Wednesday, October 17
Today I am going to be focusing on the face products - how I prepare my skin before I apply any make up on, how I deal with pores and just my daily routine when it comes to foundation and concealer. I hope you guys enjoy it!
First up - skin preparation. I have tried many primers in my life and only recently found one that works for my skin the best. I am talking about the Ultra Face Base Primer from Revolution. It truly worked miracle on my face and helped to hold my makeup in place for so much longer than it would usually last.
Ultra Primer £5
I really don't know what it is, but I have just never been disappointed by any of the products that I have tried from Revolution. This primer costs only £5 and works so great! As you can see from the picture above, it's a clear primer which makes my skin feel so smooth after applying it. It doesn't move or give any problems when applying foundation on top of it, which I think is very important, considering there are many primers that just move everything around and do not help at all.
Infallible Anti-Redness Primer
Superdrug £8.99
This primer is created to hide any redness on the face and for me, it just didn't really work the way I wanted it to. Firstly, it's a liquid primer and what I mean by it - it runs down your face almost like water if you put too much. Secondly, if you put too much, you will be left with green shade on your face which can be visible from under your foundation. I think I gave up on using it after 2/3 time because it didn't make any difference to my face and only left green marks on it. However, the collection of infallible primers doesn't just stop here and there are many more! I am currently planning to try out the luminising primer and the pore primer, so I will definitely update you guys if they worked any better for me.
Pore Primer
Looking for a Benefit Porefessional primer that is cheaper and cruelty free? I found the perfect dupe for you! This pore primer not only works as good as the Benefit one, but is also so much cheaper and is not from a company that tests on animals. I was very upset to find out that Benefit is still not a cruelty free brand because I loved many of their products so much, I have decided not to use them until the brand turns around and becomes cruelty free.
I am someone who hates their pores and looks for any possible method to get rid or to hide them, so I was definitely of a huge need to get a good pore primer. Up until now, I am still shocked how good it is, honestly! It feels exactly the same as the benefit one and works just as good, my pores are well hidden under my makeup thanks to this primer and I am truly in love. My new favourite make up product!
Biore Pore Strips
Boots, £8.99
Having already mentioned that I struggle with pores - who doesn't! - I needed to mention how badly I love the Biore pore strips and how essential they are for my skins. They are expensive, at least in my opinion, but they work magic and are worth every single penny. I didn't want to be gross and do a before and after pictures of the strips, but believe me when I say that it does remove so much, it is so satisfying! Plus, if you're lucky enough like me, you can find them in your nearest TK Maxx or TJ Maxx (as you call it in America)
Blemish & Pore Refining Serum Revolution £6
Targeted Under Eye Serum Revolution £6
Another Revolution product - shocking lol! No, but honestly, I think Revolution is a great company and recently, the products that they have been coming up with are so amazing and worth its money!
Only recently Revolution started their own skin line, which consists of many serums that are for different skin problems/types. The ones I have decided to get are the ones you can see above - first one is a blemish & pore refining serum, and the second one is targeted under eye serum. Personally, I prefer the under eye serum just because I see more difference after applying it, than when it comes to applying the pore refining serum. Also, the pore refining serum has made my skin break out, so I stopped using it for a while just to make sure that it was the reason for spots showing on my skin, and I sadly have to say that unfortunately it is. However, I will still keep it in my collection because I think, for its price, it is definitely worth trying them out and just because one didn't work well with my skin, doesn't mean the others will not.
Foundation is one of my favourite makeup products out there. As a very pale girl, I have always struggled to find the perfect shade for myself and it hasn't been until Fenty came through with a big shade range that other brands started making more foundation shades. L'oreal True Match has always been the foundation I went for since I turned 16, until I was able to find a proper shade that fitted my skin tone better. Only until recently, True Match in Ivory has been one of the lightest foundations out there and it was still to dark for me (you can see the swatches down below)
With time, I have moved on to the Infallible foundation from L'oreal in shade 015 Porcelain, which was lighter than the True Match, and I have been using it for the past 2/3 years. However, the more brands that have been coming out with wider shade range, the more I wanted to try something new and more covering. I then went and gave the foundation stick from Revolution a try, which wasn't a bad experience but I just don't think stick foundations are for me. I
t wasn't until Revolution came out with liquid foundations that I finally found my match made in heaven. Their foundation is truly so good for my skin and ever since I got it, I am not planning to stop using it any time soon. I know their concealers (which I am also obsessed with) do not work for everyone, but for me both of their products work so well and are so full coverage, as well as have the perfect shade that matches my skin. Also, one thing I need to mention about the Revolution foundation is how amazing the packaging looks! It looks almost like a high-end foundation would and just seems very luxurious, which I think is a great thing knowing it only costs £8!
