Friday 6 January 2017

High End Holy Fail

Hey everyone, welcome to my blog. I hope you're having a wonderful day. Today I am going to be sharing some disappointing makeup items (all high end) that aren't worth the money. Some people may love these products, but they didn't work for me, and this is just my opinion.

1 - Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation, £26.50

This was the first high end foundation I bought (back in February in New York) and I bought it because I generally liked Benefit as a brand and thought it would be a good choice when rushed for time in Macy's. However, after a few uses I discovered that I didn't like it. Overall, I think that the colour of the foundation is wrong for my skin, as it is far too yellow-toned (which I find with a lot of high end foundations) and it seems to be a bit dark, even though I bought the lightest shade. This is also the wrong foundation for my skin type (as it is meant for dry skin) and I find that it separates and goes patchy on my oily skin. This has the potential to be a great foundation, just not for me, and I wish that I did some research into other high end foundations before the trip, so that I could've picked one up that is better suited to my skin type.

2 - Pixi Colour Correcting Powder Foundation, £18

I picked this up from Marks & Spencer using a £15 voucher because I wanted to buy a new high end foundation, and I thought that a powder foundation might work better with my oily skin. I've only used this twice, once as foundation and once as a setting powder, and both times I disliked it. As a foundation I found that it didn't provide much coverage and didn't seem to colour-correct my skin (but maybe I expected a little bit too much, as I have really rosy cheeks). I also found that it settled into my pores around my nose area even after using a pore filling primer. I then saw Zoella use it in a video to set her makeup, so I thought that I would try the same, but again I found that it settled into my pores and made my makeup look cakey. There are so many better powders available that are much cheaper.

3 - MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipsticks, £17.50

I remember when MAC first launched these liquid lipsticks, and every youtuber raved about them and seemed to have them in every single colour. They were one of the most wanted products at the time, but at £21 they were a bit too expensive. However, when the price of them was lowered to £17.50 I couldn't resist, and I bought the shade lady be good (a warm nude) and then got the shade bing bang boom in a sweet nutcracker Christmas set (I would never normally choose a pink shade). Overall, I find these liquid lipsticks to be quite thick in formula, which results in them being very drying, but I also find that when they are applied directly over a lip balm they don't dry fully matte, and there are other high end liquid lipsticks for similar prices that appear to have a lightweight formula that aren't too drying.

4 - Benefit They're Real Mascara, £19.50

The they're real mascara is just like marmite, you either love it or hate it. I know a few people that love it, however most people seem to hate it. I really dislike this mascara, as I find that it makes my eyelashes feel really hard and crispy, and it does seem quite clumpy if you apply a generous amount, which also makes it hard to layer up. The main issue with this mascara is trying to remove it. I find that during the day it flakes off, and when it comes to removing it at night it doesn't seem to come off. I know that there is a special they're real remover that benefit makes, however that costs £14.50 for only 50ml of product, which also seems like a waste of money considering I hardly ever wear the mascara.

5 - Urban Decay De-Slick Setting Spray, £9 for 30ml, £22 for 118ml

I picked up the 30ml travel size version of this product because it was under £10 and I wanted to try it before I splurged on a full-size, and I'm glad I did because I really don't like this product. It claims to control oil, but I found that it had no effect at all, and I had to touch up with powder later on in the day. I also found that it didn't prolong the wear of my makeup and it didn't last throughout the day. I'm glad that I only bought the travel sized product because I didn't waste as much money compared to if I bought the full size. Since buying this I have bought two full size all-nighter setting sprays and the vitamin B6 spray from Urban Decay, and I love both of these products as they work really well with my skin. I find Urban Decay products to be very hit or miss, so I would recommend buying the travel-size options when possible to test a product out before splurging on the full-size, and potentially wasting a lot of money.

6 - Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion Original, £16

This is another Urban Decay product that I decided to pick up a travel-sized version of, and again this was a good choice. There are four different primer potions available in the UK, two of which also come in the travel-size, so I decided to pick up the original. I find that this eyeshadow primer makes my eyelids quite oily, and my eyeshadow seems to crease and rub off when I use this. Many people say that they dislike the original primer potion as they find that it doesn't work as well as they hoped, but have nothing but positive reviews about the tinted primers, so I hope to try one of those soon and see if they are better than the original.



7 - Bare Minerals Mineral Veil Touch Up, £22

I bought this product on sale for around £10 and it is one of my biggest makeup regrets, as I haven't used this powder for a while. When I first bought it I used it all the time, but after a while I realised that it made my under eye area look really dry and cakey, even when I used my regular concealer. I also found that using it to set my whole face made it look quite orange, although the powder is in the shade translucent. However, I found that it did set my makeup quite nicely, so I might have to try using it again.

That's it for today's post, I hope you enjoyed it.
Much love, Cara xxx

3 comments:

  1. THis post is so well written! It would be so cool if you did a product empties post later, so that we can see what products you love. You could also tell us if you plan to repurchase them. I've been blogging quite a lot lately, if you would like to check it out. SOphie xx

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    1. Thanks for the idea, I'll be sure to do one when I finish some products, the only problem is I seem to use so many different ones that they never seem to run out x

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  2. Hi Cara,
    I have a MASSIVE favour to ask!! Would you mind looking at my latest post (link: http://littlemissbloggerxxx.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/the-author-role.html) and having a go at the activity suggested, commenting below? Obviously you get some self pro-mo with the activity, and I think it would encourage my readers who never comment to have a go! Thanks! Is there anything I can do to return the favour? I still owe you for the post I 'borrowed' back in Summer!

    Sophie xx

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