Avon True Powerstay 24 Hour Foundation Review

After a lot of hype about the Avon Power Stay 24 Hour Foundation giving a similar finish to well-known high-end foundations, I thought for only £10 I'd give it a go myself. This is the first time I've bought a makeup product from Avon, so I've been very eager to try it out.

First off, lets talk about the shade range they offer. You can choose from 18 different shades, which I think is amazing. I do admit though, it was extremely hard guessing my shade from a book and from pictures of swatches on Google Images. In the end, I decided on the colour 'warm ivory' and luckily it was perfect for me. 

The foundation itself is a manageable consistency - I'd say it's actually the perfect consistency I look for in a foundation, it's not too runny or too thick. I've tested applying this foundation with both a brush and a beauty blender and I would personally say that brushes work best. I find that once the foundation is on the skin, it doesn't take long before it dries. It gets harder to blend out, and for that reason I only do sections of my face at a time. When using a damp beauty blender, I found it absorbed a lot of product and made the foundation go patchy. Personally, I don't think the coverage is great and you'd need to use a lot of product to get yourself a decent coverage. 

By the end of the day, I have creases in my smile lines and fine lines as well as it looking patchy on my nose, chin and cheekbones. It's probably the worst foundation I've ever owned to go that patchy. The only great thing that it does for me during the day is control my oily skin. Usually I have to top up my powder to eliminate shine in my T-zone but with this foundation, my oily skin really didn't show through.

I was actually disappointed with this foundation, I thought it was going to be a bargain hit. If you like your foundation to be a really light coverage or you'll only be wearing it in the evening on holiday for a few hours, definitely go for it. But, it's definitely not 24 hour long wearing and it's not as good coverage as I'd of hoped.

Has anyone else tried this foundation before and have a different review on it? I'm intrigued to see other peoples opinions as I've seen so many great reviews - most 4 stars, prior to purchasing it.

Three Base Picks From Revlon

Revlon has to be my favourite drugstore makeup brand, hands down. No matter what, I always seem to get on with their products.
I only realised, when editing the photos for this post, that all three products are from the colorstay range. This post is definitely not sponsored, haha.

First up is the Revlon Colorstay combination/oily foundation. I'm sure I've written about this little gem on my blog before. In the winter months, I always get it in the shade 'buff' as it's the perfect colour for me. It's just your typical drugstore foundation. It doesn't go patchy throughout the day and it really keeps my oily T-zone under control.

Next is the Revlon Colorstay concealer. This is on the list of my top favourite concealers I've owned. I think this is a very close second to the Makeup Revolution Conceal & Define coming first.
Colorstay does settle into the fine lines under my eyes, but with a damp beauty blender and after setting it with powder, all is good.

Talking of setting powder, this is my third base fave. This is in 'light' or I sometimes buy the 'translucent' one - depends what I'm feeling, y'know. You don't need a lot of product to cover the whole face. It sets everything in place without it going patchy or looking like there's product build-up.

The clues in the name of all of these products. They don't really budge at all. Sometimes I need to touch up a few areas with my pressed powder but hardly ever and it depends what I'm doing to have to touch it up.

Non-Halloween Makeup for Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner and the week of Halloween is when I usually like to change up my everyday makeup. I like to use deeper, darker colours around this time of the year now. As I don't do much for Halloween now, it always makes me feel better if I've made a bit of an effort.

For the eyes, I like to use Urban Decays Naked Smoky Palette. For obvious reasons, it's a great little palette to use to create the smoky eye look. I usually use neutral and brown shades on my eyes on an everyday basis but as it's Halloween, I tend to go for the more deeper shades of brown, blues and purples. I don't use liquid liner as I have individual lashes so I never really feel the need to apply eyeliner. But again, it's great to use for Halloween to give yourself a cat eye look.

For the lips, NYX soft matte lip cream in the shade 'Copenhagen' and Sleek's matte me in the shade 'Velvet Slipper' are my two absolute favourite go-to lippies for Autumn. They're both that gorgeous burgundy shade, although I find Copenhagen more of a deeper shade than Velvet Slipper but they're both perfect for Halloween.

Do you dress up for Halloween or switch up your everyday makeup?

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation Review

I have recently been reaching for the more higher-end products instead of using the same ol' drugstore makeup. One foundation I've been meaning to try for ages is the Estee Lauder Double Wear which I got colour matched to as 2C2/pale almond. Firstly, this is the first ever foundation I've used without a pump - it's just so much easier with one isn't it! You probably could buy pumps separately but I'm not 100% sure on that. The frosted glass bottle is a very simple, yet luxurious design and it's definitely not lightweight. 

