My Makeup Collection: Primers & Concealers

For the final installment of this series, I thought I would combine both primers and concealers as they are both base products, and I don't have many of either to warrant separate posts. These particular areas of my makeup collection are rather small as I have spent the last few years trialling different products, and managed to find the ones that work best for me and the ones I enjoy using. 

I'll start of talking about concealer as it is a pretty important product in my makeup collection, as it covers a whole multitude of sins - from breakouts to tired eyes, it gets me through the day looking less like an acne-prone zombie. Like I said, I have spent YEARS trying out different products, and now I think I have managed to find the best ones out there that work well with my skin. My all time favourite concealer is the Collection Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer. This is the concealer that I always have a backup tube ready and waiting for the day I run out, as it is a staple in my everyday routine. I have been using this concealer on and off since I was about 12/13, and it has been an everyday staple for the last 3 or 4 years. It boasts a 16 hour wear, and I can definitely agree that it lasts a hell of a long time. I can put this on at 6am, and it will still be pretty much intact by the time I'm taking my makeup off at around 8pm. It is super-high coverage, making a perfect option for me and I know I will use it for years to come!

A more recent addition to my collection is the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer. I think this is an excellent all-round concealer, and is perfect for covering up the signs of a late night. I wouldn't say it was the best in terms of coverage, but it is pretty good! This is my favourite product to take with me on the go - I always have one in my car AND in my handbag for those little touch up emergencies! I honestly couldn't be without it! The Soap and Glory Kick Ass Concealer is another that is great for on the go touch ups. The handy little compact comes with two different concealer shades, a mirror, a setting powder and a powder pouffe. The concealer itself is pretty heavy duty and is the one I turn to when all else fails.

In terms of primers, I'm not too fused. I mainly apply them to keep my makeup on longer. So whatever the claims of a product I'm not too fussed. I own the Body Shop All-In-One Instablur and the Body Shop Tea Tree primer, but my favourite by far is the Benefit Porefessional. It is slightly tinted so I feel it offers a bit of coverage (which I seriously need atm). But if you're on a budget then the effects of the Instablur are pretty similar!

Follow

Facebook  /  Twitter  /  Instagram  /  Pinterest

My Makeup Collection: The Setting Powders

I've been putting off this post in the series as I think powders are soooooo boring. Although I use them on a daily basis I don't tend to bother splashing out so they are pretty similar, and aren't really too interesting to write about - but I thought I can't not include them as they occupy a whole drawer in my collection. Plus, some of you may be in the market for a new powder so this post is mainly here for you to browse. I have a couple of powders as I keep one in my handbag, one in my car and then have the ones I apply at home when I'm getting ready. I've used various different powders for years, one of the first makeup items I started wearing as a teen was a little powder compact from Boots to keep that shine at bay. Despite having used a ton of powders of the years, I only really repurchase the ones in this post as I deem them the best for my skin type at this moment in time. From illuminating powders, to mattifying marvels, I have a couple to show you - and here we are...

For a quick fix I like to use the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder, I have a couple of these in slightly different shades and these are the ones I generally take out on the go. They aren't really practical as they don't have a mirror or anything, but I like this for touching up throughout the day. I've been using it for nearly six years so it has to have something good about it right? If I'm going somewhere and want a mirror in my bag as well, I use the Soap and Glory One Heck Of A Blot powder. I freakin' love this powder! It is one of my all time favourites. Nowadays I tend to sway towards more translucent powders as in my opinion they give a much better finish and look less cakey on the skin. Plus it's super lightweight so your skin can breath making it a perfect fit when wearing makeup over the summer.

If my skin is looking a little lack-lustre, I like to use the Sleek Luminous Powder as it has a slight shimmer running through it. Nothing major - it won't leave you looking like a unicorn or Edward Cullen, but it does give you a little glow that can be well appreciated in the winter months! And as for my everyday go-to face powder, the Maybelline Matte Maker powder is my all time favourite. It used to me known as the Dream Matte Powder, but they changed the name and packaging last year. I find it gives the perfect amount of mattifyingness (yes I know that's not a real word), without looking cakey or unnatural.

What is your favourite powder at the moment?

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

Follow

Facebook |  Twitter |  Instagram | Pinterest

My Makeup Collection: Highlight and Contour

Although this series has taken a bit of a back seat with all the christmassy posts that went on at the end of last year, it is back in full swing with the rest of my makeup collection coming up over the next few weeks! Out of all the products in my makeup collection, bronzers and highlighters have to be the latest editions. Until the back end of 2014, I hadn't heard of highlighters and I avoided bronzers like the plague thinking they'd all make me look completely orange! Although I don't have many of either, what I do have get used on a daily basis, where I mix and match depending on what other makeup products I'm wearing. As I don't have too many of either, I have combined them into one post, and unlike the rest of the series, I will talk about each of the products instead of just my favourites. 

