The products I love but can't repurchase . . .

I've tried to think of a million different days to drop this on my blog (I had a whole post prepared, I was going to slip it into one of my lifestyle posts, I was considering making a video . . . I had a lot of ideas) but as I'm becoming a vegan (permanently this time) I'm going cruelty free with my makeup and skincare and all that jazz too. I'm not going to be preachy about it because it's your choice if you want to follow that kind of lifestyle, but for me I just feel like I need to match up my lifestyle to my ethics.

I'm not planning on throwing out any of my makeup for multiple reasons. Firstly, I'm about to become a university student and I can't really afford to be essentially throwing away money - I know that sounds really bad but I'd be throwing out about half of my current makeup which comes up to a lot of money and mans is gonna be broke. Secondly, even if I did have the money to go and buy a whole new makeup collection, I would feel almost as if the animals were tested on for no reason. I've already funded the companies who test on animals and I can't take that back, throwing away the makeup would make it seem to me as if the animals were tested on for no reason - I hope that makes sense, I just feel as it would be silly to throw away my makeup even though that would make one heck of a cruelty free statement. So, here are the products I love but can't repurchase unless the brands stop testing on animals:

My favourite foundation - Maybelline Fit Me Foundation
As you know, this is my holy grail foundation. It matches my skin perfectly (and has a good shade range), it's easily blendable, comfortable to wear, has a nice medium coverage, and it's cheap, but Maybelline test on animals so I'm going to have to say goodbye to this foundation and hope I find a nice replacement - I'm considering going high end, so if you have reviewed any cruelty free foundations please leave a link to your reviews down below so I can check them out or just recommending some would be really helpful.

My favourite mascara - Maybelline The Colossal Volume Express Mascara
This mascara has unfortunately dried up so I can't really use it now anyway, but this was the bomb diggity. Length, volume, and it held a curl too. Here's hoping I can find a replacement that's not too pricey - again, any reviews or recommendations would be helpful!

My favourite eyeshadow - Maybelline 24hr Colour Tattoo
I have raved on about these so much and I don't know what I'm going to do when these run out (think I've got a while yet, I've used them nearly everyday for well over half a year and not hit the bottom). These last all day without creasing, they're very pigmented and blend quite nicely as well as work as a base. I'm worried I'm going to have somewhat of a cream eyeshadow related dilemma - please recommend some cruelty free ones if you know of any.

My favourite gel liner - Maybelline EyeStudio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner 24hr
I love love love gel liner, I think it's easier to use than liquid personally and the formulation of this is great. Admittedly, I've not tried out any gel liners from any other brands so hopefully I should be able to find one that's just as good, but I am going to miss this one when it finishes - although I have a couple of these and one of them I've had for about half a year and I've not hit the bottom or anything so this should last me a while.

My favourite lipstick - Maybelline Coloursensational Lipstick in Velvet Beige
This is my everyday lipstick, the formulation is nice and creamy - it sticks around for a few hours before re-application and just the colour is perfect for me. I think good lipsticks are quite easy to find so hopefully it shouldn't be too much bother to replace this one, but I'm going to miss it.

My favourite brow gel - Maybelline Brow Drama (okay I promise this is the last Maybelline product)
This product has been a staple in my makeup routine now, it keeps my brows looking natural but bushy and it keeps them place all day with very little effort. There are quite a few tinted brow gels out on the market now so here's hoping I can find a decent replacement, but I'll miss this one when it runs out!

My favourite kohl pencil - Rimmel Scandaleyes Kohl Kajal Eye Liner (see it's not Maybelline this time okay)
These eyeliner pencils are marvellous - creamy, pigmented, soft but not too soft. Perfect for the waterline and the tightline at a low price, these will be sorely missed. Although, there are a few other kohl pencils I want to try out anyway so maybe I'll find one that's of the same quality or possibly better.

A hella good concealer - Revlon Colourstay Concealer
This is a high pigment yet creamy and moisturising concealer that sticks around all day and has a decent shade range, which is why it really sucks that I'm going to have to not repurchase it especially as it's not too expensive. It's looking like I'm going to have to go high end for foundation and concealer, which I was considering doing anyway because I'm tired of having to make do with the shades they have at the drugstore but now I'm probably going to have to do it anyway.

