I have concentrated purely on make up at the moment, as over the next few months I will share the best and worst of skincare and haircare, as there are simply too many beauty bits and bobs out there not to do a separate list for each.
Please note that everyone’s skin and reactions to make up are different; no two people wear perfume the same, and the same goes for make up. Everything expressed here is simply my opinion and my findings.
1. Collection 2000 Perfecting Minerals Foundation
The hype:
- Light, luminous mineral powder provides a natural and even effect that lasts all day
- 4-in-1 formulation with the benefits of a foundation, powder, concealer and sunscreen
- Developed using 100% natural mineral pigments
- Contains a blush applicator for buildable coverage
Where do I bloody start with this. I really should have known better, as foundation and powder are the things that shouldn’t be skimped on, but I gave it a try. I should have read the ingredient list, but in my rush to pick up a cheap product, I went for this. At first, I was actually pretty impressed. It made my skin look radiant and sparkly, yet natural. Who needed Bare Minerals?
Except this wasn’t Bare Minerals. This was Bare Bloody Stuffed-With-Crap £5 powder passing itself off as ‘gentle enough to sleep in’! God knows whether it was the talc, mica, zinc oxide or the combination that Collection 2000 has used, but I broke out in tonnes of tiny little spots all over my face – my pores looked clogged and I just looked quite unhealthy. This product has some great reviews – and it does start out well, but this foundation can be likened to those guys that you meet that are all charm and attention for 2 weeks, then they turn into the biggest arse you ever met. Avoid!
2. Benefit Bad Gal Mascara in Black
The hype: "Sexy, sultry, pure unadulterated black mascara for full, voluminous lashes. It's as BAD as you want to be! Famously big, bodacious brush coats lashes with our super black formula."
OK, so fair enough, Collection 2000 has a bad product – but it only costs a £5. What about those brands that make you part with £15-£25 quid and fail to meet your expectations? These are the real ones to avoid ladies.
First up – Benefit Bad Gal Mascara. Um, the clue is in the name. Do not get me wrong, I LOVE Benefit as much as the next Benefit Babe, but some of their stuff is just plain crap, and no retro/kitsch/vintage branding is make me gonna buy it...again. I've done the legwork (or should that be lashwork? Eek, sorry!) and puhlease, do not buy this mascara. First off, it has a big wand. Not necessarily a bad thing, but this is just plain big, not clever. Big wand does not equal big volume, it equals difficult to use (warning - mascara on your eyelids. ALWAYS a pain, especially after you have done your eyeshadow work), tricky to get to those tiny lashes at the corners of your peepers, and also, I found that the wand was so big, it soaked up more mascara than you needed, making the wand actually dry out faster than a normal sized brush. Not scientific findings, just my own personal observation.
Anyway, onto the actual mascara. Well, it starts off alright...I do need a fair few coats to get the thickness I like, and I find that with Bad Gal, I need so many coats to get my lashes to 'oomph' the way I like, that I actually get a bit anxious because it takes so long! It seems like quite a thin mascara in my opinion, and this also comes to light when it has dried. I have never had a mascara flake so much. And I don't rub my eyes as I am a contact lens/glasses wearer. Disappointing. Not only that, but it seems to me that the mascara doesn't hold your lashes - my lashes always seem a bit depressed and droopy at the end of the day with Bad Gal. Having said all of the above, I do love Bad Gal in plum...I just find it has a much nicer consistency and makes my eyes zing a bit more - but I definitely do need to curl my lashes beforehand, otherwise my lashes are a bit down in the dumps at the end of the day.