In the run up to Christmas 2014 I bought a little trio of Benefit sample size products to try, and I fell in love with all of them. One of the items in the trio was the Benefit Hoola Bronzer (my first ever bronzer). I immediately fell in love with it and I wear it on a regular basis now. I thought maybe I'd given bronzers a bit of a hard time and so I took to Twitter to see what people recommended for those just starting out with them. A few people mentioned the Charlotte Tilbury Film Star Bronze and Glow Face Sculpt and Highlight and I decided to go for it after reading the incredibly reviews! I won't go into too much detail as I'm pretty sure have a separate post dedicated to it, but the powders are so buttery and blend really well! I'm still sort of angry at myself for spending so much money on it, but I certainly have got a lot of use out of it and love wearing it!

As for highlight, I have a couple more to choose from on a day-to-day basis. If I'm feeling super lazy and can't be bothered to rummage through drawers to find what I want, I'll just use the Charlotte Tilbury duo as it has both a highlighter and a bronzer in one. I must say that the highlighter is one of the best highlighters I have ever used. To say it's a powder it leaves a gorgeous dewy finish and doesn't look at all caked on! A highlighter that definitely isn't cakey, is the NARS Illuminator in Copacabana. It is a liquid highlighter and one of my favourites for a night out - giving that natural finish whilst still saying ‘hello I’m here’. It isn't one of the cheapest options out there (although it lasts forever!) so if you're on more a limited budget you may want to take a look at the No7 Skin Illuminator Radiance Boosting Beauty Fluid which is a good dupe at an even better price.  Being creamy textures you can easily blend it out, but for me these are more of a daytime highlight as they look a lot more natural.

And finally, the Soap & Glory Glow All Out Luminizing Powder, which I haven't really used in a while. It was one of the first highlighters that I bought, and at the time I thought it was amazing. But since trying a few others I've neglected it, and although I'll end up using up - I probably won't repurchase it in the near future.

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

Follow
Facebook |  Twitter |  Instagram | Pinterest

My Makeup Collection: Eyeshadow

I feel like I have been neglecting the beauty aspect of my 'beauty and lifestyle' blog recently. The majority of my posts have been gravitating towards lifestyle and I'm starting to miss photographing gorgeous products and their equally gorgeous packaging. So I thought I'd introduce a few new series on the blog and even start a few back up again (*cough* Skincare Sunday *cough*).

As you can tell from the post title, in this new series I am going to be showing you my makeup collection - which isn't huge, but it is certainly bigger than the average makeup collection. But I can use being a blogger as an excuse to buy more right? First things first, just to get it out of the way - some of the products photographed in the series may have been gifted to me by brands, but as always I'll make sure I highlight which ones and you can read my disclaimer comes under the FAQ drop down menu underneath my blog title if you wish.

As you can kinda see from the photo, I have quite a few - ranging from a couple of quid, to insane prices that I try and forget about. So there's something for every budget! Most of my collection are fairly neutral shades as I like to play it fairly safe and you can never have too many neutral eyeshadows. I prefer to buy palettes with multiple shades in as opposed to single eyeshadow pans as I just find them more luxurious, easier to travel with, and I can mix and match looks from complimentary shades.

So I'll start off with the premium eyeshadow palettes. I have three in total - the NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow Palette, the Charlotte Tilbury Colour Coded Eyeshadow Quad in Dolce Vita, and the Bobbie Brown Warm Eye Palette. Charlotte Tilbury and NARS have to be two of my all time favourite premium brands. They offer such high quality and luxury products. I have quite a large collection of NARS products and I am poised and ready, waiting for student loan to come in so I can get my hands on some more Charlotte Tilbury! ;) The three palettes have such buttery shadows that are extremely easy to blend. The NARS palette especially has brilliant pigmentation, although the other two aren't that far behind. Unlike all my other eyeshadow palettes, you can also use it (the NARS) with a wet brush to give an intenser look to your makeup. 

For those of you with a more limited budget, Soap and Glory offer shadows that are very similar to those in my Bobbie Brown Palette. I have two of the limited edition palettes from Soap and Glory, and they are regularly bringing out more and more. When they don't have any limited edition palettes on the shelves, they offer some beautiful quads with complimentary shades similarly to the Charlotte Tilbury quad. They have such a large range of shades too, varying from my sacred neutrals to earth greens and blues. I also have a couple of the No7 loose shadows and a little Stay Perfect trio in the shade 'Good Earth' that I use to fill in and highlight my brows. 

And thats pretty much my entire collection! What is your favourite eyeshadow in your makeup bag at the moment?

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

Follow
Facebook |  Twitter |  Instagram | Pinterest

Best All-Round Concealers Under £10

Concealer. A basic essential for pretty much every makeup bag. But with so many to choose from nowadays, who even knows where to start? I spent years (and I mean years) looking for the best concealers to cover a multitude of sins, and this year I finally found a good range of them. 

