Products that aren't worth the hype

I am not, nor have I ever claimed to be, an expert when it comes to make-up but I thought I'd do a post a bit different to what I'm used to seeing. I know that a lot of people look at reviews in the blogging world and take them as gospel but from experience, something that works wonders for someone else might be useless to you. This post centres around products which are hugely raved about here in blogger land, that I don't feel were necessarily worth it. It works both ways though, so something that I don't like might be one of your holy grail products, this is just my opinon.

one - Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer, RRP: £4.19. I don't think I have ever read a negative review of this, everyone and their mother seems to use it and they all seem to love it... and I know everyone says "well, you get what you pay for" but with such strong positive reviews, I was expecting the Earth. I don't like it. I find that it's too thick and it feels heavy on my skin. It cracks easily too because it's so cakey. I also didn't find the range of shades had enough variety, Lasting Perfection Concealer can be bought in fair, light, medium or deep with very obvious colour differences between the four, I find it hard to understand how every single girl is expected to be able to match one of these to her skin.

two - Nars 'Laguna' Bronzing Powder, RRP: £26.00. It almost pains me that I had to include this here, simply because I wanted it for AGES and when I received it as a Christmas gift, I was over the moon. I'm not saying I dislike it, because I don't but I just don't understand why everyone is so crazy about it. The packaging is pretty and the shade is gorgeous but it's not really any different to any other bronzer out there, which could probably be picked up for half the price! Everyone seems to love this, but I just like it. 

three - Real Techniques Stippling Brush, RRP: £11.99. I'm generally fan of Real Techniques brushes, but I just don't get on with this one. The bristles are super soft and it looks elegant and pretty but I just don't understand it! I've tried it with foundation, blusher, bronzer, in fact almost everything in my make up bag but I just don't like the way it applies anything to my face. 

I don't like writing 'negative' reviews but I just feel that there isn't enough variety out there with some products in the blogging/YouTube world and I thought it'd be nice to have a view from 'the other side'. I'm not saying people shouldn't love these because I know there are hundreds of you who do!

Are there any products that you believe get more recognition than they deserve?!

*pictures in this post are not my own and were sourced from Google*

January favourites

one // two // three // four // five 

The Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist, RRP: £8. This is an absolute gem which has quite quickly become a holy grail product. It keeps my make up on all day/night and it smells incredible! (full review here)

Rimmel London Lasting Finish Blush in 'Pink Rose', RRP: £3.99. I've been on the search for a new blusher ever since my Benefit Coralista smashed (boo), and seeing as I couldn't bring myself to shell out almost £25 for a new one, I picked up this Rimmel London one, which to my delight is a pretty similar colour. I love pink blush, especially in winter, and you can't go wrong for £3.99!

Charles Worthington Frizz Free Ultimate Serum, RRP: £3.46. My hair is in disastrous condition due to much dying/heat abuse and because I was born with quite curly hair, continuous torture has caused it to become quite frizzy. In winter, it becomes 10x more dry and disgusting but this is a lifesaver (for my hair at least). A tiny bit of this through wet hair allows it to dry frizz free (YAY).

Real Techniques Buffing Brush (Part of the Core Collection, RRP: £21.99). Real Techniques brushes are my absolute favourites, but this one in particular is fabulous. I use it to buff my foundation into my skin and it leaves an absolutely flawless result.

Revlon Photo Ready Foundation, RRP: £12.99. I've never ever found a foundation which matches my skin tone exactly and I normally have to mix two together but I found a shade in this which was perfect so I couldn't resist buying it. I'd say it provides medium coverage but it's so easy to apply and it lasts all day without the need for reapplication!

Which products are you loving this month?

*pictures in this post are not my own and were sourced from Google*

V05 Instant Oomph Powder Review

V05 Give Me Texture Instant Oomph Powder 

"They say good things come in small packages... This tiny pot of powder gives BIG results!"