As you can see from the swatches, the shades are pretty much similar to each other, however the True Match N1 Ivory has to be the darkest and the Revolution Liquid Foundation in F1 has to be the lightest and therefore, the most matching to my skin tone.
Advice to everyone who struggles with colour matching - swatch the foundation on your neck, not your hands for the best solution!
Before I move onto the concealers, I also wanted to mention that the Revolution foundation comes with the same applicator that their concealers. Most people don't like that idea because they think is 'unclean' to put it all over the face, but then I think to myself - don't we all do it with concealers anyway? I mean okay, we don't really bother the whole face with concealers like we do with foundation, but I don't really think it's a big deal to have this applicator. For those that are against it, they can just put some of the product on their hand and later on use a brush or a beauty blender to apply it to the face.
I swatched the concealer - the one in the middle - next to the two foundation that I like the most. It doesn't look any lighter from the foundation when swatched on the hand, but when applied on the face - it definitely does.
Kat Von D White Out - £20
Are white concealers a thing? Well, yes! Kat von D was my first white concealer, which used to help me a lot to mix with a different concealer that I've used because back then I couldn't get the perfect match. I don't use it as often now because I find it to be too drying for my skin, and even from the swatch you can see how fast it has dried on my hand.
Revolution has also came out with a white concealer/colour corrector in white and I bought it just to see if it will be any better than the Kat Von D one. I love how creamy their normal concealers were and knowing how drying Kat Von D one was, I wanted something better. I was not disappointed as it is just as creamy as the concealers but now having a concealer that matches my skin, I would not put a plain white one under my eyes. However, I think that it is still cool to have it in your collection, as it can be used for many things - eyeshadow base, that will really pop out the shade you're applying on top or even as a highlight for pale skin tones.
Just to finish off, as mentioned in my Mario Badescu post before, I am obsessed with the Cucumber and Green Tea Facial Spray. I think the smell is amazing, is good for all skin types, and just does a great job as a setting spray. I used to be a big fan of the Urban Decay setting spray and it was my Holy Grail for a very long time, but I think that this facial spray does just as good job as the Urban Decay one, and is way cheaper, therefore currently I am sticking to this one. I think I am on my 4th bottle (the 118ml one) and just purchased the bigger bottle (236ml) so it is there when I run out of my smaller one.
I hope you all have enjoyed my post! Thank you so much for all the constant support and the fact we have finally reached 100 followers!!! I am very excited to see how my blog grows and hopefully will grow even more!
PS! For those struggling to follow my blog use this link -> CLICK HERE.
Love, Olivia xo
Friday, October 5
Today's post will be a little bit different than usual - instead of reviewing or comparing beauty products, I want to focus on the more important information everyone should be aware of when dealing with make up. Personally, I am against any cruelty against animals and I try my best to always stay updated with brands to see which ones are cruelty free. If you are someone who doesn't know how to tell the difference between a cruelty free brand and a brand that tests their products on animals - keep an eye on the logo which can be seen above.
All brands that DON'T test on animals, usually insert this on their websites/products packaging to make people aware of it. Different country/continent might use different icon/logo for their cruelty free sign but there definitely will be some type of sign that all of us should look out for. It's also important to remember that this is usually a checked thing, so you cannot just throw this sign on your products if they are in fact tested on animals.
For those of you that wonder what the difference is between cruelty free and vegan free products - cruelty free means that the products are not tested on animals, whereas vegan free means that the products do not contain any animal product or any animal ingredients.
I did a lot of research to get to the bottom of it and know which brands are cruelty free and which are still testing on animals. I wasn't that shocked finding out that almost all my make up is cruelty free because that is very important to me when purchasing it, but I was very upset to find out that Benefit still tests on animals. I have been a big fan of Benefit, especially their facial cream which I have spoken about in my first posts here on my blog, and since I found out they test their stuff on animals I have decided to stop using & buying their items.
Here is a list of brands that DO NOT test on animals and are cruelty free. Keep in mind that I cannot possibly fit all brands in one post, so I am going to try and start with the ones I mostly mention on my blog and those that are more popular with the public. If, for any reason, any of the information given by me is incorrect, please please please correct me in the comments but I did so much research to give you guys the most accurate information.