Collection Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer - in shade 'Fair (01)' (RRP £4.19)

I remember trying out the Collection (or Collection 2000 as it used to be known) Lasting Perfection Concealer when I was around 14 and I thought it was the worst thing on earth.  But a couple of years ago everyone started raving about the product and I had no idea why after I hated it so much. Reluctantly I repurchased it, and I was actually amazed! I was so surprised after disliking it so much, but now know I couldn't imagine not having a tube in my collection. I have pretty much the palest skinned face in the world and often struggle to find shades to match. And even Collection, with their extremely limited shade range, manage to cater for skin matching that of albinos. Even if it is just slighlt too pale for my skin, the 'Fair' shade (01) is incredibly good at brightened those under-eye dark circles and it covers blemishes with ease! I'd warn against those with dry skin trying this though as it can sometimes emphasise and stick to dry patches, but for everyone else its brilliant! I have stereotypically combination skin and it suits by skin type perfectly!

Soap and Glory Kick Ass Concealer - in shade 'Light' (RRP £10.00)

First of all, I know you are all thinking 'that looks like it is so much more than £10', but it isn't! Now although this is at the top end of the budget at a bargain £10, you certainly get a lot for what you pay for. This sleek Laura Mercier like packaging includes a translucent setting powder and two (yes two!) shades of concealer. One for blemishes, and one for covering up those stubborn under-eye circles. Like the Collection concealer, it has an ridiculously small shade range; consisting of just 3 different shades (light, medium and dark), but what it lacks for in shades it makes up for in camouflage power! It is INCREDIBLE at covering up blemishes. I like to use my fingers to dab it onto blemishes as it helps give a natural finish whilst hiding those horrible spots. Having both concealer and a translucent setting powder, it makes a perfect product for throwing in your handbag or taking on travelling adventures - especially since it has a built in mirror and a little powder puff! 

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer - in the shade 'Ivory (100)' (RRP £5.49)

This little bargain, is probably one of the best concealers I have ever purchased (and repurchased). And I'd probably never have even considered it till I ran out of concealer and my sister gave me this as a replacement. It is amazing at both covering up and correcting. This is a perfect one stop shop if you are a girl on the go! The formulation makes it perfect for blending out and adding excellent coverage where needed if you don't fancy covering your face in a thick or heavy foundation. Like the foundation from the same range (Wake Me Up Foundation), the concealer has a slight shimmer to it which aids to brighten dark areas. Don't let that put you off though, it doesn't make you look like an extra in Twilight - but it does "wake you up" (ha get it?!). 

If any of you lovely lot have any recommendations for budget concealers, please leave them in the comments - I'm always on the hunt for different ones to try out!

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

Follow
Facebook |  Twitter |  Instagram | Pinterest

Light It Up

If you read my best of 2014 post, you'll know that last year was really a year of experimentation for me. I started wearing types of products that I'd steered clear for pretty much my entire makeup wearing life. One of these was highlighters.

If you’re a fan of subtlety when it comes to wearing highlighters (like me) and you’re into creamy, blendable products then there’s no reason why you wouldn’t love the NARS Illuminator in Copacabana. Out of my selection, this one comes up trumps looking the most natural. It gives that natural finish whilst still saying ‘hello I’m here’. It isn't one of the cheapest options out there so if you're on more a limited budget you may want to take a look at the No7 Skin Illuminator Radiance Boosting Beauty Fluid which is a good dupe at an even better price.  Being cream textures, the shine-level depends on how much you use and how much you blend it out, but for me these are more of a day time highlight as they look a lot more natural.

On more of an evening/night out basis these are what I reach for the most. As an all-over powder/highlighter hybrid the Soap and Glory Glow All Out Luminising Face Powder is fab. There’s a slight iridescence to it, that when lightly applied to the whole face it doesn’t make me look like I just rolled in glitter. It adds a glow and if I want to concentrate it on the cheek I go in a little heavier. 

My most recent purchase is the Charlotte Tilbury Film Star Bronze and Glow. Now I have long lusted after this classic and I must say the packaging was one of the reasons why. Who could resist the stunning art deco inspired casing? It’s a tad lighter in tone than the others so is perhaps one for paler gals to look into. 

Got any recommendations of your own? 

Would love to know what you use!

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

Beauty Blunders #2

I'm a massive fan of Soap & Glory full stop. However their makeup range is really great quality, and their Kick Ass Concealer, Thick And Fast Mascara and Glow All Out Luminizing Powder feature in my daily makeup regime. When I saw their Peach Party Multi-Colour Blush Brick in Apricot Jam, I thought I was going to love it too. I've always wanted to buy one of the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks but, I just didn't think I'd use it enough to warrant the splurge. 

And I am so glad I didn't! 

Although it looks truly beautiful, when the colours are swirled together and applied on the cheeks it makes me look like I haven't had a bath in 4 months. It just made me look dirty. Even without using the copper shade, the product just didn't look right on me. My skin tone is more suited to berry shades and I know not to experiment in that department from here on out.

I also found that the blush didn't blend well and looked far from natural on my cheeks. 

Although I am disappointed at the fact I had pretty much wasted £11, I am so glad I didn't shell out to buy the Bobbi Brown one at nearly £35!

To make use of the product, in hope I hadn't wasted all my money, I have been using the copper colour as an eyeshadow through my crease and the palest colour to highlight the inner corners of my eye. 

I have heard some good reviews on this, yet I was highly disappointed. Have you tried this? Do you like it or is it just me being cynical?

Thanks for reading! 

Love Charlotte x