No one in the entire world likes flat hair and since big hair has been on trend for what feels like decades, everyone is always looking for that magic fix which will give your hair that little boost within seconds. Well, stop searching girls, I've found it! 

I know hair volumising powders aren't a 'new thing' and I've previously used Label M Resurrection Style Dust which has the same effects but is almost double the price!

V05 'Give Me Texture Instant Oomph Powder' comes in a pretty pink bottle and is so easy to apply. The only way I can describe the texture is by saying it's a little bit like salt crystals. You literally give the bottle a bit of a shake and then dazzle some of it directly on to your roots, give your hair a little rub et voila, you have almost effortless volumised hair!

The only criticism I have of this product is that it does leave hair feeling a little bit greasy and your roots don't feel as soft as the rest of your hair does but it's so much better for your hair than dragging a comb through it backwards all day. A little bit of hairspray applied directly to the roots after this and it stays for hours.

Instant Oomph Powder can be purchased at Boots and retails at £4.07 (I never understand how they work out these precise prices but whatever, haha).

Overall rating: 4/5

Review: Nivea Express Hydration Primer

Nivea Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer (RRP: £4.99)

"moisturises and provides a smooth base for effective make up application with effective hydrators"

It's come to that time in the semester where my student loan has disappeared before my very eyes and I've had to abandon the hope that I'd be able to afford to replace my MAC primer, but my skin couldn't afford for me to stop using primer altogether (honestly, if you don't prime your face before you apply your make up, START!). I'd seen this advertised everywhere and thought it was worth giving a try.

It smells like a typical Nivea product: fresh and light, with what I can only describe as smelling like something with a hint of cucumber. The normal and combination skin one (pictured above) contains lotus extract, but I don't know what that smells like so couldn't tell you whether or not that affects the fragrance! The consistency of the product is extremely light, I was going to show you a swatch on my hand but it comes on pretty clear. 

The product also has moisturising qualities, so leaves skin feeling really soft. As for its use as a primer, I was not at all disappointed. It is absorbed by skin almost instantly so there is no waiting around for it to dry before being able to apply make up and it creates a base in order to make sure make up is applied on to as even a surface as possible and it practically makes your make up cling to your face so it doesn't move or wear off all day. 

This provides everything you ask for in a primer, and a small amount of it definitely goes a long way. As far as primers go, I'd rave about this until the cows come home. I don't think I'll ever pay £19.50 for a MAC primer again!

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Maybelline 'Fit Me' review

"It's make up that fits you"

Maybelline 'Fit Me' Concealer (left) and Foundation (right)

"FLAWLESS, LETS THE REAL YOU COME THROUGH 
BEYOND MATCHING: FRESH, BREATHING, NATURAL SKIN 
SPF 18"

Since my tan faded and I'm now too light for my post-holiday foundation (boo), I went on the search for a new foundation that wasn't too pricey (I've lusted after Estee Lauder's Double Wear for aaaages but can't bring myself to spend £30 on a bottle of face paint), I discovered Maybelline's 'fit me' range which is new to the UK... I was impressed at first by the colour chart that was in the store, I bought these in superdrug, and it had a detailed chart of skin tones and which foundation shade was best, and which concealer provided the best match for each foundation. 

The formula is described as having "no oils, no waxes and no nonsense", with the ability to give a natural coverage which allows skin to breath with a translucent base and lightweight pigments.

I decided on shade 135 for the foundation and shade 20 for the concealer (this isn't the concealer that was a recommended match to this foundation but I prefer my concealer to be lighter than my foundation). The foundation has a standard pump and the concealer has a wand with a sponge on, a little bit like a lip-gloss.

Left: foundation, right: concealler

As can be seen in the image above, the foundation is quite runny and unless applied quickly to the face it can get a bit messy, however, the coverage is flawless like the advert says. The colour match to skin is almost perfect and it blends very well to skin. Because it is so runny, it has to be rubbed in quite a bit and wears off if worn for longer than about 8 hours, causing the skin to look patchy without re-application.

