Weekly Wear….?

I know I keep saying I need to work on the titles and they keep being crap but it’s so frustrating! I would use song lyrics or something but seriously, the song that has been going through my head all day is the ‘Take my breath awayyyyy…’ one from Top Gun. Now it’ll be in your head all day.

Since moving in together my boyfriend has been initiated into my payday induced makeup purchasing frenzy on a few occasions. He doesn’t say anything out loud, just quietly judges which is DEFINITELY worse.

In a bid to convince him that I really do use allllll of these lipsticks and can’t possible chuck any out, in fact I NEED MORE I’ve decided to rotate my makeup every week, in a bid to get to grips with bits I’m not confident using and blitz through items I’m near finishing.

Base – Benefit’s That Gal primer (finished Avon Magix last week), Bourjois Healthy Mix 51 (not much left), Benefit High Beam (not much left), MAC Select Moisturecover NW20 (not much left), MAC Pro Longwear concealer NW15 (had for a while, ploughing through), Collection 2000 Perfect Wear concealer 2 Light (not much left)

Eye Primer – I was going to chuck out my UDPP as I thought it was finished. Cut it open. Now I feel foolish. The stuff kept coming out, I thought it would never end!

Eyes – Kiko eyeshadow 118, Stila Kitten (was broken so repressed), Revlon Grow Luscious (coming up to 3 months, needs to go soon), 17 Peep Show mascara (like this so far, using until it dries), Benefit Eye Bright pencil, Urban Decay Brow Box in Brown Sugar

Blusher – The Body Shop Cheek Colour 04 (replaced an old favourite but I got the wrong colour and have rarely used this), MAC Cremeblend So Sweet So Easy (new purchase, got this used on me when I got colour matched but it was sold out and I only just got it now along with Viva Glam Nicki), The Balm Frat Boy

Powders – HEMA 01 Terra Bronzing Powder (hit pan on Laguna so I’m keeping it for best, this is good for work as it’s not crazy pigmented), NYC Smooth Skin Loose Face Powder, Fyrinnae Fluff powder (NYC looks a little chalky on me but it’s HUGE and I need to use it. I love Fyrinnae so I use it pretty frequently)

Lips – Topshop Polish Smoothie, MAC Slimshine Gentle Simmer, MAC Frost Angel

So there you have it….do any of you do this kind of thing? I can’t go too wild with things like this because I have to wear sensible makeup to work but there’s so much I’d like to get through!

Have you tried any of these products?

The lighting is pretty crap so I didn’t do swatches but if you’d like to see anything in more detail then please comment and I’ll happily oblige!

Shine A Light…

Here I go again with the astonishing titles.

I’m sat at home, ill from work which is annoying because I’ve only worked there two months but glands will be glands. To soothe my spirits I’m indulging in a spot of Lewis (Lawrence Fox is alluring at times) and thought what better a time to show you my (teensy) liquid highlighter collection. I’ve been relying on it to make me look alive as of late and I’m nearing the end of my High Beam…so here goes!

Also please note this is my first lone attempt using my boyfriend’s DSLR and you can DEFINITELY tell.

First up, the one I’ve used the longest….

This is my second bottle of Benefit’s High Beam and you can see how much there is in the bottom! This was the only liquid highlighter I used before I purchased the St Tropez and MAC ones.

The design is convenient enough, I use the brush to dot it along my nose, cheek and brow bones before blending which it does well with little effort. The only thing that annoys me about the packaging is how much product collects along the underside of the brush lid (which I cleaned for this picture) and around the neck of the bottle. I have to regularly clean it and the amount that gathers is unreal, considering this is £18.50 a bottle for 13ml it feels like a real waste.

Argh so this swatch isn’t great, it’s amazingly hard to focus a camera that weighs a ton with one hand when your upper body strength is in the minuses. You can see the sheen it leaves on the skin, it is the least subtle of all the highlighters I own so for everyday I wear it under my foundation. I’d call this baby pink to champagne in colour though that is not my forte.

This is the St Tropez Skin Illuminator in Rose. At £12 for 50ml from Boots it is considerably better priced than the High Beam and comes in a squeezy tube which eliminates the waste from the packaging. As long as you squeeze carefully…

You can tell this is more subtle than the High Beam and is more rosy in colour (surprisingly enough!) I do like this and when I have got a bit further through the tube I will consider purchasing this in Violet which sounds pretty unique.

This is MAC’s Strobe Liquid that I picked up in duty free on my way to Kos so it was slightly cheaper than the retail price of £21.50 for 50ml. It is under the ‘Moisturisers’ section on their site but I use it as a highlighter or mixed with foundation, not as a moisturiser. The pump is nice and as the mechanism is the same as my Fix+ which lives in my handbag I feel comfortable chucking this in my bag without worrying about spillages.

The effect of this one is subtle, probably why suggested use is moisturiser, but i like it. It is more of a silvery white that reflects pink than an all out pink-fest.

Quick comparison, you can see the High Beam is the thickest texture and Strobe Liquid the least, the same goes for their subtlety.

Aaaannnnd blended.

Mammoth post, what do you think? Have you used any of these? Do you have a preference? Or do you have any other highlighters I should keep my eye out for?

Finally

Day trip to Bognor Regis last weekend woo! I thought it was in Wales….