The product itself is very runny so you have to give it a good shake before pouring it onto your brush/beauty blender. Considering that it's such a runny consistency, it really does give that full coverage. It's so easy to blend and a little really does go a long way! I find that you have to be fairly quick to apply it as it dries quite quick, however I use my beauty blender instead of a brush for better application. 

As I have combination skin, my oily forehead and nose still tends to shine through the foundation half way throughout the day and because of that, it transfers a little but it's nothing horrendous. Nearer to the end of my day, I find that it fades a lot from the blemishes and dark under eye circles which I find a little annoying.  

So, I would only wear this foundation on a day to day basis. If I was going to an event or on a night out, I would stick with the Nars' weightless & luminous foundation. 

Have you tried double wear? What's it like with your skin type?

I Finally Got My Hands on That NARS Foundation...

Yes, I finally gave in and bought the NARS luminous weightless foundation. I've literally wanted this foundation for ages but really couldn't justify paying the price for it. After mainly using drugstore foundations for years, I decided that it's time to give in and try another higher end foundation for a change. I have heard many amazing things about this foundation, so of course I couldn't wait to slap it on my face.

It doesn't say 'shake well' on the back of the bottle for no reason. This really is a runny foundation. I've applied this with both a brush and a beauty blender and they both apply and blend out the foundation beautifully. I couldn't believe how full coverage it is considering it's a super watery foundation. The first day I tried it, I even forgot to put my concealer on because of how full coverage it is. It wasn't until after I set my face with powder, I realised. Bear in mind I have the worst dark circles under my eyes, so this really worked some magic for me! It covers redness and dark circles so well too, this will definitely be my go-to everyday foundation. It does what it says on the bottle; it really is lightweight. It has got to be the most weightless foundation I've worn in a long time. It doesn't even feel like I'm wearing make-up.

It can sometimes make my combination skin more on the oily side than normal, but it's nothing I can't deal with. It lasts for a good nine/ten hour day for me without fading or going patchy which I think is amazing.
My skin has been looking so hydrated and soft and I've had so many people recently tell me that my face has been looking flawless. What girl doesn't wanna hear that!?
£35 really is worth it for this foundation. Why didn't my tight-ass purchase it sooner?

Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer Review

I love writing a good ol' concealer review. I've heard many great things about Urban Decays Naked Skin concealer and as I love Urban Decay, why shouldn't I give it a whirl?

Firstly, I love the applicator - it's insanely flexible which makes it so easy to use in smaller areas. I find that there is a lot of product on the applicator when you first open the concealer, but I just simply remove the excess product by wiping it back into the concealer tube. 

Another thing I love about this concealer is that it's super full coverage from applying it straight away, you never need to go back in for more! Considering it is a really full coverage and thick product, you can't feel it at all because it is so lightweight. I'm really looking forward to using it in the Summer months to see how I get on with it because honestly, who actually likes the feeling of their makeup feeling cakey and melting off their face in warm weather?

It is so easy to blend out with both a brush and a damp beauty blender and I don't get any creasing throughout the day at all. The only negative thing I would say about this concealer is that it doesn't hide imperfections very well. To cover redness, I'm all for it - it's a winner! But, I have had a few little spotty friends on my face for the past few weeks and no matter how many times I've tried to cover them with this concealer, it just doesn't happen. When I apply it on top of blemishes, it just goes a little patchy and fades off the spots throughout the day. 

So overall, I love this concealer, it's great for the price, the colour match is perfect for me. But, I would only now use it on good skin days. 

Have you tried the Naked Skin concealer? How did you like it?

Four Products I've Used Up & Wouldn't Repurchase

I love trying out new makeup, hair and skincare products but it also means that I either may or may not get on with them. I have bought and tried out quite a few products throughout this year, and there are four that I wouldn't buy again.

Got2b Dry Shampoo

I usually stick to using Batiste dry shampoos as I like the way they work on my hair. However, I had run out of my usual fave Batiste spray, so I headed to a local shop and picked this up in desperate needs. I swear by Got2be's hairspray, so I thought this would be pretty amazing too. It's not great and it was also pretty cheap compared to Batiste. 

