as not to be wasteful, but for me its back to the drawing board to find a foundation that ticks all of the boxes.

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March Favourites;-

I haven't written a favourites post in the longest time, so I thought I'd show you a few things I've been loving lately!

Cream blushes are one of those products I keep tip-toeing between loving or never using. I'll go months raving about them and then they go back in the drawer until next time. At the moment I'm back on the bandwagon and I've pulled my Revlon cream blush in the shade Flushed (this is pretty old and I can't even find it on the Boots website). I find this really easy to blend and gives you that natural flushed look, so I guess the shade name is pretty accurate! I've been suffering from dry skin and I've found this is one of the few products that doesn't cling to dry patches and I'm really enjoying using this.
I really loved the L'oReal liquid eyeliner, but I've decided I only want to purchase cruelty free makeup so I've been looking for an alternative. I think I've found the perfect alternative in this Barry M On Point Eyeliner. Just like the L'oReal liner this is a felt tip pen eyeliner with a really fine tip. This is really black that I think is really easy to use and I'm glad I've managed to find a cruelty free version of one of my favourite products.
Another Barry M product that I picked up completely on a whim and really like is this Showgirl Mascara. I generally only have one mascara at a time and the mascara I had just before this one game me a reaction which it lead to an eye infection (it was literally disgusting!). After it cleared up I was in desperate need of  a mascara, so I picked up this one because it was easily accessible and again, cruelty free. This has a really large bristle brush, which I usually don't like, but this works for both lengthening and volumising as well as being super black. It's not the most volumising mascara I've ever used, but it also doesn't make your lashes too solid making it easy to layer if you want to up the amp! I've literally never heard anything about Barry M mascaras, but this is really good especially for the price!
I mentioned in my 5 Best Things from Makeup Revolution post that I really like the Makeup Revolution Matte Lip Kits. I wear the shade Reign all of the time to work, which is a really nice, subtle nude shade. I don't really like the pencil because it really tugs on my lips so I don't use it, however the liquid lipstick is really nice on its own. It applies really nicely and doesn't feather when worn alone, it lasts a really long time too! I find this doesn't dry out my lips and wears well, I also like wearing this under a more glossy nude shade to make it last longer.
I recently sorted through my nail polish collection and discovered that for someone who paints their nails a couple times a year I own quite a lot of nail polish, so I've been trying to paint my nails a little more and use some of my polishes. The nail polish I've used a couple of times since is this one I got from Urban Outfitters. I can't find a shade name but its basically clear with a subtle purple glitter running through it. I find that because this is quite subtle, it takes a few days before you can see any chips. I think its a really great low maintenance nail polish.

I don't really talk a lot about hair care on my blog, but I'm quite fussy when it comes to shampoo and conditioner, my scalp can be quite dry but I get greasy roots and dry ends of my hair so I really struggle to find something that works well with all of that. I've literally sworn by using only LUSH shampoos for a really long time, but I ran out of shampoo when I didn't have to get to my nearest LUSH so I picked up the Herbal Essences bio-renew Clean shampoo and conditioner at the supermarket. I've found the combination of this shampoo and conditioner makes my hair soft, but it doesn't make my hair greasy and it hasn't upset my scalp at all. I think I bought this back in August and I'm only just getting near the end of the bottle, so it's lasted a really long time!

What have you been loving lately?

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