This is the line up of products that didn't have me rushing to snap a picture of them when applied or just left me feeling entirely underwhelmed. Bear in mind all of these products have been given a fair trial before they were sentenced to this post.
The first one may seem somewhat controversial but it's Benefit High Beam. Now this product isn't all bad but I find it hard to wear, the reason being when applied I find that the foundation under it breaks down and just doesn't look as nice as it did before I put on highlight. I can find ways to wear it for example on days when I'm not wearing foundation but my skin needs a little lift then it comes in handy!
The prettiest pick of the bunch but arguably the most disappointing. Yes, I am talking about Barry M Nail Paint in Yellow. The Barry M nail range altogether has received a lot of hype over the past few months but this polish took an ungodly amount of time to dry and it is known that I am not the most patient person when it comes to nail polish drying so that immediately put me off this product but with the added disadvantage of my nails being stained yellow for days after removing it no matter how much base coat I applied it was surely a candidate for the bin.
This next one is ultimately my fault but the Sleek Face Form Palette was another product I was disappointed in. The only thing I could find wrong with this was that it was WAY too dark for me. While in the aisles of Superdrug searching for a new contouring product I stumbled across this palette and when I noticed they were out of "Light" I settled for "Medium" which was just as helpful as flushing £10 down the toilet.
If I ever go to buy something on a whim someone should just take my hand and march me away from it because it never works out well. This is shown in this Claire's lipstick which is the scariest most horrific shade ever. It is a blue toned purple which does not flatter my skin tone or my eye colour but I could probably make the colour work with a pretty gloss if the formulation was even average but this lipstick does not apply evenly, it clings to dry patches on my lips and tastes dreadful.
I can't actually believe the next was a recommendation but the Rimmel The Max Bold Curves mascara was just not as good a the recomendee made it out to be. The wand has a bristle brush which I'm usually not a fan of because I don't feel like it grips all the lashes plus it is easily clumpy and smudges on me.
The last product of this edit is Mac Studio Fix Fluid. The colour match is perfect when it is just applied but leave it about 15 minutes and it has oxidized on my skin so much that it looks about 2 or 3 shades darker. It also breaks down around my oily T zone and no matter how much primer or setting powder I wear it doesn't last more than a few hours on my skin.
That's it for my negative fest, I have to admit I quite enjoyed this little rant and sometimes it's nice to talk about products which aren't just as good too, you and I both know that not all products are worth the money.
Ray x
I've decided not to commit myself to writing monthly favourites because I know I'll never stick to it so every once in a while I will just collect together a few skincare/haircare/makeup items to share with you guys. Here is what I have been loving over the past few months:
Garnier Pure deep pore wash(£2.53 Boots) Simple light moisturiser(£3.79 Boots) Topshop Blush in "Flush" (£6 Topshop) Rimmel Lycra Pro nail polish(£4.59 Boots) Real Techniques expert face brush(£9.99 Boots) MUA Lipstick Shade 7 (£1 Superdrug) Maybelline Pulse Perfection vibrating mascara(£7.99 Amazon) Osmo Deep Mositurising shampoo and conditioner(£14.20 feelunique.com) Garnier Refreshing Gel-Cream(£2 Boots)
(Sorry about the flash but it's so hard to photograph gold packaging) This combination is incredible. I have very heat damaged hair and thought that a deep mositurising shampoo and conditioner would do wonders for my hair and I wasn't wrong. They left my hair feeling lightweight and the conditioner was especially good, the ends of my hair were super soft I just wanted to run my hands through it all day. While washing your hair the products do have a strong scent, it's not a bad smell (infact it's quite delightful) but it is strong although it's not noticeable when you're hair is dry.
This mascara is by far my most used of the past month or so. I'm not a fan of the vibrating feature as I don't feel like it does anything for my lashes, it simply doesn't vibrate strong enough to have any noticeable impact but the brush and the formulation are wonderful. It's not flaky, it doesn't smudge, it will stay put all day and it adds a lot of length and volume.
I chose to talk about the 2 skincare items together. First, the moisturiser. The main reason I purchased this was for the promise "absorbs instantly" and I wouldn't say it was "instant" but substantially quicker than any other mosituriser. I have the grape scent and it smells super fresh and it's nice to apply. Next, the deep pore wash. This works wonders for my skin. I use it every 2-3 days and if I miss even 1 session of using it I would breakout or get bad dry patches so it just keeps my skin under control. It has microbeads in it to exfoliate which helped with the dry skin on my face and I just LOVE this product.
I'm really enjoying the Simple light moisturiser because it does exactly what it promises without being too greasy so I can use it everyday. My MUA lipstick has been a favourite of mines for a while because it is a very wearable colour for a natural look and it is shimmery but not too much plus it smells really nice which is important to me because you can smell it all day as it's right under your nose.I've been loving the Topshop cream blush because I absolutely adore the formulation. Usually I'm a bit scared of cream blushes but the cream-to-powder formulation of this makes it easy to work with although I wished I'd have picked a slightly more subtle colour.(That's just an excuse for me to go back and buy another). Lastly, of course everyone in the beauty world loves the Real Techniques brushes but my favourite has to be the "expert face brush". I find it so useful for everything. I use it for foundation, cream blush, highlighter and bronzer(which explains why it's so dirty in the picture ew gross).
I have not stopped wearing this nail polish for the past few months, I switch it up for a few days but I always go back to my trusting Rimmel Lycra Pro in 440 "orange bliss". It's the perfect bright orange/coral(it shows up more red on camera but it's more orange than it appears). It has the wide brush for mistake free application which is important to me because when I paint my right hand it usually goes everywhere so I find the maxi brush very useful. I'm going to have to go get myself some more colours.
That's it for my current favourites, I hope you found this post informative and sorry if it's a bit long!
Until my next post,