When I spray it in my hair, it seems like nothing comes out and it takes a lot of the product to hide my greasy hair. On the other hand, I spray Batistes around 3-4 times and I'm ready for the day. Fair enough, Got2b's dry shampoo does stay put throughout the day but I've used this up pretty damn quick. 

L'Oréal Magic Retouch

I had been wanting to try this product out for ages, so when I finally got my hands on it, I was very disappointed. You spray this on your roots when they come through to match the rest of your hair. It did absolutely nothing for me. To be honest, it was a waste of nine quid and the can is bloody tiny for the price!!! I have heard that the darker retouches are better than the lighter ones, so maybe that's something L'Oréal can work on? I'm also going to add that I didn't even use this up. I tried it out twice and gave up. 

Urban Decay All Nighter Foundation

Some of you may be surprised about this one because a lot of bloggers have given it the thumbs up. I have been using all sorts of drugstore foundations for years and last year, I decided to give in and buy a high end foundation - the Urban Decay All Nighter. I absolutely love Urban Decay and probably forever will, but this foundation just didn't work with my skin. A little goes a really long way with this foundation and it lasted me ages!

 It applied and blended really easily and it looked nice on my skin and matched my skin colour perfectly. However, it didn't control my oily skin for very long and  it ended up going patchy throughout the day. Even when I fixed the patchiness by going over it with a beauty blender, an hour later, it's patchy again. I love the way this foundation looks, feels and applies. But it just doesn't last long enough for me and it doesn't do the job for my oily skin.

Max Factor Brow Shaper Pencil

I use an eyebrow pomade to fill in my brows but I like having a pencil as well. The pencil was a lovely colour and matched perfectly with my brow pomade. It was great for neat and precise lines and it also brushes out easily without taking much of the colour out. The downfall to this is that the pencil is super thin and fragile, if you pressed too hard, it would break. If you dropped it, it would break. But, if you didn't apply a bit of pressure, the colour of the pencil weren't very vibrant on the brows. It just constantly broke and there weren't much of the pencil there to begin with anyway. 

Do you agree with me about any of these products? What products wouldn't you repurchase?

Effortless Makeup for the Summer

It's that time of the year where the weather is getting warmer and you can't be arsed to do anything because the heat makes everything a chore. Don't get me wrong, I love doing my makeup ready for the day ahead. But when your bedroom is like a sauna in the warm weather, who really wants to sit in front of their mirror slapping on makeup? Not forgetting going about your day as you please and your makeup trying to melt off your face all day. So frustrating, right?

THE BASE

I usually stick with a BB cream or a tinted moisturiser as it's very lightweight and it's so quick and easy to apply. Unless I'm having a bad skin day, then I'll use a light foundation. Otherwise, I usually stick to a BB cream or a moisturiser.

If I have mega dark circles under my eyes, then I'll apply some concealer. I also apply a little bit of bronzer to give me a bit of colour and I keep the highlight quite subtle. 

THE BROWS

I always tint my eyebrows so I don't have to do much to them anyway. But, I usually just fill in the ends of my brows with a brow pomade and just gel them in place. It doesn't take long to do but they still look good!

THE EYES

The majority of the time, I don't wear eyeshadow. Mainly because I have individual lashes and they get in the way when I apply it and take it off. However, if I go out for a day to the beach or for an evening bbq, I will apply eyeshadow but I keep it quite subtle and simple. I also stick to using two shades.

THE LIPS 

Depending on how I'm feeling, I have a choice of a lipbalm, lipgloss or a lipstick. I tend to stay away from the matte lipsticks throughout the Summer as I feel like they get quite sticky throughout the day and it annoys me. I like having a lipblam in my bag for when my lips get a bit dry and need hydrating.

IT WON'T BUDGE

I use my setting spray to keep everything in place. I swear by my Urban Decay setting spray and I know full well that my makeup won't be dripping down my face by the end of the day.

How do you do your makeup for the Summer?

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer Review

 I needed a new concealer for when I fake tanned, so as I've been meaning to try out this particular concealer for so long, I decided to buy it and use it for when I'm feeling like a tanned goddess. Also, what is it about having a tan that makes you feel so much better about yourself anyway!?

So many people have raved about this so I couldn't wait to see what all the fuss was about! I bought it in the shade 'Cool Medium 2' which is the perfect colour for when I'm tanned. It has a typical applicator to apply the concealer with and it's also super lightweight on the skin. It glides on really easy and doesn't dry quickly at all, which is perfect if you like to apply it in certain places on the face first and then blend it all in. 