3. Victoria Jackson Make Up The hype: "Radiant colours. Soft, satin formulas. Beautiful products"
OK so this is quite generalised, but I feel it is pretty justified. I was lured into buying Victoria Jackson makeup when there was a stall set up at work, and I got a pretty huge haul for £25, including a travel make up kit, four eyeshadow creams, a full eye, blush and lip colour palette (above) and 4 lip balms/glosses. plus a little make up tutorial book. The latter was easily the best thing, as it gave some excellent tips on contouring eye make up and blush, but honestly, the rest was pretty lame. I don't know if it is just me, but palettes really aren't my kind of thing, unless every colour is amazing, like Urban Decay or Mac palettes. I felt that I was shortchanged with VJ's make up...there were a lot of colours so similar they were effectively duplicates, the colour payoff was poor, plus the thing I hate most - lipcolours next to eyeshadows. WHAT IS THE POINT?? You wind up getting eyeshadow dust IN the lipcolours! I honestly ended up throwing most of it out, I kept hold of them all for 2 years, and after I stumbled upon it looking rather sad, I just knew I would never use it again. I think the colours are also pretty middle of the road, they aren't very vibrant or interesting. I think perhaps they are chasing women more than teenage girls, but come on, 30-70 year olds wear more than brown eyeshadow! If I were you, I would spend my money on a few nice pieces of make up as opposed to VJ's stuff; you will get more use out of it.
4. Benefit Lip Plump The hype: "For full, sexy lips use lip plump before lipstick. This neutral-toned lip enhancer helps to smooth and fill in fine lines while building up the contour of the lips, making them appear fuller and younger."
Back to Benefit. I first tried their Lip Plump when I got it as part of one of their sets. I was a bit surprised to see that it wasn't a gloss or a creme, but more like concealer really, or nude coloured primer. I kept an open mind and tried it a couple of times...and then realised that really, it was pretty much nude coloured primer. My lips did not look any plumper, I didn't even get a nice affirming tingle to tell me 'ooo something is happening to your lips!' Which doesn't really mean anything DOES happen to your lips; it's mostly just ingredients put in there to trick you into thinking that something is happening. Anyway, the Lip Plump also made it difficult to apply lipstick, as it mixed with the nude colour, and while it didn't make my lipstick feather, it did just feel a bit odd, like I was wearing one lipstick over another. A total 'meh' product.5. ATM: Rochas Poudre Bellissima Evanescent Loose Powder The hype: "The Rochas cosmetics range is world-famous for providing make-up of the highest quality."
Right so this one is at 'ATM' (at the moment, mum ;)) as it changes constantly depending on what I have used recently that has disappointed me - which happens pretty frequently! So the last thing that has disappointed me was some Rochas powder which I bought off cheapsmells.co.uk, which I expected quite a lot from. Another total meh product. It just kind of goes on like talc powder, and while I did buy it in 'translucent', usually you can see that there is still a bit of coverage when powder is used. Not so with Rochas. It feels like, as I put it on, it just flies off again. Also, the powder is a total pain to get out the tub; you have to turn it upside down with the lid on, shake it up, down, left, right, and only a teeny bit is dispensed, and it puffs up everywhere when you open the pot. Also, my face is only matt for a couple of hours, and trust me, I'm not a gal who exerts myself too much! Not a huge loss as it didn't cost me too much, but definitely disappointing, and I have went back to using my emergency standby Rimmel powder.
So guys, thank you again so much for reading, please comment and let me know about your blogs as I'd love to read them, and I'll post another blog this week, but not decided what on yet - any suggestions, let me know!
I first found out about this product maybe 6 months ago and I am already absolutely addicted. I don't have particularly good nails - in fact they're short, stubby and incredibly weak - I can bend them for goodness sake. But I like making my nails pretty (another thing to spend money on? Sold.) but I HATE smudging them when wet and I HATE them chipping when dry. Love to peel, hate to chip. Same with potatoes. Not really. ANYWAY, this fast dry top coat makes your nails touch dry in 30 seconds. Honestly. OK, don't do the dishes at that stage, but you know, you can touch it without fear of a fingerprint mark or the dreaded pulled look. Not only that, it makes glitters more sparkly, it makes your brights brighter and your whites whiter. Daz my arse, this product has it all. It also makes your manicure last at least a full day longer; I am rough as buggery with my nails, but with Seche Vite I can guarantee two days full wear. It's like laminate for your nails! Pick it up at Sally's or online, usually around £9.65. Will make even £1 nail polish look like a professional performed manicure.
