Freedom Priming Water | Review

If you know me you know that Makeup Revolution and Freedom Makeup are my all time favourite brands from the drugstore, so as you can imagine this was quite high up on my wishlist. 

If you follow the makeup world you'll know that Smashbox were the first to come out with a Priming Water and it was so innovative and different so when Freedom launched their 'dupe' I just had to get my hands on it. Unfortunately every time I went to purchase it it was out of stock but now I've finally got it I've been testing it out for a few weeks so I can finally give you my review. 

The Priming Water is priced at £6 which is incredible as the Smashbox version retails for £20! It's only available on the TAM website or you can purchase it from Superdrug. I actually got this online from Superdrug and went with the click and collect option so I didn't have to pay anything for delivery! I can honestly say that the wait for this killed me- I was SO excited to try it! 

I love the packaging of this and all of the Pro Studio range for that matter. The clear bottle tied with the metallic silver wrap makes it look and feel so much more expensive. It really does look like a professional product within my collection. I even prefer the look of this to the likes of MAC Fix +. The only thing I have to mention about the packaging is that make sure the whole lid is screwed on properly -not just the cap- because mine wasn't and it leaked a little bit. It wasn't a big deal and it was my own fault anyway!

Now lets talk about the actual product- does it work? YES. 

100% this actually works! I spray this only before my makeup, not over it as I'm scared it will go patchy but this creates such a flawless base for makeup application. Currently my skin is quite dry so I'm not sure how well this would work if you have oily skin. 

This instantly hydrates my skin and makes my foundation and concealer go on so effortlessly and seamlessly. My undereye area is so dry and my makeup usually creases and looks cakey, however when I use this it looks so radiant and creamy and not dry at all. 

As for longevity of my makeup I've noticed that not only does this keep it on for longer but it keeps it looking exactly the same as when I first applied it; fresh and smooth looking. This contains Glycerin which basically makes things stick - so if you do doubt this product just look at its ingredients because its proof that it does what it says on the tin.. or bottle! 

My all time favourite thing about this product is the smell.. its hard to describe but it smells like vanilla which I'm all for. 

To wrap this up, all I can say is expect to see this in many favourites and an empties because I know I'm going to get my use out of this and finish it quite quickly! 

Paige, x

Cheap Treat Tuesday - W7 Chubby Contour stick

When I was given a gift card for Boots for my birthday I instantly knew what I wanted - the Clinique Chubby Contour stick. After nearly a month of waiting for it to come back in stock I found this W7 version on eBay. As it was only £2.95 my original thought was that I could buy them both and compare them however I absolutely love this so I thought I may as well keep the gift card and find something else to buy! 

I've never tried anything from the W7 line before but I'd heard a lot about their primers and eye shadows and when I seen this I thought there couldn't possibly be any downfalls about this product. 

Its's pretty much exactly the same as the Clinique version although this ones more matte and not as creamy but I have no complaints about that. Contour is really in at the moment and I think its here to stay so I like to try my hand at a few different ways of doing it. This way however is the easiest and most effective, I literally just draw on my face and then buff in with my Expert face brush. 

I thought this might give a bit of a muddy look especially as its matte but it doesn't! It makes my skin look so glowy and my structure look so defined! I really recommend this product and cant wait to try more from their range! 

Paige, x

A product I regret - Urban Decay lip primer potion

Sadly there's always something in a girls make up collection that usually is a regret, this is mine. Make up isn't cheap and when you are really disappointed by a product its quite a kick in the stomach when you cant or don't want to use it again.

This was in a fall collection I believe and was £13. All my reasons as to why this product just isn't for me goes against the entire description of the product.  

"Our invisible primer lays a silky foundation for your favourite lipstick or gloss. Colour is truer, applies smoother, lasts longer, and will not fade or feather. The easy-glide formula feels velvety-soft, without the drying feeling often associated with long-lasting lip colour."

To start with it's so unbelievably drying, that dry you physically cant apply it on your lips. It drags across, not applying any of the product. So its pretty pointless when you cant even use it to begin with. I have to really press it into my lips and I'm not going to lie, it hurts! I've read other reviews and none of them have had this problem so it leads me to think I've just got a bad one from the batch. 

It does absolutely nothing, I've yet to see a difference this makes to my lipstick, if anything it makes it look even worse. My lipstick looks lovely on its own and then when I apply this beforehand it looks even sheerer and like as soon as I do anything with my lips, even speak, its going to come off. It also feels very waxy as if I've just put candle wax all over them which obviously isn't great. 

When it does apply its a thick gloopy wax like consistency, making my lipstick look all clumpy. My lips are made to look very uneven and very lumpy, which is really not a good look. I honestly have nothing good to say about this product, the packaging is nothing special and it doesn't smell or taste of anything.. other than wax.  I really, wouldn't recommend this. 

Paige, x

My top 5 highlighters

In one of my recent posts about contouring I mentioned that there would be a post dedicated to all things highlighting so here it is! With highlighting it comes hand in hand with contouring, giving that glow to your complexion and just making your make up look 100%. In this post I'm going to talk about all my favourite highlighters, both high end and drugstore!

MAC Soft and Gentle: This is just absolutely gorgeous, there aren't any other words to describe this. Its such a beautiful, pigmented powder and really gives you the glitter factor. It can be used as a subtle glow or built up for a really glittery glowing effect, great for a night out or if photos are going to be taken. I also really do think the price tag is well worth it, you get so much product for your money and it lasts forever! Definitely one for your collection. 