With it being very full coverage and a drugstore concealer, I was expecting it to look cakey once it had been applied or even after a few hours. However, I was wrong. It doesn't look cakey at all and the skin looks flawless. The lasting perfection concealer definitely keeps those under eye bags hidden throughout the day and it doesn't crease up in my fine lines under my eyes. It doesn't last too long on my spots but it definitely lasts long enough for a drugstore concealer. 

Collection says that this lasts for up to 16 hours although, I really don't think it hits the 16 hour mark. Fair enough it does last all day though. I will definitely be buying this in my normal shade and for £4.19, you can't go wrong!

Copper Makeup for Valentines Day

With Valentines Day fast approaching, I created this look which can be both subtle and more full on. Usually, I would go for pale pinks and light browns but I thought that I would be a little more adventurous as I have improved my makeup skills. 

I always start by doing my eye makeup first, so I filled in my brows using the Freedom brow pomade in soft brown and set them in place using L'Oréal's brow artist plumper. I primed my eyes using the Urban Decay primer potion and went in with the copper/red shade from the Shaaanxo palette in the creases of my eyes and blended it out. I then used the shade 'element' from Urban Decays Moondust palette with a wet brush and patted it all over my eyelids. I made sure it was all blended out before moving onto the rest of my face.

I used the L'Oréal True Match foundation in the shade '2.N Vanilla' and concealed with the True Match concealer in 'Ivory'. I set my face with the L'Oréal infallible pressed powder. To contour, I used the Sleek contour kit in 'light' and contoured my cheekbones, the sides of my nose and temples. I highlighted my cheekbones, just under the eyebrows, inner corners of the eyes, down my nose and my cupids bow with Louise Young's 'owls' highlighter. 

I used the copper shade from the Shaaanxo palette to put on my lower lash line. I didn't need to put any mascara on my lashes as I have individuals anyway but I still put some Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara on my bottom lashes. I finished my eyes off using Rimmels black soft kohl pencil liner. I don't like my lips being too full-on, so I kept on track with the copper look but I didn't want anything too bright - so I went for NYX's Lingerie lipstick in 'bedtime flirt' which matched perfectly. I then set my face in place using Urban Decays de-slick setting spray. 

Urban Decay Moondust Palette Review & Swatches

Oh hey, you know me... always late on the bandwagon. This eyeshadow palette was released in late 2016, it's now 2018 and I've only just tried it out. Well, I actually got it for Christmas, so I only got it a year late. Not bad if I say so myself. If you've been following my blog for a while, you'd know that I love Urban Decay and that I love glitter - so of course I had to ask Santa for this. 

This palette features eight brand new shades:

Specter - soft pink glitter (this is very similar to the shade 'dust' in the Naked 3 palette, here)

Element - a coppery, peachy glitter

Magnetic - purple with blue sparkle 

Lightyear - vibrant green glitter

Granite - silver/grey shade with multi-coloured glitter

Lithium - brown with 3D sparkle

Vega - bright blue glitter

Galaxy - smokey blue/grey with 3D sparkle

L to R: Specter, Element, Magnetic, Lightyear, Granite, Lithium, Vega, Galaxy

As these shades are glitters, I was worried about there being so much fallout. BUT, there was no need for me to worry. I had a few sparkles under my eyes after applying but it weren't anything major and it was super easy to wipe away. I do my eye makeup before applying my foundation for that particular reason and if you do need to wipe anything away then you can easily.

When I first got the palette, I didn't think that I'd wear every shade or even use the palette that often. But I have used it quite a few times already.

I tried out the application of the shadows both wet and dry. If you use these shadows dry, it gives more of a subtle look. If you use these wet, they just apply so much easier and they're more vibrant and intense. I found that wetting your finger and patting it on works better than using a wet brush as well. These shades are so highly pigmented and your eye makeup will last hours, I don't think I could be anymore in love. 

Have you tried the Moondust palette?

Creepy Killer Clown Halloween Makeup

It's almost that time of the year again! This Halloween, I have gone for a creepy killer clown. I actually got the inspiration from Pinterest, this certain type of clown makeup has been so popular recently and I've grown to love it. All you need to recreate this look is black and white face paint, a dark red/purple lipstick, fake blood, black pencil eyeliner and eyeshadow. 

I started off by doing my usual daily makeup routine - eyebrows, foundation, contour etc. When it came to the eyeshadow part, I used my holy grail Urban Decay Naked 2 palette to create my very dark, black smokey eye. Then, I smudged some black eyeshadow along with some red eyeshadow underneath my eyes.

