Superdrug Deep Action Skincare Review

I don't tend to do a lot of skin care posts so I thought I would do one today for something different. The reason I don't blog about many skin care products is due to me having sensitive skin, so I don't change my products around a lot. As you can see from the photo, I have been using these products for a good few months now to make sure I really saw how they affected my skin.

The first thing I used was the Deep Action Mattifying Shine Control Papers. I bought these to use on the go on my t-zone area as that area does become shiny after I've had my make up on for a few hours. These were the first shine control papers I had ever used so I didn't have anything to compare them to but I am impressed. I thought that they would take off my make up whilst removing the excess oil but they don't. If you hate that powdery look on your skin but want to control shine, I would recommend these. £2.69 Superdrug

Next I tried the Deep Action Blackhead Clearing Scrub. I get really noticeable black heads around my nose and I have never found anything that helped remove them so I didn't expect much from this product. Within about a week or so of using this every morning I did notice that my blackheads had become smaller. After using this for a couple of months, I have seen a huge difference, they have either reduced in size or have disappeared and are nowhere near as noticeable as they were before. Another good thing about this scrub is I sometimes find scrubs can leave my skin feeling "stripped" but this has a creamy texture so I don't notice any drying to the skin. £2.69 Superdrug

Also, there is an offer on Superdrug at the moment where any of the Deep Action products can be purchased at Buy One Get One Half Price, which makes this a great time to try the range and I will definitely be trying out more products. 

My Go To Products For A Flawless Base

For the past few days, I have been stuck for ideas for upcoming posts, probably because I have been posting more than usual recently. I did have a couple of products that I had reviews for but I fancied something different. I thought I would do a post about my favourite products for a flawless base as I love reading those kinds of posts on other peoples blogs.

When it comes to my base, I like it to be matte. I do have oily skin so if I use dewy products they make me feel like I look oily. I know a lot of people prefer a dewy look to the skin, but a matte look is my personal preference.

 

 

I am currently in between primers at the moment as I am using Smashbox Photo Finish Primer at the moment and I don't like it, so I thought I would leave that step out. If you have any product recommendations then please let me know.

 

After priming I would go on to foundation. I love the Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra 24H as it gives a naturally matte look to the skin without looking overdone or cakey and is medium to buildable coverage. This foundation is incredibly longwearing so it's great for using day to night. When it comes to applying the product, I prefer to use a stippling brush as I feel like it gives a better finish.

 

After foundation I would then conceal my under eye area with Mac Pro Longwear. This concealer is amazing for under the eyes as it has a thin consistency but gives good coverage, without creasing. After blending in the concealer I would use Mac Prep+Prime Highlighting Pen in Light Boost. This is a yellow toned highlighted so it adds a lovely brightening effect to the under eye area.

 

To finish off I would use the Kardashian Beauty Finishing Powder. Out of all the pressed powders I have been trying recently, this is the only one that gives me a shine free finish. At the moment I am in between setting sprays as I haven't found one I am fond of yet, so if you have any product recommendations then please let me know.

 

 

Herbal Essences Product Reviews - New Dry Shampoo and Split Ends Protection Cream

For this post, I thought I would do both reviews in one post as they are both by Herbal Essences.

First we have the Dry Shampoo. Recently it seems that every hair care brand is bringing out a dry shampoo, but when I saw that Herbal Essences had launched a line of dry shampoos, I had to give them a try. I don't usually use a lot of hair care from the high street, but I have tried quite a few Herbal Essences products. The scents are amazing and they have some great products for dry hair, or hair that lacks shine.

I picked this up at Boots for £2.99. I always have a bottle of dry shampoo on the go, but I had to try this immediately. This is the Uplifting Volume version and the scent to me smells like oranges and mango, very tropical but not over the top. The great thing about this is that the scent actually lasts in your hair. I also found that this dry shampoo didn't make my hair feel "powdery" or full of product, it just left my hair feeling fresh and smelling beautiful.

Now onto the Beautiful Ends Split End Protection Cream. I used to use this years ago and I picked some up recently at Boots for £4.79. I actually forgot how much I loved this. I think when I bought it, I had ombre hair and it was quite long, so my ends were damaged and needed some TLC. This helped smooth them and left them feeling nourished. This does say for split ends only but I use this all over my hair as I have dry hair. The amazing thing about this cream is that if I use it after I've washed my hair, I don't need to put any in the next day as my hair still feels amazingly soft and nourished, which means the cream will last you twice as long.

If you would like to see any more hair care product reviews, please let me know.

MUA Velvet Liquid Lipsticks - Review and Swatches

For quite a while now, matte lips have been a huge trend, which has led to pretty much every make up brand realising some form of matte liquid lipstick/lip lacquer. I had been wanting to try them but I didn't want to try a high end one in case I didn't like it and felt like I had wasted my money. I noticed that MUA had brought some out, so for £3 I thought I would give them a go. I have been back to Superdrug several times and I have ended up with 7 shades, I think there is around 10 in total.

Left to Right - Tranquillity, Halcyon, Aflush, Atomic, Criminal, Reckless, Kooky

Tranquillity and Halcyon

In the photo, these look quite similar. On the lips, Tranquillity is very light, so I pair it with a nude lipgloss for an easier to wear look. Halcyon is a perfect dupe for Velvet Teddy by MAC, so if you are loving that Kylie Jenner look, this one is great.

Aflush, Atomic and Criminal

These are all very bright shades. Aflush is a light pink with orange tones, Atomic is a bright orange and Criminal is a bold pink with purple tones. These are colours that I would only wear if I was going out and I think the pink shades would look great with a tan. I am surprised at how much I like Criminal as I don't usually go for dark pinks but I think it's the purple tones in this that make it for me.