Overall rating for foundation: 3/5

The concealer is a lot less runny in comparison to the foundation which can also be seen in the above image, application of this is so simple and it is very easy to move around the face and the coverage is brilliant, I honestly can't rave about this enough, it doesn't crack and it doesn't seem to move during the day. It's literally on my face from the moment I apply it, until the moment I take it off.

Overall rating for concealer: 4.5/5

Review: Lee Stafford Hair Growth Treatment

After years of subjecting my hair to abuse of the bleaching, dying and frazzling kind I was left with unconditioned, dry and brittle hair. My worst nightmare. And as if that wasn't enough, my hair was so dead at the ends that I was advised I didn't have much choice but to have it all cut off. I took the plunge and had it chopped into a bob that sat at the top of my neck. I HATED it, and I've worn extensions ever since. I began to get tired of the rigmarole of putting my extensions in every morning and taking them out every night so decided I wanted to give my hair the chance to grow by itself.

This meant I had to stop dying it, and start looking after it properly. I went through a stage of having bright red hair, then black hair, then bright red hair, then black hair (you get the picture). It was a very vicious cycle, and my poor hair had to bare the brunt! 

I've had my hair black since July now (anyone who knows me knows that's an achievement) and I've used Aussie's Take The Heat shampoo and deep conditioning treatment for a while and it leaves my hair feeling soft and silky. But it still REFUSED to grow! I had an abundance of dead ends but didn't want to have my hair cut so I decided I'd try find something to sort these out, this was when I discovered the miracle that is Organix Moroccan Argan Oil, so my hair was soft and my split ends were treated BUT it still wasn't growing.

A few weeks back I discovered Lee Stafford's Treatment "for hair that never grows past a certain length", sounds perfect, doesn't it? It  looks pretty and smells pretty but I wasn't expecting miracles

The product has a consistency like conditioner and is designed for use between shampooing and conditioning and it advised to be left for five minutes. I've been using this for a month now and my hair feels healthier, softer and longer (YAY). The product obviously doesn't make your hair grow over night, but it does condition your hair to the point where growth is now possible. I'm in love. 

Overall rating 4/5. 

Gel eye-liner: Bobbi Brown vs Maybelline

Ever since I discovered what it was, I've been a liquid eye-liner enthusiast and I've worn it everyday since I was about thirteen... I'm a fan of the good old eye-liner flick, too (but when it's nearly touching your eyebrow I think it's about time for some serious life re-evaluation).

Anyway, when I first heard of 'gel' eye-liner it was something I instantly wanted to try because it promised the quick drying, no smudging perfectness that seemed like the holy grail when it came to eye-liner! Now, Bobbi Brown's 'long wear gel eye-liner' was the first one I heard of so I was really excited when I received it as an early birthday present (I even did a little victory dance around my bedroom).

I was slightly disappointed with the product overall, and at first though that might have just been because I had such high expectations of it. I got a Bobbi Brown eye-liner brush with it but I really didn't like this; I felt the bristles were too hard, which made the eye-liner itself very hard to use as it felt like I was applying my make up with a tooth pick!

This aside, I thought I'd give it another go and tried the liner with another brush. Yes, it dries almost instantly but this made it hard to move the eye-liner across the lid. And after wearing it all day, it begins to smudge.

I disappointedly went back to using liquid eye-liner until last week when I was in superdrug and Maybelline  make up was on 3-for-2. So I picked up their version of gel eyeliner to try another brand, thinking that if I was disappointed by it, it hadn't cost me anything.

I was SO pleasantly surprised. Firstly, the brush it came with is amazing, it feels just like a liquid eye-liner applicator, it's easy to move across the eyelid and it dries in seconds, and I've worn it all day/night and it didn't smudge a tiny bit. Priced at £7.99 it's also a bargain compared to the £17 price tag that the Bobbi Brown one carries! 

**The images used in this post are not my own, and were sourced from Google**