Some top notch lipsticks - Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick
I think the Revlon lipsticks have such a great formula and their lipstick in Really Red is one of my favourite red lipsticks - it's matte but not drying, I also have one of their lipsticks in Smoky Rose which is a lovely sheer brown everyday colour for me. The lipsticks are around the £7 mark but they're so so good for the price, I'm very sad that I won't be able to repuchase any more from this range unless Revlon stop testing on animals.

My favourite nail polish - Essie Nail Polish in Licorice
This is my staple nail polish, I've used it so many times and about half of it is finished up. It's really black and glossy, dries really quickly, and only chips a tiny bit within a few days. This is a pricey nail polish so it doesn't hurt too much knowing that I can't repurchase this or any more from Essie (y'know unless they drop the animal testing) and I have tried other nail polishes of a similar quality (from Essence, cheap as chips and doesn't test - Essence is kinda bae) so whilst I'll be sad to let this one go when it finishes, I'm certain I'll find a good replacement.

Can you recommend any cruelty free brands/products?

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A foundation that fits me better than my favourite sweater

I tried to find other song lyrics for the title of this post, but I couldn't resist the Lana Del Rey reference (she is one of my favourite human beings, I like her a lot) but there are bigger things at hand than the sadcore queen . . . Okay, maybe not, Lana is important shiz but seriously I've found a foundation that matches my skin perfectly and, that too, is important shiz.

See if you can spot what's a little bit wrong with this photo, if you get it comment down below . . . 

The foundation in question in the Maybelline Fit Me foundation which I haven't heard many people talk about on the bloggersphere or in the world of YouTube, the odd mention here and there but never any rave reviews. Here I am to fill the void. This foundation literally matches my skin's neutral-kinda-warm-but-kinda-not-sure-because-i-am-incompetent undertones and the consistency of it is like putting an extra layer of skin on the face, but not in a creepy White Chicks kinda way*. I hate to use the word dewy because dew reminds me of either grass in the morning or sweat, neither of which are things I really want on my face, but this foundation gives a semi-dewy finish which is really nice for the warmer seasons in my opinion. I usually powder afterwards anyway which makes it more neutral in terms of matt-ness or dewy-ness but this foundation just looks exquisite on the skin whether you use powder or not. It lasts pretty well on the skin although my oily nose eats it up, but my oily nose eats up most foundations, braver foundations than Maybelline's offering have tried and failed to stick around on my nose, however even against my nose Fit Me stands up pretty well, but I usually cook my powder around that area anyway so that's not too much of an issue.

One of the reasons I felt it especially important to inform you all on the amazeballs qualities of the Maybelline Fit Me foundation is because of the compliments I've been getting on it as well as how much I like it regardless. Basically, this foundation is under a tenner, has a pretty decent shade range, has a nice finish, and is generally just pretty fantabulous - this stuff is the shiznitz.

*Don't get me wrong, I love White Chicks but regardless of how many times I watch it, I still find their faces creepy.

What's your favourite foundation at the moment?

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March wishlist

Another month has gone by, which means it's time for another wishlist - let me assure you, #TheDress is not on there*.

I'm no expert when it comes to contouring and general bronzing of the facial area, in my life I think I've owned three different bronzers, but I've never tried out a cream bronzer which is why I'd really like to try out the Bourjois Bronzing Primer**. I think cream would be easier to contour because you can use your finger to guide out where you want it to go and blend it out, plus I find the Bourjois Bronzing Powder a pretty good shade for me even though it's a little bit orange-y so perhaps not one for the paler folks, but I'd quite like to try out a cream product.

I'm also a bit of a newbie with powders, I own the Collection Sheer Loose Powder and it does the job of mattifying and setting my makeup but I find loose powder problematic because I always wear black so when I spill powder on myself I look a little bit foolish, so I'd quite like to try the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder as it seems a less messy and it's recommended by so many people, I don't go for coverage with powder so I'd just get the transparent one.

