August favourites

I haven't got loads of favourites this month, partially because I haven't been shopping in quite a while but I've still got a few to talk about. Heads up, I'm going cruelty free so this should be my last favourites post with products that have been tested on animals (disclaimer: I'm not going to be preachy about it, it's my decision and it's entirely down to you if you want to follow suit or not)

P.S Love Your Skin Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes | I know face wipes have a really bad rep in the beauty blogger world and I don't use them everyday but y'know when you've had a late night, and I mean late as in you're not falling asleep until about 5am (I'm literally nocturnal at the moment) and you want to remove your makeup quickly, or if you're feeling really down and can't bring yourself to do the whole skin care routine, face wipes are useful k. You get two packs of these for £1 in Primark and they leave your skin so soft - something to bear in mind, I would use these only as a replacement for a cleanser/toner, they're quite gentle so they don't remove makeup (especially mascara) too well, but if you use a makeup remover, one of these, and a moisturiser  you're set, and if you're not wearing makeup it's even quicker.

Maybelline The Colossal Volume Express Mascara Cat Eyes | I bought this on the recommendation of my friend Isabella because her lashes always look amazeballs and I love the original of this mascara. I have to say, I don't like this mascara much on the top lashes as it doesn't give as much of a volumised effect as I would like but I love it on the bottom lashes. It gives a natural volumising and lengthening effect, and the curved wand means it fits round the eye perfectly which is really helpful for the lower lashes as I always find it difficult to get the ones on the outer part of the eye.

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer | An old favourite but it's been sold out in every shop I've been to for months and months and I finally got to repurchase it, and I remember how good it is. I have complained about the shade range so many times and I do think this is a bit pale and ashy for me, but I layer it on with a darker, warmer concealer and then I don't have so much of an issue. It's just super high coverage but not too drying, plus it's pretty cheap.

Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner in Eastend Snob | OKAY, YEAH I BOUGHT INTO THE HYPE, LET'S MOVE ON . . . but after I've told you how great it is. This lip liner is a nice, muted pink - a sort of MLBB shade. It's creamy (but not too creamy) and you could definitely wear this alone. I prefer to wear a lipstick on top of it because I feel like pink can look a bit Barbie on me (not that there's anything wrong with that) but I do like a muted pink lip as I feel it livens up my face a bit.

Collection Deluxe Lipstick in Charleston | This lipstick is very similar to a lot of lipsticks I own - kinda brown, kinda pink, but just that has never stopped me from talking about a lipstick in the past. This lipstick is inexpensive, comfortable to wear, not super long lasting but I don't mind topping up every 2-3 hours. Plus, I love the names of the lipstick in this range because they're all kinda based around different eras like 20s, 30s, 40s etc. - it's all very nice and #vintage.

What have your favourites been this month?

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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April favourites

As I said in this video I don't really want to do seasonal favourites anymore. Whilst I love long chatty videos, I feel like I've gotten to a point where they're way too long but not in a nice way, so I thought short, snappy monthly favourites would be a better alternative, at least for now. I just think long chatty videos are really time consuming to film, really time consuming to edit, and they're really time consuming for you to watch so y'know I've got to do what's best for all of us here in the family of fashion, beauty and an existential crisis. So, as I said I'd do, it's the first Wednesday of the month so 'tis favourites time y'all.

1. L'Oreal True Match Foundation

I know this has been raved on and on about in the beauty world but I do always convince myself I won't like over-hyped products (and I always come to the conclusion that over-hyped products are over-hyped for a reason, damn me and my hipster tendencies). First of all, the shade range in the True Match Foundation is one of the best on the markets covering all undertones and many different skin colours, which for me is already a pretty big selling point. Secondly, the coverage is medium but can be built up to a full coverage, and it's quite hard to find a foundation with a good shade range and medium-full coverage. Thirdly, it's pretty easy to blend so you don't get any strange lines on your face from using a brush.