BRANDS THAT ARE CRUELTY FREE
ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS
BARE MINERALS
BEAUTY BLENDER
BECCA
BEN NYE
BEAUTY BAKERIE
BEAUTY BAY
BHCOSMETICS
CATRICE COSMETICS
CHARLOTTE TILBURY
COLOURPOP
COVER FX
DERMALOGICA
DOSE OF COLORS
E.L.F
ESSENCE
GERARD COSMETICS
HOURGLASS
HUDA BEAUTY
IT COSMETICS
JEFFREE STAR COSMETICS
JOUER
KAT VON D
KIKO
KKW BEAUTY
KYLIE COSMETICS
L.A. GIRL
LAURA GELLER
LUSH
MAKE UP GEEK
MARC JACOBS BEAUTY
MARIO BADESCU
MILANI
MILANI
MILK MAKEUP
MORPHE
MUA MAKEUP ACADEMY
NATASHA DENONA
NO.7
NO.7
NYX
OFRA COSMETICS
OUAI
PIXI
REAL TECHNIQUES
REVOLUTION BEAUTY(I HEART REVOLUTION, REVOLUTION PRO, OBSESSION LONDON)
SLEEK MAKEUP
SPECTRUM COLLECTIONS
STILA
SUGARPILL
TARTE
TATCHA
THE BALM
THE BODY SHOP
TOO FACED
URBAN DECAY
WET N WILD
ZOEVA
BRANDS THAT STILL TEST ON ANIMALS
AVON
BENEFIT
BOBBI BROWN
CHANEL
COVER GIRL
DIOR
ESTEE LAUDER
L'OREAL
LA MER
LANCOME
MAC
MAX FACTOR
MAYBELLINE
NARS
NARS
REVLON
RIMMEL LONDON
SEPHORA COLLECTION
TOM FORD
VICTORIA'S SECRET
YVES SAINT LAURENT
I hope that my lists were helpful to some of you but if you would like to know more about brands that I haven't included, please google it! All the information is out there and we only need to do our research before purchasing products. Let's all stick to cruelty free brands and make our world a better one!
Another important thing I wanted to touch up on is this little sign which you can see above. Are you all aware of the expiry date of most beauty products? This little sign helps you out with that! Almost every beauty product will have this little icon on their packaging and whatever number it has - it simply stands out for the amount of months it's safe to use the product before it expires. I would not recommend to anyone using an item/product after it has expired because it can easily break our faces out and it just isn't a healthy thing to do.
I decided to also provide a list of items and the amount of time that you're supposed to use it for, so all of us can stay aware and know when it's time to renew our product by throwing it away and purchasing a new one. I know that this can be a big struggle with very expensive products such as Huda Beauty, because those can be very expensive, but for all honesty I would not risk using it after the expiry date, no matter how much I have spent on it. I could see how some people would agree to keep using eyeshadow palettes after the expiry dates, but that is also a risk I wouldn't be willing to really take. I could keep the palette in my collection, but not really use it.
I hope that all this information I have provided you with was helpful. Let me know what you think about brands that still test on animals because I think it's very sad and disappointing. I hope more and more brands will start turning cruelty free and we no longer have to deal with brands testing on animals.
Love, Olivia xo
Tuesday, October 2
I have decided to share with you my first beauty haul ever with all my TK Maxx findings. For some time now, I have been following an instagram beauty page which updates their followers with different UK beauty deals & promos, and recently there has been a lot of GOOD beauty brands placed in TK Maxx all around England. I am aware that in the US, TJ Maxx has many popular brands but over here in England I have never been able to find anything other than Too Faced old palettes lol.
PS. To all my US followers/readers - for some reason here in England, TJ Maxx is called TK Maxx but it is the same company/shop, just so I don't get any of you confused.
Back to my point, brands such as ABH, Tarte, Too Faced, BH Cosmetics & Becca have been found all over TK Maxx lately. Of course, it's not any of the new products that have been released recently, but I think it's still amazing to be able to find these products and pay almost half price for most of them. Personally, besides all the products I am about to talk about, I saw many Tarte products including the eyeshadow palettes and face palettes, ABH Subculture palette & liquid lipsticks and Too Faced melted lipsticks as well as their palettes, but none of these products really interested me. I think although it's a good deal to get these good/high/expensive brands for almost half price, none of these products would be used by me, so I just took whatever I knew I wanted or would for sure use.
So what did I end up buying?
To start with, my first finding was the Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette. This is the old packaging for the palette, and if some of you are not aware, Too Faced has remastered the palette and ever since is selling it in a brand new packaging. This does not however mean that the palette I have bought is no longer good or shouldn't be used, I think for the price I have paid it's all good to use.