I've mentioned countless times that I find foundation and concealer difficult to get right, mostly because the beauty industry doesn't generally include black people or mixed race people and if they do go darker than the fifty shades of white they have on  often, it's usually a lovely shade of tangerine. However, the L'Oreal True Match foundation seems to have such a wide shade range and I've seen quite a few people compare it to MAC Studio Fix foundation, and I'd rather spend £10 on a foundation than £20 - mans gotta save money in the recession.

If you're new to my blog or don't read my 'Music of the month' series you may or may not know that I love Rage Against The Machine and My Chemical Romance - I'm not over the emo stage I went through at age 12, will I ever be? Who knows? Anyway, I've only been able to listen to them on Spotify and it gets annoying when I'm out without wi-fi and can't listen to Know Your Enemy or  Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) y'know I'm going to be in a bad mood. I love all of the songs on both Rage Against The Machine and May Death Never Stop You, I'd love to buy all of My Chemical Romance's albums but I'll start with a compilation album, and I've found Rage Against the Machine on eBay and May Death Never Stop You on Amazon for under £5 so it's a win win for me.

What's on your wishlist for March?

*I saw the dress initially as black and blue but then it kept changing from black and blue to white and gold, but it's black and blue, let's shut up about it now.

**I don't understand why the heck it's called a bronzing primer seeming as everyone whose used it has said it's just a regular bronzer, does it prime? This is one of the unanswerable questions of the universe.

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Full face of first impressions - Makeup Revolution

For a while I've wanted to start up a series on my blog in conjunction with my YouTube channel in which I do a full face of make up (somewhat of a tutorial or how I would do my ordinary makeup) using only products from one brand, preferably products I haven't used before, and giving you my first impressions, and providing you with links to reviews on a product if I have used it before or made a review before the post/video goes up - and this post marks the pilot of this series (such fun!)

I'm kicking things off with Makeup Revolution for two reasons: they're a popular brand and reviews of their products generally go down quite well, and they're inexpensive and I already can tell this series is going to be expensive - first things first, there were a few products I couldn't get a hold of so I used products by other brands and I mentioned what they are in the video rather than talking about them in the blog post.

The base:

• The matte effect foundation:
  - Repurchase? Yes, it was a good colour match for me although not high coverage, but for £2 it was well worth it and I've never had a foundation match me so well
• Focus & fix liquid concealer: 
  - Repurchase? No, it was really really low coverage, if it can't even cover up spots (let alone circles under my eyes dark as my soul) then it's not really doing enough for me

The brows:

• Mono eye shadow in 'Mmm':
  - Repurchase? Hells to the yeah, and I really want to try out their other mono eye shadows because this was so pigmented and buttery and generally a good egg, I've been using it on my brows everyday since discovering it

The eyes:

• Focus & Fix eye primer: 
  - Repurchase? Yes, it's inexpensive and does a basic priming job so it's a win for me
• Iconic 1 palette:
  - Repurchase? Yes, when I hit pan on all of the shades, it's a dupe of the Naked palette and about 10 times cheaper, how could I not repuchase this?
• Waterproof liquid eyeliner:
  - Repurchase? Yes, it's long lasting and creates a nice cat eye flick. The only issue I had is that it's hard to dip the nib in and out of the pot but it's generally a good'un.
• Amazing Volume mascara:
  - Repurchase? Yes, it's not ridiculously volumising like other mascaras I've tried but it is pretty volumising given that it's about 3-4 times cheaper than any other mascara I've tried 

Facial definition:

• Baked highlighter in Pink Lights:
  - Repurchase? Definitely, this is amazing value for money but mind you, you've got to use a light hand (in the video I went pretty heavy) but if you do dust a tiny bit on the top of your cheek bones, you are heading towards the pathway of Kim K contour (which is obviously what we must all aspire to in life)

The lips:

• Matte lipstick in Dare:
  - Repurchase? Yes definitely, this wasn't actually a first impression but I do love it and think it's so good for just £1

What other brands would you like to see first impressions of?

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