Seventeen Instant Glow Shimmer Brick (Pink Bronze) // £4.99

I bought this shimmer brick last year but I wasn't blown away by it and it got put to the back of my collection but this summer I've been using it almost everyday. I absolutely love it as a highlighter and as eyeshadow too. It obviously looks similar to the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick, however it's a lot cheaper! I can't compare the two as I don't own the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick, but I'm sure someone else has!

Anyway, I love using the top two shades as my highlight as it gives a subtle highlight that can be built up for a more intense look and I use the bottom two shades as eyeshadows. I find these last all day on both my cheek bones and my eyelids which makes this an even better product for my make up bag as it has multiple uses! As you can see in the photo below the shimmer brick is extremely pigmented as well. 

What's your favourite highlighter at the moment?

SEVENTEEN Poreless Primer // £5.99

I bought this primer a couple of months ago as I was looking for a new drugstore primer. The packaging is fairly simple and it's a reasonable price. The product itself does what it says, it does reduce the appearance of my pores and it does smooth out my skin which makes applying foundation easier.

However, I found that it does not prolong the wear of my foundation and I have experimented with different foundations and I still had the same result. Also, I found that a lot of product was required for application which meant that I hit pan on this primer very quickly and I'm not very impressed with that.

I don't usually do negative reviews of products, but I was disappointed with this primer and I will not be repurchasing this in the future. I will stick to my other well loved primers.

Do you have any drugstore primer recommendations for me?

As usual I ended up in Boots on my lunch break and I ended up purchasing the 17 Wild Metallic Cream Eyeshadow in Wild Nude for £3.99. I'd seen these a few times in Boots but I'd never bought them because I was always worried about cream eyeshadows creasing, however I was wrong!

The packaging isn't anything overly special, however it's practical and does have some detail on the lid. Saying that, I'll be storing this cream eyeshadow upside to increase the longevity of it. 

The actual eyeshadow is so creamy and so easy to apply. It can be applied as a base or be worn alone, both have brilliant results, and to my delight it didn't crease after a whole night of me wearing it. 

I've seen a couple of people comparing these cream eyeshadows to the MAC Paint Pots but since I do not have any, I cannot compare the two but I thought it'd be better to buy a budget cream eyeshadow first to see how I found them. As well as being a bargain, there are 6 shades in the range, including some brighter shades.

Overall, I am loving this 17 Cream Eyeshadow because it just gives me a little colour on my eyes, as there is a slight shimmer but no glitter. It's also just so easy to pop it on if you're in a rush with a little bit of mascara and your eye make up is done!

Have you tried the 17 Wild Metallic Cream Eyeshadows?

Even though it's leading up to Christmas and I only have money from my Saturday job I seem to be spending a lot of money on make up that I probably don't need! So once again, I have another small haul. Also Boots currently have 3 for 2 on Rimmel products and many other brands too which is good if you're looking at buying someone make up for a Christmas present.

When I saw the Boots 3 for 2 offer I knew I had to buy the only primer I've really loved which is the Rimmel Match Perfection Fix and Perfect Primer for £6.99. A while ago I did a blog post on this, because I really do recommend this primer. 

I have to say, my favourite make up product is probably blush so I have more than I will ever use but I keep buying more! I've never tried a Rimmel blush before because I'd never really been interested in them so I thought I'd buy the Lasting Finish Mono Blush in 'Santa Rose' for £3.99. I've been wearing this since the day I bought it, and so far I really like it. It gives a beautiful finish with a very slight shimmer. 

 Finally from Rimmel I bought the Rimmel Scandal Eyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner in 'nude' for £3.99. I bought this because I love the Scandal'Eyes Mascara so I thought the eyeliner would be a good product to try too. I chose the shade 'nude' since I had seen a few people say they were using it in their waterline to brighten up their eyes instead of using a white eyeliner.

I was looking through my make up collection and realized I had some products I needed to throw out since I don't get on with them. Here are some of the face products I really don't like for me. I'm not saying these products won't work for you, but I just don't get on with them personally.

So there are only 3 products, but I'll possibly do more of these posts later on.

(I know my packaging is disgustingly dirty, but it's been at the bottom of my make up drawer and it won't come off!)

First of all is this 2true Smooth Matte Foundation, now although this is only £1.99 and people say you get what you pay for, I did expect a little more from this foundation, maybe my standards are too high. Either way, the lightest shade Shade 1 - Ivory is still far too dark as you can see. On top of this, it gets darker as it dries, which means there is no way I can wear it even though I have tried to lighten it with other foundations etc. 

I have gone back to this foundation numerous times trying it when my skin was different, I still do not get on with it. 

The second foundation is the 17 Skin Perfecting Foundation and although this is no longer available, I still wouldn't re-purchase it. I got mine in the lightest shade which I think was Soft Ivory and it's a lot lighter than the 2true Smooth Matte Foundation it still doesn't match my skin perfectly either. It broke me out every time I used it, even after months of not trying it, it made my skin awful. It didn't give me much coverage at all, and strangely enough it made my skin look more oily, even though it's meant to be oil free.

I do like that this foundation has a pump which makes it easier to get the product, and it has SPF 12 which is always good for the skin. 

The final product is the ELF Essentials Shimmering Facial Whip, now although this product is only £1.50 I don't even think it's worth that. Mine is in the shade Spotlight so I'm not sure if the other shades are any better or if I just had one from a bad batch.

This product I have never actually used on my face more than a few times, I really should have thrown this away months ago. It may just be my one, but it is so watery it's useless. As you can see in one of the photos above, even after shaking it about 5 times, it still comes out with a lot of water. It doesn't blend well, it just clumps up and looks horrible. 

Have you tried any of these products and had a similar or completely different experience with them?

First of all thank you to everyone who follows me, I have finally hit 100 followers! I never ever thought anyone would follow me but I am so grateful!

So anyway, this is just the make up I've been wearing on a daily basis recently.

Face
- Lanacane Anti Chafing Gel (used as a primer)
- Maybelline Fit Me Foundation - Shade 120
- Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer - Fair 1
- Bourjois Chocolate Bronzing Powder - Shade 52 - (post on this here)
- Mac Semi Precious Mineralize Skin Finish - Crystal Pink (post on this here)
- Benefit High Beam Highlighter - (post on this here)
- ELF Eyebrow Kit - Light - (post on this here)

Eyes
- 17 High Drama Liquid Eyeliner - Blackest Black
- MUA Every Lash Volume and Lengthening Mascara (post on this here)
- Rimmel Scandal Eyes Mascara

Lips
- Rimmel Kate Moss Matte Lipstick - 101 - (post on this here)

I was looking through my blushes this morning for something to wear, and I found a product I had completely forgotten about. It's the 17 Blush and Glow *. I bought this a while ago from Boots and it was £3.99. I hadn't really used this product before, only swatched it a few times but I never got round to wearing it. Mine's in the shade peaches and cream which is such a pretty combination.

As you can see, it is fairly shimmery which some people may dislike, although it doesn't look over the top once on the cheeks if it's blended well. They are both highly pigmented and stay on the cheeks all day (about 7 hours for me). The highlighter is a bit more gold-toned than it appears to be here, but it is still a beautiful colour. If you wanted a more subtle colour, I'd suggest blending them well once applied to the face or swirling your brush around in the pot rather than just applying it one at a time.

Overall, for the price and pigmentation of this product, I love it and it's a bargain. I would suggest anyone to try this if you want a well price blush and highlighter.

xx


* I'm not sure what's happened to the photos of the product on the Boots website, but it is still available in stores and online as far as I know. There are also other shades available.