2. L'Oreal True Match Concealer

To go with the foundation, I have the concealer. I've heard mixed opinions on this but I personally really like it. Again, the shade range is pretty good for such a full coverage concealer. I find this pretty good at covering up both spots and under eyes, but it can crease under the eyes if you don't set it with powder pretty quickly.

3.  Collection Cover Stick

I never used to like cover sticks, I used to find them drying and just generally not great, but I decided to pick this one after I couldn't find my beloved Collection Lasting Perfection concealer in my shade (seriously, I went on several occasions and Warm Medium is always sold out) so I gave this a swatch and was immediately baffled at how creamy this was for a concealer stick, plus it's a lot more yellow in tone than the Lasting Perfection concealer which for me is a plus. I do find that the way this best works is if I mix it with the L'Oreal True Match concealer and warm it up between my fingers then swipe it under my eyes and powder, I've never tried a better combination to cover up my dark circles.

4. Rimmel Stay Matte Powder

Ah, another blogger favourite. I haven't much to say about this except that it's pretty finely milled so it doesn't make your skin look powdered, but it does keep my oil at bay for a good 5 hours before needing to touch up. I just use the transparent shade to set my makeup, but I do recommend it if you're on the lookout for a powder.

5. Maybelline The Colossal Volume Express Mascara

I've wanted to try this for so so long because Maddie used to talk about it all the time before discovering a new favourite (which like every other blogger at the moment is the Lash Sensational mascara, I refuse to try it until the hype dies down a little bit) so I thought I'd give this a go. I'm not sure if it beats the L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara yet but I've only been using it for a week so perhaps it needs to dry up a bit more, I do really love it though as it volumizes your lashes without looking super clumpy, the formula is great and doesn't transfer, it's also pretty easy to do your bottom lashes with it.

6. Makeup Revolution Iconic 1 Palette

I've had this for a while, and if you remember in my Full Face of First Impressions: Makeup Revolution video I wasn't thoroughly impressed with this palette. I liked it, but I didn't think it was as good as the Iconic 2 Palette regarding pigmentation. I think it was also because the shades in it are quite warm toned and those aren't usually the tones I reach for, but now that it's coming up to Spring I'm loving using the paler shades, and I think now it's been worn in a bit, the pigmentation is better.

What have been your favourites this month?

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L'Oreal and Makeup Revolution are my mascara OTP

I'm eighteen years old and I am in possession of a Tumblr account making me pretty familiar with OTPs, for you oldies* OTP means one true pairing. Popular ships around the web include Johnlock, Jily, Romione, McLennon, Marrissey, Phan, Zalfie.. pretty much every pairing exists whether they be Canon** or not, and it just so happens that I have found my mascara OTP or MOTP if you will.

I couldn't possibly talk about OTPs and not include one of my first OTPs - Zanessa

I have spoken before about how much I love the L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara, it's just the best affordable mascara I've ever tried, however all good things must come to an end and after a good run this mascara has begun to dry up to the point where it just doesn't perform as I might like it to which means I've been using my other mascaras until I go out and buy a new one.

If you saw my 'Full Face of First Impressions - Makeup Revolution' post, you may remember that I used the extremely inexpensive Amazing Volume mascara and I wasn't exactly disappointed, but I also wasn't majorly impressed. Although, I started using it again to see if after having a while to dry up a bit if it's any better and it is a little bit better but the actual wand just doesn't give me the lashes I require, but I do really like the formula - it doesn't dry super quickly so you have time to add several coats, and this stuff doesn't transfer or budge throughout the day so it's pretty darn good.

This is where I become the match maker in the cosmetic-themed fanfiction, I tried using the wand of the L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara with the actual mascara formula of the Makeup Revolution Amazing Volume Mascara, and boy howdy I have created a love-child-mascara. I think I prefer the formulation of Makeup Revolution's offering, but with the combination of the L'Oreal wand you just get super long, voluminous lashes - to summarise, very much like Morrissey and Johnny Marr, this combination is the shiz.

What's your favourite mascara?

*Don't worry, I didn't know what OTP stood for for a very long time, you're not alone slang-newbies

**It means official, don't worry - I got your back

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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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