NARS Orgasm blush: I know this is a blush but I was so disappointed when this arrived, its really not pigmented at all and takes so much effort for it to be visible on your cheeks. I didn't want to waste it so I played around and discovered this works so well as a highlighter- its really shimmery and glittery and as the pinks not very visible it doesn't matter. On the swatch that took me a good few times to build it up so don't worry it wont apply like that.

MUA Undress your skin highlighter: Bargain!! Look at the pigmentation of this beauty, I honestly cant rave about MUA enough as you all probably know! For only £1 you cant go wrong. This is more white/gold toned than the others but its perfect. I loved using this on holiday and I got so many compliments on this! 

Urban Decay naked flushed: This is one of my most used palettes as its just so pigmented however the highlighter isn't one of my favourites. Its very similar to the MUA one above however takes a few goings over to build it up. Overall its a lovely colour and very handy to have 3 products in 1 if your ever travelling or need to minimise on space.

 L-R: UD Naked Flushed, High Beam, MAC, NARS, MUA

Paige, x

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MAC lipstick - Twig

Creating a wishlist on the MAC website really isn't great for my bank balance but I cant help it, I think I have a MAC obsession!

Recently when I went on holiday I was praying that there was going to be a MAC counter in the airport and luckily there was. My eyes literally lit up when I seen those three initials. I knew what I wanted as soon as I went over, there were three lipsticks on my list and I could tell which ones they were just by looking at the lipstick stand- too much time looking at swatches online! The reason I was so glad to be at a MAC counter was because I live in a town deprived of all the best make up and have to travel at least an hour to get to a huge department store therefore I'm always relying on other girls swatches on Google and Pinterest. 

I either wanted Twig, Brave or Faux but decided to only get one and wait until my birthday to get the other two. As soon as I swatched Twig on my own hand I knew I definitely wanted it, its such a gorgeous muted pink/brown/nude shade, which is my favourite type of shades for lipsticks. It was a satin finish, which I had never tried. I've got two MAC matte lipsticks and I really don't like them, they're so drying so when I tried this I fell in love. I know now that I will always 100% stick to satin formulas instead of mattes and I cant wait to purchase some more. 

If you scroll down you'll see you post where I talked about a Smashbox lipstick in the colour Primrose, this is very similar to that yet has more of a plum/ brown colour within. This makes your teeth look so white too which is of course always a bonus! It goes with anything as well as its quite nude, I'm just so in love with this lipstick!

Paige, x

How I contour!

Contour and highlighting is probably the biggest thing around right now, make-up wise. The thing I love most about this "in thing" is that everybody's trying it but with so many different products, hence why I thought I would show you my tips and tricks of how I do it. 

I use a variety of different products, sometimes all together or just one on its own and it creates a new and different look each time. With contouring you can have a dewy, glowy finish or a matte one and personally I prefer glowy as I have super dry skin. No matter what look I do go for the brushes never change, I find that the Expert Face brush by Real Techniques works with every product, whether it be cream or powder. The flat sides of the brush works really well to sculpt the cheek bones and then to buff everything in. Usually I use the MAC 249 to 'draw' the lines using cream products, just to get some precision and then I use either the Real Techniques brush or a beauty blender to work everything into the skin. 

Products wise, I really cant find a better matte bronzing powder than the MUA one. For only £1 you get a hell of a lot of product and its really pigmented. The colour is just right too, not being overly orangey or muddy looking but suiting my skin tone perfectly. These little bronzers last me so long and take ages to hit pan! In my Urban Decay Naked Flushed palette the bronzer is exactly the same as this, so your essentially saving yourself £20 if you were to purchase the MUA one. 

If I want a dewy finish to my skin I will use the Bourjois Bronzing Primer- which is to be used under foundation however I feel like this really isn't what the product should be designed for but is better suited as a cream bronzer/ contouring cream. Like I said I use the MAC brush to draw on my cheek bones, around my temples, forehead and sometimes down the sides of my nose to give that instant nose job effect! I buff it in and then will apply a tiny amount of the MUA powder just to set it all in place. 

The Beauty Blender is a new purchase of mine, I initially bought two, one for the concealer and one for the bronzing. I got mine from eBay and Home Bargains for only £1 each and they do they're job perfectly.. talk about budget beauty! I like how they have the pointed side for the concealer, in which I use the KIKO concealer wheel as its just the perfect shade and the flat side for all over the flat bits of the face. 

As for highlighting keep your eyes peeled because that's on my blog Monday!

Paige, x

120 Eyeshadow palette - brights

You're all probably getting very sick of talking about these palettes every 5 minutes but I just cant help myself. This palette is the same as my other one but instead of being in 'neutrals' this is filled with extremely pigmented bright colours!

It's something I've never really owned before and I really wanted to start experimenting, especially with pinks and greens. I didn't want to pay high street prices for something I may never end up liking so I went with the alternative.. eBay!! This way you get 120 eyeshadow colours that you can try and even if you dont use half of them its not as if you've spent £20+ on them. This was £4.99 from the link here and you can see bellow the variety of different shades you get. They're all super pigmented as always and I cant wait to get stuck into this. 

It also does come with some light and toned down colours which you can also try and then build yourself up to using the rest of the colours if you'r a bit weary at first. 

Keep your eyes peeled for some upcoming looks using this palette!

Paige, x