The palette comes with 9 shades and originally costs around £34. I have paid £12.99 which saved me £21! I have always wanted this palette because of all of these beautiful colours, but I actually purchased it as a present for a friend of mine, which explains why I could not swatch it for you guys.I think if I'm able to find any more of these palettes I will definitely grab one for myself.
Another eyeshadow palette I was able to find was the Balm Meet Matt(e) Ador Palette. I am obsessed with the Balm, and although I haven't bought any of their palettes yet, I have always loved their ideas and themes for their products, especially eyeshadow palettes. When I saw this in TK Maxx, my heart literally jumped. I was so excited that I can finally try it out and see if it is really worth its original price. The palette's original price is £37 and I have paid £12.99 which saved me £25!!!
I think that the shadows are definitely high quality and they are so easy to work with but are also very powdery. The last 3 shades, which are the darkest in the palette, did not swatch for me as well as the others but I seem to be having that problem with many dark shadows, especially any black/blue swatches. This is however all matte shades palette so I think the original price is a little bit too high because at least to me all matte look isn't a finished one, I need some shimmers or glitter in my life.
Moving onto a face palette, this one has definitely been on my WANT IT/NEED IT list since last year November. I remember struggling to pick either this palette or the ABH's Glow Kit as my Xmas present from my parents (ABH won lol) because I just loved the winter/ice theme of this Becca collection. Apres Ski was a collection from Becca launched last year which consisted of Glow face & eye palettes. The one I managed to find in TK Maxx was the face palette and to be honest with you, my heart kind of jumped from happiness because if it wasn't there, I probably would have never gotten it, it almost reminded me that this was one palette I really wanted last year, so why not just get it now at a cheaper price?!
I believe after a year of its release it would be very hard to get this product of any beauty website/shop such as Sephora, Cult Beauty etc, simply because of the fact that this has been an limited edition collection. The original price of this palette was 54 dollars which if I remember correctly was around £39-£40. I have purchased this baby for only £29 meaning I saved around £10, which I think is still amazing.
The palette comes with 6 shades - 3 highlighters (Rose Quartz, Icicle & Opal), 2 blushes (Blushed Copper & Winter Berry) and a bronzer (Bronzed Bondi)
When it comes to my pale skin, definitely all of the highlighters can work well on it, Rose Quartz might be just a bit too pinky but can still be worked with, but when it comes to the blushes & bronzer it is just a bit too dark for my skin tone. I like that Becca included shades possibly for all skin tones to be able to use at least 2/3 from the palette. The blush & bronzer also remind me of the palette that Becca and Chrissy Teigen put out together because that was also a palette I wanted but realised the colours wouldn't suit me as much. However, me being me, even if a shade is too dark for my skin tone, I will still make a use of it whether it is for an eye look or while putting make up on someone else.
Moving on to the skin products, I was so hyped when I realised TK Maxx sells Biore Pores Strips. You guys do not realise how badly I hate pores and I have been using these strips for so long now because they do truly work - more info is coming in a separate blog post about skin care! However, these babies cost £8.99 for 6 strips which I do think is a bit too much even if they work like magic. I managed to save £5 with TK Maxx because they sell them for £3.99, so naturally I took the last two packs that were there. I hope they will restock it in my nearby TK Maxx because I just got 12 pore strips for less than what I usually pay for just 6.
Lastly, I also managed to find some BH Cosmetics brushes. I am a big fan of Real Techniques brushes, however recently I wanted to try out brushes from different companies and see if they would be just as good. My first thought went to Morphe, however after finding out that Morphe might be opening a store in London very soon, I decided to not purchase anything Morphe online and just wait until their store is opened, I prefer shopping in person for make up so much more. Anyway, when I saw these brushes in Tk Maxx I knew I needed to get them and try them out, especially after having BH Cosmetics eyeshadow palette that I really like and enjoy using! I paid £14.99 for 10 brushes which isn't that bad because the original price of those is around £20. I think I saved the least out of all of the products on this one but I am still happy I got it for £5 less than I would from a normal beauty website.
Adding everything up together, I have spend £78 on all of these items but saved another £71 on all of this. I mean, how awesome?!?! I would never bought all of this if I had to pay £150 for everything lol, but thanks to TK Maxx and their amazing prices, I managed to save so much money. I am definitely so happy and will continue to look for beauty items from my favourite brands in their stores. Have you ever gotten anything from TK Maxx as good as any of the items mentioned above? If my luck keeps being this good I will return with another beauty haul from TK Maxx!
I hope you enjoyed my post, stay tuned for more coming very soon!
Love, Olivia xo
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