My go to beauty products and a Benefit dupe! (Part 1)

Hello! I thought I would share with you some products I love. This is not at all the full list of my favourite products but these are the ones I re-purchase the most and the brands featured are ones I trust and am happy to recommend! 

 

Firstly I shall begin with the make-up!

1. Soap & Glory,Hocus Focus flaw softening lotion. £13.00

This is so good.  It's one of those products that has more than one use therefore more bang for your buck so to speak, ahem.  Soap & Glory say 'Use to diffuse the appearance of Large pores, wrinkles and uneven pigmentation'.  Basically with this part highlighter, part radiance booster you can either mix it with your current foundation to create a dewy look or use it along your high-points (i.e your cheekbones) to create a soft glow. It really does make a huge difference to your skin, the 'lumispheres' as they call them or shiny bits as I call them makes your skin look healthy and radiant.  These shiny bits are amazing! The texture is that of a BB cream,slightly runnier than a foundation.  You only need to use a bit also, one pump will mix well with one pump of foundation without overpowering it and making you look like a sweaty faced loon. 

Don't get me wrong it's no miracle worker and adding this to your foundation will reduce your foundations staying power but even so I think the dewy glow it gives makes up for it. After all that is why we bring our makeup bags with us to work/ school/ uni anyway isn't it!  Cannot forget to mention, yes this is Soap&Glory therefore, yes it does smell absolutely amazing!  Also it's worth mentioning this is on sale in Boots right now, down to £10. Bargain.

2. Natural Collection cream blush £1.99

Unfortunately I cannot remember the name of this particular colour! To describe it I would probably say it is a deep dusky pink.  Maybe that's the name?! Hmmm.  Natural Collection is a great range everything is £1.99 or less and as a member of the sensitive skin club it has never given me any adverse reactions.  This blusher is very creamy and blends well, this is one of the main reasons I switched to creams, the powder never seems to sit well on my skin.  I've had many an 80s David Bowie style tide mark on my face in my time.   Eeeek.  The lipsticks are also great!

3. L'Oreal Superliner in Noir, £7.99

I've tried a lot of eyeliners and I always come back to L'Oreal. I'm a big fan of the brand in general actually.  This lasts all day and the amount you get I can make stretch to a month before it starts to dry out, as all eyeliners do eventually.  It's black as black can get and creates a smooth line, fab. If you are a fan of the cat eye like me, then use this as the applicator which is almost like a pen makes it a lot easier. Still needs a lot of practice though! I also rate the 'Luminizer' eye liner by L'Oreal too, there are three shades available to emphasise the colour of your eyes.  These are slightly runnier in my opinion though, I'm not sure why!    

4.Garnier BB Cream in Light, £7.99 (price varies)

 

This lasts for ages,I've had mine nearly 2 months and it has just started to run out.  It is a lot runnier than you would expect but I've never experienced any application issues.  The lightest colour really is brilliant if like me you have porcelain skin.  These really need to match perfectly with your skin tone to do their job so do make sure you do a tester before you take the plunge. Mine is a 40ml,I haven't actually seen a smaller bottle in case you did want to test with a cheaper, smaller bottle but most shops treat these like foundations so your likely to find a tester in a shop like Superdrug for example.  

5.Technic Highlights, 99p (price varies)

I found this in my local Savers for 99p although I think it normally retails at £1.99. Still cheap! This as you probably have guessed is a Benefit High Beam dupe.  This dupe does go further than the bottle though! The applicator is the same as the Benefit one and the product has the same texture and colour.  I use this all the time and I can honestly say I would buy this over the Benefit one.  It lasts a few hours as long as your foundation at least and the effect is very noticeable.  I must admit when it comes to the highlight section of my make up routine I sometimes forget to apply, but when I do I can visibly tell when looking through photographs when I'm wearing it and when I'm not.  

6. MUA(Make Up Academy),Pro-Brow kit, £3.50

As you can probably tell from the little pink 'new' sticker this is a new product! (shock). Therefore it is a recent addition to my make up bag and a welcome one at that.  I decided to still include it in my little' best of' blog because I know I will definitely repurchase this in the future.  I'm a big MUA fan,its cheap and cheerful and not at all nasty.  You can pick up a nail polish for as little as £1 for example! 

Back to the Brow Kit, it includes 3 shades (light, medium and dark) you find the one that fits and simply apply with the brush provided.  The brush is angled to make for clean precise lines.  Also included is a pair of mini tweezers which are unbelievably cute and are worth the £3.50 alone!  There is also a fixing gel which means your hard work will not be in vain! A brilliant little piece of kit that won't break the bank yet does the job well. 

MUA,Conceal and Brighten kit in porcelain-beige, £2.50

This tone correcting pallet is fab,there are three large pans two of which contain colour correcting concealer the third is a highlighter.  I got the lightest one available as I am pale,pale, pale! Although you can also purchase it in 'Natural- Medium Rose' and 'Beige-Golden'. The product is extremely translucent and requires you to build it up and set with a powder.  Although this is no great strain! One concealer is a yellow tone the other is an apricot colour, combined these will counteract blue/purple in under eye circles. When properly blended it creates great coverage. I suggest using a makeup brush as they are extremely 'slippery' for want of a better word! The heat from your hands will not help in the application of this product.  The highlighter is more of a contouring tool in my opinion, it lacks the shimmer of a standard highlighter and did little to 'illuminate' my complexion.  Therefore if applied under the chin and below  the cheekbones (as you would with a standard contouring product) it gives great definition.  Although a powder is advised afterwards!

MUA is available exclusively instore at Superdrug and online here.  There is also a massive sale on right now so I suggest you stock up!

I will be doing Part 2 of this soon! It will feature some hair and body products that are a great price and last for ages!  Also I will be featuring a Chloe perfume dupe I excitedly discovered while shopping a few weeks ago! So stay tuned for that!

Sue.