I then went in with my favourite kohl black pencil eyeliner to make my eyes even more darker. Next, I went in with the black face paint and a really thin liner brush to make those triangular shapes around my eyes and mouth. I added some fake blood at the very end which is super messy but it's all good fun.

When I began, I honestly thought this look was so simple to do. Oh, I was very, very wrong! Trying to make those triangles neat and sort of symmetrical was an absolute bugger to do! Anyway, just tell yourself, "you can't really go wrong with Halloween makeup".

Let me know what you think!

The New Way to Clean Beauty Blenders: Tested!

I had seen numerous tweets on cleaning a beauty blender this certain way and all the results had me impressed every time.

As I'm really bad with cleaning my makeup tools often, I decided to give this new way of cleaning my beauty blender a go. As you can see, it's incredibly dirty which made me even more eager to try this out and see if and how it works.

So, I simply put my beauty blender in a jug of cool tap water and added a tiny bit of Johnsons baby shampoo which is what I use to clean my makeup brushes too. If you don't have baby shampoo handy, fairy liquid works just fine for this too!

Then, I popped the jug in the microwave for 1 minute. Once 1 minute was up, I squeezed out the unwanted product from the beauty blender and rinsed it under the tap.

Repeat the process if it's still dirty. I had to repeat two more times to get mine clean.

The final result!

As you can see, I couldn't get it fully clean, but this way of cleaning beauty blenders is excellent! It's quick and easy to do. I really shouldn't leave my beauty blender for that long awaited clean next time.

Have you heard about this cleaning technique?

The Concealer That Has Lasted Me (Pretty Much) Forever!

Obviously, the word 'forever' in the title of this post is extremely over exaggerated. Although, how amazing would it be if you could keep hold of a product forever without it running out? However, I have owned this concealer for quite a few months now. Every time I've bought this, it always lasts me ages. There's nothing different or exciting about it, it's just the usual concealer in a tube. Maybe the applicator doesn't soak up as much product as other concealers do... I don't know.

I originally bought the Revlon Colorstay concealer some time last year when I was loving the Revlon Colorstay foundation. What I love about this concealer is that it's the perfect light colour for pale skin. It doesn't have that 'orange' undertone like other light concealers do. It blends out really easily and smoothly. It does seem to settle in fine lines under the eye but after patting over with a damp beauty blender and setting with powder straight after, it's soon sorted. The clue is also in the name, the concealer stays in place for a good six hours. Sometimes you'll need to go over a stubborn spot once or twice throughout the day but overall it's great!

Have you tried this concealer?

NYX Arrival! What I Bought...

Oh my oh my, I'm so excited about this post! NYX has recently arrived in the UK and let me tell you, I didn't even know about it until my sister informed me. So, I headed to my closest Boots store and must have been standing at the counter for about forty minutes admiring the products. Obviously, I couldn't buy everything I fell in love with as I'm not a billionaire, oh how I wish I was.

I was in desperate need of a new eyebrow pencil as I was on the verge of having no pencil left. I usually stick by my New Cid Cosmetics I-groom pencil but paying the price at £19.50 and then paying for delivery and waiting for it, I thought I'd try a new product and boy am I glad I did! At just £8, NYX Sculpt & Highlight Brow Contour (Vanilla/Taupe) does the exact same job as my New Cid pencil and it's the exact same colour! I find that Sculpt & Highlight is more creamy and a little easier to apply. The highlighter is stunning too, it's not too 'white' or too shimmery.

After running out of my fave eye primer a few weeks back, I just picked it up without thinking twice. I'm absolutely thrilled with this primer! It makes your eyeshadow look brighter and lasts all day/night which is what everyone needs. It's a nice creamy consistency and very lightweight and easy to apply. For only £5.50, this HD primer is worth it!

Okay, so I didn't have a clue what lip product to buy, there was so many I had my eye on. I was also looking for the lingerie lipsticks but they weren't there so I'll have to try another store in my city another time. I came across this matte lipstick in 'Whipped Caviar' for £6.50 and it's such an admirable colour that would suit everybody. I love the texture, it's soft and creamy to apply and it doesn't make your lips look or feel dry which you can sometimes get from other matte lipsticks, which is a huge no from me. And because it doesn't look or feel dry, it still has an amazing matte finish which I love. It's long lasting and it doesn't come off or smudge when you eat or drink. I'm definitely going to buy some more of these!