Reckless and Kooky

These two are the darker shades of the range. I love dark reds and purples. I know these shades won't be for everyone but I love them. I recently wore Reckless whilst out for a meal and I received so many compliments on it. I imagine this would be a great red for darker skin tones also. Kooky is the kind of shade I would probably only wear on a night out, as I very rarely wear nude lips on a night out.

I hope you found this helpful and please let me know if you would like to see anymore posts like this.

Make Up Revolution Ultra Cover and Conceal Palette Review

For probably just under a year now, I have constantly been using Mac Pro Longwear Concealer. I tried it and I was instantly hooked. I loved the crease free full coverage effect it gave. However, I finally decided it was time to try something new. I went on Superdrug's website and looked at Top 5 Concealers, and this popped up. Before buying it, I searched for some reviews online and they seemed positive so I placed an order.

As you can see, this palette features 8 different shades of concealer. This has a great range of highlighting shades, brightening shades and also contour shades which I wasn't expecting, which would make this palette great for travel. I find this has a light but easily buildable coverage, which is great for me as I do like a lot of coverage but I don't like a thick, cakey effect.

These are all the shades against my skin so you can get a better idea of the colours. The palette comes in 3 shades, light, medium and dark. I also found that there is little to no creasing with these and they are long wearing.

This is the first Make Up Revolution product I have used and it has made me want to go back for more. I will still be using my Pro Longwear, but not always now I have this.

Drugstore Vs. High End - Eyeshadow Primers

Left to Right: Avon Eyeshadow Primer, Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer

Before Christmas, I purchased the Smashbox Primers Try Me Set. I have never used any Smashbox products before but I have been wanting to try them so I thought buying the set would be a good place to start, as I have heard Smashbox are well known for their primers.

The Smashbox Primers Try Me Kit contained sample sizes of Photo Finish Foundation Primer, Photo Finish Hydrating Under Eye Primer and Photo Finish Lid Primer.

At a similar time I ordered the Avon Eyeshadow Primer, but because I was more excited to try the Smashbox Primer, I used that one first. I was slightly disappointed as the formula seemed dry and my eyeshadow still creased, not even lasting the working day. After a few weeks of use I decided to start using the Avon Eyeshadow Primer to see if that was any better. The texture of this was smooth and it felt "tacky" when applied to the lid, similar to the feeling of eyelash glue. This meant that the eyeshadow stays all day without creasing. I probably take my make up off about 15 hours after applying it, and with this eyeshadow primer, there is little to no creasing.

Top - Smashbox Photo Finish Primer
Bottom - Avon Eyeshadow Primer

The Smashbox primer retails at £15 whilst the Avon primer is priced at £7, but a lot of the time this is on offer, I think when I purchased it, it was on offer for £4. Personally, I doubt I would re purchase the primer by Smashbox but I would re purchase the Avon primer.

Please let me know if you would like to see any more Drugstore Vs. High End posts

Kardashian Beauty Mascara Reviews

I received a Kardashian Beauty Mascara Set for Christmas. I was delighted as I am a huge Kardashian fan and couldn't wait to try them out. The set includes 4 mascaras so it was a hard decision deciding which to use first. I have been using these for about 3 weeks now.

 

  Left to Right: Stroke of Midnight, Whip Lash, The Quickie and Eye Fidelity.

The first one I tried is Stroke of Midnight. This claims to be a faux lash look extra volume mascara. When buying a mascara, I always look for the word volume as I do prefer my lashes to stand out and I am not fond of mascaras that lengthen the lashes but do not thicken. This not only matched expectations, but beat them. After applying this, I could not stop looking at my lashes. To give you an idea of the effect I like, think Benefit They're Real mascara. My lashes looked thick, long, naturally separated and the formula didn't clump.

I love this brush as it gets thinner towards the end, which means it coats the lashes in the inner corner of the eye. I would say this mascara does give a faux lash look, like it states.

Whip Lash. This claims to be an eyelash health mascara. This worried me as I thought that meant "natural looking" so I didn't think I would like this mascara but I really do. This can be used as a natural mascara with a couple of coats, but it can be built up clump free to give a bolder look. The only problem I had with this mascara is that the formula has dried out slightly. However, usually I find that mascaras that have dried out tend to clump and flake and irritate my eyes, but I have not encountered this problem yet.

The best thing about this mascara is the brush. It goes smaller at the end like the Stroke of Midnight mascara but it has different length bristles which makes it great for using on the bottom lashes.

The Quickie. This claims to be a lash curling lengthening mascara. I wasn't too fussed about this one before I used it as I'm usually not bothered about lash curling mascara as I use eyelash curlers. I thought to put this mascara to the test I need to use this without eyelash curlers. I saw a massive difference in the curl in my lashes and this curled them more than my eyelash curlers do. This gives a nice, natural separation to the lashes whilst adding length and volume. This is great for travel as you can leave you r eyelash curlers at home with this one.

 

The main reason I like this brush is that it has small bristles and the brush is flexible which means it gets right to the bottom of the lashes, which I imagine is what helps emphasise the curl.

Last but certainly not least, Eye Fidelity. This is a long lasting waterproof mascara. I never use waterproof mascara as I never think the formulas are great. However I loved this one as I feel like you didn't have to sacrifice the look of your lashes for the longevity with this one. As you can see when I was in Liverpool recently I picked up a full size bottle of this, as I thought it would be great for the summer when I'll be on holiday.

I really liked this brush as it has longer and shorter bristles throughout the brush to ensure every lash is coated.

If you would like to see any more reviews on Kardashian Beauty or any more mascaras, drugstore or high end, then please let me know.